- "Just before the attack, we saw these plumes of smoke in the sky. If you looked directly at them, they disappeared, but you could see them out the corner of your eye. Then it all went dark and suddenly everything was exploding. If I hadn't stopped to try to see the smoke, I'd be dead by now. I know that these were devils, punishing us for our decadent Western lifestyle."
- — Penelope Taylor quoted by Jamie Wolpert, "Bridge disaster hits London" in The Guardian (July, 1996).[src]
Penelope Taylor (born c. 1974) was a Muggle woman from Hull, and a survivor of the Millennium Bridge disaster in 1996, aged 22.
She noticed "these plumes of smoke in the sky", just before the bridge collapsed, which were (although she did not know) a gang of Death Eaters led by Fenrir Greyback. Penelope Taylor attributed the collapse to what she believed were devils, punishing the Londoners for their "decadent Western lifestyle". She escaped the collapse with only a broken leg and pelvis, because she stopped to try to see the smoke, and later gave a statement to The Guardian.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
- Penelope Taylor was presumably named after Penelope Taylor, an assistant to David Yates on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.[2]
Appearances[]
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) (First mentioned) (Mentioned in a newspaper)
- Harry Potter Limited Edition (Mentioned only) (Mentioned in a newspaper)