User Profile

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Character Name: Dorcas Anne Meadows
Age and Birthday: 16, born May 6, 1959
Hogwarts Year: 6th year
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor

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Personality and History:
Dorcas Meadows was born on May 6, 1959 to muggle parents, June and Davis Meadows, in Suffolk, UK. The youngest of 6 children, Dorcas is both the only girl in her family and the only witch or wizard. Since she lives in an area of Suffolk that's about as middle-of-nowhere as it is possible to get, she spent most of her childhood running around trying to keep up with her older brothers, Mark, William, Charlie, Thomas and Jacob, making occasional trips down to the sea to splash around or throw rocks at passing birds. Fortunately for the Suffolk wildlife, their aim was rather lacking, and the Meadows children were satisfied to miss and make a particularly large splash.

Since her family was firmly lower-middle class, they couldn't exactly afford to freshly outfit six growing children, and Dorcas ended up wearing a lot of her brothers' old clothes. Because of this, Dorcas was never one to care much about clothes, perfectly content in an old, baggy sweatshirt and rolled up blue jeans, searching the ocean or the brook near her home for fish, tadpoles and whatever else might be lurking there. For whatever reason, she has always loved the water, in spite or because of the fact that her brothers elected to throw her into it so many times. Her father, Davis, took to calling the girl “Ricochet” from a young age, a reference to the girl’s inability to stop and sit still.

Dorcas began showing signs of magic at a very young age, though her family certainly didn't recognize them for what they were. When one of her brothers, Jacob, made her especially angry on her fifth birthday, a glass plate went flying at his head of its own volition. Her very confused father had to calm down her hysterical grandmother, who was certain that the Germans had started another air raid composed of the Meadows family's more chipped china. A series of similar incidents followed, one involving the family goldfish suddenly leaping out of its' bowl and flying around the sitting room. The incidents lead the family to believe that their house might perhaps be haunted by a particularly mischievous poltergeist. The old house had been in the family for centuries, it seemed almost probable, really.

The problems with this “poltergeist” grew so frequent that, when Dorcas was 9, the Meadows’ family asked the local priest to attempt an exorcism, which was alarmingly unsuccessful. In fact upon his entrance to the Meadow’s residence, it seems that the old man’s hair suddenly caught fire, sending him running from the house and sending Dorcas into a fit of giggles before her mother, in turn, sent her to bed. When her Hogwarts letter arrived on Dorcas' eleventh birthday, it really came as something a relief to the Meadows family. With the relief that they didn’t have to sell the house and move far enough away that the ghost couldn’t find them came the excitement that the youngest Meadows child was special: in fact, she was, apparently, magic. Adventurous as Dorcas was, she eagerly awaited the beginning of school that September, being the end of her home schooling and the beginning of a very exciting future.

When Dorcas arrived at Hogwarts, she was sorted easily into Gryffindor House, though the hat also thought that she would have made an excellent Hufflepuff. As a fun, feisty tomboy with a creamy complexion (that always seems to burn rather than tan) and vibrant, strawberry-blonde hair, Dorcas has always been pretty happy wherever she was. She likes to laugh and she loves to go outside with whoever happens to be around and available. Though she doesn’t enjoy studying or sitting around reading book after book of the same information, she excels at the more practical subjects in her school, especially Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions, which would completely shock her mother since Dorcas couldn’t cook to save her life. She’s often pretty scatterbrained, and sometimes rather clumsy. Her grades are mostly quite good, though she did fail her Divination and History of Magic OWL’s fantastically. Fortunately, her slacker tendencies coupled with the fact that she signed up for her electives too late landed her in Muggle Studies, which always brings her average up.

She may not be one of the most popular people at Hogwarts, but there are few people outside of Slytherin House who could honestly say that they hated her. Some, but perhaps not none. Dorcas does have quite a temper, and can be dangerous when she’s crossed, or when someone she cares about is. Quite apart from that, of course, is that she is often seen to be rather strange. Her idea of what is and is not acceptable for a lady to be doing is very, very different from the more uppity Hogwarts families’ ideas. Not to mention that her interests, which include things ranging from football to quidditch to the marine life in the lake to mystery and adventure novels, are often viewed as rather curious by most. And when she likes something, she usually loves it. She has a fondness for folk music and a number of other bands and musicians who were before her time. Her first and longest lasting childhood crush was on Frank Sinatra, and to be honest, she’d be lying if she said it had really gone away. Her favorite book is, unquestionably, Treasure Island.

She is more likely to have male friends than female friends, particularly due to the fact that she usually finds girlish activities distasteful. She hasn’t had a manicure once in her entire life, partially because the mere smell of nail polish makes her cringe. She almost never wears makeup, as Dorcas has never though herself pretty, or even potentially so. From a young age, she’s known that adults found her cute, with her wavy reddish hair and a smattering of freckles, but beauty has always been elusive, so she’s never really gone after it. Though she sometimes feels bitter that she seems to be one of the only girls who is just hopelessly not-pretty, she has come to embrace her place as “one of the guys.” The only item of jewelry that she ever wears is a silver, heart-shaped locket, a gift from her paternal grandmother when she was born, that has been in the family for years. She wears this with everything: everything being her school uniform in some state of disarray or a loose t-shirt, jeans and trainers. She has an interest in being an Auror when she graduates.

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The Present
As of her sixth year at Hogwarts, Dorcas is really starting to come into her own and try new things. She still flat out refuses to wear makeup or try nail polish as a general rule, she did put on some mascara and wear a dress at a school dance. But she still went with a friend, because dating is pointless when you're sixteen. It's not like you're going to marry someone you meet in school, right?

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Sample RP:
Rolling out of bed at a quarter to eight, Dorcas slammed down the off button on her alarm clock and rolled out of bed. Reluctant to get up but knowing that she had to get something to eat before classes began, she gave a huge yawn as she threw her long hair into a messy ponytail, tucking a loose strand behind her ear. After throwing on her uniform, shirt only half-buttoned under her grey vest, Dorcas realized that she was still missing her left shoe. Unable to locate it in her trunk, Dorcas squirmed under her bed, shoving crumpled-up bits of parchment out from under it and pushing a box of God-Knows-What out of her way. Finally, her hand came in contact with smooth leather, and she yanked it out from under her bed, stepping into it quickly and buckling the shoe. Grabbing her bag, Dorcas made her way to the door, down the stairs, and to the portrait hole before she heard someone shout her name. Pausing, Dorcas turned to face one of the other stragglers. “What is it?” she asked, itching to get downstairs and eat something.

“Nice boxers,” the girl, looking particularly amused, finally replied, “but I think you’ve forgotten your skirt.”

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Dorcas Meadows belongs to J.K. Rowling. Kirsten Dunst belongs, presumably, to herself, though I hear she also belongs to Jake Gyllenhaal. Scandalous!

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