St Jerome's Graveyard

> Behind the church, row upon row of snowy tombstones protruded from a blanket of pale blue that was flecked with dazzling red, gold, and green wherever the reflections from the stained glass hit the snow.
>
> Description, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

**St Jerome's graveyard** was located in Godric's Hollow, next to St Jerome's Church. It was the home of the graves of many former residents of the village, both ***Muggles*** and wizardkind, including members of such prominent families as the ***Peverells***, the Potters, and the ***Dumbledores***.

## History

### Early history

> The graveyard is full of the names of ancient magical families, and this accounts, no doubt, for the stories of hauntings that have dogged the little church beside it for many centuries.
>
> *A History of Magic*, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It is unknown, with certainty, when the graveyard was founded, however, it appears that it was already in existence by ***1291***, as ***Ignotus Peverell***, who died in that year, is buried in there. However, the grave of ***Bowman Wright***, who died in 1560, is one of the oldest graves in the graveyard.
Many people, both wizards and Muggles, would be buried in the graveyard over the centuries, including people such as ***Kendra*** and ***Ariana Dumbledore***, a ***member*** of the ***Abbott family***, and James and Lily Potter.

### 1986

On the eve of Hallowe'en in ***1986***, ***Merula Snyde*** tried to steal the Sword of Gryffindor. She tried to open the crypt marked with the crest of Gryffindor, thereby provoking the wrath of the ghost of the ***goblin*** king ***Ragnuk*** who lived in it. Ragnuk cursed her for seeking his creation. Merula ended up losing her sight. ***Jacob's sibling*** quickly took her to ***Bathilda Bagshot*** to see if she could help. They learned that goblins used a special kind of wandless magic, and the only one who could reverse the curse was Ragnuk. The only option was to convince him to lift the curse. Jacob's sibling and Merula found that Ragnuk most likely sought revenge because the sword was not returned to him. Back in the crypt, Jacob's sibling was able to convince Ragnuk that by letting the others use his sword, his legacy would live on. Ragnuk realised that he was blinded by revenge to see what truly mattered. He agreed to lift the curse from Merula and everyone who came before her. Shortly after, Ragnuk returned to his crypt.

### 1997

**Harry Potter**: "*I want to go to Godric's Hollow.*"
**Hermione Granger**: "*Yes. Yes, I've been wondering that too. I really think we'll have to.*"
— Decision to visit Godric's Hollow[src]

 File:St Jerome's Graveyard on TDH1.png

On ***24 December***, ***1997***, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger visited Godric's Hollow as part of their ***search for Horcruxes***. On their way to try and locate ***Bathilda Bagshot***, they passed this graveyard and decided to take a detour to visit the grave of Harry's parents. During their search for it, they discovered other graves, including Ignotus Peverell's, which showed them another use of a ***symbol***.
The trio would later learn that the symbol was associated with the ***Deathly Hallows***, and the Dumbledores', which confirmed what they had read in ***The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore*** about the Dumbledores having lived in the village. After seeing his parents' graves, Harry was overcome with emotion, and began to cry, and Hermione conjured some flowers to place at the grave. The two then made their way to leave, only pausing once to ascertain if ***someone*** was watching them.

## Known burials

Ariana Dumbledore-Hog's Head.jpgAriana DumbledoreKendra Dumbledore.pngKendra DumbledoreIgnotus sketch.jpgIgnotus PeverellJames PotterLily PotterBowmanWright.pngBowman WrightRagnuk HM.jpgKing Ragnuk the First
* ***Abbott***
* ***H. Knighton***
* ***D. Williams***
* ***M. Kenton***
* ***Elsbeth M.***
* ***Dinah Stevenson***
* ***John Stevenson***
* ***Edwin Booth***
* ***Julie Parkes***
* ***Peter G.***

## Appearances

* *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1* (First Known Appearance)

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1*