The Dictionaries > Harry Potter Series Characters

The following is the starting version of my compilation of human – and humanoid – characters appearing in the Harry Potter books. Some of the material below contains plot spoilers; it is marked with two asterisks (**). The key used is TSS (The Sorcerer’s Stone); COS (The Chamber of Secrets); The Prisoner of Azkaban (POA), The Goblet of Fire (GOF). This is a work in progress; eventually I want to list each and every witch, wizard, Muggle, elf, whatever ... so this document will keep changing.

-D-

DOBBY. House elf serving Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy and family (COS); later the first house elf to receive salary and vacation at Hogwarts, hired by Albus Dumbledore (GOF). Small, with pointed, batlike ears and green eyes like tennis balls. Wears a pillowcase before Harry cleverly frees him (COS); after that wears a mishmash of clothes, including his favorite, many mismatched pairs of loud socks (GOF). Loud, sobbing, self-punishing before his freedom: tended to bang his head on things (COS). Warns Harry not to return to Hogwarts for his second year, because a plot will be launched to cause terrible incidents at the school; steals all of Harry’s summer correspondence (COS). Knocks the Dursleys’ special pudding to the floor after Harry says he will go to Hogwarts as scheduled. The Dursleys punish Harry for the pudding incident. The Ministry of Magic’s Improper Use of Magic Office sends Harry a warning for using a Hover Charm outside of school, something illegal for underage wizards. Blocks the gate at Platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross Station, London, to keep Harry from boarding the Hogwarts Express. Enchants a Quidditch bludger so it relentlessly pursues Harry and eventually breaks his right arm in game against Slytherin House.

DUMBLEDORE, ALBUS. Current headmaster and graduate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Credentials: Order of Merlin, First Class; Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards. He defeated the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945. Discovered 12 uses for dragon's blood. Assisted Nicolas Flamel with his work in alchemy. He has light blue eyes, long, silver gray hair and beard; long, crooked nose that was broken; wears eyeglasses with half-moon shaped lenses. Dumbledore is the only wizard whom Voldemort fears; he makes Hogwarts a bastion of security against the Dark Forces (all books). One of the few wizards who will call Lord Voldemort by name.

Dumbledore waits with Minerva McGonagall at Privet Drive when Hagrid brings the baby Harry to the Dursley house. His favorite sweet is lemon drops, a Muggle candy.

DURSLEY, DUDLEY. First cousin of Harry Potter; son of Vernon and Petunia Dursley. Obese, fair-skinned, blond. Born 1980, the same year as Harry; aged 11 at the start of the Potter book series (TSS). Like the rest of his family, terrified of Harry’s ability to work magic until they all find out Harry can’t do spells outside school (COS).

DURSLEY, PETUNIA EVANS. Sister of the late Lily Evans Potter and aunt by blood to Harry Potter. A homemaker, married to Vernon and mother of Dudley. Thin, blond, long-necked, stern-faced, loses temper easily and shrieks a lot, at Harry. Intense gossip with her nose in most neighbors’ lives on Privet Drive. Heavily pampers and spoils her son, Dudley. Intolerant as Vernon of anything that isn’t “normal.”

DURSLEY, VERNON. Uncle, by marriage, to Harry Potter, and legal guardian. Resides at 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, England.Tall, obese, no-necked, with carefully parted black hair and mustache. Director of Grunnings, a drill manufacturer (TSS).

A Muggle of the worst kind, easily angered by any deviations of what is “normal” or “routine.” . “(They) were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense” (TSS) Locks Harry’s magic paraphernalia in his old sleeping cupboard during summer between first and second years and subjects Harry to all kinds of chores for pretending to hex son Dudley Dursley (COS). Locks Harry in his bedroom after the dessert disaster with Dobby, having bars put on his window.

-F-

FIGG, ARABELLA. Supposedly an eccentric old Muggle woman who lives on Privet Drive near the Dursleys, who frequently use her as a babysitter for Harry. Her house always smells like cabbage, and she owns many, many cats. **Mrs. Figg is actually a witch and close friend of Albus Dumbledore. He placed her in the neighborhood with her "cover" as an oddball Muggle to watch over Harry as he grew up. She serves as a pair of eyes for Dumbledore in the neighborhood.

-H-

HAGRID, RUBEUS. Head gamekeeper and Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts. Twice as tall as a normal man (11 1/2 to 12 feet), and “at least five times as wide,” with long, bushy black hair and beard and black beetle-like eyes. He “had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather foots were like baby dolphins.” (TSS)

Father was a wizard, and his mother was a giantess named Frydwulfa, who left the family when Hagrid was 3; giants are thought to be crude, mean and willing to eat anything, and not loving or family-oriented. Hagrid has a fierce temper when threatened by enemies but is normally tender, sentimental, loyal, humorous and affectionate. His father died in his second year at Hogwarts School, when he was 12. (GOF)

Hagrid was expelled in his third year at Hogwarts after he secretly raised Aragog, a gigantic spider called an acromantula, which was accused serveral students, including a girl known later "Moaning Myrtle," the ghost haunting the women’s restroom. (**The real culprit was the basilisk, a gigantic snake that lived in the Chamber of Secrets until Harry killed it.) Aragog went to live in the Forbidden Forest with his mate, Mahog, provided by Hagrid, and raised a huge family. (COS)

Hagrid delivers baby Harry to the Dursleys after Voldemort kills Harry’s parents. He arrives on a flying motorcycle belonging to Sirius Black, Harry’s godfather (TSS).

HOPKIRK, MAFALDA. Representative of the Ministry of Magic’s Improper Use of Magic Office. She writes a warning letter to Harry after receiving a report that he used a hover charm at the Dursley residence, and any further magic could get him expelled from Hogwarts (COS). This was a violation of Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C. She further states that magic that could draw attention by Muggles violates Section 13, International Confederation of Warlocks’ Statute of Secrecy. **Dobby the house elf is the actual culprit.

-M-

McGONAGALL, MINERVA. Deputy headmistress of Hogwarts School, head of the Gryffindor House, instructor in Transfiguration. Has black hair always worn in a tight bun; has a severe face; wears square-lensed glasses. Her nature is stern, solemn, but fair; she does not tolerate rule breaking, but she also gives credit where it is due and strong support to Gryffindor students and Hogwarts as a whole.

She is an Animagus who can turn herself into a tabby cat. She keeps watch over the safe delivery of the toddler Harry Potter to the Dursley house (TSS).

-P-

POTTER, HARRY. Student wizard and hero of the book series. Son of James and Lily Evans Potter, a wizarding family. He is small, skinny, with dark shaggy brown hair that seems to magically grow, and has green eyes. Born 31 July 1980 in England and resided in Godric's Hollow with his parents until their murder by Voldemort. Hagrid brought him to the village of Little Whinging in Surrey County to live with his aunt, uncle and first cousin.

At 1 year of age, Lord Voldemort kills James and Lily, who protects Harry by passing magical protection onto him. Voldemort’s physical powers and body are shattered when he tries to inflict the fatal “Aveda Kadavra” spell on Harry. He is the only known survivor of the spell, which struck him in the forehead and left a lightning bolt shaped scar (TSS, COS, GOF). His survival makes him a famous hero among magic folk from childhood onward and the object of hatred by members of Slytherin House, especially Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape.

Harry is left on the doorstep of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, his aunt and uncle, by Rubeus Hagrid, Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall. Petunia is estranged from Lily, and the boy is a major embarrassment to them. They make him sleep in a cupboard in a locked room under the stairs (TSS) until he is 11. He wears broken glasses – shattered by cousin Dudley and friends – and Dudley’s huge, ragged, hand-me-down clothes (TSS).

POTTER, LILY EVANS. Witch, married to James and mother of Harry. She was killed by Lord Voldemort while protecting Harry and was second to die after her husband. Lily was alumna of Hogwarts School and member of Gryffindor House. Resided in Godric's Hollow with James and baby Harry at the time of her death.

-V-

VOLDEMORT, LORD. Evil wizard, practitioner of black magic and leader of the Dark Forces. The top villain of the books and archenemy of Harry Potter. Born Thomas Marvolo Riddle in 1927 to a wealthy Muggle father and a witch mother. He was named for his father, Tom Riddle, and his grandfather (COS, GOF). The elder Tom Riddle abandoned Tom’s mother after she revealed that she was a witch. She died shortly thereafter but lived long enough to name him after his Muggle father and his maternal grandfather, a wizard. Tom was placed in an orphanage in Lower Hangleton, where he stayed until his Hogwarts admission at age 11 (GOF).

At Hogwarts, he is sorted into Slytherin House. Tom maintains an outer image of the perfect, dutiful student, while inside he burns with resentment against his father, Muggles and any magic folk who tolerate them. Tom rises to prefect by his fifth year (1943) at Hogwarts. During the last half of the 1942-43 school year, Tom earned an award from Headmaster Augustus Dippet for tracking down a monster that killed several Hogwarts students. **The creature supposed was Hagrid’s pet Aragog the acromantula, a large spider, but was actually a basilisk, a giant serpent he discovered in the Chamber of Secrets, a hidden room built by Hogwarts co-founder Salazar Slytherin.

Tom wrote about his experiences with Hagrid, Aragog and the school year in a magic diary that captured his image. The diary also could project a three-dimensional version of himself that attacks Harry Potter in a faceoff in the Chamber of Secrets (COS). In 1944, Tom Riddle stealthily returned to Lower Hangleton, where he went into his father Tom’s mansion and killed him and his parents with the Aveda Kedavra Spell. Their stunned, stiffened bodies baffled police, who charged the estate’s Muggle gardener, Frank Bryce, with the crime. Frank was later exonerated.

After graduating from HogwartsTom dropped his hated name, which reminded him of the Muggle dad who deserted him. He rearranged the letters of “Tom Marvolo Riddle” and came up with “I am Lord Voldemort.” During the 1950s, '60s and '70s, Voldemort organizes the Death Eaters, his loyal group of witches and wizards who pursue the dark arts, freely kill Muggles and track down and murder witches and wizards who tolerate Muggles and “mudbloods,” magic makers from Muggle families.

At the height of his powers in 1981, 11 years into the dark days for magic folk, Voldemort tries to convince James and Lily Potter to join him. James refuses, and he kills him. Lily tries to protect baby Harry and also pays with her life. Voldemort’s physical body and most of his powers are destroyed when he tries to kill the toddler Harry (TSS).

The weakened Voldemort very slowly traveled from England, somehow making it across the ocean and to the European continent. He lived off small animals and traveled mostly at night. He eventually ends up in Albania, hiding out in a woods. In 1991, he spotted a nervous little wizard named Quirrell, who was in the forest gathering samples. Voldemort lured Quirrell close to him and took over his body, using it as a vehicle to return to the UK and Hogwarts to get at Harry Potter and get the Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone (GOF).

-W-

WEASLEY, ARTHUR. Wizard, married to witch Molly Weasley, and father of Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. Resides at The Burrow, a rambling old farmstead near the village of Ottery St. Catchpole. Employed in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, Ministry of Magic. His job is to conduct raids on any witch or wizard who uses magic on Muggle items. Once he had to track down a magic tea set, with a pot that squirted hot tea all over Muggles and injured one with the sugar cube tongs (COS). Has an extreme fascination with Muggle items and how they operate. He is known to take them apart, enchant and reassemble them. He put a spell on an old Ford Anglia so it can fly and move intelligently (COS).

WEASLEY, FRED. One of set of identical twins, brother of George, and fourth child of Arthur and Molly Weasley. Born in 1988, two years older than Harry and Ron. Red haired and freckle faced, like the rest of the Weasley children. Possesses a strong sense of humor, tendency to practical jokes, and breaking of wizard rules. Drives the getaway car, a flying Ford, that rescues Harry from another miserable summer at the Dursley residence (COS). Uses Muggle ability of picking locks to get Harry’s magical equipment out of Dursleys’ locked cupboard (COS). In his fifth year at Hogwarts, he and George give Harry the Marauders’ Map, which can help track people at the school (POA). In his sixth year at Hogwarts, he and George were developing their own novelty items and had plans to open a joke shop. Their mother firmly opposed the idea and wanted them to work for the Ministry of Magic. Harry gives Fred and George his thousand-galleon prize after the Triwizard Tournament so they can open their joke shop (GOF).

WEASLEY, GEORGE. One of set of identical twins, brother of Fred, and fifth child of Arthur and Molly Weasley. Born in 1988, two years older than Harry and Ron. Red haired and freckle faced, like the rest of the Weasley children. Possesses a strong sense of humor, tendency to practical jokes, and breaking of wizard rulesIn his fifth year at Hogwarts, he and Fred give Harry the Marauders’ Map, which can help track people at the school (POA). In his sixth year at Hogwarts, he and Fred were developing their own novelty items and had plans to open a joke shop. Their mother firmly opposed the idea and wanted them to work for the Ministry of Magic. Harry gives Fred and George his thousand-galleon prize after the Triwizard Tournament so they can open their joke shop (GOF).

WEASLEY, GINNY. Youngest of the seven red-haired Weasley siblings; one year behind Harry, Ron and Hermione at Hogwarts. Ginny idolizes Harry due to his reputation and the tale of his survival during Voldemort's attack. In her first year, she obtained a magic diary by a previous Hogwarts student named Tom Riddle. This diary was magical: she could write about how homesick or lonely she was, and Tom wrote back replies. **He also told her about the Chamber of Secrets, a supposedly legendary room under Hogwarts. She inadvertently opened the room and released a nasty giant snake called the Basilisk that stunned several Hogwarts humans and ghosts.

WEASLEY, MOLLY. Witch and homemaker married to Arthur Weasley and mother of Charlie, Bill, Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. Resides at The Burrow, outside the village of Ottery St. Catchpole. Matriarch of a very close-knit and loving family, but very intolerant of flagrant disobedience, especially by Fred, George and Ron. Know to scream lectures at or mail Howlers to her sons when they get into trouble. Very fond of Harry, inviting him into her home like another son and every year knitting him a sweater and making pies for him for Christmas.

WEASLEY, RON. Second youngest child of Arthur and Molly Weasley, a large, poor wizarding family. Thin, red haired and freckle faced, like all of his siblings. Best friend of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Along with twin brothers Fred and George, helps rescue Harry from imprisonment at the Dursley residence, using their father’s enchanted, flying Ford Anglia sedan (COS).