Order of the Phoenix (fiction)

The Order of the Phoenix is a fictional secret organisation in the Harry Potter series of books written by J. K. Rowling. Founded by Albus Dumbledore to fight Lord Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters, the Order lends its name to the fifth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Synopsis
Before the Harry Potter series starts – when the character Lord Voldemort declared war on the wizarding world – Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and a highly upstanding and powerful citizen of the wizarding world attempted to take control of the situation by founding the Order of the Phoenix. Several characters joined the organisation, seeking to prevent Voldemort from taking over the wizarding world and establishing a tyrannical new world order. During this period, before the events of the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the Order sustained heavy losses, including the murders of minor characters such as the Prewetts, the Bones and the McKinnons. The Longbottoms were also tortured to insanity at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange.

Voldemort's first reign of terror ended after the murders of James and Lily Potter, and the unsuccessful attempt to murder Harry James Potter at the beginning of the series. The spell rebounded on to him, and severely diminished Voldemort's powers and as a result the Order was temporarily disbanded due to the lack of any further threat.

When Harry Potter reported that Voldemort had returned towards the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore reactivated the Order. Many of the original members returned and were soon joined by recruits who effectively replaced those who had died in service during the first conflict. The Order established their headquarters at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, Sirius Black's family home, during the interval between the fourth and fifth books in the series. Dumbledore was the Secret-Keeper for the Order, meaning that only he could reveal the location of the Order’s headquarters to others. Dumbledore's death at the hands of Severus Snape in book six made the location vulnerable and it was abandoned in favour of The Burrow as a result.

The Order led the fight against Voldemort in the fifth instalment during which the Minister of Magic refused to accept the return of Voldemort. In the fifth book, some Order members took turns guarding Sybill Trelawney's prophecy, which referred to Voldemort's downfall and Harry's role in defeating him. Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts Grounds Keeper and an original Member of the Order, was accompanied by Olympe Maxime in an attempt to recruit the giants to the Order's cause. Some members also participated in a battle at the Department of Mysteries near the end of the fifth book. Order members patrolled Hogwarts, the Wizarding school, on the night of Dumbledore's death in Half-Blood Prince, fighting the Death Eaters who managed to enter the castle.

In the series finale, attention turned to escorting the Death Eaters' main target, Harry Potter, from his summer home with the Dursleys' to the Weasleys' Burrow. Later in the novel, after Voldemort's takeover of the Ministry had succeeded, some Order members hosted "Potterwatch", a secret pirate radio programme providing news on the Wizarding World that Voldemort's regime did not want the general population to know. During the climax of the book, most of the Order, aided by Dumbledore's Army, the Hogwarts staff and the older students, Slytherin house members excluded, fought against the Death Eaters in the Battle of Hogwarts, in which several Order members and other allies lost their lives.

As the Order was created primarily to combat Voldemort and his Death Eaters, it is unknown if the Order stayed together after Voldemort's death at the end of the story, or whether it disbanded as it had after Voldemort's first fall.

Original
The following characters were members of the Order of the Phoenix during Lord Voldemort's initial rise to power and several years prior to the main events of the Harry Potter series. Many of these characters later served as members of the revived Order.

Members of the reconstituted Order
These characters joined the Order when Dumbledore reactivated it after Lord Voldemort's return at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Notable Order members
This is a list of notable members of the Order of the Phoenix. Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape and Rubeus Hagrid have their own pages. Minerva McGonagall is listed under Hogwarts staff.

Sirius Black
Sirius Black, nicknamed Padfoot, is the last heir to the House of Black, a once notable pure-blood Wizarding family. He is the brother of Regulus Arcturus Black and a cousin of Bellatrix Lestrange. He rejected his family's pure-blood elitism and reverence for the Dark Arts. In contrast to his home life, Sirius greatly enjoyed life at Hogwarts. He was proud of the fact that he was the only Black to be sorted into Gryffindor. He was inseparable from his best friend James 'Prongs' Potter and befriended Remus 'Moony' Lupin and Peter 'Wormtail' Pettigrew. Sirius, along with James, bullied Snape, nicknaming him "Snivellus", from his first name, Severus, while they were at school. Sirius left home at the age of sixteen and took refuge with James and his parents. His outraged mother burned his name off the family tree, but he was left financially independent by his Uncle Alphard's generous bequest (hence Alphard's name was burnt off as well). After leaving school, he remained close friends with James and became close to his wife, Lily, after being best man at their wedding. When Harry was born, the Potters named Sirius as his godfather. When the Potters went into hiding from Voldemort, Sirius was going to be their Secret-Keeper. Sirius, however, convinced James and Lily to switch Secret-Keepers at the last moment to Peter Pettigrew, believing that Voldemort would never think to hunt him and would attack Sirius instead. However, Pettigrew betrayed James and Lily, and they were murdered by Voldemort. Harry survived and was rescued by Rebeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts. Sirius asked Hagrid to give Harry to him, since he was Harry's godfather, but Hagrid, under Dumbledore's orders, refused and instead took Harry to live with the Dursleys. In his rage, Sirius tracked Pettigrew down, but during the confrontation Pettigrew faked his own death and killed twelve Muggles, framing Sirius for betraying the Potters and murdering Pettigrew and the Muggles. Sirius was arrested and sent to Azkaban without trial by Bartemius Crouch Senior. Unlike most of the other Azkaban prisoners, Sirius was able to keep his sanity because he knew he was innocent.

Twelve years later in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Sirius sees a picture of the Weasley family on the front cover of the Daily Prophet, in which a rat stands perched on Ron's shoulder. The rat is Ron's pet, Scabbers, and Sirius immediately recognises Pettigrew in his Animagus form. This knowledge clears his mind and enables him to escape Azkaban, accomplishing this feat by transforming into his Animagus dog form. His severe weight loss from malnutrition and the Dementors' lack of ability to differentiate between unsophisticated canine emotions and insanity allows him to slip through his cell bars. After his escape, Sirius takes refuge in and around Hogsmeade. Knowing that the Dementors are stationed around Hogsmeade and at Hogwarts, Sirius remains in his Animagus form during this time, and is able to enter the Hogwarts grounds without being detected by the Dementors. He makes several unsuccessful attempts to kill Pettigrew, until his presence is detected by the students and teachers of Hogwarts and the school's security is increased. Towards the end of Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry, Ron, and Hermione confront Sirius and Harry attempts to kill him. Lupin, however, who has learned that Sirius is innocent, prevents Harry from doing so. Scabbers is unmasked as Pettigrew, and Harry begins to view Sirius as a surrogate father, although events swiftly turn against him again – Pettigrew escapes and Sirius is captured by the Dementors at Hogwarts and sentenced to the "Dementor's Kiss". Harry and Hermione help him escape with Buckbeak, a hippogriff who had also been unjustly condemned. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sirius advises Harry on how to complete the Triwizard Tournament tasks, and provides background on Death Eaters.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, he takes refuge in his ancient family home at 12, Grimmauld Place, which he allows to be used as the Order headquarters. His confinement causes depression, and he is frequently withdrawn and antagonistic. When he briefly leaves the house to see Harry off to Hogwarts, his Animagus form is recognised by Draco and Lucius Malfoy, resulting in more threats and warnings. Sirius acts as an older brother figure to Harry throughout the book but, according to Rowling, "what Harry craves is a father." Sirius encourages Harry to oppose Dolores Umbridge and her reforms, and strongly approves of Harry starting the secret defensive tutorial group for students, Dumbledore's Army. He also demonstrates a high level of trust in and respect for Harry, willingly answering his questions about the Order and Voldemort. With his growing power, Voldemort implants a false vision into Harry's mind that Sirius is captive and under torture at the Department of Mysteries. Convinced that Voldemort is torturing Sirius, Harry and his friends gain access to the Department of Mysteries. When they are ambushed by Death Eaters, Harry realises that Voldemort has lured him into a trap. Snape, however, alerts the Order that the students have gone to the Ministry after confirming that Sirius is safe at Grimmauld Place. Several Order members arrive at the Ministry, Sirius among them, and battle the Death Eaters. During a frenzied duel with his hated cousin Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius taunts her for failing to harm him. Bellatrix strikes Sirius with a curse, sending him backwards into an enchanted archway in the Death Chamber thus causing his death, from which Harry finds it hard to recover. Sirius's will stated that his possessions, home and house-elf Kreacher are to be inherited by Harry.

Sirius makes a final appearance toward the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when he is summoned in semi-living substantial form from beyond the veil by the Resurrection Stone to help Harry walk through the Forbidden Forest and sacrifice his life to Voldemort. Later, it was revealed that Harry named his first child James Sirius Potter, after his father James and his godfather Sirius.

Sirius was portrayed by Gary Oldman in the film adaptations of Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, and Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Sirius as a teenager made a brief appearance in Order of the Phoenix (played by James Walters). Young Sirius also appeared in Deathly Hallows, portrayed by Rohan Gotobed.

Sirius' name is a reference to the Dog Star, which is also called Sirius (his animagus form is a large black dog). It is the brightest star in the night sky. In the film versions, Sirius has curly, brown hair with blue eyes. In the book, he is described as having straight (while matted and tousled) black hair and grey eyes.

Fleur Delacour
Fleur Isabelle Delacour is a student of Beauxbatons Academy in France, and is selected as a champion in the prestigious Triwizard Tournament. Her maternal grandmother is a Veela, from whom Fleur inherited her silvery-blonde hair, pale eyes, good looks, and ability to enchant men. It is revealed in the Tournament wand inspection that the core of Fleur's wand is a Veela hair from the head of her grandmother. During the Triwizard Tournament, Fleur is initially aloof and unfriendly despite receiving much admiration from the boys, especially Ron. During the second task of the Tournament, she attempts to rescue her sister Gabrielle Delacour from the lake, but fails, hindered by the Grindylows. When Harry rescues Gabrielle instead, Fleur is extremely grateful, despite her sister being in no real danger, and becomes much warmer towards both Harry and Hogwarts. Fleur takes last place in the Triwizard Tournament due to being stunned during the last task. In the following year, Fleur works at Gringotts with Bill Weasley, whom she already met during the Tournament, and the pair get engaged. Bill is attacked by werewolf Fenrir Greyback and severely mauled near the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in the Battle of the Astronomy Tower. However, since Greyback is in his human form at the time of the attack, Bill suffers only partial lycanthropic contamination. Though Molly Weasley, who largely disapproves of Fleur, assumes that she will no longer wish to marry Bill, Fleur is adamant that their wedding plans go unchanged and proudly declares that Bill's wounds are a sign of his bravery in her eyes, plus stating that 'I am good looking enough for the both of us' anyway. This loving loyalty to her fiance earns her much respect from most of Bill's erstwhile disapproving family, especially Molly, who are finally forced to admit that their love is genuine.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Fleur and Bill take part in the operation to escort Harry safely to the Burrow, and they witness Mad-Eye Moody being killed by Voldemort. The couple have their wedding at the Burrow, but the event is interrupted when Death Eaters attack after the fall of the Ministry of Magic. The newlyweds later provide a safe haven for the trio and others rescued from Malfoy Manor at Shell Cottage, their home. Both Bill and Fleur are combatants for the Order during the Battle of Hogwarts, and survive the battle. The couple go on to have three children: Victoire, Dominique and Louis.

French actress and model Clémence Poésy portrays Fleur in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and both parts of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film adaptation.

Aberforth Dumbledore
Aberforth Dumbledore is Albus Dumbledore's brother. He is the younger brother by some three years, and the less skilled of the two; as such, he is usually left in the background while his brother basks in the glory of his comparative success. After his parents' deaths and Albus's return home to look after their unstable sister Ariana, Aberforth quarrels with his brother and his brother's friend, Gellert Grindelwald, over their plans to start a new order, neglecting Ariana. This argument results in Ariana's accidental death at the hands of one of them. At Ariana's funeral, Aberforth publicly confronts Albus and strikes him, breaking his nose. Eventually, Aberforth becomes the bartender of the Hog's Head inn. He is known for his strong affinity with goats. His Patronus takes the form of a goat, and it is said that as a child he fed the goats in company with his sister, Ariana. His tavern also, according to Harry's description in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, has a faint smell of goats. In the film adaptation, a bleating goat can be seen shuffling about in the back of the pub.

It is not until Deathly Hallows that Aberforth plays an important role in the series by taking Harry, Ron, and Hermione into his bar before the Death Eaters can capture them. Aberforth later reveals to the trio some facts they did not know about the history of the Dumbledore family. It is also revealed that he purchased Sirius's two-way mirror from Mundungus Fletcher in the previous book. Harry had briefly glimpsed Aberforth's eye in its counterpart's remaining shard while being held prisoner in Malfoy Manor. Using the mirror to watch over the trio, Aberforth sends Dobby to rescue them and some other prisoners from the Manor. Aberforth allows the resistance fighters to use a secure passageway from the Hog's Head to the Room of Requirement through Ariana's portrait. The same passage is used to evacuate underage students from Hogwarts and, according to Neville, it was also used by members of Dumbledore's Army to get food when they were living in the Room of Requirement. Aberforth leaves the Order, believing the war against Voldemort is lost. However, he quickly joins the Battle of Hogwarts, and is last seen stunning Augustus Rookwood. According to Rowling, Aberforth survives the battle, and is still "at the Hog's Head, playing with his goats".

Jim McManus appeared briefly as Aberforth in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Ciarán Hinds plays Aberforth in a larger role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2.

Arabella Figg
Arabella Doreen Figg, better known simply as Mrs. Figg, a squib, surreptitiously watches over Harry while he is at home with the Dursleys. She is a Chekhov's gun, first mentioned as a seemingly insignificant neighbour who takes care of Harry in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. She has a lifelong love of cats and does "a roaring trade" in crossbred Cats and Kneazles, their magical variant. Though she maintains a good Muggle cover, Mrs. Figg is a Squib, a non-magical being born to a family of wizards. Within the Order of the Phoenix, Mrs. Figg functions as one of Dumbledore's liaisons between the magical and Muggle worlds. In Order of the Phoenix, she aids Harry after he and his cousin Dudley Dursley are attacked by two Dementors, and chooses to reveal herself to him. Mrs. Figg explains to Harry that she deliberately made Harry's stays with her unpleasant so that the Dursleys would continue to send him to her, though she would have preferred to do otherwise. When the Ministry of Magic tries to have Harry expelled from Hogwarts for under-age use of magic (after he cast a Patronus charm to protect himself and his cousin) Mrs. Figg's testimony before the Wizengamot is crucial in allowing Harry to stay at Hogwarts. However, according to Rowling, Squibs are incapable of seeing Dementors. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Mrs. Figg attends Dumbledore's funeral at Hogwarts.

Mrs. Figg was portrayed by Kathryn Hunter in the film adaptation of Order of the Phoenix.

Mundungus Fletcher
Mundungus "Dung" Fletcher is mentioned in passing in some of the earlier books in the series, but it is not until the second chapter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that he makes his first appearance. Mundungus is described as a "squat, unshaven man" with "short, bandy legs", "long, straggly ginger hair", and "bloodshot, baggy eyes that gave him the doleful look of a basset hound". He is involved in many illegal activities, yet he seems confined to relatively minor crimes, such as theft and trading stolen goods on the black market. Many members of the Order have mixed feelings about him, but he is very loyal to Dumbledore, who once got him out of serious trouble. His connections enable him to hear rumours and information rolling around the shadier segments of the wizarding population, which could potentially prove instrumental in the fight against Voldemort.

He is briefly mentioned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where following the Death Eaters attack at the Quidditch World Cup, Mundungus put in an insurance claim to the Ministry of Magic for a twelve-bedroomed tent with an en-suite jacuzzi, while in reality he had been sleeping under a cloak propped on sticks. As a member of both the original and the newly reformed Order of the Phoenix, he is assigned guard duty to protect Harry, but abandons his position to conduct a shady cauldron-trading deal, leaving a critical opening through which Dementors manage to attack Harry. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry catches Mundungus outside the Three Broomsticks trying to sell what had been Sirius's property (which now belongs to Harry after Sirius's death) to Aberforth, and the boy confronts him. Mundungus goes into hiding but is later jailed in Azkaban for impersonating an Inferius during a botched robbery.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Mundungus has managed to get out of prison, but the circumstances are unclear. He is confunded by Snape, and gives the idea of using the Polyjuice Potion and six Potter decoys to the Order and helps with the escort of Harry from Privet Drive. He travels with Mad-Eye Moody on a broomstick as one of the Potter decoys. During the flight from Privet Drive, he flees when Voldemort himself shows up. It is later revealed by Kreacher that, included in the property he stole from 12 Grimmauld Place in the previous book was a heavy locket from the drawing room. That locket was the Slytherin's locket Horcrux. Then Kreacher is sent by Harry to capture Mundungus, who reveals that Umbridge took the locket from him.

Andy Linden plays Fletcher in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1.

Remus Lupin
Remus John Lupin, nicknamed Moony, first appears in Prisoner of Azkaban as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Most of the students hold him in extremely high regard and love his hands-on teaching style. During his tenure, he gives Harry private lessons in casting the Patronus Charm, to aid him in fighting off the Dementors patrolling the Hogwarts grounds. It is revealed in the climax of Prisoner of Azkaban that Lupin is a werewolf. He turns into a werewolf at every full moon and only retains his human mind while transformed by drinking the Wolfsbane Potion prepared for him by Snape. Dumbledore, one of the few wizards who is sympathetic towards his condition, made arrangements for Lupin to attend Hogwarts as a child, where he became close friends with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. Until the climax of Prisoner of Azkaban, Lupin believes Sirius to be guilty of betraying James and Lily and killing Pettigrew. Upon discovering that Sirius is innocent, and that the very much alive Pettigrew is the traitor, Lupin helps Sirius explain the truth to Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Shrieking Shack. However, Lupin had forgotten to take the Wolfsbane Potion that night and so he reverts disastrously to beast form, retaining no control over his actions. Sirius, in dog form, drives Lupin safely away from the others into the Forbidden Forest, where he wakes the next morning restored to his human body and mind. Snape, however, furious over Sirius's eventual escape and his resultant loss of the Order of Merlin promised to him by Cornelius Fudge, publicly reveals the nature of Lupin's lycanthropy. Anticipating a public outcry in response to the threat he himself agrees he poses for students, Lupin resigns from his post.

Long after resigning as a teacher, Lupin remains a friend to Harry. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Lupin joins the newly reformed Order of the Phoenix and is part of the advance guard which escorts Harry from the Dursley family home in the book's opening chapters. Lupin is rarely seen in Grimmauld Place as he is often away performing secret tasks for the Order. Later in the book, Harry sees his father and Sirius bully a school aged Snape through Snape's memory. Remus does not participate in the bullying and gives several small indications that he disapproves of his friends' behaviour. When Harry confronts Remus about the scene he witnessed in the Pensieve, Lupin expresses regret at never having had the courage to tell his friends when they were "out of order". Later, Lupin participates in the battle at the Department of Mysteries where he duels and overpowers Lucius Malfoy. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Lupin reveals that it was Fenrir Greyback who bit him when he was a child. Towards the climax of the book, Lupin is part of the defenders of Hogwarts when Death Eaters penetrate the school, and after Dumbledore's death, it is revealed that Nymphadora Tonks has fallen in love with him despite a thirteen-year age gap. He resists becoming involved with her because of the many risks posed by his lycanthropy, and insists that she deserves someone "young and whole".

By the opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it is revealed that Lupin and Tonks have married. Later in the book, Lupin informs Harry, Ron and Hermione that Tonks is pregnant. However, feeling ashamed that he has turned Tonks into an outcast and guilty that his unborn child has a high chance of inheriting lycanthropy, Lupin plans to leave Tonks and their baby. This results in an intense argument between him and Harry, who insists that Lupin's actions are cowardly. Eventually, Lupin recognises the truth in Harry's words and returns to his wife in time for the birth of their son, Teddy Lupin, and subsequently asks Harry to be the boy's Godfather, which he accepts. Lupin remains active in the Order throughout the year and he provides the casualty reports section on the pirate radio station Potterwatch under the pseudonym of Romulus. Lupin commands a group of defenders on the school grounds during the Battle of Hogwarts. Both Lupin and his wife die in combat, killed by Antonin Dolohov and Bellatrix Lestrange respectively. At the time of his death, Lupin was the last surviving member of his group of friends. Rowling has since stated that she originally intended for both Lupin and Tonks to survive, but finally killed them off to compensate for the last-minute reprieve she gave to Arthur Weasley in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Lupin, along with Sirius, James, and Lily, makes one last appearance in the series when Harry uses the Resurrection Stone to bring them forth to comfort him. Lupin expresses his regret that Teddy will never know his father, but says that he will know why he died: trying to make a world in which his son could live a better life.

In the film series, Lupin is portrayed by David Thewlis as an adult, and by James Utechin as a teenager.

Both Harry Potter director David Yates and J.K Rowling have stated that Remus Lupin is their favourite character of the whole series. Both Lupin's first name, Remus, and the pseudonym he uses on Potterwatch, Romulus, are a reference to the Roman mythological twin brothers Romulus and Remus, who are said to have had a wolf foster-mother. Furthermore, Remus' last name, Lupin, refers to the Latin word lupus, which means wolf.

Alastor Moody
Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody is perhaps the most famous Auror in the modern times of the Wizarding World, single-handedly responsible for capturing numerous wizard criminals. He is also said never to have killed his quarry, even when permitted to do so, unless he had no other choice. Moody's face is badly scarred; he has lost several body parts while fighting Dark wizards, including his left eye, lower left leg, and part of his nose; and he is cautious – some characters might say paranoid – in that he refuses to eat or drink anything which he himself did not prepare. His magical eye can rotate 360 degrees and see through almost everything (including walls, doors, Invisibility Cloaks, and the back of his own head). He walks with a pronounced limp due to his prosthetic leg, and uses a walking staff. He frequently exclaims "Constant vigilance!" to encourage wizards to be on their guard against the dark arts.

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Moody is appointed as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, coming out of retirement as a favour to Dumbledore. Shortly before the school year begins, however, Moody is attacked by Barty Crouch Jr, who subdues him with the Imperius Curse and takes Polyjuice Potion to assume his appearance. He keeps the real Moody alive as a source both of Polyjuice potion ingredients and of personal information helpful in putting the impersonation over, and takes Moody's place at Hogwarts teaching Defence against the Dark Arts. Moody's well-known habit of carrying around his own drinks in a private hip flask allows Crouch to take the Polyjuice Potion as needed without raising suspicion. Crouch/Moody becomes noted for teaching and demonstrating normally higher-level topics to Harry's fourth-year class (such as the Unforgivable Curses), being a demanding teacher who expects students to work, as well as punishing Draco Malfoy by transforming him into a ferret in order to stick up for Harry when Malfoy was tormenting him. Crouch/Moody also mentors Harry, encouraging and tutoring him in the three Tournament tasks. After Harry unexpectedly returns alive from the graveyard battle with Voldemort, Crouch/Moody takes Harry back to his office, questions him about Voldemort and the graveyard, and reveals that he is working for Voldemort. He then prepares to kill Harry, but Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape stop him. Having neglected to take his hourly dose of Polyjuice potion, Crouch transforms back to his own appearance and, under the influence of Veritaserum potion, confesses everything. Dumbledore then rescues the real Moody from his magic trunk.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the real Moody has joined the newly re-formed Order, and leads the party transferring Harry from 4 Privet Drive to Number 12 Grimmauld Place. He appears at the climax of that book, arriving to the battle at the Department of Mysteries after being tipped off by Snape. He also appears with Lupin and Tonks at the very end, when they give the Dursleys a warning concerning their treatment of Harry. Moody's only features briefly in Half-Blood Prince, appearing at Dumbledore's funeral. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Voldemort kills Moody after he is abandoned by Mundungus Fletcher, who is acting as a decoy. The survivors are unable to recover his body, but later his eye is found by Harry upon Dolores Umbridge's door, being used by Umbridge to spy on Ministry of Magic employees. Harry retrieves the eye, disgusted that it would be used in such a way, and later buries it at the base of an old tree in Mad-Eye's memory.

Moody is portrayed by Brendan Gleeson in the film series.

James Potter


James Potter, nicknamed Prongs, is the father of Harry Potter. As an only child, James is very pampered as "an extra treasure" because his parents were already elderly when he was born. James meets Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew when they enter Hogwarts, When James, Sirius and Peter discover that Remus is in fact a werewolf, the three of them illegally learn to become Animagia deer, to safely accompany Remus during his transformations and keep him under control. It is during this time that they discover almost all the secret passageways of Hogwarts and design the Marauder's Map. At school, James is said to have been a talented player on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. In the film version of Philosopher's Stone, Harry and his friends find James's name listed on a plaque as a Seeker on his Quidditch team; however, Rowling stated in an interview that she intended him to be a Chaser.

Rowling describes James and Harry as having similar attributes: the same thin face, same hands, and the same untidy black hair sticking up at the back, and nearly the same height as his son during their school days. However, Rowling also describes James as having hazel eyes and a slightly longer nose than Harry does. Like Harry, James is generally described to be a good, loyal friend who "regarded it as the height of dishonour to mistrust his friends." Characters in the books often comment on James's personality, about which Rowling comments that "there was a lot of good in James". The Hogwarts student population seems to have admired James back in his day, and teachers respected his talent, though not his behaviour. His popularity, however, was not universal, as a mutual hatred sprang up between him and Snape. Snape constantly tells Harry that James was "exceedingly arrogant", and on one occasion, Sirius admits that he and James could sometimes be "arrogant little berks" but that "[James] grew out of it" (which Lily is said to have noted by their seventh year). In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, after seeing a scene from Snape's memories within a Pensieve of a fifteen-year-old James and Sirius bullying Snape, Harry agrees with Snape's assessment of his father's arrogance. According to Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, however, James and Snape shared a rivalry not unlike that of Draco Malfoy and Harry. In addition, Lupin tells Harry that Snape "never lost an opportunity to curse James". According to Rowling in a recent interview: "James always suspected Snape harboured deeper feelings for Lily, which was a factor in James's behaviour to Snape". However, when Sirius attempts to goad Snape into the Shrieking Shack where Lupin stayed after transforming into a werewolf, James saves Snape's life.

After graduating from Hogwarts, James – along with Lily and his friends – become "full-time fighters" for the Order, and do not hold regular jobs, supporting his family and Lupin, whose status as a werewolf made him unemployable, on family gold. In an interview, Rowling revealed that James and Lily were asked by Voldemort to join the Death Eaters, but refused, making it "one strike against them before they were even out of their teens". When his son Harry becomes Voldemort's target, the Potters go into hiding and name Pettigrew as their secret keeper. However, on 31 October 1981, the Potters' whereabouts is betrayed by Pettigrew, and they are attacked by Voldemort without warning at their home in Godric's Hollow. James urges his wife to take Harry and run while he holds Voldemort off. Wandless, he is killed. He briefly appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as a result of Priori Incantatem, when Harry's wand and Voldemort's meet, showing the most recent spells cast by each – in the case of Voldemort's wand, the most recent lives taken. He then appears at the end of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows through the use of the Resurrection stone.

James and Sirius are the heroes of the Harry Potter prequel, an 800-word story set three years before Harry's birth. The two friends are riding Sirius's motorbike and are chased by two Muggle policemen for breaking the speed limit. The policemen attempt to arrest them when three Death Eaters on broomsticks fly down towards them. James and Sirius use the police car as a barrier and the Death Eaters crash into it. In the end, they escape from the policemen by flying away on the motorbike.

In the film series, James is portrayed by Adrian Rawlins as an adult, Robbie Jarvis as a teenager and Alfie McIlwain as a child.

Lily Potter
Lily Potter (née Evans) is the mother of Harry Potter. Born 30 January 1960, she is described as being very pretty, with startlingly green almond-shaped eyes and thick, long, dark red hair. In addition, Lily is one of the brightest students of her year, with a natural and intuitive ability at Potions. She is one of the "all-time favourite students" of Horace Slughorn, who describes her as "vivacious", "charming", "very brave", and "very funny". Rowling describes Lily as being "a bit of a catch"; she was a popular girl for whom many boys had romantic feelings. Although Lily is Muggle-born, she is an extremely gifted witch at the top of her class. She was named a prefect in her fifth and sixth years at Hogwarts, and became Head Girl in her seventh year. Lily's sister Petunia Dursley despised her for being a witch and viewed her as a "freak", although Petunia is later revealed to have been jealous of her abilities. Rowling stated that Lily did receive warning letters for testing the limits of the statute of secrecy. Lily's Patronus is a doe, presumably to pair with James's Animagus shape of a stag (also the form of Harry's patronus).

After witnessing a memory from Snape about Lily's and James's time as Hogwarts students, Harry gathers the impression that Lily hated James, but Sirius and Lupin assure him that she did not; they "simply got off on the wrong foot". Rowling confirmed this view when asked how Lily and James had gotten together if Lily hated him. Lupin tells Harry that after James matured and changed his attitude, Lily started dating him in their seventh year. Rowling later echoed Lupin's words, describing it as James having to "[tone] down some of his more 'bombastic' behaviour". They married soon after leaving Hogwarts with Sirius as best man at their wedding.

The old, pre-Hogwarts friendship between Lily and Snape is fully revealed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, along with the fact that Snape harboured unrequited romantic feelings for Lily from childhood. Rowling states that while Lily loved Snape as a friend, she might have returned those romantic feelings if Snape had not become so seriously involved in the Dark Arts. Their relationship ends in their fifth year at Hogwarts, when Snape, angry and humiliated, unthinkingly calls Lily a "Mudblood" after she defended him against James and Sirius. After leaving Hogwarts, Snape became a Death Eater and informed Voldemort of half of an overheard prophecy, which Voldemort takes to refer to Lily and her son, Harry. Fearing for Lily's life, Snape joins the Order as a spy for Dumbledore, in exchange for what he hopes will be Dumbledore's protection of Lily. Voldemort offered Lily the chance to step aside before he killed Harry because of Snape's request to spare Lily's life, but Lily refused and Voldemort killed her. The result of her selfless act of love manifested itself two ways: when Voldemort attempted to kill Harry with the Killing Curse the spell backfired, rendering Voldemort non-corporeal. The lingering protection afforded to Harry by Lily's sacrifice rendered Voldemort unable to touch him physically. The second way in which Harry is protected by Lily's sacrifice occurs when Petunia takes Harry in. Dumbledore told Harry that he had extended Lily's protection to Privet Drive, because Lily and Petunia are related by blood. This protection ends when Harry comes of age at 17.

Though Harry bears a great resemblance to his father, it is often noted that he has Lily's eyes. In a 1999 interview, Rowling stated; "Harry has his father's and mother's good looks. But he has his mother's eyes, and that's very important in a future book". That future book was Deathly Hallows. In Snape's death scene in that novel, after having passed on his memories to Harry, he whispers to Harry: "Look... at... me..." In one of Snape's memories, it is revealed that Dumbledore persuades Snape to protect Harry after Lily's death by mentioning the fact that he has "precisely" the same eyes as his mother. His last words to Harry were simply a desire to see Lily's eyes before he died.

Harry's dead parents are seen five times in the books (not counting their appearances in numerous magical photographs). Firstly in Philosopher's Stone Harry sees James and Lily in the Mirror of Erised. Secondly during Harry's struggle with Voldemort in Goblet of Fire they appear momentarily, along with other victims killed by Voldemort's wand. They appear in Snape's memories in both Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows, and finally later in Deathly Hallows when Harry makes his self-sacrificing walk in the forest, determined to let Voldemort kill him without offering resistance, Harry's parents walk at his side and Lily tells him how proud they are of him.

In an interview conducted by Daniel Radcliffe, Rowling revealed that Lily Potter's maiden name, Evans, was based on the real name of the author George Eliot, Mary Anne Evans.

Lily is portrayed by Geraldine Somerville as an adult in the film series, and by Susie Shinner as a teenager and Ellie Darcey-Alden as a child.

Kingsley Shacklebolt
Kingsley Shacklebolt is a senior Auror who acts as informer for the Order within the Ministry of Magic. He is first introduced in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when he volunteers to be one of the members of the Advance Guard that escorted Harry from the Dursleys' home to Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Kingsley is in charge of the search for Sirius in the Ministry; however, knowing Sirius is innocent, he is supplying the Ministry false information that Sirius is in Tibet. He is present in the scene of the fifth book when Harry is confronted about Dumbledore's Army, after Marietta Edgecombe betrays it to Dolores Umbridge. Kingsley swiftly modifies Marietta's memory, but to avoid suspicion from the Ministry, Dumbledore is forced to hex him too as he flees.

Kingsley takes part in the battle at the Department of Mysteries, and appears to be very skilled at duelling as he is seen fighting two Death Eaters at once. However, after Sirius is killed, he continues the duel with Bellatrix Lestrange, during which Kingsley is hit by a spell that causes a "loud bang" and he hits the ground "yelling in pain". In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, appoints Kingsley to the Muggle Prime Minister's office, posing as a secretary, but being the Prime Minister's guard.

It is revealed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that Kingsley is one of the few wizards that the Dursleys seem to like, due to his skill at blending in well with Muggles and his calm, collected demeanour. In that book, Kingsley first appears with other Order members to move Harry from the Dursleys' home to safety in the Burrow. Later in the book, he manages to send a timely warning to Bill and Fleur's wedding using his Patronus, a lynx, when Voldemort overthrows the Ministry of Magic, giving the guests a chance to escape. He continues to guard the Prime Minister, but is eventually forced to flee. He later is heard preaching equal rights for Muggles and Wizards on the pirate radio programme "Potterwatch" under the pseudonym "Royal". In the Battle of Hogwarts he is first seen organising those who remained to fight. He is later seen dueling an unnamed Death Eater, and ends up duelling Voldemort himself, alongside Minerva McGonagall and Horace Slughorn, but after Bellatrix's death, Voldemort's anger erupts; Kingsley and the two others are defeated (although not killed). Kingsley is appointed temporary Minister for Magic following the death of Voldemort and the deposition of Voldemort's puppet ruler, Pius Thicknesse. However, it was later revealed by Rowling in an interview that Kingsley did become the new Minister permanently, revolutionising the Ministry itself.

George Harris appeared as Kingsley in the movies Order of the Phoenix and both parts of Deathly Hallows.

Nymphadora Tonks
Nymphadora "Dora" Tonks is a Metamorphmagus, and an Auror. Her name means "Gift of the Nymphs", similar to "Theodore" ("God's Gift") and "Isidore" ("Isis's Gift"). She despises her given name and prefers to be called by her surname alone. She is still referred to as "Tonks" by her peers even after her marriage.

She is described as having "a pale heart-shaped face, dark twinkling eyes", and is usually depicted with different hair colours, which she can change at will. Tonks is seen to be notoriously clumsy and unskilled at household spells. Nymphadora is the only daughter of Ted and Andromeda Tonks, the latter being sister to Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy; Nymphadora is therefore Draco Malfoy's first cousin yet she never addresses him as family, alluding to him simply as "the Malfoy boy". Tonks is sorted into Hufflepuff, and graduates from Hogwarts one year before Harry enters, after which she begins three years of Auror training; under Moody's tutelage, she qualifies as an Auror one year before her first appearance in Order of the Phoenix.

Tonks and Kingsley act as spies for the Order in the Ministry. She helps to escort Harry first from the Dursleys' house to Order headquarters, and later to the Hogwarts Express. Tonks later fights the Death Eaters at the Department of Mysteries, in which she is injured by Bellatrix, and has to be taken to St Mungo's. During Half-Blood Prince, Tonks is stationed at Hogsmeade and assigned to guard Hogwarts. Harry observes she is constantly depressed and rarely smiles. After Dumbledore's death, it is revealed that Tonks has fallen in love with Lupin, and her Patronus has as a result changed to the form of a wolf. Lupin is reluctant to return her affections arguing that he is "too old, too poor, and too dangerous" for her. Because of this, she falls into a depression that disturbs her magical abilities.

However, early in Deathly Hallows, Tonks announces that she has recently married Remus Lupin. Tonks accompanies twelve Order members to take Harry from the Dursleys' home to The Burrow. She flies with Ron, who impersonates Harry using Polyjuice Potion to throw the Death Eaters off the real Harry's trail. During the aerial battle, Tonks fights Bellatrix again, and injures Lestrange's husband, Rodolphus. Later in the book, Remus reveals Tonks is pregnant. He leaves her for a brief period, believing that he, through their marriage, has caused her to become an outcast and their unborn child would be better off without him, but changes his mind and returns to her side after a heated argument with Harry. In April of the seventh book, Tonks gives birth to Teddy Remus Lupin, named after her father and husband. Towards the end of the book, Tonks and Lupin join the Battle of Hogwarts. During the battle, Tonks is killed by Bellatrix, and Lupin is killed by Antonin Dolohov, leaving Teddy an orphan to be raised by his maternal grandmother, Andromeda. In an interview shortly after the release of Deathly Hallows, Rowling confessed that she had originally intended for Tonks and Lupin to survive the series ending, but felt that she had to kill them after she spared Arthur Weasley in Order of the Phoenix.

Natalia Tena played Tonks in the film versions of Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.

Arthur Weasley
Arthur Weasley is the patriarch of the Weasley family, a family of wizards who are considered "blood traitors" by Death Eaters for their interest in the Muggle world. He is married to Molly Weasley with whom he has seven children, including Ron, Harry's best friend. During his time at Hogwarts, Arthur belonged to the house of Gryffindor. Arthur is described as being tall and thin, and as having a receding hairline and wire-rimmed glasses. An affable, light-hearted man, he tends not to be the authority figure in the family; his wife Molly handles that area. Arthur works for the Ministry of Magic, initially in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. He is obsessed with learning about Muggle customs and inventions and owns a large collection of mostly Muggle used items. His department lacks funding, and his salary is insufficient to provide for a vast family, leaving his family finances precarious.

Mr Weasley first appears in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, when Harry stays with the Weasley family at The Burrow during the summer before the first term of Hogwarts begins. In this book, Lucius Malfoy tries to discredit Arthur when Harry and Ron are seen flying his enchanted car and by placing Tom Riddle's diary in Ginny's cauldron so that she can open the Chamber of Secrets and take the blame for the attacks on Muggle-borns. However, Lucius fails to fulfil his objective and the diary is destroyed.

At the start of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Arthur wins a large cash prize in a sweepstakes and uses it to take the whole family on a holiday to Egypt. After they return, Arthur thinks that Harry should know (what he [Arthur] then believes to be) the truth about Sirius Black. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, it seems that Arthur does not fully believe the stories of Harry's abuse at the hands of the Dursleys until he witnesses what they think about Harry and the Wizarding world and is stunned to see them so eager to say goodbye to him, before taking him to the Quidditch World Cup. At the beginning of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Mr Weasley is a member of the Order, and accompanies Harry to his visit in the Ministry. During one of his shifts in the Ministry guarding Sybill Trelawney's prophecy, Voldemort's pet snake Nagini attacks him. Harry, who is mentally connected with Voldemort, manages to see this in a vision and is able to warn the Hogwarts authorities. Arthur is subsequently saved just in time and sent to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, where he fully recovers. Rowling has revealed that in the original draft for Order of the Phoenix she planned to kill Arthur. She changed her mind, however, saying that she could not kill Arthur as he is one of the few good fathers in the series. However, as she "wanted to kill parents," she spared Arthur's life in exchange for Lupin's and Tonks's. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Arthur has been promoted to Head of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Arthur is part of the group that moves Harry from Privet Drive for the last time, accompanied by his son Fred who acted as one of the seven Potters. Arthur continues to work in the Ministry but all his movements are tracked. When it is discovered that Ron is travelling with Harry and not sick at home, the Weasleys are forced to hide. Arthur reappears in the Battle of Hogwarts, in which he loses his son Fred, and is joined by Percy Weasley in defeating Pius Thicknesse.

Arthur Weasley appears in every film except the first, and is portrayed by Mark Williams.

Bill Weasley
William Arthur "Bill" Weasley is the eldest son of Arthur and Molly Weasley. He is described to be "hard-working" and "down-to-earth", but possesses a fondness for "a bit of adventure, a bit of glamour". During his time at Hogwarts, Bill becomes both a prefect and Head Boy, with 12 O.W.L.s to his credit. Later, he works for Gringotts Bank in Egypt as a Curse-Breaker.

He makes his first full appearance in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, where he is described as being a good-looking young man, sporting long red hair tied back in a ponytail and a single fang earring. When Fleur spies Bill at Hogwarts as he and Mrs Weasley paid a visit to Harry during the Triwizard Tournament, she eyes him with "great interest." Bill returns to Britain to work with the Order in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He meets Fleur at Gringotts head office in London where she is employed at the time, giving her lessons to improve her English. After a year long relationship, the couple get engaged, and Bill brings his fiancée home to get to know his family, who disapprove of her.

Bill fights in the Death Eaters' attack at Hogwarts near the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but does not escape unscathed, as he is attacked by werewolf Fenrir Greyback. However, since Greyback is in his human form at the time of the attack, Bill suffers only partial lycanthropy contamination. Furthermore, Fleur, who declares his wounds as a proud sign of his bravery, is loyally adamant that their wedding proceed as scheduled, impressing Bill's family about the match's strength. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Fleur and Bill take part in getting Harry escorted safely from the Dursleys' house, and they witness Mad-Eye Moody being killed by Voldemort himself, which they announce upon their return to the Burrow. The couple have their wedding there and later provide safe haven for the trio and several others in Shell Cottage after they narrowly escape Malfoy Manor. Both Bill and Fleur were combatants for the Order during the Battle of Hogwarts and both survived the battle. Bill and Fleur have three children: Victoire, Dominique and Louis.

Richard Fish appeared as Bill briefly in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Domhnall Gleeson, the son of actor Brendan Gleeson (Alastor Moody in the series), plays Bill Weasley in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Charlie Weasley
Charlie Weasley is the second son of Arthur and Molly Weasley and is described as having a build like that of his brothers Fred and George: shorter and stockier than Bill, Percy and Ron. He has a broad, good natured face, which is slightly weather beaten and very freckly. His arms are muscly, and one of them has a long shiny burn. While at Hogwarts, he was a prefect, a Quidditch Captain, and a legendary Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. After school, Charlie chooses to go to Romania to work with dragons as a Dragon Keeper. At Harry, Ron and Hermione's request, he takes Hagrid's baby dragon, Norbert, an illegally hatched Norwegian Ridgeback, into his care in Harry's first year, and he is part of a team of Dragon Keepers that bring four dragons of different breeds to Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament. During the second rise of Voldemort, Charlie's task in the Order is to try to rally support abroad. Charlie returns to the Burrow in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to participate in his brother Bill's wedding as best man. He enters the later part of the Battle of Hogwarts, alongside Horace Slughorn, at the head of reinforcements for the Order, and survives the battle without serious injury. He does not marry or have children, since he "preferred dragons to women", according to Rowling.

Alex Crockford appeared as Charlie in a brief cameo in the film adaptation of Prisoner of Azkaban.

Molly Weasley
Molly Weasley (née Prewett) is married to Arthur Weasley and mother of seven children. Molly is born into the pure-blood Prewett family, being the sister of Gideon and Fabian Prewett. The character is first introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, when she kindly tells Harry how to cross the barrier through to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, she is furious with Fred, George, and Ron after she discovers that they flew their parents' enchanted car to rescue Harry from his aunt and uncle who have imprisoned him in his room. At the beginning of the school year, Molly sends Ron a Howler, screaming at him in anger that he and Harry flew the family car again, this time to Hogwarts. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Weasleys win the Daily Prophet draw and use the gold on a trip to Egypt to visit Bill. They return to Britain and stay at the Leaky Cauldron with Harry and Hermione. Harry overhears Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing one night about telling the truth about the supposed relation between Sirius Black and Harry; Arthur feels Harry should know the truth but Molly, feeling the truth would terrify him, assures him Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts with Dumbledore's protection, and orders Percy Weasley to keep an eye on Harry at the school.

When Harry arrives at the Burrow in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Molly finds out about Fred and George's experimenting with dangerous sweets they were manufacturing and tells them off before leaving for the Quidditch World Cup; however, after the Dark Mark appears over the sky at the World Cup campsite, Molly is upset for yelling at Fred and George, worried that something might happen to them after she treated them so horribly. Towards the climax of that book, Molly and Bill arrive at Hogwarts to see the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament, acting as family guests to Harry. After the return of Voldemort, Dumbledore asks Molly and Bill to join the Order and fight in the impending Second War. Molly comforts Harry and, for the first time in his life, he has someone to be there for him, like a mother.

Molly and the Weasleys are staying at the Order headquarters, Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, where she and Sirius fight over how much to tell Harry about the Order's operations. Days later, Molly is found in the drawing room, with a boggart that transforms into her dead family members and Harry, and confesses her nightmares of losing more family members to Voldemort and the Death Eaters. At the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Molly clashes with Bill's fiancée, Fleur Delacour, at this time; however, at the end of the novel, when Molly rushes to Hogwarts with her husband and Fleur to tend to her son Bill, who is ferociously attacked by Fenrir Greyback, Fleur is greatly offended when Molly jumps to the conclusion she will break up with Bill due to his scarring; thus Fleur and Molly unexpectedly hug and begin to see each other in a much more positive light.

At the beginning of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Molly and Arthur offer the Burrow as Order headquarters when Grimmauld Place is no longer safe. She feels immensely uncomfortable with the trio's decision to drop out of Hogwarts, and initially attempts to dissuade them from doing so. As the novel progresses, the family is forced to head for safety at Auntie Muriel's home. At the end of the book, Molly and her entire family fight in the Battle of Hogwarts. Upon seeing the death of Fred, she becomes devastated, and is pushed to the edge when Bellatrix Lestrange almost strikes Ginny with the Killing Curse. Enraged, she engages Bellatrix in an intense duel, killing her with a curse that hits her in the chest and avenging Sirius, Nymphadora and Dobby. Rowling has stated that the reason she had Molly kill Bellatrix was to show Molly's great powers as a witch and to provide a contrast between Molly's consumption with "maternal love" and Bellatrix's with "obsessive love".

The Chicago Tribune's Courtney Crowder lists Molly Weasley as her favourite literary mother, describing her as the "original Mama Grizzly", citing her many touching moments with Harry as well as the final book in the series, where "her feelings jumped off the page" as testament to her strong personality. Crowder summarises Molly's character as "levelheaded, yet willing to fight, intelligent, welcoming, and above all, extremely loving". In a Mother's Day article Molly was also voted the third greatest celebrity mum by The Flowers and Plants association who see the character as "formidable, practical, creative and resourceful". Bob Smietana of Christianity Today links Molly's defence of Ginny in the final book into a wider theme in the series about the strength of parental love, which he feels to carry considerable emotional weight. Empire listed Molly Weasley 21st on their Top 25 Harry Potter characters.

Julie Walters portrays Molly Weasley in every film except Goblet of Fire, in which her role in the novel is cut out. In 2003 her portrayal of Molly was voted the second-best screen mother ever, behind Julia Roberts' Erin Brokovich.