James Potter

## James Charlus Potter

**James Charlus Potter** (27 March, 1960 – 31 October, 1981), also known as **Prongs**, was an English pure-blood wizard and the only son of Charlus and Dorea Potter. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from September 1971 to June 1978, and was sorted into Gryffindor. When James started at Hogwarts, he met and became best friends with three fellow Gryffindor students: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. He also met Severus Snape, a Slytherin student with whom he became bitter rivals. During his seventh year, James was appointed Head Boy and began dating Lily Evans.

After graduating from Hogwarts, he married Lily and together they had a son, Harry James Potter, of whom he made Sirius Black the godfather. James, Lily, and their friends all fought in the First Wizarding War as members of the Order of the Phoenix; he and his wife defied Lord Voldemort three times. However, James and Lily were forced to go into hiding after a prophecy was made concerning Voldemort and their infant son. James and Lily were ultimately betrayed to Voldemort by one of their close friends (Peter Pettigrew).

As a result of this, James was tragically murdered by Voldemort on Hallowe'en in 1981, along with his wife while they were trying to protect Harry.

## Biography

### Early life (1960-1971)

James Potter was born on 27 March, 1960 to Charlus Potter and his wife Dorea. Charlus was an accomplished, yet retired Auror. Charlus and Dorea were very fortunate to have a son, for they tried for many years until James was finally born.

Having been conceived so late in his parents' lives, he was raised in a doting household with little material limits, and pampered a great deal. Hence, it was no surprise that he grew to be proud, arrogant, and boastful, but deep down still a good person.

### Hogwarts years (1971-1978)

**Sirius Black**: *"Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"*
**James**: *"'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad... Got a problem with that?"*
**Severus Snape**: *"No. If you'd rather be brawny than brainy..."*
— James's first meeting with Sirius and Snape
James started his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1971 and was sorted into Gryffindor House. While there, he befriended fellow Gryffindors Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, and together they formed a small gang known only to themselves as the Marauders. Though more mischievous than diligent, James proved to be a clever student. In his second year of school he became Chaser for his house's Quidditch team, in which he was completely aware of his talent.

As second years, James, Sirius, and Peter figured out that Remus was a werewolf, but rather than abandoning him (James, in particular, insisted this monthly hazard did not 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". Using their new nicknames, the four friends created the Marauder's Map, which displayed the Hogwarts Castle area and everyone within it —including all staff, ghosts and students — in their current location at a given time, and thus made sneaking out of the castle and avoiding teachers much easier.

For the vast majority of his time at school, James was somewhat an obnoxious youth with a love of showing off and exceptional self-confidence that bordered on arrogance. Severus Snape once said that he was so arrogant that "criticism simply bounced off him". This rebellious attitude was notably shaped by the negative qualities he developed, such as the habit of ruffling his already messy hair to make it even untidier to look as though he had just alighted from his broomstick. Also hexing innocent students for no other reason than because he could (especially Snape, a Slytherin in the same year as him). These qualities came about as a result of his pampered and spoiled upbringing.

James and Snape had a strong rivalry throughout their time at Hogwarts. To Remus and Sirius, the reason this rivalry began was due to Snape's jealousy over James' talent at Quidditch and his popularity, as well as Snape's interest in the Dark Arts, which James despised. However, it was later revealed that James and Sirius had got off on the wrong foot with Snape from the beginning: when they first met Snape during their first year on the Hogwarts Express, they insulted him (setting a solid foundation for rivalry), and their further interactions only served to make their rivalry intense and permanent — 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.

In May of their fifth year at school, Snape grew very interested in where Remus went every month, and saw Madam Pomfrey and Remus going to the Shrieking Shack using a secret passage under the Whomping Willow. Sirius had, as a joke, told him that the trick to getting past the Whomping Willow was to poke the knot at the bottom. Snape followed Sirius's 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 the Remus in werewolf form, but Snape adamantly refused to believe that his old rival would have done him a favour, believing that James had only saved him in order to avoid expulsion, and despised being in his debt.

James spent much of his academic career chasing after Lily Evans, an attractive Muggle-born fellow Gryffindor from Snape's hometown of Cokeworth who was secretly Snape's best friend and childhood crush since before they both started at Hogwarts. Lily was perhaps the only student in the school, aside from Snape, who was completely unimpressed by James, considering him arrogant and obnoxious. She once demanded James to quit jinxing Snape. The former and his friends were in the middle of bullying, with a spell of Snape's own invention. Lily told him to stop and James responded with, "I will if you'll go out with me, Evans." When James took the jinx off, Snape in his humiliation and anger, called Lily a "filthy little Mudblood." James demanded him to apologise, but Lily responded that James was as bad as Snape and she would not date him "even if it were a choice between him and the Giant Squid". Snape's friendship with the vivacious and pretty Lily may have sparked envy in James and further fuelled the hateful enmity between the two.

At the age of sixteen, James's 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 more mischievous aspects of his personality, and was even appointed Head Boy, despite the fact that he had not been a prefect. He also finally managed to impress Lily Evans, and began dating her at this time. He stopped hexing bystanders for fun, though he still secretly hexed Snape, and in turn, Snape never lost an opportunity to hex him back.

In late 1977, Lily and James had a disastrous first meeting with Lily's sister Petunia Evans and her then-fiancé, Vernon Dursley, which presumably took place over Christmas break, as they were both still at Hogwarts. When Vernon tried to impress James with his car, the wizard in turn boasted of his own material wealth, and a row ensued. The evening ended with both Vernon and Petunia storming out of the restaurant and Lily bursting into tears, with James promising he'd apologise and make it up (which, due to his and Lily's untimely deaths, never happened). Petunia married by the end of that year. Though Lily and James were invited to the wedding, Petunia refused to have Lily as a bridesmaid, upsetting her deeply. At the reception, Vernon would not talk to James, but described him as "some magician" within his earshot.

### First Wizarding War (1978-1981)

#### Marriage and Order

After graduation, at only eighteen years old, James married Lily Evans and Sirius served as their best man at the wedding. The three of them (along with Remus and Peter) joined the Order of the Phoenix, in the fight against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

In around 1977, he and Sirius were involved in a motorbike chase with two Muggle policemen. Although the chase started off as a bit of fun, it turned slightly more serious when the pair were attacked by three men on broomsticks. Sirius and James used their wands to raise the police car that had been chasing them, and their attackers crashed into it. During the course of the next three years, James and Lily defied the Dark Lord three times as the war continued. The first was when they refused to join Voldemort's side when he attempted to recruit them.

In December of 1977, his mother, Dorea, passed away of Dragon Pox. His father, Charlus, followed in January of 1979, and James inherited the vast Potter family fortune from them, which enabled him to comfortably support his family without the need for a paying job. James also used his wealth to support Remus, who was unemployable due to his status as a werewolf.

#### Life in hiding

In the autumn of 1979, Lily became pregnant, which caused her and her husband to go into hiding.

On 31 July, 1980, Lily gave birth to their son, Harry James Potter, but it was not long before Albus Dumbledore found out that they were in the gravest of dangers: Harry had become a target of Lord Voldemort himself due to a prophecy concerning the one who could ultimately defeat him for good. Voldemort had learned of the prophecy through his follower, who was none other than a bitter old enemy of James as well as the former best friend of Lily: Snape.

In 1981, Dumbledore told the Potters that their best chance of remaining safe against Voldemort was the Fidelius Charm. James insisted on using Sirius as their Secret-Keeper, even though Dumbledore himself had offered to fill the position. However, Sirius had a different plan — he convinced James and Lily to use Peter Pettigrew as their Secret-Keeper instead, with him (Sirius) as a decoy. They agreed and Dumbledore cast the charm 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 Remus were kept in the dark. Less than a week later, Peter betrayed the Potters to Voldemort.

#### Attack on Godric's Hollow and death

When the Dark Lord arrived at Godric's Hollow on Hallowe'en in 1981, James told Lily to take Harry and run. After his wife and son were out of the room, he stood to face the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time on his own, in order to give his wife and child time to escape the cottage. However, James had made a fatal mistake; he had left his wand in the living room, where he had been entertaining his young son with it before Voldemort's arrival. Voldemort effortlessly murdered him with the Killing Curse — James "fell like a marionette whose strings were cut". Voldemort then proceeded upstairs to where Lily and the infant Harry were hiding. Voldemort murdered Lily who died protecting Harry, but thanks to her loving sacrifice, the Killing Curse Voldemort cast at Harry rebounded and destroyed the Dark Lord's body leaving Harry with only a lightning-bolt scar. Thus, Harry became known as "the Boy Who Lived"and whose name would be famous.

#### Post-mortem and legacy

After James' and Lily's deaths, their son was raised by Lily's unloving sister, Petunia Dursley, and her grumpy husband, Vernon, along with their gluttonous son, Dudley. Despite not remembering his parents, Harry held them in high esteem. This faltered slightly where his father was concerned. He learned that James had been something of a bully in his youth, witnessing a memory of Snape's, in which James and Sirius picked on and humiliated Snape simply because they were bored. Snape, who switched sides after Lily's death and became Potions professor at Hogwarts, treated Harry with disdain throughout his academic career, perceiving him to be "arrogant as his father, a determined rule-breaker... attention-seeking and impertinent".[9] In revenge he frequently bullied and humiliated Harry.

## Physical appearance

James was a tall, thin man with hazel eyes and untidy black hair that stuck up at the back. During his Hogwarts years, he had an indefinable air of having been well cared for and even adored. As late as his fifth year, he started wearing glasses, though he had not in his first year.

His son, Harry, was constantly noted to look very much like him, having the same untidy hair, thin face, mouth, eyebrows, and even hands. However, as observed by Harry in Snape's worst memory, James' nose was slightly longer than his son's.

In his Animagus form, James was a tall and powerful red stag, large enough to subdue an adolescent werewolf alongside Sirius' bear-like black dog form.

## Personality and traits

James was a clever and talented wizard, but very mischievous in his youth. He was arrogant and boastful, and occasionally bullied and jinxed other students just for fun, particularly his long-time rival, Severus Snape. However, even in this stage of arrogance, he still displayed some positive qualities of character. Despite being a pure-blood, he strongly disagreed with the concept of blood purity and was disgusted with any prejudice towards Muggle-borns, and did not hold prejudice towards werewolves (such as Remus Lupin, who was one of his dearest friends). This loyalty would extend to his adulthood when he used his wealth to support the unemployable Remus. Snape would later point out that James was lazy.

James ultimately matured and changed his ways; he lost some of his arrogance and stopped using his magic irresponsibly on others. He became enough of a responsible student and leader to be Head Boy in his final year, and later a member of the original Order of the Phoenix. Though he never completely lost his rebellious side, it was clear James had left Hogwarts a far better person than he had been upon entering it.

His best quality was his willingness to sacrifice himself for his wife and son, as demonstrated when he told Lily to take Harry and run while he held off Voldemort, proving himself to be a true Gryffindor.

## Magical abilities and skills

Since James was once asked by Voldemort to join his Death Eaters, this was clear proof that James was a highly powerful and accomplished wizard. Remus once stated that James had been one of the cleverest Hogwarts students of his time, and he was able to conjure a corporeal stag Patronus (a mark of superior magical ability).

* **Animagus**: James was able to become an Animagus at the early age of fifteen, an incredibly difficult, complex and even dangerous transfiguration process that only the most proficient can accomplish. His Animagus form allowed him to transform into a Stag at will.
* **Transfiguration**: James' wand was said to be "excellent for Transfiguration", with his own skills showing his exceptional proficiency in this notably very difficult, scientific and even dangerous branch of magic. He was so skilled in Human Transfiguration , that he learned how to become an Animagus. He also very likely succeeded in this subject whilst as a Hogwarts student.
* **Potions**: James was exceptionally proficient in potion-making - at the age of fifteen, he successfully brewed an effective Animagus Potion, which testified to his remarkable talent in the subject, as the potion was known to be highly complex, difficult to brew, and had great consequences if done incorrectly. Remus also described the Animagus transformation was a very difficult branch of magic that "could go horribly wrong", and the fact that James not only succeeded at it, but also helped Peter to manage it as well was concrete evidence of his being an expert potioneer.
* **Charms**: James was highly talented in charm-work from a young age - he and his fellow Marauders managed to create the magically-complex Marauder's Map during their teenage years. He was also able to cast the highly advanced Patronus Charm, conjuring a corporeal Patronus whose form was identical with his Animagus form, a stag.

* **Duelling**: James was a highly skilful duellist. During his student years he was able to humiliate Severus Snape, who was already a skilled wizard in his youth, albeit with help from Sirius Black. During the First Wizarding War he presumably took part in battles against the Death Eaters and other dark forces, surviving until the end of the war. He and his wife, Lily, also defied Voldemort himself three times, which showcased his exceptional talent in martial magic.

*"You play as good as your father did, Harry."*
—James' and Harry's flying talents
* **Flying**: James was an accomplished Quidditch player, playing Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team during his school years.[31] He was noted to have excellent reflexes, as seen when playing with a Snitch he had taken from the Quidditch supplies. Sirius also stated that Harry's Quidditch and flying skills were as good as those of James'.

## Possessions

* **Potter Inheritance**: When James' parents died, they left him a small fortune that he would later pass on to his son, Harry.
* **Wand**: James's wand was 11 inches long, mahogany, and had a core of phoenix feather. The wand was described as "pliable", slightly more powerful than Lily's wand, and "excellent for Transfiguration", which would later come in handy.
* **Invisibility Cloak:** James owned the invisibility cloak (actually one of the fabled Deathly Hallows) that he and his friends often used during their days at Hogwarts to assist them in their mischief. Albus Dumbledore had the cloak prior to James's death and later passed it down to Harry.
* **Marauder's Map**: The map was created by the Marauders between 1975 and 1978. It is a magical document that reveals all of Hogwarts. Not only does it show every classroom, every hallway, and every corner of the castle, but it also shows every inch of the grounds, as well as all the secret passages that are hidden within its walls and the location of every person in the grounds, portrayed by a dot. However, the Room of Requirement is not visible on the map, being the only known area of the castle not to be seen on the Map, other than the Chamber of Secrets.
* **Two-way mirror**: James owned this mirror during his school years; he and Sirius Black used a pair of two-way mirrors so they could talk to each other while they were in separate detentions. Sirius later gave James's mirror to Harry in 1996.
* **Potter Cottage**: James owned cottage in Godric's Hallow along with his wife Lily, during the final weeks of the First Wizarding War. This is where he and his wife were murdered and his son Harry was marked as the "Boy Who Lived". The cottage still stands as a reminder of what happened that Hallowe'en night in 1981.
* **Cat**: This was a pet of the Potter family. What happened to it after the attack is unknown.

## Relationships

#### Parents

James was born into a very wealthy pure-blood family. He had an excellent relationship with his parents, who loved him very much. His father, Charlus, was Sorted in Gryffindor and used to tell him about how the house prized bravery and boldness above all other qualities. James' parents were on the older side when he was born and died before he was murdered in 1981.

#### Lily Evans

*"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can — I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."*
—Lily's negative opinion of James' character
James's relationship with Lily Evans was initially a rocky one. While James was a popular student and talented Quidditch player, well-liked by most, Lily was unimpressed with him. This had to do with James' hostile relationship with her best friend, Severus Snape and because of James' bad habit of hexing innocent students just for the fun of it.

James had developed romantic feelings for Lily by his fifth year. He was always going out of his way to try to impress her, only to end up making a fool out of himself most of the time. She still regarded him as an arrogant bully, treating him with absolute disdain. In their seventh year, however, Lily was finally willing to go out with James, after he smoothed out and stopped hexing people for the fun of it (though she was unaware he still hexed Snape).

The two were Head Boy and Head Girl at Hogwarts and married soon after graduation. James and Lily were both members of the Order of the Phoenix, and together defied Voldemort himself three times. Their son, Harry James Potter, was born on 31 July, 1980.

#### Vernon Dursley

James's first meeting with his brother-in-law Vernon Dursley went badly. Vernon asked James what car he drove, but James described his racing broom, thus Vernon started patronising him and finally offended James by supposing out loud that wizards had to live on unemployment benefit. Having heard from the wizard that he had a fortune in solid gold, he grew angry and stormed out of the restaurant, where they had met with their wives. After that Vernon refused to talk with James, but described him, within James’ earshot, as *"some kind of amateur magician".*

After Lily and James' deaths, Vernon and Petunia reluctantly adopted Harry due to the sacrificial protection that shielded Harry from Voldemort. However, the Dursleys spent the following ten years doing everything in their power to prevent Harry from learning about his magical heritage and abilities, such as lying about how Lily and James died by attributing their deaths to a car crash.

#### Marauders

While at Hogwarts, James became the very best of friends with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, and the group called themselves "the Marauders". He met Sirius on the Hogwarts Express in their first year, and they seemed to bond quickly. In their second year, when the group discovered that Remus was a werewolf, they refused to ostracise him, as most would, instead learning to become Animagi in order to keep him company during his transformations. James insisted that Remus was not abnormal because of his condition, and later used his wealth to support Remus when anti-werewolf legislation made it difficult for him to get a job.

The four friends enjoyed untold popularity while at school and particularly liked playing pranks together; they also invented the Marauder's Map and all joined the Order of the Phoenix, after graduating from Hogwarts. Although he was very close to all of his friends, James was probably closest to Sirius, whom he loved as a brother and who moved in with James and his parents after running away from home at age sixteen. James also chose Sirius as his best man at his wedding to Lily, as well as his son's godfather. When the Potters became Lord Voldemort's targets in 1981, James was adamant about Sirius being their Secret-Keeper, though he agreed to Sirius's plan to make Peter the Secret-Keeper instead, to throw off the enemy.

James's unshakeable trust in his friends would be his undoing, as Pettigrew betrayed him, his wife, and his son to Voldemort. This betrayal was something Sirius and Remus later attempted to kill him for. The only thing that stopped them was Harry, who thought that his father would not want his best friends to become killers just for a traitor. Dumbledore later assured Harry that his belief had been right, saying that he knew James very well, both at Hogwarts and later and he was perfectly sure that James would have saved Pettigrew as well.

The ending to the three Marauders who had stayed true to their friendship to the very end — James, Sirius, and Remus — was bittersweet: though they all lost their lives to the two wizarding wars, they died as heroes of the Order of the Phoenix, and in the case of James and Lupin, devoted fathers who had tried to give their sons a better world to live in.

#### Severus Snape

James met Severus Snape on the Hogwarts Express in their first year at Hogwarts, and the two immediately got off on the wrong foot. James scoffed at Snape's desire that he and Lily Evans would be Sorted into Slytherin house, while Snape sneered at James's hope that he would follow his father's footsteps and end up in Gryffindor. He and Sirius bestowed the mocking nickname of "Snivellus" on Snape at this first meeting. This enmity would continue for the rest of their school years and (on Snape's part) well after James's death. According to Sirius, Snape envied James's popularity and Quidditch talents, and always tried to get him and his friends in trouble, while James despised Snape's fascination with the Dark Arts. James also mercilessly bullied Severus Snape during his fifth year in Snape's Pensieve.

Later, it is revealed that James and Snape would regularly pass snide remarks and taunts towards each other. Although James disliked and bullied Snape, he also saved Snape's life, when Sirius played a potentially lethal prank on him by sending him to the Shrieking Shack when Remus Lupin was there transforming. Apparently, though James loathed Snape intensely, he never wanted him dead. However, Snape despised being in James's debt and felt, even twenty years later, that James only saved him to avoid expulsion.

Most of his dislike of James's son Harry was motivated by seeing his old rival in Harry, as well as a constant reminder that Lily had loved another man. Snape was also involved in James's death: Snape was the Death Eater who relayed the Prophecy that foretold the birth of the one who would defeat Snape's then-master Lord Voldemort. When Voldemort was informed of this, he chose to get rid of James, his wife, and their son. Snape intervened by pleading for Lily's life, while ignoring the danger into which his actions put James and Harry.

After Lily and James were killed, Snape reluctantly agreed to help Dumbledore protect Harry from Voldemort. However, Snape never forgot James' bullying or earlier arrogance, and constantly projected many of James' flaws unto Harry during their interactions as teacher and student. This was one of many factors that led to Harry hating Snape during this period, until Harry witnessed many of Snape's repressed memories and gained a better understanding of Snape's loyalties.

#### Albus Dumbledore

James always had a good relationship with Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore was the Headmaster of Hogwarts at the time James attended the school. He became fond of James knowing that, despite his being an arrogant, highly mischievous trouble-maker, he was also a kind-hearted, good-natured person. James became a member of the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation founded by Dumbledore, during the First Wizarding War and fought in several battles with him. Dumbledore also attempted to protect James, Lily, and Harry from Voldemort, who was out to kill their son by offering to be their Secret Keeper. However, the role of Secret Keeper went instead to Peter Pettigrew, which turned out to be a fatal mistake, as Peter was, unbeknownst to them, a spy for Voldemort. When James and Lily were murdered by Voldemort, Dumbledore was devastated. After death, Dumbledore was amused and impressed that James, Sirius and Peter became Animagi without his knowledge.

Albus later became a mentor to James's son, and they shared an intimate relationship, more like a grandfather and his grandson, rather than a headmaster and his pupil. Dumbledore often sympathised with Harry about the grief and loneliness caused by his parents' death, and would comfort him at times when he really needed it. He also firmly believed and emphasised many times that Harry's love for his parents, James and Lily, was the reason why he had a power stronger than Voldemort's.

## Etymology

The name James is derived from the Hebrew name Jacob. It means "supplanter," one who follows.

The surname Potter traditionally refers to the occupation of making pottery. Potter is a very common surname of English origin. Potter's Field is the name for a burial ground for the unknown or unclaimed dead, particularly soldiers and orphans." It is first mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, the Potter family had many members that fit that description.