George Stebbins

"*Which George, Bell or Stebbins?*"
—George often getting confused with his classmate, George Bell
**George Stebbins** (18 April, 1981 - 2 May, 1998) was an English pure-blood wizard who began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1992. He was the son of Jonathan Stebbins and his wife, Mrs. Stebbins. George was a member of Hufflepuff House, and sang in the Hogwarts Frog Choir until he quit in his third year and tried out for Quidditch instead.

Regarded as generally easygoing, George was known for enjoying catching up with people. He shared a dormitory with Henry Marlowe, Stanley Ingham, and Evander Bourdillon, and had many friends. He was generally regarded as popular. His friends were mostly from Ravenclaw, however, and from the older years. In 1994, as a third-year, he was asked to the Yule Ball by a fifth-year Ravenclaw, Charlotte Fawcett.

He was pulled from school in 1997 after the death of the Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, by his mother, Mrs. Stebbins. However, he returned in autumn when Hogwarts attendance was made compulsory. He, like many of the other students there, presumably suffered under the reign of the Professors Carrow.

He stayed to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts on 2 May, 1998, when he had the option to evacuate, having just recently turned seventeen. His name was listed among the 50 casualties published in *The Daily Prophet* after the battle, but his cause of death is unknown.

## Biography

### Early life (1981-1992)

George Stebbins was born on 18 April, 1981 to Mrs. Stebbins, wife of Jonathan Stebbins, in Holmes Chapel, Crewe. Holmes Chapel, the village where George was born, is a small town and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Until 1974 the parish was known as Church Hulme. Holmes Chapel is about 8 miles (13 km) north of Crewe and 21 miles (34 km) south of Manchester.

His father, Jonathan Stebbins, had been a Ravenclaw in school and originally from the city of Crewe. George's mother, Mrs. Stebbins, had a son, Jules, from a previous marriage. George and Jules did not get on as kids.

### Hogwarts years (1992-1998)

George Stebbins received his Hogwarts letter in the summer of 1992. Sometime before attending, he travelled to Diagon Alley to buy his wand from Ollivander's. It was made of spruce and dragon heartstring. On 1 September, 1992, George left home to begin attending Hogwarts. His half-brother, Jules, was a returning third-year Slytherin, and they intensely disliked each other: so much so that Jules refused to sit with his brother on the Hogwarts Express.
George made his own friends, and his own way, however. He befriended Antoine Mathers, a muggle-born boy, on the train, who looked especially nervous. Later that night, George was sorted into Hufflepuff and Antoine was sorted into Ravenclaw.

During his first and second years of school, George was a member of the Hogwarts Frog Choir. He quit after his half-brother, Jules, bullied him for singing, and tried out for Quidditch: he was laughed out of tryouts when he failed to complete three laps around the Quidditch pitch. It didn't deter George, however- as he appeared to brush it off. He had made friends with the boys in his dormitory, Henry Marlowe, Stanley Ingham, and Evander Bourdillon, as well as a few of the boys from Ravenclaw, and they all were observed by Aquila Black on a summer's day as *"...a group of handsome boys, wandering the shore, seemingly with no aim at all... three of them fell in the lake..."*

In his third year, George was asked to the Yule Ball by Charlotte Fawcett, then a fifth-year, of Ravenclaw house. They were caught, presumably kissing, in the rose bushes during the Ball by Professor Snape, and were each docked ten House points. Their relationship did not last very long.

He was pulled from school in 1997 after the death of the Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, by his mother, Mrs. Stebbins. However, he returned in autumn when Hogwarts attendance was made compulsory. He, like many of the other students there, presumably suffered under the reign of the Professors Carrow.

He stayed to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts on 2 May, 1998, when he had the option to evacuate, having just recently turned seventeen. His name was listed among the 50 casualties published in *The Daily Prophet* after the battle, but his cause of death is unknown.

## Etymology

The name George is of Greek origins, but it was widely popular in the 20th Century. Its meaning comes from '*georgos*' meaning tiller of the soil, or farmer. One famous bearer of the name was Saint George, patron saint of England, who struggled with a fire breathing dragon symbolizing the devil.

Stebbins is one of the thousands of new names that the Norman Conquest brought to England in 1066. The Stebbins family lived in Essex having derived from the Old English word stybbing, meaning stumps, and indicates that the original bearer lived in or near an area which had been cleared of trees.