Harry Potter bio

Name: Harry Potter Age: 37 by the end of the 7th book House: Gryffindor Distinguishing Characteristics: Most famously, a scar shaped like a bolt of lightning on his forehead, caused by Voldemort's attempt to kill him with the Avada Kedavra curse. Harry looks just like his father, James, except for his green eyes which he gets from his mother, Lily. Harry has round glasses (no longer held together with Sellotape), and can speak Parseltongue (snake language), which is a very rare ability. Heritage: Half-Blood Family: Only son of James and Lily Potter (both deceased). Adopted against their will by his aunt Petunia Dursley and her husband Vernon Dursley. First Mention: Chapter One of The Sorcerer's Stone. General: Harry rose to prominence on the night of 31st October 1981, at the age of 15 months, when Lord Voldemort tried to kill him. His parents both died in the attack, with his mother specifically begging Voldemort to kill her instead of her son. Voldemort (never one for a fair deal), killed her and then tried to kill Harry anyway. Sadly for the Dark Lord, he has rather a dodgy memory and forgot that the sacrifice of a life in this way is a very powerful counter-curse. Hence his attempt to kill Harry simply rebounded on him. Interestingly enough it didn't kill him either (due to his progress on his life's work of achieving immortality), making them the only two people ever to have survived the Avada Kedavra curse. Voldemort wanted to kill Harry because of a prophecy which stated that a child answering Harry's description would be the one who had the power to kill him, and he wanted to get in first. This makes it a shame for him that he made such a mess of it, but it didn't end there. Not only did Harry survive, but many of Voldemort's powers passed into him, such as the ability to speak Parseltongue. This, along with Harry's exceptional wizarding heritage, has made Harry a young wizard of great ability in many areas, especially that of Defence Against the Dark Arts. He's not up to much at History of Magic or Potions though. Probably as a result of his experiences (including repeated brushes with Voldemort), Harry has changed more than most of his peers during his time at Hogwarts. Whilst his friends have just steadily matured (perhaps with the odd glitch), Harry has turned from a wide-eyed idealistic 11-year-old into an angst-ridden raging adolescent. And what with Voldemort's latest trick having been to kill his godfather it's unlikely that he's going to calm down any in the near future Despite some half-hearted denials, there is still a possibility that Harry and Voldemort are linked in some way, and possibly even related. All will, no doubt, become clear as time goes on.

Minerva McGonagall bio

Name: Minerva McGonagall.

Age: Approximately 70.

House: Gryffindor.

Distinguishing Characteristics: Professor McGonagall is distinguished by her square-framed glasses and her black hair scraped back severely into a bun. She is a registered animagus, with her animal form being a tabby cat.

Heritage: Unknown.

Family: Unknown.

First Mention: Chapter One of The Sorcerer’s Stone.

General: Minerva McGonagall is famous for two things: firstly she is a very strict, no-nonsense teacher of Transfiguration, held in respect (and some fear) by all students. Secondly, she is a avid Quidditch fanatic. These two facets demonstrate the conflicting sides of her personality: on the one hand she is strict, severe and unsmiling, whilst on the other she longs for her house to be victorious in a trivial sporting event.

Nobody can be in any doubt who is in charge when Professor McGonagall is teaching a class – even Dolores Umbridge was treated with very little respect (and a good deal of contempt) when attempting to assert her authority in McGonagall’s classroom. She tolerates no misbehaviour, and commands the attention of the whole of her class. Unlike Professor Snape, she is also careful to take an even-handed approach to discipline with all pupils, punishing those from her house even when this could mean losing the House Cup.

Professor McGonagall is a Deputy Head of Hogwarts and the Head of Gryffindor house. In this capacity, it is unlikely that she would take her unbiased approach to discipline as far as to harm her beloved Quidditch team. Indeed, when she caught Harry disobeying Madam Hooch’s instructions and flying a broomstick having been told not to (albeit in an attempt to retrieve Neville’s Remembrall from Malfoy) her reaction was to appoint him Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team rather than to punish him.

This one small distraction aside, however, Minerva McGonagall is strict, straight and fair at all times. She is also fiercely supportive of Professor Dumbledore and his natural successor as Head of Hogwarts, and as such is should be considered prudent by all of the pupils to stay on the right side of her.

Neville Longbottom bio

Name: Neville Longbottom.

Age: 36 by the end of the 7th book

House: Gryffindor.

Distinguishing Characteristics: Neville is relatively poor at magic and struggles with a lot of his subjects. He is also exceptionally forgetful. At one stage he received a Remembrall in order to help in this respect, but keeps forgetting what it’s reminding him to remember.

Heritage: Pure-blood.

Family: Son on Alice and Frank Longbottom, product of a respected wizarding family.

First Mention: Chapter Six of The Sorcerer’s Stone.

General: Neville has suffered an particularly unfortunate early life. His parents were both Aurors and active members of the Order of the Phoenix. They were captured by Death Eaters shortly after the fall of Voldemort (when Neville was only a year old) and tortured using the Cruciatus Curse by Bellatrix Lestrange, amongst others. This drove them to permanent insanity, and they have been resident for the past 15 years in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, unable to even recognise their son.

Neville was brought up by his kind but overbearing grandmother. He still makes occasional trips to St Mungo’s to visit his parents, but does not speak to any of his friends about this area of his life. His lack of magical prowess led many members of his family to believe he was a Squib for a number of years. An incident when his Uncle Algie dropped him out of an upstairs window and he bounced down the garden rather than being injured proved he was a wizard, and he was subsequently invited to attend Hogwarts.

Despite his outer slowness, Neville has an admirable inner strength, which continues to evolve further as he gets older. He was a member of Dumbledore’s Army, where his excellent progress very much impressed Harry, and also fought in the battle in the Department of Mysteries, although with limited effect.

The only school subject at which Neville does well (his progress in Dumbledore’s Army aside) is Herbology. He is particularly poor at Potions, and is bullied mercilessly by Professor Snape. When asked to name his greatest fear during Professor Lupin’s Defence Against the Dark Arts class, his choice was in fact Snape. Neville has shown considerably strength of character to withstand the harassments (by both staff and students) he has been subjected to, and it is likely that this resolve will be tested against more malevolent opposition in the further books.

Olympe Maxime

Name: Olympe Maxime.

Age: Unknown.

House: N/A. Presumably she attended Beaxbatons.

Distinguishing Characteristics: Madam Maxime is a half-giant, and hence the largest person Harry has ever seen with the exception of Hagrid. She is in fact (in Harry’s opinion) almost exactly the same height as Hagrid.

Heritage: Half-giant.

Family: Unknown.

First Mention: Chapter Fifteen of Goblet of Fire.

General: Madam Maxime is the Headmistress of Beaxbatons school of witchcraft and wizardry. She makes her first appearance at Hogwarts when arriving with her entourage for the Triwizard Tournament of 1994-95 in an enormous flying power-blue carriage, pulled by Abraxan winged horses.

Her immense size apart, she is a powerful woman in many ways. She is respected by Dumbledore (and perhaps even grudgingly by Karkaroff) and doted on by Hagrid, whilst inspiring a sense of wonder in most people who see her. It’s not hard to work out why: she is graceful despite her size (and reputedly an excellent dancer), with handsome olive-skinned features, huge black eyes, and sleek hair drawn back from her face. She dresses from top to toe in black satin, and is laden with opal jewellery. She even speaks excellent English, albeit with a strong French accent.

Such was the impression that she made on Hagrid that he immediately started trying to impress her: he filled his hair with revolting sludge, wore his best ill-fitting clothes, and even went as far as to show her the Triwizard Tournament dragons while they were still meant to be a secret. It’s unclear whether she was impressed by this (chances are that she wasn’t, what with her being a woman of style and taste) but either way, Hagrid well and truly blew it at the Yule Ball. It was here that he put it to Olympe that she was a half-giant just like him – he was right of course, but she was not impressed that she’d been rumbled.

Things only got worse following Rita Skeeter’s article in the Daily Prophet claiming that Hagrid was a dangerous half-breed, a development which left him in something of an emotional mess. By June, however, following the tragic end of the Triwizard Tournament, they were friends again. Hagrid even managed to convince her to accompany him to the mountains of Eastern Europe in an attempt to win the support of the Giants for the war against Voldemort.

The friendship between Hagrid and Maxime developed during this trip with each of them seemingly impressed by the other, even though the expedition ended in failure. Olympe certainly showed another side to her personality during this time: normally used to jewels, satin and the finer things in life, she showed an admirable ability to cope with the hardships of travelling through the mountains and negotiating with 20-foot psychopaths. She had at last (to Hagrid at least) admitted her heritage, and at the same time shown herself to be a remarkably adaptable woman.

Parvati and Padma Patil

Name: Parvati and Padma Patil.

Age: 37 by the end of the 7th book

House: Gryffindor (Parvati) and Ravenclaw (Padma)

Distinguishing Features: Parvati and Padma are identical twin girls of Asian descent. They have long black hair and are considered to be amongst the prettiest girls in Harry’s year (especially by Dean Thomas).

Heritage: Unknown.

Family: Unknown.

First Mention: Chapter Seven of the Sorcerer's Stone.

General: One of the most curious things about the Patil twins is that they were sorted into different houses. This phenomenon is certainly not unknown, as the Patils’ case aroused mild interest but little surprise, but it is certainly more usual for twins to be sorted into the same house. As it is, Padma was put into Ravenclaw whilst Parvati is in Gryffindor, meaning that rather more is known about her.

Aside from being admired by many boys in their year, the twins are both confident and outgoing, and so have no shortage of friends amongst the girls. Parvati is best friends with Lavender Brown, and both can often be found hanging round Professor Trelawney’s Divination classroom. The two are perhaps unique in the whole of Hogwarts in that they hang on to Professor Trelawney’s every word.

The twins famously accompanied Harry and Ron to the Yule Ball of 1994, with both seeming to be quite happy with the arrangements when they were made. It didn’t take much of the evening for both of the boys to blow it in style, however: Harry spent all his time looking at Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory, whilst Ron could not be distracted from his task of jealously watching Hermione with Viktor Krum. This sort of thing is hardly likely to endear you to your date, and Parvati and Padma duly disappeared in a huff.

Harry at least was forgiven enough for both twins to join Dumbledore’s Army when it was set up in 1995, and despite a tricky period following the Yule Ball when Parvati was making her displeasure known, relations seemed to have thawed somewhat. Whether Padma is talking to Ron again is more of a mystery, however.

Nymphadora Tonks bio

Name: Nymphadora Tonks.

Age: dies at age 25

House: Unknown.

Distinguishing Features: Pale heart-shaped face and dark twinkling eyes. She is a metamorphmagus, which means that she can change her appearance at will, although for day-to-day use she generally confines this ability to altering the colour of her hair. She thought that violet made her look peaky, and so stuck with bright bubble-gum pink for the majority of 1995-1996.

Heritage: Half-Blood. Her father, Ted Tonks, is a Muggle-born.

Family: Daughter of Ted Tonks and Andromeda Black. Hence she is the niece of Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, and the first cousin once removed of Sirius Black.

First Mention: Chapter Three of Order of the Phoenix.

General: There is somewhat more to Nympadora Tonks than meets the eye. At first she seems like any young and slightly rebellious witch – she wears Weird Sisters t-shirts, has patched jeans and brightly-coloured hair, and she greets you with a carefree “Wotcher!”. Beneath the cheery exterior, however, lies a dedicated and fiercely moral woman and a highly-talented young Auror.

Nymphadora despises her first name and prefers to be called by her surname. Initial introductions aside, everyone refers to her simply as “Tonks”. She even goes as far as to refer to her “fool of a mother” who gave her the name, although it seems unlikely that she has any other major issues with her immediate family. She has, after all, chosen a career as an Auror which means devoting her life to fighting against Dark Wizards. Her mother Andromeda was one of very the very few people strong enough to reject the Black family, their pure-blood fanaticism and their Death Eater connections, and for that at least Tonks must be very grateful.

Tonks formed part of the Advance Guard that rescued Harry from the Dursley’s house in 1995. She immediately struck up a relaxed relationship with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, and she gives the strong impression that she can do this with virtually everybody. She was quite happy to discuss her time at Hogwarts (she left in the summer before Harry started) and the fact that she was never made a Prefect due to an inability to behave. Despite her flippancy on the subject, however, it is clear that she was a very gifted student even if she did mess around a lot.

Upon leaving Hogwarts, Tonks took Auror training (excelling in Concealment and Diguise, and nearly failing Stealth and Tracking due to her natural clumsiness), qualifying in 1994. It is not known when she was recruited into the Order of the Phoenix, but it is clear that as a newly-qualified and inexperienced Auror she is taking a number of risks. She has already been involved in a scheme to disguise the whereabouts of Sirius Black, and her Ministry bosses would take a very dim view if they knew what she was keeping from them.

Tonks fought at the battle in the Department of Mysteries, arriving with the other members of the Order. She lost her duel with Bellatrix Lestrange, however, and was badly injured. By the time Harry went home from Hogwarts in June 1996, she had recovered enough to greet him off the train at Kings Cross station, and seemed restored to full health and spirits.

Dobby the House - Elf bio

Name: Dobby Age: Unknown House: N/A Distinguishing Characteristics: Dobby is a house-elf. He is short, with big bat-like ears, bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls, and a long thin nose. In the old days, when he was a servant of the Malfoy family, he wore nothing but an old pillowcase. Following his freedom, he wears as much as he can fit on his body. Dobby has a penchant for beating himself up. Heritage: Elf Family: Unknown First Mention: Chapter One of The Chamber of Secrets. General: Dobby was the downtrodden servant of the Malfoy family for many years, where he was subjected to frequent threats, humiliation and abuse (which is often the lot of the house-elf). Most house-elves seem to accept this as standard practice and do not seek to change it. Dobby, however, disliked his masters and sought to help Harry when he heard that they were plotting against him. This is where the self-abuse comes in: Dobby was breaking his orders and hence had to punish himself. His commitment to Harry’s cause (and his hatred for the Malfoys) was enough to make him willing to do this, however, even if it meant ironing his hands. Harry (with some helpful advice from Dobby along the way) managed to thwart Lucius Malfoy’s plan and even managed to trick him into giving Dobby a sock. The act of giving clothes releases a house-elf from servitude, and so Dobby was free. After enjoying his freedom for a while, Dobby went to work with the large house-elf contingent at Hogwarts, where he is regarded somewhat suspiciously by his peers – firstly for his lack of a submissive attitude, and secondly for the fact that he actually gets paid a nominal amount for his labours. Both of these are seen as scandalous by other house-elves, who want nothing more than to serve. Dobby collects clothes and even attempts to knit them himself, and has maintained his friendship with Harry wherever possible. Knowing the behind-the-scenes routes at Hogwarts as he does (as a house-elf should never be seen), he has proved to be a useful ally.

Rubeus Hagrid bio

Name: Rubeus Hagrid. Age: 67. House: Gryffindor. Distinguishing Characteristics: Hagrid is a half-giant. His mother was the giantess Fridwulfa and his father was a human. This means he is immensely strong and twice the size of a normal man. Heritage: Half-giant. Family: One known half-brother (the giant Grawp). His giant mother has died. His human father died in 1942. First Mention: Chapter One of The Sorcerer's Stone. General: Hagrid (as he is known to all acquaintances – he prefers to be addressed by his surname) is the Keeper of the Grounds and Keys at Hogwarts, a job he is generally considered to be pretty good at. In 1993, he was also appointed Care of Magical Creatures teacher, a job at which he is, at best, hopeless. Despite his immense size, Hagrid seems to have successfully kept his half-giant heritage a secret for the vast majority of his life. Surprisingly few questions seem to have been asked, and those that did wonder about how he came to be so big generally just assumed he had been the victim of some sort of magical accident. He attended Hogwarts from 1940 to 1943, but was expelled at the end of his third year. He had, by this time, already fostered an interest in vicious monsters of all sorts, and at the time was keeping an Acromantula called Aragog as a pet. Whilst this was against school rules it was not an expulsion offence, but he was framed by Tom Riddle who convinced those in authority that Aragog was the creature from the Chamber of Secrets and had attacked and killed a student. The only teacher who believed in Hagrid’s innocence was Professor Dumbledore, who was then the Transfiguration teacher. He persuaded Professor Dippet (the headmaster) to offer Hagrid a position as trainee gamekeeper, from which he advanced to his position of Keeper of the Grounds and Keys by 1990. Hagrid is essentially a kind and gentle man, although somewhat over-fond of ale and with a tendency to be indiscreet after a few. He is also rather irresponsible (trying to raise a baby dragon and illegally creating the dangerous cross-breed he named the Blast-Ended Skrewt are prime examples), although never malicious. He still lives in a single-room hut in the school grounds, despite his promotion to the teaching staff. His roots as a half-giant only came to light when he finally met another half-giant in Olympe Maxime, headmistress of Beauxbatons. He formed a friendship with her, and they travelled together to the mountains of Eastern Europe in the summer of 1995 to make contact with the Giants and attempt to procure their support in the war against Voldemort.

Severus Snape's bio

Name: Severus Snape Age: 36 House: Slytherin Distinguishing Features: A hooked nose, sallow skin and greasy black hair. He also has cold, empty black eyes. He looks, in fact, the perfect villain – sinister, terse and emotionless. Whatever Snape’s bad points are, though (and there are many), he is definitely not the villain. Heritage: Pure-Blood Family: Little known. Pure-blood offspring of an intimidating and overbearing father and a downtrodden mother. First Mention: Chapter Seven of the Sorcerer's Stone. General: Severus Snape is, on the face of it, a very unpleasant man. He uses his position as a senior teacher at Hogwarts to continually bully students he has taken a dislike to (ie those who aren’t from Slytherin), and to blatantly favour his own house. He is petty, vindictive, and able to bear grudges for enormous lengths of time. He is universally disliked (except by Slytherin students of course) mainly due to the fact that he is so fundamentally unlikeable. Yet on the other hand, he is a quite brilliant wizard and potion-maker, a tireless worker for the Order of the Phoenix in the cause against Voldemort at great risk to himself, and a man who is totally and unquestioningly trusted by Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of our time. And, let us not forget, he is the only man ever to have successfully defected from the ranks of the Death Eaters and got out alive, and having pulled off this trick he followed it up with a good stint of spying for the Order of the Phoenix right under the Dark Lord’s nose. The two sides of Severus Snape do not sit happily together, but a glimpse into his life may just start to explain it all a little better. Snape, like Sirius Black, was born into a proud pure-blood family of Muggle-haters and lovers of the Dark Arts. He already knew more curses than most seventh-years when he started at school, testimony not only to his upbringing but also to his genius. Yet his childhood was not a happy one. His father was domineering and quite possibly violent, and the young Severus was a miserable, lonely and socially inept child. When he started at Hogwarts he was easy prey for the much older Lucius Malfoy, who took him under his wing and induced him into his circle of friends, who almost all became Death Eaters. He was also easy prey for the equally talented but obnoxious James Potter, who picked on him mercilessly. Severus’ escape from his unhappy family situation into Hogwarts brought him no relief – he just went from one wretched life to another. And so he followed the only people who had ever given him any sense of belonging – his group of Dark Arts-obsessed Slytherins – far further than sense would have told him he should have done. As far, in fact, as becoming a Death Eater, one of Voldemort’s most trusted followers. Yet with his own personality and dreams belatedly starting to emerge from the depths they had been beaten down to by his succession of unhappy life experiences, even before he was 21 Snape knew he was somewhere he didn’t want to be, and in too deep at that. He took the courageous decision to defect from the Death Eaters, used his immense Occlumency skills to hide his true intentions from his former master, and spied for the Order of the Phoenix. Right up until his downfall, Voldemort never really knew the truth behind this particular follower. Following the break-up of the Death Eaters, Professor Dumbledore was moved to offer Snape a second chance in life and a position teaching at Hogwarts. Snape wished to draw on his expertise and first-hand experiences and teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. Dumbledore, fearing that this position would bring out the worst of the bad parts of Snape’s personality, offered him Potions. He accepted, although he never lost his desire to teach his first-choice subject, and still applies for the job every year (as Hogwarts get through Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers unusually rapidly). Dumbledore inexplicably even turned him down when the only alternative was to have the Ministry of Magic force their own choice of teacher upon him (and hence have the direct line into the school they’d always wanted, allowing them control over school affairs). It’s the view of this website that if you don’t trust somebody, then you don’t make them a teacher. If you trust them enough to make them a teacher, then you trust them enough to teach any subject, particularly those they have unusual expertise in. It has to be said though, however good Snape is at his subjects (and he is very good indeed), for the reasons given earlier, he is a poor teacher. On the other hand, when Voldemort returned, Snape resumed his work for the Order of the Phoenix, taking on a dangerous and secret mission that has yet to be revealed. Clearly Dumbledore and the rest of the Order trust him enough for that, and it once again illustrates the better parts of Snape’s personality – his bravery and commitment to the cause of good. Severus Snape has not had an easy path through life, and has taken some brave and difficult decisions on the way. As a teacher, however, it is hardly his duty to take out his bitterness on his students, yet this is exactly what he does. Particularly if the student in question is a certain Harry Potter.

Vernon Dursley bio

Name: Vernon Dursley Age: Unknown, probably in his fifties by the 7th book House: N/A. He is a muggle. Distinguishing Characteristics: Good at shouting. Very large moustache but very little neck. Hates everything about wizards and wizardry. Heritage: Muggle. Family: Married to Petunia Dursley (nee Evans). One son, Dudley Dursley. Additional adopted son, Harry Potter (his nephew by marriage, and adopted against Vernon’s will). First Mention: Vernon has the honour of being the first person mentioned in the first book. General: Vernon Dursley (“Uncle Vernon” to Harry) is a man who is both very successful (he is director of Grunnings, a drill-making firm) and enormously fat. He also has a moustache which makes it look as though he has superglued an Afghan hound to his upper lip. Vernon likes a number of things: being normal, being seen as successful, and shouting at anybody he feels superior to, which is most people. Harry Potter is one of the few people he hasn’t shouted into submission, a fact which makes him very angry, especially as he didn’t want the damned boy in his house in the first place. Vernon turns purple and blotchy when he is angry and shouts even louder than normal, which is pretty loud. Vernon and his wife are devoted to their son Dudley, who takes very much after his father. Vernon likes to see Dudley eat as much as possible, demand as many presents and treats as possible, and beat up as many small people as possible, congratulating him on being just like his father. By contrast, his cruel streak when applied to Harry knows no bounds. He makes Harry sleep in the cupboard under the stairs instead of a bedroom, deprives him of anything but the most basic food and possessions, and shouts at him as much as possible. Crucially, he is desperate to prevent Harry having any sort of association with the wizarding world. This hatred of Harry and of magic at first sight appears to derive from Petunia’s jealously of Harry’s mother, Lily. Mr and Mrs Evans (both deceased) were delighted that Lily was a witch and Petunia felt very much left out in the cold. Having said this, Vernon’s incredible zeal in attempting to keep Harry away from anything whatsoever to do with magic seems to go beyond both this and his natural desire to appear completely normal to his neighbours. Maybe he really is just trying to keep his wife happy (whilst enjoying a bit of shouting into the bargain), or maybe it goes further than that. We’ll just have to wait and see…

Sirius Black bio

Name: Sirius Black Age: Died aged 36 House: Gryffindor Distinguishing Characteristics: Twelve years in Azkaban has taken it's toll on Sirius' once-handsome face and body. He is thin and somewhat gaunt, with black hair and dark eyes. He is also an unregistered Animagus, able to turn into a large black dog at will. And he's dead. Heritage: Pure-Blood Family: Elder son of fanatical pure-bloods the late Mr and Mrs Black, about whom little is known (except that they're both dead). Younger brother Regulus, who became a Death Eater and was killed by Voldemort's supporters when he tried to back out. First Mention: Chapter One of The Sorcerer's Stone. First appearance is in Prisoner of Azkaban. General: Sirius Black was the best friend of James Potter at Hogwarts. Together with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, they formed The Marauders, who generally hung round together and caused trouble. A product of a proud and ancient pure-blood family, he was initially arrogant and irresponsible himself, before calming down somewhere between his fifth and seventh years. He rebelled against his upbringing at the age of 16 and was disowned by his parents, moving in with James' parents who treated him as a second son. One thing he never lost, however, was his hatred for Severus Snape, which lasted from his schooldays until his death (and was entirely mutual). Upon leaving school, Sirius became a member of the Order of the Phoenix in their fight against Lord Voldemort. People began to realise that information was being passed to the Death Eaters from the Order at this time, and the finger of suspicion pointed at Sirius. James would have none of this, however, and when it became necessary for him to go into hiding protected by the Fidelius Charm, Sirius was his chosen secret-keeper. In an attempt at a double-bluff, Sirius persuaded James to secretly use Peter Pettigrew instead, a decision which was to have fatal consequences. Peter was the true spy in the organisation, and immediately passed the details of James' whereabouts on to Voldemort, with the result that James and Lily were killed, although Harry survived. Following this act of betrayal, Sirius tracked down Peter, only to be outwitted once again - Peter blew up a street full of Muggles and faked his own death. Sirius (still believed by even his closest friends to be the secret-keeper) was arrested for murder and spent 12 years in Azkaban, believed by all to be a traitor and servant of Voldemort. Sirius survived Azkaban without going mad due to the knowledge that he was innocent, and finally escaped by using his ability as an Animagus, which only two other living people knew about. He vowed to track down and kill Peter, who had spent the twelve years in hiding, living undercover as a rat (his own Animagus form). But bad luck befell him yet again, Peter escaped and Sirius was forced to go on the run, unable to prove his innocence. Although living undercover, Sirius joined the re-formed Order of the Phoenix, allowing them to use his old family house as a headquarters. In this he was even working alongside Snape, but although the two were fighting on the same side, they never lost their animosity. During the final battle in the Department of Mysteries, Sirius was struck by a Stupefy spell from Bellatrix Lestrange (his cousin), and subsequently fell through a veil into the world of the dead. The spell was not fatal, but it is unclear whether falling into the afterlife actually kills you or not. Sirius will return in some form, but whether dead or alive remains to be seen.

Lord Voldemort bio

Name: Tom Riddle (aka Lord Voldemort).

Age: 71 by the end of the 7th book

House: Slytherin

Distinguishing Features: Once a tall, handsome man with jet-black hair, Voldemort lost his body when he failed to kill Harry Potter and his Avada Kedavra curse rebounded on him. Nearly 14 years later, he finally regained a permanent physical form through a complex ritual of his own devising. It is not his original body, however. He is now thin and snake-like with unnaturally white skin, wide scarlet eyes and slits for nostrils.

Heritage: Half-Blood.

Family: Son of a Muggle father, Tom Riddle Snr, and a witch mother, the last direct descendent of Salazar Slytherin. His father left his mother when he found out she was a witch (this occurred while she was pregnant with Tom). His mother died shortly after giving birth. Tom returned later and killed his immediate Riddle relatives.

First Mention: Chapter One of The Sorcerer's Stone.

General: After the death of his mother, having been disowned by his father before he was even born, Tom was brought up in a Muggle orphanage. It is unclear when and how he found out about his heritage, but by the time he was nearing the higher years at Hogwarts, he had already developed into the most able pupil the school had ever known, whilst at the same time nurturing a festering contempt for all people except pure-blood wizards (which is somewhat hypocritical as he is a half-blood himself).

He successfully hid the seedier parts of his personality from those in authority, however, and became Head Boy of the school, with at least one award to show for his efforts. Ironically, this was received for framing another student for opening the Chamber of Secrets, when it was in fact Tom himself who had done it.

By this time, Tom was revelling in his status as the Heir of Slytherin, and he created a new name for his supporters to call him: Lord Voldemort. He left Hogwarts with none of the staff (with the possible exception of the Transfiguration teacher, one Albus Dumbledore) any the wiser, and began to travel (stopping off only to kill his family), all the time seriously immersing himself in the Dark Arts.

It was many years later that Lord Voldemort returned to public view, ready in his mind to make himself the king of the wizards and to bring about the glorious vision of Salazar Slytherin – a world where pure-bloods ruled and lesser men were crushed underfoot. He gathered himself an army of supporters, called them his Death Eaters, and set about trying to gain control.

The Order of the Phoenix rose against him, and war began. But it was Voldemort himself who would bring about his own downfall. He heard of a prophecy which stated that a wizard had been born who would grow to have the power to destroy him. Acting on the advice of Peter Pettigrew, his spy within the Order, he moved quickly to kill the boy whilst he was still a baby. What happened then is well-known – the boy, Harry Potter, was not destroyed, and Voldemort’s curse rebounded on him, all but killing him instead.

Now nothing more than spirit, Voldemort went into hiding in the forests of Albania for 14 years, surviving by inhabiting the bodies of small animals. In all that time he left only once, when he took over the body of the Hogwarts teacher Professor Quirrell in an attempt to regain his power. That attempt failed, however, and he returned into hiding.

Finally, however, salvation was at hand. His old supporter Pettigrew tracked him down and brought him his wand, allowing Voldemort to return to England and to make plans to regain a body. This he did in the summer of 1995, and having regrouped his remaining loyal followers, his second assault on the wizarding world began.

Hermione Granger bio

Name: Hermione Granger Age: 37 by the end of the 7th book House: Gryffindor Distinguishing Characteristics: Bushy brown hair, which can only be controlled with vast amounts of Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion. Up until her 4th year she had large front teeth, but these were reduced to normal size following an accident with a Densaugeo spell. Family: Daughter of Mr and Mrs Granger, both Muggle dentists. There is some debate as to whether she has a younger sister or not. JK has said she would have liked to have written one but never got round to it: we take this to mean the sister does not exist, and Hermione is an only child. First Mention: Chapter Six of The Sorcerer's Stone. General: Hermione is the cleverest girl in her year at Hogwarts. This fact, given that she’s Muggle-born, is of great annoyance to pure-blood enthusiasts such as Draco Malfoy, but after 5 years of it even he is coming to realise there’s not much he can do about it Hermione matured very quickly throughout her first year: she started off as an intensely irritating know-all, even going as far as standing up in lessons to indicate what answers she knew when putting her hand up didn’t seem to be enough. Naturally enough, this made her somewhere equal in popularity amongst the students to Filch the caretaker. Following the Hallowe’en incident where a troll broke into the castle and was taken on by Hermione with Harry and Ron, however, she gained her first friends and calmed down a little bit. Still keen to prove how much she knew, she at least curbed her instincts for telling off anybody who broke a school rule before even the teachers had a chance, and also turned her talents to helping her less able colleagues. The result of this as the school years passed is a mature, friendly, helpful and sensible girl, although one with a barely-suppressed bossy streak and an occasional zeal for inappropriate missions to help those who don’t want helping (anybody care for a SPEW badge?). She even attracted the attentions of Viktor Krum despite him being several years older than her, but although she has a soft spot for him as a friend, her true affections lie with Ron Weasley. Unfortunately for Hermione, Ron is not yet mature enough to return her feelings – a fact which continually frustrates her. “Ron,” she was heard to remark, “you are the most insensitive wart I have ever had the misfortune to meet”. Given time it will all sort itself out though – Ron actually really likes her if he could only admit it to himself, and once he’s got through that barrier everything will be just dandy.

Ron Weasley bio

Name: Ron Weasley Age: 37 by the end of the 7th book House: Gryffindor Distinguishing Features: Bright red hair and hand-me-down robes. Ron's main special ability is to be very scared of spiders. Heritage: Pure-Blood Family: Second-youngest child of Arthur and Molly Weasley. He has older brothers Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George (twins), and a younger sister Ginny. First Mention: Chapter Six of the Sorcerer's Stone. General: Ron (along with Hermione Granger) is Harry's best friend at Hogwarts. They met at King's Cross station as Harry was about to make his first trip to the school. Harry didn't know how to get on to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, and Ron and his mother helped him out. They sat together on the train and became friends from that point on. This process was no doubt helped by Harry's rejection of Draco Malfoy in favour of Ron during the journey. Ron's an avid Quidditch fan (supporting the Chudley Cannons) but has less skill at the game himself than he'd like. Despite this, he finally managed to get into the Gryffindor team as their keeper in his fifth year. A nervous player, he faired poorly to begin with before pulling a good performance out of the bag in his third match to help his team to the Quidditch Cup. Ron is not yet ready to admit it to himself, but he has a distinct attachment to Hermione, and at some stage in the not too distant future they are likely to get together. At the moment, Ron is too busy being insensitive and using schoolboy bluster to hide his feelings, but this shouldn't last too much longer. He was openly hostile when Hermione went to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum, and continues to be antagonistic whenever she makes the effort to keep in touch with him. In turn, Hermione is continually frustrated by Ron's flippant attitude and is hardly reticent about telling him so. Everything will turn out fine in the end though. Ron is tall, thin and angular, a very loyal (if occasionally hot-tempered) friend, and probably a half-decent wizard if only he wasn't hampered by having everything second-hand, including his wand. He's also fiercely protective of his younger sister Ginny, and desperate for her to get together with Harry. Whether he gets his wish or not remains to be seen.

Hello and Welcome!

Hello and Welcome to the Harry Potter blog!
Dear Readers,
I have dedicated this blog to Harry Potter. I am going to make a S.P.E.W group for whoever wants to be in it that comments. Hopefully my friends and some people I know that don't like Harry Potter (*scowl*) will at least read some of this stuff. Thank you.
- luvHP2519