Percy Ignatius Weasley

Percy Ignatius "Perce" Weasley (b. 22 August 1976) was an English pure-blood wizard, the third child of Arthur and Molly Weasley . He was the younger brother of Bill and Charlie, the older brother of the late Fred Weasley, George, Ron and Ginny. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1987-1994, and was both a prefect and Head Boy.He took the rules very seriously, and did not believe that his brothers Fred and George would get very far in school because of their constant pranking. It was also once stated by his brother Ron that "Percy wouldn't know a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea cosy". A high achiever, he went to work at the Ministry of Magic after leaving school, working in the Department of International Magical Co-operation under Barty Crouch Snr and later as Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic himself.However, Percy's rise through the Ministry caused a rift between him and his family following the return of Lord Voldemort. His father thought that his promotion to Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge's office was a plot by the Minister to keep tabs on the Weasleys, and through them, Albus Dumbledore. Percy denied this and remained steadfastly loyal to the Ministry's lie that Voldemort was not back, estranging himself from his family and furthermore condemning them for their support of and affiliation with Albus Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix. Even though the Ministry did accept that the Dark Lord had indeed returned following the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Percy's shame over his behaviour stopped him from reconciling with his family. 
After the fall of the Ministry to the Death Eaters in 1997, Percy finally realised just how corrupt the Ministry was and fully accepted that he had been wrong the whole time and abandoned the Ministry. Percy was tipped off by Aberforth Dumbledore about the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998 and finally made up with his family. He survived the battle but was grief-stricken over the death of his brother Fred, whom he was fighting alongside and was determined to avenge.
Following the downfall of Voldemort, Percy returned to work for the Ministry and became Head of the Department of Magical Transportation under the new Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. He married a woman named Audrey and had two daughters, Molly, named after her paternal grandmother, and Lucy.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Percy Ignatius Weasley was the third of seven children born to Arthur and Molly Weasley. He was a small child during the height of the First Wizarding War. In the fighting, his maternal uncles, Fabian and Gideon Prewett, both members of the Order of the Phoenix, were murdered fighting Antonin Dolohov and four other Death Eaters. While he was still a child, the wizarding world became peaceful again (for a time) after Lord Voldemort's first defeat on 31 October, 1981.
Percy and his five brothers — Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Ron — as well as his younger sister, Ginny, grew up in the Burrow on the outskirts of Ottery St Catchpole in Devon, England. Like all his siblings, he was home educated in reading, writing and mathematics by his mother. 
The Weasley family was not wealthy at all, compared to other wizarding families. Many other pure-blood families, particularly the Malfoys, disdained them for their "blood traitor" beliefs and lack of wealth. However, this did not bother the Weasleys and they continued to stand by their beliefs. Also Molly and Arthur tried their best to make up for this with their love. When Percy was seven his five-year-old brother Fred transformed Ron's teddy bear into a giant spider, which caused Ron's arachnophobia. This was in retaliation for Ron breaking Fred's toy broomstick. It can be assumed that Percy had a fairly happy childhood, as all the Weasley siblings did. 
===Hogwarts years ===
On 1 September 1987, he started at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Gryffindor House, where he shared a dormitory with Oliver Wood. He took a pet rat named Scabbers with him, which turned out to be an Animagus named Peter Pettigrew.
====Fifth year====
An academically inclined, ambitious, and hard working student. Percy was made prefect in his fifth year. As a reward for this, Percy was given a Screech Owl — whom he named Hermes, and new robes by his parents. Scabbers was handed down to his younger brother, Ron.
250px|thumb|right|Percy at the Start-of-Term Feast in 1991
In his new duties as a prefect, Percy was responsible for the new first year Gryffindors, including bringing them to their dormitories on the first day, and to lead them to safety during Hallowe'en in 1991, following the arrival of a troll in the dungeons. He remained at Hogwarts during the Christmas period in 1991, and sat his O.W.Ls at the end of the year. At some point in his fifth or sixth year, Percy began dating Penelope Clearwater, a Ravenclaw prefect, though he kept it a secret from his family, most likely to prevent his twin brothers Fred and George from mercilessly teasing him (which they did most of the time). 
In his fifth year, Percy earned twelve Ordinary Wizarding Levels, an achievement his brother Bill also earned.
====Sixth year====
Percy spent much of the summer of 1992 in his room exchanging letters with girlfriend Penelope Clearwater, and his family only saw him at mealtimes. He obtained top grades in all of his twelve O.W.L.s, but hardly gloated over the fact. The behaviour was noted by his siblings, who found it strange. They did not know it was due to his new romance with Penelope then.
Back at school, Percy's duties as prefect led him into conflict with his brothers when he caught Ron in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and Fred and George's loud, sarcastic proclamations over Harry Potter being the Heir of Slytherin. He tried to look out for his sister, Ginny, once forcing her to take Pepperup Potion because she looked ill, and by trying to assuage her fears that Ron's behaviour would get him expelled.Due to the attacking of students with following the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, Percy, like the other prefects, was required to patrol the castle to maintain order and report anything suspicious. He would also sneak into empty classrooms to be with Penelope, so as to be away from the prying eyes of his siblings, but was caught on one occasion by his youngest sister Ginny. He swore her to secrecy, and in doing so, was inadvertently responsible for the events at the end of that school year, as he prevented Ginny from telling Ron and Harry about her involvement with the Chamber of Secrets, thinking that she was telling them about him and Penelope.Percy also advised Harry on his choice of subjects for his third year, and later suffered an immense shock when Penelope was petrified by Slytherin's monster. Later, he wrote to his parents to inform them that Ginny had been taken into the Chamber. He was reunited with Penelope after Professor Sprout's Mandrake potion restored those petrified to their normal state, and Ginny, who was saved from Tom Marvolo Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets by Harry. However, his relationship with Penelope was exposed as Ginny finally revealed it to Harry, Ron, and Fred and George on the train ride home.
==Physical description==
Percy was tall and thin, like his father and brothers Bill and Ron, and with the vivid red hair and freckles characteristic of the Weasley family. He wore horn-rimmed glasses, and also tried to carry himself in a dignified manner, although he usually came off looking pretentious and silly.
==Personality and traits==
Percy was extremely ambitious and dedicated to his goals, which was apparently to become Minister for Magic, though it is possible that it was just Fred and George joking. A stickler for rules and regulations, he respected authority and, when he attained it himself, expected respect in return. However, Percy usually just seemed affected and self-important since he constantly tried to look and sound dignified, including calling his parents "Mother" and "Father" rather than "Mum" and "Dad" like the rest of his siblings. He had a sophisticated way of speaking, thinking it made him sound flamboyant, but he simply came off as pompous and grandiose.
Percy was also highly opinionated, and made loud comments regarding the Sirius Black situation and the measures he would suggest when he made it into the Ministry of Magic. He was also very dismissive of Ludo Bagman's skills in running the Department of Magical Games and Sports when compared to Mr Crouch, but that didn't stop him attempting to make a good impression in front of him when he met him at the Quidditch World Cup.
Percy was extremely pompous, arrogant, and stiff-necked; he took himself very seriously and was often the butt of pranks and jokes played on him by his fun-loving siblings. 
However, he showed rare glimmerings of a sense of humour when joking with Penelope Clearwater over sabotaging Harry's broomstick, and when duelling Pius Thicknesse during the Battle of Hogwarts.
Percy could be snobbish and bossy at times, as Fred and George have said, but he also cared about his family at the end, although sometimes when it was too late. He was also very pompous and when he wanted to get something, he sometimes only cared about himself rather than his family. He cared immensely about his own self-image and always tried to appear sophisticated, intelligent and upper-class, but only succeeded at becoming narcissistic, coarse and rather insensitive. 
Although not a strongly prejudiced person at heart, Percy's huge loyalty to the Ministry made him support some of their prejudiced policies when he was employed by them. This was first shown when he defended Barty Crouch Snr when he sacked his loyal house elf Winky for associating him with the Dark Mark (and secretly, for failing to properly supervise his son) even though she was seemingly at the wrong place and time, claiming that Ministry officials like Crouch required unswerving loyalty from their house elves, even though it put his friendship with Hermione under strain when she was angered by Percy's insensitivity and ignorance to Winky's feelings and the welfare of house-elves in general. Even though Percy was already aware of Harry's ability to speak Parseltongue, it also ensured that he was easily swayed by Rita Skeeter's slanderous article about Harry being disturbed and dangerous, to the point that he no longer considered Harry trustworthy and disbelieved his claims of Voldemort's return. 
He later also supported the Ministry with their legislations and prejudice against werewolves and half-giants when they were attempting to discredit Dumbledore, not protesting when the Ministry criticised Dumbledore's decision to employ Remus Lupin and Rubeus Hagrid at Hogwarts. He also showed prejudice against his father's position in the Ministry, claiming when he disowned his family that he had to struggle against his father's reputation since he started working for the Ministry and that Arthur had no ambition which was why their family was always poor, even though the Ministry's prejudice against Arthur's Pro-Muggle leanings made them unwilling to promote him to a higher position. 
Percy developed a rather cruel, elitist and callous personality after he estranged himself from his family, having a scornful attitude towards his parents and siblings due to their support for Albus Dumbledore, and became very dismissive towards Harry Potter, whom he had been supportive towards previously. This showed his dishonesty and desperation to become something higher in the Ministry. At Christmas 1995, he spitefully returned his mother's present unopened, and refused to visit his father in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries; both of these cruel acts really hurt his family, but he did not seem to care for their feelings. He became delusional, untrustworthy, ignorant and power-hungry, much like his idol Cornelius Fudge, and inaccurately believed Dolores Umbridge to be a good-natured woman, despite her true sadistic and hateful nature, while at the same time wrongly believing Harry, Dumbledore and his family to be liars. After his family and Dumbledore were proven to be right and the Ministry wrong, Percy was too ashamed of his past cruelty towards them, that he felt himself unable to reconcile with them, and even missed Bill's wedding.
Percy proved himself to be very much of a social climber. He wanted to achieve prominence at the Ministry, choosing to dedicate himself to the institution and abandoning his family when they chose to rebel against the Ministry. He was a sychophant, constantly trying to suck up to Barty Crouch Snr or Fudge, despite the former not knowing his actual name. His love of order and rules, and obedience to authorities blinded him to the truth about Lord Voldemort's return and he felt ashamed after learning the truth and couldn't bring himself to see his family. It even made him miss out on three important events of his family: the joining of the Order of the Phoenix, a visit to his injured father, and his eldest brother's wedding. Despite this, however, Percy is not entirely without reason, as after the Ministry fell and was taken over by the Death Eaters, Percy finally realised his wrongs and admitted to them and apologised sincerely to his family, reconciling with them.
Despite his normal determination to maintain proper behaviour, Percy was an avid fan of Quidditch and could sometimes forget decorum in demonstrating his enthusiasm for it. In the 1993–1994 school year, he made a 10 Galleon bet with Penelope Clearwater that Gryffindor would win the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw Quidditch match, despite the fact that he didn't have ten Galleons at the time. Later that year, when Gryffindor won the final match of the season, vs. Slytherin, Percy jumped "up and down like a maniac, all dignity forgotten."
==Magical abilities and skills==
Percy was a very skilled and talented wizard. He earned an O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. in every exam he took.
*Transfiguration: Percy was proficient in the field of transfiguration, and was able to achieve an Ordinary Wizarding Level in the subject at Hogwarts. During his duel with Thicknesse, Percy transfigured him into a sea urchin, which was Human Transfiguration, a very difficult branch of Transfiguration.
*Charms: Percy was proficient with the casting of charms, given how he earned an Ordinary Wizarding Level in the subject at Hogwarts. Percy was capable of producing a non-corporeal Patronus Charm, a mark of superior magical ability given the immense difficulty of the charm. He could also cast simple charms such as Oculus Reparo and the Leg-Locker Curse successfully.
*Defence Against the Dark Arts: Percy was talented in this field, as he was able to earn an Ordinary Wizarding Level in the subject at Hogwarts. Percy later demonstrated his ability to combat the Dark Arts when he bravely fought in the Battle of Hogwarts against the Death Eaters, and survived.
*Herbology: Percy was accomplished in the study and handling of magical plants and fungi, as he was able to earn an Ordinary Wizarding Level in this subject at Hogwarts.
*Care of Magical Creatures: Percy was skilled with the handling and undertanding of magical creatures, given how he earned an Ordinary Wizarding Level in the subject at Hogwarts.
*Divination: Percy was skilled in this field, given how he earned an Ordinary Wizarding Level in the subject at Hogwarts. Percy also had a positive view of the subject, regarding it as a useful qualification for wizarding careers.
*Apparition: Percy received his Apparition licence, meaning he had the ability to apparate successfully.
*Duelling: During the Battle of Hogwarts, Percy duelled Pius Thicknesse and defeated him. He later survived the battle, showing he was a very skilled and competent duellist, with considerable talent in martial magic.
==Possessions==
 
*Wand: The wand of Percy Weasley is of unknown length, wood, and core materials. Like most wizards and witches in Great Britain, he likely purchased it at the age of eleven at Ollivanders before beginning his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
*Hermes: When Percy was appointed Prefect in his fifth year, his parents gave him the owl Hermes as a present. 
*Scabbers (formerly): Until the start of his fifth year, he kept a rat named Scabbers as a pet. After Hermes was given to him, Scabbers was kept by his younger brother Ron, until it turned out to have actually been Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form.
==Relationships==
===Family===
====Weasley family====
Percy was quite different in temperament from his family members, which impacted his relationships with them. His academic studies and responsible nature earned him praise and adoration in the eyes of his mother and father, although even Mr Weasley was not above having a small laugh at the expense of his son's stuffiness. However, his behaviour alienated him from his younger siblings, especially Fred and George, who were the exact opposite of him. Because of this, Percy was a constant butt of their jokes and pranks, including bewitching his prefect and Head Boy badges to read Pinhead and Bighead Boy respectively, and sending dragon dung to his office at the Ministry. However, the twins' pranks were generally good-natured ribbing at his expense — during Christmas in 1991, the twins forbade him from sitting with the other prefects, noting that Christmas was a time for family. He tried to be a role-model for Ron and Ginny, but they took after the fun-loving twins.
In 1995, he broke off all ties with his family following an argument with his father over his promotion to Junior Assistant to Fudge. Proud and ambitious, he could not conceive that Fudge would be using him to spy on Dumbledore. He could also not see that both the Ministry and the Daily Prophet were not telling the public the truth over the return of Lord Voldemort. When the truth was revealed, he felt ashamed about his actions and guiltily shunned his family until the moment that he might have lost them during the Battle of Hogwarts, even though he had been wanting to apologise to them for some time, at which Percy sincerely apologised to them and was forgiven by them all.
Curiously enough, while it was the twins who were the most angry at him within the family, constantly telling the others that he was no good and to forget about him, it was also Fred and George who were the first to forgive him and welcome him back to the family. Fred was the first to forgive him, while George seemed to carry on as if the split had never occurred, and made a small joke about Percy having been a prefect.
Over the years, Percy was particularly proud and protective of his youngest brother, Ron. During Ron's first year, Percy was extremely proud that he had beaten Professor McGonagall's enchanted chess set that guarded the Philosopher's Stone. During the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament, he rushed to help him from the lake after he had been rescued by Harry Potter. 
After severing ties with his family, Ron was the only one he contacted, congratulating him on becoming a prefect, and urging him to cut his ties with Harry Potter so that he would not be dragged down with him, although this only disgusted Ron even further. Finally, after reconciling with his family, in the brief ceasefire allowed to them by Lord Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts, Percy comforted Ron following Fred's death, which also devastated him. Through the marriage of his brother Bill Weasley, Percy became brother-in-law to Fleur Delacour.
====Harry Potter====
Harry Potter first met Percy Weasley at King's Cross Station when he saw him go through the barrier to platform 9¾. In Harry's second year, Percy offered Harry some advice regarding his choice of subjects that he would take in the third year. For the most part, Percy liked Harry, and awarded him full marks during the Triwizard Tournament when he stood in for Bartemius Crouch Snr during the Second Task. While Harry was also generally friendly towards Percy — although he frequently laughed at Fred and George's pranks — he also felt that he had always liked Percy the least of all the Weasleys after he abandoned his family, possibly due to his somewhat pompous nature.
However, in Harry's fifth year, when the Ministry began publishing articles about Harry being "a liar and very violent", Percy bought into it, wanting to be obedient to Cornelius Fudge. He considered Harry a bad influence for Ron and sent him a letter encouraging him to sever ties with Harry and to stay on Umbridge's good side so that he could become eligible for Head Boyship in a few years. Although Harry attempted to make light of the letter's content, Ron promptly tore it to pieces and threw it in the fire, calling Percy "the world's biggest git". At that point, Harry hated Percy for not believing in him, for not giving him recognition in the disciplinary hearing, and for accepting Fudge's mockeries. 
Percy finally came to his senses when the Ministry fell to Voldemort, and he fought alongside Harry in the Battle of Hogwarts. This appeared to have caused Harry to forgive Percy and consider him an ally again, as he went to some lengths as to try to make him move to avoid the oncoming attacks from Death Eaters despite the risk on himself. At this point, Percy seemed to have lost what enmity he had towards Harry, looking visibly sombre and saddened as Harry's dead body was brought before Hogwarts. After Voldemort's death, he is among those who hugged Harry for his victory over Voldemort, Harry's lack of protest showing his better views of Percy.
They later became brothers-in-law through Harry's marriage to Ginny. However, their relationship remained distant as while seeing both of his sons go to Hogwarts, Harry thought he overheard Percy talking loudly about broomstick regulations, and was glad to have the excuse not to stop and say hello but while he apparently preferred to not interact with Percy, he no longer hated Percy and had forgiven him and apparently decided to leave how badly Percy treated him once in the past.
====Hermione Granger====
From 1991-1994, Percy was on very good terms with Hermione Granger, due to their academic brilliance and strong work ethic. Just after her Sorting, Hermione talked to Percy about her enthusiasm about learning magic, particularly Transfiguration, and it is likely that she admired him for being a Prefect, and being as academically brilliant as her. It is mentioned that Hermione got on with Percy better than the rest of the Weasleys. 
Their bond was broken after the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, when Percy condemned his boss's house-elf Winky, and Hermione was angry at his unfairness, having recently realised how badly house-elves were treated. They were never again as close, and when Percy broke ties with his family, this generally included Hermione as she was closely associated with the Weasleys and Harry. Hermione eventually became Percy's sister-in-law, and the relationship between them is unknown.
===Penelope Clearwater===
Percy began dating Penelope Clearwater, a fellow prefect, sometime during his fifth year. She boosted his morale by a tonne, and he flaunted himself even more, though he kept his relationship secret from his family, not wanted to be laughed at by anyone else. They would meet in deserted classrooms to kiss, but were caught once by Percy's sister, Ginny. Percy was distraught when Penelope was petrified in 1993, and immensely relieved when she was cured by Professor Sprout's Mandrake potion. The secrecy was broken when Ginny revealed the truth to her brothers, asking them not to tease Percy over the fact, which they did anyway.
With the secret out, Percy and Penelope appeared in public together, and he kept a photo of her. During his stay at the Leaky Cauldron before the start of his seventh year, he accused Ron of dripping tea on it. He met her on platform 9¾, showing off his Head Boy badge, and, later in the year, wagered ten Galleons on the outcome of the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match, despite not actually having ten galleons. He playfully remarked to her about sabotaging Harry's Firebolt when she asked if she could touch it.
They presumably broke up later, as Percy married another woman.
===Cornelius Fudge===
Cornelius Fudge originally looked down on Percy's family due to their affiliation with Muggles; however, in 1995 as an attempt to spy on the Weasley family and through them, Albus Dumbledore, Fudge promoted Percy to become his Junior Minister. Ironically, this led to Percy's defection from his family. Percy commented in his letter to his younger brother Ron that the Minister would not be more gracious to him for this defection. He agreed with Fudge on that Harry was violent and disturbed, as that Dumbledore was plotting to overthrow Fudge when the Ministry began publishing articles.
Over the final year of Fudge's term as Minister, he used Percy as the court scribe on at least two occasions: Harry's disciplinary hearing and the meeting in the Headmaster's Office following the discovery of Dumbledore's Army. Percy, during both moments, heartily agreed with Fudge's decisions, and even laughed when Fudge made insulting mockeries at Harry and Dumbledore. When Fudge's folly had been exposed and he was forced to resign as Minister in complete disgrace, most likely Percy became bitter and resentful that he had supported Fudge's completely disastrous and wrong campaign against Dumbledore and Harry against his own family. While he remained loyal to the Ministry, it is apparent that he felt no sympathy for Fudge's dismissal and may have even supported it some ways. Regardless, the damage that Fudge had caused to Percy's relationships with his family was done and it took 2 years before Percy was finally able to reconcile with them. Afterwards, Percy helped Kingsley with completely reforming the Ministry, which included purging the corruptions Fudge had left.
==Etymology==
 is a short form of the name Percival, which is derived from Old French, meaning "pierce the veil". It was the name of one of the Knights of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. This may be a pattern in names in the Weasley family, as Percy's father is named and his sister is named Ginevra, a version of . Percival is also one of Albus Dumbledore's middle names, and Albus formerly had reddish (auburn) hair, suggesting a possible link between the two families. It can also be short for Perseus, which is derived from Ancient Greek, meaning "destroyer". It could possibly be clues for him destroying his relationship with his family.
The namesake for Percy's middle name, Ignatius, was likely his mother's uncle Ignatius Prewett. Ignatius is a Roman name altered from its original Etruscan to resemble the Latin ignis, meaning "fire". It was the name of several saints, including the founder of the Jesuits.
==Behind the scenes==
*Percy is portrayed by New Zealand actor Chris Rankin in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Order of the Phoenix, and Part 2.
*In the Harry Potter films, Percy is shown without glasses.
*Percy's middle name, Ignatius, probably is from his great-uncle.
*Percy and his wife named their oldest daughter Molly, after Percy's mother.
*One trait that Percy had in common with his first two bosses Bartemius Crouch Snr and Cornelius Fudge was that he was willing to put his career ambitions over anything else, including the relationships with his family and friends. However, unlike Fudge and Crouch Snr, Percy was able to break out of this mould after seeing the error of his ways. Additionally Percy never had to go through an incident that would have destroyed his reputation at the Ministry.
*While did show Percy as one of Fudge's supporters, it omitted the details of Percy becoming Fudge's Junior Assistant or any mention of him defecting from his family, when he decided to remain obedient to the Ministry and accept their story that Voldemort had not returned.
*Due to Percy being reduced to a background character in , the films never acknowledged Percy's estrangement from his family or the apology he made to them during the Battle of Hogwarts.
*Percy is omitted from the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
*Out of the six films he was used in, Percy only had a speaking appearance in the first three films, while he has no dialogue in the fifth, seventh, and eighth films.
==Appearances==
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*J. K. Rowling: A Year in the Life 
*Harry Potter: The Wand Collection 
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Percy
Category:Wizards
Category:Yaxley Family Descendants