William Doren

William Doren
Gender: Male
Height: Average

Blood status: Halfblood
Raised in: Wizarding
Home: Ashbound -- Doren Estate

Boggart: A giant plant that will try to trap him in it's vines.

Patronus: Unknown
William is quiet and reserved, which makes him seem cold or closed off to others. He, admittedly, doesn’t have a lot of strong connections with his peers – or even his family members – but he is respectful of others if he feels as though they have earned it (like teachers, his older sister or his parents). He would never dream of breaking any rules or do anything to draw negative attention to himself or his family. Keeping people at a distance allows William to focus more on himself and his studies, which he tries to do to the best of his ability.

Despite being privileged enough to have numerous tutors throughout his childhood, William isn’t the most academically gifted. He struggles to do well in classes and exams, though seems to fair a bit better with homework assignments. This has led him to feeling overwhelmed by feelings of insecurity about his place in his family. It’s a constant worry that he is letting everyone down, but this fuels his ambition and determination to succeed.

He has a tendency to push himself too hard, and considers it completely normal to sacrifice sleep / free time for homework or improving his magical skills.

Raised with impeccable manners, a lot of what William really feels or thinks is hidden under a carefully composed exterior. He tends to talk in a ‘proper’ way which can seem out of place or amusing to others -- for example, he refers to classmates by their surnames, refuses to use nicknames, and would say do not instead of don’t. He keeps his expressions fairly neutral whenever possible, and his voice is monotone and low. William loathes to waste words; it’s completely normal for him to remain silent or ignore others.

He’ll opt to keep his thoughts to himself if he thinks someone is being particularly tiring or wasteful of his time. William can seem more ‘laid-back’ than his sisters because of this, but it’s mostly because it’s hard to bother him -- since he doesn’t really understand a lot of the references his classmates make or understand any slang they use.

Recent events that rocked his family have left William feeling more uncertain and lost. Without his mother or father to guide him, he is struggling with his sense of identity and questioning himself more. After all, he spent the majority of his life being told how to talk, how to act, and how to feel -- it’s hard to shake off those habits and be his own person.

Personal hobbies seem absurd to William, and he has zero interest in Quidditch -- which can make it hard for him to talk to his peers. He didn’t grow up socialising with other children (outside his siblings) and a lot of what his classmates talk about is lost on him. It doesn’t help that he is easily startled if someone addresses him or he has to interact with an unknown person (or any living thing really; he’s not great with creatures or plants either). He doesn’t know how to ‘have fun’ the way his classmates might.

And the changes aren’t welcomed by William. He liked the way things were and, while from the outside it can be easy to assume his upbringing was strict or unloving, he thinks his childhood was perfectly normal. William doesn’t like talking about himself or his family, and is rather private in that respect. Since his family have been mentioned in the Daily Prophet, he is struggling with any new attention that is directed his way -- he’d rather be left alone, and for things to go back to how they were before.
William learned very quickly in life that his parent’s word was absolute and he shouldn’t question them. He followed the example led by his older sister, but was notably more reserved and quiet compared to Elizabeth. William dutifully attended to his studies with the various tutors hired to mould him into the perfect son.

Going to Hogwarts was a privilege, and William worked hard in order to earn it. He threw himself into his various studies and, while he struggled with learning each subject pushed his way, William re-doubled his efforts. He didn’t want to get left behind -- especially when Elizabeth had already started at school.

The quiet of their home never bothered William, and he found himself preferring to be indoors with a book to study over exploring the grounds. Not that he would dare think about breaking rules like that. He was told to remain indoors or face consequences. Whenever he did peer out of his bedroom windows, William would look over the grounds and be glad he was indoors.

Despite any attempts to quash his imagination, William suffered from bad dreams of being trapped outside his family home. The grounds would grow up around him, and large plants with long vines would chase /  trap him. He would scream, but no one came to rescue him. These dreams always ended with William waking up suddenly, but luckily he never screamed.

Doing so would surely disappoint his parents. He doesn’t have these nightmares any more, but he is distrustful of plants regardless.

William didn’t make many attempts to socialise with his younger sister before he left for Hogwarts. He was more concerned with doing his family proud, and he felt relieved he had earned the right to go to school. William quickly noticed how different he was from his classmates but that didn’t bother him. He simply was more focused and knew the importance of being at school.

He didn’t have time for their silly games or idle chit-chat, and was very shocked to discover he had to share a bedroom with other boys. This was a discomfort he had to get over quickly but that doesn't mean he likes it. William looks forward to going home for the holidays so he can have his own room again.

At school, he realised he was good at theoretical subjects over practical ones -- anything that let him memorise the subject rather than improvise was always welcomed. In particular, he has a dislike for the noise and disruption that can often be found in a Charms lesson, even though he likes the idea of precise wand movements and proper pronunciation to make the spells work.

Lately, William has been struggling more at school. This is mostly due to what happened with his family over the summer holidays and the new attention directed onto the Doren name. He feels lost without his parent’s guidance, and is distrustful of Ministry workers who try to ‘help’. William, for now, doesn’t think his parents have done anything wrong, and wishes for things to return to normal.

He has stayed focused on his classwork in the hopes that he will have good grades to show his parents and make them proud of him.