Dolores Jane Umbridge bio

Name: Dolores Umbridge

Age: Unknown

House: Unknown

Distinguishing Features: Short and fat. She uses an affected high-pitched girlish voice (presumably in a failed attempt to be endearing) and has a preference for wearing fluffy pink cardigans. Underneath the image, however, beats the heart of a vindictive and malevolent maniac.

Heritage: Unknown.

Family: Unknown.

First Mention: Chapter Eight of Order of the Phoenix.

General: Dolores Umbridge is the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Nothing is known about her early career, or how she achieved this position, but it seems safe to assume that it was via a concerted effort of ruthlessness and malice. The only thing that is known about her early life is that she attended Hogwarts, although her house is a mystery.

During the summer of 1995, Professor Dumbledore was finding it particularly hard to fill the supposedly-cursed Defence Against the Dark Arts job. Inexplicably failing to appoint Severus Snape to the position (and then have the much easier task of finding a Potions teacher) he chose instead to allow the Ministry of Magic to put forward their own candidate – Dolores Umbridge.

She provided the foothold at the school that the Ministry had always wanted, and quickly set about getting rather more than that. Initially she restricted herself to refusing to allow the pupils to actually practice Defence Against the Dark Arts (insisting on an entirely theory-based approach) and employing unpleasant punishment techniques to dissenters. Harry himself had long experience of her enchanted quill which gouges words in the back of the user’s hand.

Within a brief time, however, she had appointed herself High Inquisitor, passed a series of Educational Decrees (ratified by the Ministry) to cement her position of power, and finally removed Professor Dumbledore and taken over as the Head Teacher. To her cost, however, she was to find out that attaining power is rather easier than keeping it. Having made an enemy out of everyone (except perhaps Argus Filch) on the way, she found herself rather short of support and her appointment as Head was followed by an immediate and sustained outbreak of anarchy, which she singularly failed to deal with.

Her downfall was brought about by two events: following an attempt to cast the Cruciatus Curse on Harry she was subsequently tricked by Hermione into following her into the Forbidden Forest. Here she was attacked and taken away by centaurs.

Then, following the final battle at the Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore reclaimed his position as Headmaster (given back to him by Fudge), hence removing Umbridge from the post. Ironically, it was Dumbledore himself who rescued her from the centaurs and she was last seen scurrying away from the school looking rather sorry for herself.