James Potter

**James Charlus Potter** (27th March 1960 - 31st October 1981) was an English Pure-Blood wizard, only son of Charlus Potter and Dorea Black, husband of Lily Evans and father of Harry Potter. An unregistered Animagus, James became a stag named Prongs to help his friend Remus Lupin with his monthly werewolf transformations when they were fifteen, forming the Marauders with their friends Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. When James graduated from Hogwarts, he eloped with Lily Evans, a Muggle-Born witch who initially despised him when they were at school, and the two joined the Order of the Phoenix to fight against Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters, personally defying the Dark Lord three times.

## Early Life

### Pre-Hogwarts

James was born on 27th March 1960 to Charlus and Dorea Potter. Through his mother Dorea he is related to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Charlus was one of the most prolific potioneers in the 20th century and Dorea was a semi-retired Healer. Because of his parents' advanced age, James was doted on to the point of being spoiled and pampered (especially by his father). Yet, underneath the boastful, arrogant and proud exterior, James was taught to be a good person deep down.

### Hogwarts Life

James attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1971 and was Sorted into Gryffindor House like his father and paternal grandfather before him. While there, he befriended fellow Gryffindors Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, with whom he formed a small gang known only to them as the Marauders.

A mischievous and somewhat lazy student, despite his prodigious magical ability, James was perhaps one of the most naturally gifted students in his year, with a particular proficiency in Transfiguration. When he was in his Second Year, James became the Chaser for Gryffindor House's Quidditch Team, in which he was completely aware of his talent.

It was during this time that James, Sirius and Peter figured out that Remus was a werewolf but, rather than abandon him, they spent three years learning to become Animagi in order to accompany Remus in his transformations. They perfected the transformation in their Fifth Year, with James becoming a stag Animagus and earning the nickname "Prongs". The four friends used their nicknames when creating the Marauder's Map, which displayed the Hogwarts Castle area and everyone (student, teacher, ghost etc.) in their current location at a given time, and thus made sneaking out of the castle and avoiding teachers much easier.

James spent much of his time at Hogwarts locked in a fierce rivalry with Severus Snape (a Slytherin student in their year). They had gotten off on the wrong foot when they met and insulted each other on the Hogwarts Express. Snape was extremely jealous over James' talent on the Quidditch pitch and James despised Snape's interest in the Dark Arts. Snape would follow the Marauders around, looking for a reason to get them into trouble, whereas James would hex Snape in the corridors (even using hexes Snape had created himself against him).

Their animosity came to a head in their Sixth Year, when Snape became suspicious of where Remus went every month and Sirius, in an act of extreme cruelty, told him how to get past the Whomping Willow to see for himself. Snape followed Sirius's directions and was nearly at the Shrieking Shack when James, at great risk to his own life, pulled him back and saved him from certain death at Remus' hands. Snape, however, refused to believe that his old rival could have done him a favour that selfless.

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.