Rosmerta

> "*Landlady of the Three Broomsticks, famed for her good looks and mulled mead*"
> ― Description[source]
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**Madam Rosmerta** (fl. 1950 -1997) was a British witch who was the landlady of the Three Broomsticks pub in the village of Hogsmeade. Rosmerta was put under the Imperius Curse, cast by Draco Malfoy in 1997. After being placed under the curse she helped Malfoy against her will to smuggle cursed items into Hogwarts Castle. It is likely she later redeemed herself by fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts.

## Biography

### Bartender at The Three Broomsticks

> "*Naturally. Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here — ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!*"
> ― Rosmerta mentions that she was a barmaid [source]
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Rosmerta was older than the Marauders, as she was the barmaid whilst they were all still at school. Rosmerta lived in and was the barmaid of the Three Broomsticks during the First Wizarding War; she was a listener of gossip and believed the rumours that Sirius Black had turned his friends, the Potter family, over to Lord Voldemort to be true when news broke out they had been murdered and that the war was over. It remains unknown how she reacted when the true story was told to her, (that it was Peter Pettigrew who betrayed the Potters) or, indeed, if she ever found out.

She continued to tend bar during the 1980s.

#### 1987–1988 school year

Rosmerta was interrogated by Patricia Rakepick regarding the possible whereabouts of Jacob's notebook and map. She claimed to know nothing and threatened to inform some of her best customers from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement regarding Rakepick's behaviour, which made the Curse-Breaker back down quickly.

#### 1993-1994

 File:004HPA Julie Christie 001.jpg
 File:Prisoner-of-azkaban-rosmerta.jpg
In 1993, Madam Rosmerta was angered when Dementors were in Hogsmeade to catch Sirius Black because their presence was scaring away many of her customers, not least when they searched her pub twice. She hosted an informal meeting between Minerva McGonagall, Cornelius Fudge, Filius Flitwick, and Rubeus Hagrid discussing Sirius Black and his friends. They discussed how Sirius Black had been named Harry Potter's godfather before the Potters' demise.

#### 1996-1997

> "*There's one thing you should know before the Ministry gets here, though. Madam Rosmerta's under the Imperius Curse, she was helping Malfoy and the Death Eaters, that's how the necklace and the poisoned mead —*"
> ― Harry regarding Rosmerta being under the Imperius Curse[source]
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In 1997, it emerged that Rosmerta had become an unwilling agent of the Death Eaters. In order to fulfil his mission to assassinate Albus Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy had managed to place Rosmerta under the Imperius Curse. He used her to pass on a cursed Opal Necklace to Hogwarts student Katie Bell, who accidentally touched the necklace and was subjected to the very harmful curse intended for the Headmaster. Rosmerta also poisoned mead that was intended to be given to Dumbledore through Horace Slughorn in the guise as a Christmas present, but it was unintentionally drunk by Ron Weasley, who was saved by Harry Potter; Harry had shoved a Bezoar down Ron's throat to save his life. Malfoy communicated with Rosmerta through fake galleons, copying the idea from 'the Mudblood Granger' and Dumbledore's Army.

After Harry and Dumbledore had been to the cave to retrieve a locket they believed to be one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, they apparated to Hogsmeade, where Madam Rosmerta alerted them to the presence of the Dark Mark above the school and gave them brooms on which they could travel rapidly back to Hogwarts, where Draco's plan could be brought to completion. Harry Potter eventually cleared her name as he felt that that investigation on Albus Dumbledore's death may link to her.

#### 1998

> "*They heard uproar from the distant boundary of the school as what sounded like hundreds of people came swarming over the out-of-sight walls and pelted toward the castle, uttering lowd war cries.*"
> ― Reinforcements arriving during the Battle of Hogwarts[source]
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It is unknown if Rosmerta was part of the reinforcements from Hogsmeade during the Battle of Hogwarts or if she participated in the war. This battle resulted in the end of the Second Wizarding War.

## Physical appearance

**Hermione Granger**: "*Ron, what are you looking at?*"
**Ron Weasley**: "*Nothing*"
**Hermione Granger**: "*I expect 'nothing's' in the back getting more firewhiskey*"
— Ron trying to catch Madam Rosmerta's eye[src]
Rosmerta was an attractive woman, described as "a curvy sort of woman with a pretty face". On one occasion, she was seen wearing glittery open-toed high-heels. Several Hogwarts pupils, including Ron Weasley, have fancied her.

## Etymology

Rosmerta was the Romano-Celtic goddess of fertility and abundance, known as the "Great Provider". In Latin, it means "good purveyor" or "great provider".