Ian Harris
From Dunehelden
Ian Harris is a freshman literature major at Dunehelden University. He is a mage that specializes in illusions.
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[edit] Bio
[edit] Pre-Dunehelden
Ian is an only child. At a young age, Ian began to see small objects that did actually exist. These hallucinations only grew worse as he grew older. His parents sent him to various psychologists, but no one could figure out why Ian was seeing things that weren't real. During high school, Ian's hallucinations grew to extreme levels, and he began to have violent spasms and shakes. He made several trips to the hospital during this time, but like the psychologists when he was younger, the doctors couldn't figure out the reason for Ian's psychological problems. Because of his "mental illness", Ian was rejected from normal society, and spent most of his adolescence alone.
Towards the end of his high school career, Ian's hallucinations began to affect other people, who started to see things as well. The most notable was a boy named Dylan Caldwell, who was affected by the illusions to the point where he killed his father, and now resides at a mental facility. Dylan's mother, Wendy Caldwell, was heartbroken by the loss, and physically and verbally assaulted Ian at Dylan's father's funeral. After Ian's graduation, he drove his car into a river, thinking there was a bridge there. The doctor who treated him, Doctor Ben Fowler, realized what was going on and recommended that Ian be sent to Dunehelden. Ian's parents rushed the paperwork and two days later, Ian was sent away to Dunehelden University.
[edit] Breaking In
Ian first arrived at Dunehelden very late at night. He was sent to the headmistress's office, where he was given his room assignment and uniform. He was then given a quick tour of the school by Liam Farrell. The next day, Ian was introduced to Seele, and had a rather nasty encounter with the librarian, Fable, from which he was rescued by Zephyros Aetai. He also had an argument with Aramis Aldin about whether or not magic could be used casually, which ended in Aramis becoming sick and being sent to the sick bay. Ian's cousin Paula Harris emailed him to tell him that his family had moved on without him, and Ian realized Dunehelden was his only home now.
[edit] Professor Conall's reign of terror
A few days after arriving at Dunehelden, Ian hallucinated being back home in his room. Disturbed by what he saw, he went looking for Diana Harrows at the end of the day. While looking for her, he ran into Jaebi Lyckander, who told him that a vampire named Conall had woken up from a coma. Even though he didn't know who Conall was, Ian went with Diana to find Ellie Evans-Barros. After the two found her, Conall himself showed up. Ian attempted to slow Conall down by creating an illusion of fire surrounding Conall. However, Conall's mind retaliated and forced Ian to view scenes from his past, finally knocking him out. Jaebi and Ellie transported him to the sick bay.
Ian woke up in the sick bay the next morning, with no idea whether or not Conall was dead. Ellie attempted to help soothe the pain in his head from contact with Conall's mind, but she avoided his questions about Conall. Eventually, thought, she did indicate to him that Conall was dead. After this, Ian was questioned by Veronique Poulain about his involvement in the death of Conall. He answered that he knew nothing, and while he believed himself to be fine, Veronique and Ellie thought otherwise.
[edit] Frankenstein
After his encounter with Conall, Ian decided that he needed to get in better shape, and began making trips to the gym. It was during one of these excursions that he met Natalie Burns, who he became friends with. However, his nervousness around her seemed to suggest that Ian had deeper feelings for Natalie.
During his first mage class following the death of Conall, everything suddenly changed. While practicing creating an illusion of a human being, something suddenly went wrong with Ian's magic, resulting in his illusion appearing in the real world. Despite attempts by Istvan and Liam to smooth the situation over, things spiraled out of control. Lamadre showed a particular interest in the accident, closing in on Ian. However, before too much could happen, Veronique appeared on the scene and, upon learning what happened, ordered Ian to go to her office, along with the boy he created.
In the office, a frustrated Veronique called in Smoke, who dealt with the situation. The boy adapted the name Jonathan Harris, and Ian offered to allow Jonathan to live in his room. While Jonathan left to take a walk, Smoke asked Ian a few more questions about what happened. Although it seemed that Smoke seemed to have a few ideas as to what happened, Ian had no idea what happened. After the conversation was over, Ian went to the courtyard and discovered Jonathan had been in a fight.
[edit] Jonathan
Ian spend the next few days being followed around by Jonathan, who seemed to take pleasure in torturing Ian. During one argument, Ian and Jonathan encountered a mysterious act of vandalism in the Assembly Hall. During the ensuing conversation, Ian was forced to step in and stop a fight between Seele and Jonathan. The group had no idea how the symbols had appeared.
During another argument in the courtyard, Ian was shoved into Jason Hiller, who was painting. The ensuing fight between Zephyros and Jonathan was ended only when Ian told Zephyros that Veronique was coming. After the fight, when Jonathan showed no appreciation for Ian saving him from Zephyros, Ian threw a rock at him.
The next day, Ian had lunch with Natalie, Zephyros, and Aritha Kairavi. During the conversation, uncomfortable topics were brought up in both Ian and Zephyros' pasts. After the girls left, Ian and Zephyros shared their most shocking experiences with each other. Ian told Zephyros about being verbally and physically assaulted by Dylan's mother at Dylan's father's funeral. He left the conversation feeling a little better, knowing that someone else was helping him keep his secret. He also encountered Liam in the hallways, and the two talked about their unfortunate past experiences. When Seele arrived, Ian attempted to explain off Jonathan's actions.
Later in the day, Ian took some of his books on magic, which he was reading to attempt to explain both Conall's effect on Ian's magic and Jonathan's creation, and went to the courtyard. It was there that Ian encountered Korlian, and the two became fast friends. Ian shared with Korlian some of his past experiences, and also developed suspicions that Korlian was more than he appeared. The conversation ended with Ian climbing up and joining Korlian in a tree, allowing him to loosen up. After this, Ian reunited with Jonathan and was involved in a fight between Jonathan, Thrall, and Carmen.
Sometime during this time, Ian went to Professor Vincent Hawk to talk about his apparent feelings for Natalie. Vincent cautioned patience, and Ian agreed with his advice. Vincent also warned Ian that he needed to watch out and make sure his powers didn't hurt Natalie, as Ian still did not fully have control of them. Ian then encountered Natalie and Ariel Hawk in the student lounge, and Natalie decided to give Ian private acting lessons so the two could try out for the Halloween play together.
After the misunderstanding between Jason Hiller, Jonathan, and Zephyros, Ian encountered a devastated Zephyros in the hallway. When he learned that Jonathan was the cause of Zephyros' pain, he rushed off to confront the boy. Jonathan did not take well to the confrontation, beating Ian savagely before fleeing. Ian was discovered by Liam and Aramis, and the two got him to the sick bay. Aramis took care of Ian while dealing with Jason's injuries.
As Zepyhros was recovering from his own suicide attempt, Ian entered the sick bay briefly and spoke with the two. He revealed his own suicide attempt after Wendy's assault, and attempted to help the two lovers understand why their actions were wrong. Shortly after, Ian left to continue recovering from Jonathan's beating.
[edit] Home Again
A few days after the incidents with Jason and Zephyros, Ian passed out in the shower after running in the gym. When he woke up, he hallucinated that he was in his high school gym. Believing that Dunehelden was an illusion, Ian became depressed and angry. When Liam discovered him, Ian believed that Liam was a boy from his high school, and hit him in the face before running.
It took several days for anyone to hear from Ian. Eventually, Jonathan showed up at Aramis' room in the early morning hours and offered to lead him to Ian. Jonathan showed Aramis where Ian was living in his hallucination in an abandoned part of the castle, and Aramis knocked Ian out and took him to the sick bay.
Ian woke up the next morning. Seeing himself at Dunehelden, he realized Dunehelden was real. Overjoyed, he reunited with Aramis and Liam. However, he was suspicious of Jonathan and why his creation had suddenly decided to help him.
[edit] A Midwinter Night's Dream
Ian was cast as the jester in the halloween play, The Masque of Red Death. Shortly before the play, he spoke with Natalie briefly backstage, and then went onstage and took part in the scene. When Korlian and Lhachlhass appeared in their true forms, Ian recognized Korlian before the dream started.
During the dream, Ian and Natalie were forced to relive each other's memories. Through this, they gained a new understand of what led each to Dunehelden, and made the decision to become romantically involved at the end.
After waking up, Ian located Jonathan in the auditorium. Jonathan then pinned Ian to the wall and forced him to begin researching what Jonathan was and why the accident happened. He also encountered Korlian and spoke briefly with him, before going at this task full steam, and shortly afterwards, he presented his theory to Smoke.
[edit] Twelve Days of Christmas
Ian attended the Winter Waltz with Natalie. The two chatted with several guests, including Jason, Zeph, Alex Meriweather, and Hitoshi Gilespi. It became apparent that Ian was very concerned about Jonathan's involvement in the Waltz, but suppressed his fear enough to dance with Natalie. When Natalie left, Ian headed over to the refreshment table and has not spoken or moved since.
[edit] Personality
Ian is timid and easily frightened. He has a rather nasty curious streak, and is particularly interested in magical things. Ian's hand sometimes shakes for no apparent reason, a quirk left over from his violent spasms during high school. He also seems to be unwilling to look people directly in the eye. He seems, however, to be losing his nervous stutter as he grows more comfortable at Dunehelden, although he still lacks the ability to look people in the eye.
[edit] Alternate Universe
Ian appears in an alternate universe series of events set the summer after his freshman year. In "The Gift of the Winds", he is traveling with Paula, now a professor at Dunehelden, and receives an email from Jason that Zepyhros is in danger. While Paula goes to assist the two, Ian travels to London, where he stays with Natalie before returning to Paris to meet up with Paula.
In the spinoff, "This is a GREAT idea...", Ian plays a much larger role. He and Paula venture to a nightclub for an unspecified reason. While there, Ian witnesses a dealer selling mage blood to a vampire, and is almost killed by said dealer. Paula, Korlian, and Istvan intervene, and Ian is saved. Ian then protests Korlian and Istvan staying in his hotel room until the next day, when the four will attempt to track down the dealer's supplier, Jacques. The group then decides to use Jacques to lead them to the people who are harvesting the mage blood for sale, and Ian, along with Istvan, is on stakeout duty the day that Jacques attempts to run. However, when the group arrives, they find all of the harvesters dead, a nearly-dead Aramis, and a mysterious electronic voice claiming to be responsible.
Ian then travels back to America with the group, but does not go along with them to interrogate Jonathan. During the break-in at Greenhaven, Ian and Paula attempt to enter through the front door, with Ian erasing the two from the minds of those in the lobby. However, they are detected and subdued. Ian then wakes up in a cell in the secure wing, and is the first person to be released. As they are leaving, the voice tells him that he is going after Natalie next, and Ian panics. Returning to the hotel, he wakes Aramis up and presses for the group to leave for London right away.
When they arrive in London, Ian goes ahead to fill Natalie in on the situation alone.
In "Summer Isn't Over Yet", Ian is working to track down the voice on the computer. He appears twice, once to inform Paula about Zeph's message, and again to tell Zeph and Jason that Natalie has woken up from her coma.
[edit] Behind the Scenes
Ian is named for Ian Andrews from The Undead and Paula Harris from The Ghost of Springfield High. He quite will be making a small appearance in the novelization of The Ghost of Springfield High, and he is tentatively written into the musical itself, as a small spoken role.
His middle name is Jonathan.
He has a blog called "Questionable Sanity".
He will feature heavily in the "Intrusion" story arc.
