The Main Character: Dennis Vorhis. Hazel eyes. Light olive colored skin and reddish cheeks. Medium length dark wavy messy brown hair that fades from black to dark brown with straight cut choppy bangs that curl inward. 5'7 in height and thin.
Chapter One
The term had already started and it has been two weeks since. Today was going to be the beginning of a brand new school for young Dennis Vorhis. He, along with his family had just moved to Scotland from a bright busy city in America where sinful acts were glorified and money was surely to be gambled away. The reason for this was to escape the violent spree of killings by the hand of a mysterious wizard. Irritated by the fact that he had to leave behind many friends he curses to himself. "Annoying ass wizard, why did he have to attack there? Why could he not have gone somewhere else?" His mother calling from downstairs, "Hurry! You can't miss another day! Your dad is in the car already." "I'm coming!"
Dennis runs downstairs, picks up the carrier containing his cat,Madge, and suitcases and hugs his mother and his dogs goodbye. "Have fun, I love you! See you at the end of the year son" She says to him as he leaves the house. The house itself was a rather plain looking home. Ivy was crawling on the walls and rose bushes speckled along a path leading to the front door. The colors were dull and dreary but the view at night was spectacular. He opens the car door and rushes inside as his father greets him good morning. The car then lifts off the ground and so began the flight. "Are you excited that you'll be starting school here? You know, you have some ancestry here. Distant, distant relatives." "I'm excited but I really wish it all didn't have to come to this. But I would rather not be blown to ashes like the victims back home." Dennis replies in a sullen voice "Hey, there it is. Wow, it's such a beautiful school! Look!" His father says excitedly. The forlorn boy looks up toward the windshield."I miss Ilvermony but I'm sure this will work out. Maybe I'm gonna make a bunch of friends on the first day." Dennis' mood cheers up a bit. "You take after me in that aspect you know. You can make friends very easily. Never really had any trouble with that" The car lands on the field. Dennis collects Madge and his baggage then leaves with a hug and a goodbye from his father. "Bye, don't have too much fun while I'm gone. I still want to be the only child when I get back." He jokes to his father. His humor is a bit strange but never fails to get a smile out of people.
Dennis is greeted by a tall bearded man who looks hundreds of years old but has a very bright aura. "Hello and welcome to Hogwarts Mr. Vorhis, I'm sure you will have a fantastic first day here. I am Headmaster Dumbledore" Dennis almost entranced by the beautiful yet somewhat sad aura the Headmaster emits, "Y- yeah. Thank you for having me. I promise not to be much trouble at all." The Headmaster smiles. " Come along now, I will show to your dormitories. The other students should be waking by now." Dennis is escorted up several flights of stairs and when they finally reach the floor of the dormitories, the boy is a bit winded. His stamina is quite poor being that he is not at all active. "Let's make haste, hurry along now." The great wizard says. "Easy for you to say, old guy. You have longer legs" Dennis thinks to himself. They reach a large painting."Fortuna Major." Dumbledore says as the fat woman in the painting hums a tune and the wall opens to reveal the Gryffindor common room. Dumbledore and Dennis reach a large wooden open door."Boys this is your new classmate, Dennis Vorhis. Please make him feel at home and help him should he need assistance with anything." Dumbledore loudly declares. Dennis, feeling a bit shy, greets his new classmates. "Hi, I'm Dennis and this is Madge. I hope we can all get along." He is warmly greeted by his new peers. "Blimey! You have an American accent. You must not be from here eh?" says one boy. "No, I'm not, my family and I had to leave America due to some issue back home." answers Dennis. "Welcome to Hogwarts. You're going to like it here. It really isn't much different from Ilvermony." Says another boy. Dennis already feels welcome and grateful as he thanks his roommates for their kind greeting and goes to unpack his belongings.
The others get dressed for the day and socialize until it is time to walk to their classes. A tall boy with shaggy brown hair approaches."Hello my name's Neville. Would you like some help unpacking?" Dennis looks up, "Oh thanks. That's super nice of you." Neville not used to receiving many compliments, smiles happily. "Nice socks, they're very colorful." Neville says as he examines a few articles of clothing from Dennis' suitcase. Dennis laughs, "Those are my lucky socks." Neville notices Dennis' pairs of underwear. They too, are brightly colored and adorned with vivid patterns. Dennis takes notice and feels a tad embarrassed "Um, I'll just take care of those." He takes the pair from Neville and places it into a drawer."Thanks for helping me with my stuff. The view really looks beautiful from this tower." He takes a step toward the window and looks downward. "Imagine falling from up here. That would be an instant death. Ha-ha!" Neville thinks this comment is a bit strange but he is happy to have a new friend. Seeing Dennis as a blank slate, "Maybe this one won't think I'm an oaf. I should try to make a good impression." Neville thinks to himself.
The first class today was herbology. Dennis is walking to class and accidentally bumps into a girl with frizzy brown hair and strong eyebrows. "Oh sorry. Excuse me." Dennis immediately apologizes. " No worries" says the girl. "Are you new here? I've never seen you before." She asks. "Yup. Today is my first day here. I'm still kind finding my way around here. I'm Dennis." "Charmed. I'm Hermione Granger. Are you going to herbology? It's quite an easy class. I'm sure you'll manage. Good luck!" Hermione smiles as she turns the corner.
Dennis turns his head to walk into greenhouse and bumps into Neville. Startled, "Oh sorry! I didn't mean to get in the way." Neville quickly spits out. "No, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. I should pay more is the second time I bumped into someone already. Is herbology your first class today too?" asks Dennis. "Y-yeah, there is an empty seat by me. You can sit next to me...i-if you want to." Neville suggests. The boys walk into the greenhouse where class is held. Dennis is stopped by a plump woman with gray curly locks of hair. "Hello and Welcome to herbology I am Professor Sprout! You must be Dennis Vorhis, yes?" "Yes ma'am." Dennis takes notice of the leaf in her nest of hair and her scent being an odd mixture of lavender and manure.
"Welcome Class, today we have a new student joining us. Please introduce yourself and give us one thing about you." She gestures to Dennis and immediately all eyes transfer to him. "Hi, my name is Dennis Vorhis and I moved here recently from America." The students all smile and quietly speak to each other about Dennis. An American student at Hogwarts is very uncommon so the students take a liking to him as their token American classmate. 25 minutes into class, Dennis is sitting at the table with his arm supporting his chin. He is feeling rather bored and uninterested. He glances to his right at Neville. He takes notice of Neville's focused expression and is impressed by the many paragraphs of notes he has already taken. "You must really like this class huh?" Dennis nudges Neville. "O-oh yeah. Herbology has been my fa-" "Boys, pay attention please!" Ms. Sprout calls out. Dennis lets out a huff and turns his attention back to the front. Neville looks at Dennis. "He smells like peppermint" Neville unintentionally thinks out from under his breath. "Hm?" Dennis turns to Neville. "N-nothin" Neville quickly turns his head to his paper with red cheeks. Dennis turns his attention back to Professor Sprout as she prattles on about man-sized carnivorous plants and their juice.
Dennis dozes off. He naps quietly as he has a flower pot in front of his head to conceal his snoozing. His cardigan draped over him like a curtain. His outerwear was always larger than him and this gave him a somewhat feeble appearance.
Half the day had already blurred by. Dennis was enjoying himself but felt a tad peckish. It was time to gather in the Great Hall. The smell of food permeated the entire room. "Hey Dennis!" Harry and Ron waved. Dennis smiled and sat with his new friends. "So, how are you enjoying Hogwarts?" Harry asks. "It's beautiful right?" Hermione chimes in. "Yeah it's beautiful here. I really like the courtyard. The classes are fun but this day kinda went by quickly for me." Dennis answers. "Lucky you, I was scolded by Professor Snape again for walking too fast in the hall. I swear that man is out to get me." says the Weasley boy. Then, heads turn towards a boy with a Band-Aid on his cheek. "Neville? What happened to you?" Harry asks in concern. "Draco." Mutters Neville. "That smarmy boy."growls Hermione. Dennis scoots over to allow space for Neville to sit. "May I?" Dennis asks "Huh? OW!" Dennis peels off the Band-Aid and recites an incantation. "Episkey" The wound disappears. "Good as new." "Th-thank you. Neville smiles." The others smile at Dennis' kindness and go back to their chatter.
As everyone is eating, the twins look at Dennis. "So America, what are your favorite pastimes? asks a curious Fred. "I like to go for jogs and collect crystals." Dennis responds with a gleam in his eye. "Do you miss home?" asks the other twin George. "So much, yes. But, it's safer here." he answers with a bit of a quiver in his voice. Fred sensing the hint of sadness in the boy's tone, promptly changes the subject. "What's your family like? Do you like your new home?" his face brightens up." My mom is a Healer and my dad is Surveillor. Our house is better than the one we formerly lived in but the colors are so dreary. We live near a Banshee's cave so we're usually not out at night." Neville turns to Dennis "My grandmother says she used to be haunted by a Banshee. Did you know laughing potions are effective in warding them off? Seamus keeps them in a box next to his bed. He's deathly afraid of them." "My mom keeps a few in her dresser next to her bed too. I had apparently lost an aunt to a Banshee." Seamus uneasily looks out the window toward the field. Lunch is over and it is now time to resume classes.
A couple hours pass by and the last class of the day is Potions. This class was taught by Professor Severus Snape. Ron informs Dennis, "Look out, Snape seems to be walking towards you" and retreats behind Dennis to stand by Harry and Hermione. "Ah, yes. I expected you Mr. Vorhis. You will be sitting in between Mr. Longbottom and Ms. Patil." Dennis thanks him and walks to his seat and prepares his notebook for class. "Doesn't he scare you?" Ron quietly asks. "Not really. He doesn't seem that bad" Dennis shrugs. "He'll get to you eventually. Be careful." Ron warns as he finds his seat in the dark quiet room. Dennis sits next to Parvati and Neville, nudging Neville's arm as to say hello again. Today the class was to create a "Calming Draught" potion. This potion is used to calm the nerves of one who suffers from shock or has an emotional outburst. One boy, Seamus accidentally creates a potion which gives the opposite effect and as a result received a D on today's course. Professor Snape swiftly hits him on the top of the head with a book. Apparently, that was a common punishment to failure in his class.