Percy Weasley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Harry Potter character | |
 Chris Rankin as Percy in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets |
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| Percy Ignatius Weasley | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Hair colour | Red |
| Eye colour | Blue |
| House | Gryffindor |
| Parentage | Pure-blood |
| Allegiance | Ministry of Magic |
| Film portrayer | Chris Rankin |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
Percy Ignatius Weasley (born August 22, 1976) is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Percy is the third-eldest son of Arthur and Molly Weasley's brood of seven (younger brother of Bill and Charlie, and elder of Fred, George, and Ron, and baby sister Ginny). He entered Hogwarts in 1987, is described as wearing horn-rimmed glasses (although he has not done so in the film adaptions), and, like Arthur and Ron, is described as being tall and thin.
When readers first meet Percy in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, he is a Gryffindor prefect; in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, he becomes Head Boy. The black sheep of the family, he is relatively humourless, and thus becomes the butt of many of Fred and George's jokes and pranks. However, Molly initially favours him, as he causes her no grief while he is in school.
He owns a screech owl, Hermes (named after the Greek mythological messenger of the gods). Hermes was given to Percy by his father for being made a prefect.
[edit] Role in the books
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Percy is shown to be behaving furtively (perhaps a red herring with which to lead the reader to suspect he is responsible for the opening of the Chamber). He secretly has a girlfriend -- Ravenclaw prefect Penelope Clearwater. Ginny comes across them kissing, which she reveals to Harry, Ron and Hermione at the end of the book.
He finished school in June of 1994 at the age of seventeen, and began working for the Ministry of Magic under Barty Crouch, Sr., the former Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Percy looked up to Mr Crouch as something of an idol in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but Crouch never seemed to remember Percy's correct last name, and called him Weatherby instead. He takes Crouch's place as judge in the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament, and is very composed and professional until Ron seems to be in danger (like Harry, he has taken the time-limit warning literally). He does however give Harry high marks for showing "strong moral fiber". He was also supposed to be a judge for the final task, but is unavailable to attend due to a schedule conflict (he is facing an Inquiry regarding Crouch's long absence).
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Percy was promoted to the status of Junior Assistant to the Minister of Magic by Cornelius Fudge; because Fudge and Dumbledore were at odds over Harry's claim of Voldemort's return, a personal and political dispute between Percy and Arthur erupted, which resulted in Percy’s subsequent alienation from his family. Christmas gifts sent to him were returned, and a family picture showed that Percy had walked out of it (being magical, the people in the photograph are able to move).
When Percy learned that Ron had been made a prefect, he sent Ron an owl letter congratulating him for following in his footsteps, ignoring the fact that Percy's two older brothers had also been prefects. Percy recommends that Ron sever ties with Harry, saying Harry is an extreme danger to Ron's prefect status, whom the Ministry believed was lying about the return of Lord Voldemort, that Ron instead pay loyalty to the Ministry and Dolores Umbridge, whom Percy called a "delightful woman," and even going so far as to criticize his parents and Dumbledore. In response, Ron ripped up Percy's letter and threw it into the fire.
By the events of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Percy has not reconciled with his family, even though by this point the entire Wizarding World acknowledged that Harry and Dumbledore were correct; as Hermione points out, "it's easier to forgive someone for being wrong than being right," i.e. Percy would have to admit he was wrong to reconcile with the Weasley family. Percy visits his family at Christmas time, in a presumed attempt to make up, but this visit is really just a ploy so the current Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, can talk to Harry alone. The visit ends badly, with Percy storming out of the house due to having been hit by a thrown piece of food (Fred, George and Ginny all claimed responsibility). Percy attended the funeral of Albus Dumbledore with members of the Ministry, including Dolores Umbridge.
[edit] Percy in the films
In the films, Percy is played by Chris Rankin. Not much of Percy's character is seen onscreen, though he acts pompously (Rankin said in an interview that he deliberately overacted for the part). Most of Percy's role in the film involves Prefect duties, such as leading the first years to their common room in the first film. He did not appear in the theatrical release of the fourth film, but is confirmed to return in the fifth.
[edit] Trivia
- Percy is commonly believed to be short for Percival, an Arthurian character: there seems to be somewhat of a running theme of Arthurian legend in some Weasley family names. However, Percy is also an independent name, originally taken from the Percy family. In the trial from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, he is identified as "Percy Ignatius Weasley", indicating "Percy", not "Percival", as his full first name. Nonetheless, it is interesting to note that Percival is a middle name of Albus Dumbledore.
- His middle name, Ignatius, probably comes from Ignatius Prewett (the husband of Lucretia Black), a member of the Prewett family who appears to be an uncle of Molly Weasley and her brothers Gideon and Fabian.
- He passed 12 OWLs: given that Hermione required a time-turner to take twelve subjects in PoA, it is likely that Percy also required one (unless, somehow, he was able to timetable his lessons without needing to manipulate time).
