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James Potter I

Revision as of 21:08, 24 March 2008 by Alychne (talk | contribs) (added steer to article on Harry's and Ginny's first child)
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This article is about Harry Potter's father. You may be looking for Harry Potter's son, James Potter II.

"It's been fourteen years, and not a day goes by that I don't miss your dad."
— Sirius Black[src]

James Potter (March 27, 1960 - October 31, 1981) was the father of Harry Potter. He was a troublemaker during his years at Hogwarts but a great wizard and a member of the first Order of the Phoenix, who devoted himself to fighting Lord Voldemort. James and his wife Lily Potter were murdered by Voldemort when Peter Pettigrew betrayed them.

Childhood

James Potter was born into a wizarding family of wealth. Both his parents were elderly, even by wizarding standards, and both died under normal circumstances when he was around 20. He was a tall, thin boy with untidy black hair and hazel eyes framed by glasses.

School

He began to attend Hogwarts in 1971 at age eleven and was sorted into Gryffindor. While there, he befriended Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, and together they called themselves the Marauders. James was exceptionally bright, one of the cleverest students in the school and the ringleader of his gang.

James had great talent on the Quidditch pitch as a Chaser for his house team, and he knew it. He was something of an obnoxious youth for the majority of his time at school, he liked to show off and was exceptionally self-confident. He habitually ruffled his hair to make it even untidier, to look as though he'd just got off his broomstick.

James had a habit of hexing innocent students for no other reason than because he could, especially Severus Snape, a Slytherin in the same year as James. James and Snape had a strong rivalry throughout their time at Hogwarts. Remus and Sirius have said that the reason this rivalry began was due to Snape's jealousy over James' talent at Quidditch and his popularity, although James and Sirius insult Severus from the moment they meet him in their first year on the Hogwarts Express. Snape followed the Marauders around, looking for reasons to get them expelled. James, in turn, used the hexes Snape himself had made up against him.

James spent the majority of his academic career chasing after Lily Evans, a redheaded girl his age, also in Gryffindor. He couldn't help but make a fool of himself when she was around, as she was perhaps the only student in the school who was totally unimpressed by him (as well as Snape, of course).

James Sirius youth

James with Sirius in their 5th year

Animagus

As second years, James, Sirius and Peter figured out that Remus was a werewolf. Rather than abandoning him (James in particular insisted this monthly hazard didn't mean Remus was truly abnormal), they spent three years learning to become Animagi in order to accompany Remus in his transformations. In his fifth year, James managed to perfect the transformation and become a stag Animagus, which earned him the nickname "Prongs."

In the Marauders' fifth year, Snape saw Madam Pomfrey and Remus going to the Shrieking Shack using a secret passage under the Whomping Willow. Snape was very interested in where Remus went every month, and Sirius told him that the trick to getting past the Whomping Willow was to poke the knot at the bottom. Snape followed Sirius' directions and was nearly at the Shrieking Shack when James pulled him back. At great risk to his own life, James saved Severus from certain death at the claws of a werewolf. Even when Harry was at school, Snape still felt that James only saved him to avoid expulsion.

At the age of sixteen, James' parents allowed Sirius to move in with them so he could escape his own horrible family, and Sirius soon became an unofficial member of their family. By his seventh year, James had lost the less savory aspects of his personality and was even appointed Head Boy despite the fact that he hadn't been a prefect. He also finally managed to impress Lily Evans and began dating her at this time. He stopped hexing bystanders for fun, the exception being Severus, who in turn never lost an opportunity to hex James.

After School

After graduation, James married Lily, and Sirius was best man at the wedding. The three of them, along with Remus and Peter, joined the Order of the Phoenix in the fight against Voldemort. During the course of the next three years James and Lily defied the Dark Lord three times as the conflict continued. Voldemort had tried to recruit him and his wife to the Death Eaters, but due to their closeness to Dumbledore and goodness they refused, this being the first incidence of three they defied him.

James also used his wealth to support Remus Lupin, who was unemployable due to his status as a Werewolf.[1]

On July 31, 1980, Lily gave birth to their son Harry James Potter, but it wasn't long before Dumbledore found out that they were in danger. Little Harry had become a target of Lord Voldemort because of a prophecy Dumbledore had heard--and Voldemort knew about it, too, because of none other than Severus Snape. In October 1981, Dumbledore told the Potters that their best chance of remaining safe against Voldemort was the Fidelius Charm. James insisted to use Sirius as their Secret-Keeper, even though Dumbledore offered to fill the position.

Into Hiding

Sirius, however, had a different plan. He convinced James and Lily to use Peter as their Secret-Keeper, with Sirius as a decoy. They agreed and the charm was cast in secret, but this attempt at a double-bluff ended in tragedy. The only people to know about the switch were James, Lily, Sirius and Peter--even Dumbledore and Lupin were kept in the dark. Less than a week later, Peter betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort.

When the Dark Lord arrived at Godric's Hollow, James told Lily to take Harry and run, and stood to face the darkest wizard in a century on his own in order to give his wife and child time to escape, but leaving his wand in the living room in which he had been entertaining his young son with it. As talented as he was, he was no match for the might of Voldemort and he was killed. James Potter died protecting his family and is remembered fondly throughout the majority of the wizarding world.

Behind the Scenes

  • There has been some confusion about whether James played Seeker or Chaser (the books say Chaser, but the movies say Seeker), but in the second Scholastic interview, J. K. Rowling confirmed he was indeed a Chaser. It is possible he could have played both in different years.This is supported by his talent with a Snitch.

Appearances

References

  1. ↑ JK Rowling comments at Carnegie Hall
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