Florean Fortescue

**Harry Potter**: "*Florean used to give me free ice creams. What's happened to him?*"
**Bill Weasley**: "*Dragged off, by the look of his place.*"
— Discussion of Florean's disappearance[src]

**Florean Fortescue** (d. 1996) was a British wizard the owner of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley. He was an expert on the subject of medieval witch-burnings. In the summer of 1996 he was abducted and later murdered by Lord Voldemort.

## Biography

> "*Harry didn’t have to do his homework under the blankets by flashlight anymore; now he could sit in the bright sunshine outside Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor, finishing all his essays with occasional help from Florean Fortescue himself, who, apart from knowing a great deal about medieval witch burnings, gave Harry free sundaes every half an hour.*"
> ― How Florean helped Harry with his homework[source]
>
>

During the summer of 1993, when Harry Potter stayed at the Leaky Cauldron for a couple of weeks, Florean gave Harry free ice cream sundaes every half hour and helped him complete his History of Magic homework on the medieval witch-burnings which may mean that he did well in his History of Magic classes.

In 1996, Florean was forcibly dragged away by Death Eaters, leaving his ice cream parlour a mess. Florean knew information about the Elder Wand and the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, so Voldemort captured him, tortured and later murdered Fortescue.

The reason for his kidnapping did not become public knowledge; Bill Weasley speculated that he might have done something to provoke the anger of the Death Eaters.

## Etymology

* Fortescue's name may have been inspired by [[wikipedia:|Adrian Fortescue (martyr)|Sir Adrian Fortescue}}, a courtier at the court of King Henry VIII, who was condemned for treason without a trial for hostility to Henry VIII's church policies. He was beheaded at the Tower of London in 1539.
* His name also may have been inspired by Hugh Fortescue, 2nd Earl Fortescue, a statue of whom resides outside Exeter castle. As Rowling went to university in this city, she might have likely come across it. The castle is the site of the last three trials and executions of suspected witchcraft in England, potentially explaining Florean's expert knowledge of such issues.
* Based on the December 2014 information provided about Florean Fortescue on Pottermore, his last name is more likely to have been influenced by John Fortescue, who wrote for the instruction of Prince Edward of Lancaster, Prince of Wales, in the time of the War of the Roses (15th century). Prince Edward died in battle at the age of 17. We know now, through Rowling's new writings found on Pottermore, that Florean Fortescue was intended to be the one to instruct Harry about various points of wizarding history (i.e.: the elder wand & the Ravenclaw diadem). Rowling calls him "historically minded."
* Given the above, it is also possible that Florean Fortescue, being "historically minded", may have been based off of Adrian Fortescue (1874 - 1923), a direct descendant of the aforementioned Sir Adrian Fortescue. "Father" Adrian Fortescue was English Roman Catholic priest who was an influential liturgist, artist, calligrapher, composer, polyglot, amateur photographer, Byzantine scholar, and adventurer. With his love of history, and skill with languages, Fortescue devoted much study to the origin and history of the Eastern Churches, both Catholic and Orthodox. Fortescue was also an artist of considerable talent, especially with watercolour painting, drawing, and calligraphy. He was also a recognised authority on heraldry, and his own designs were widely admired in his day. At the time of his death, Fortescue was Professor of Church History at St Edmund's College, Ware, the oldest Catholic school in England. Buried in the same cemetery as Fortescue - Letchworth Cemetery - is William Henry Gaunt, an English transport engineer.