Ginny Weasley

## Ginevra Molly Weasley

**Ginevra “Ginny” Molly Weasley** (born 11 August, 1981) was the youngest child and only daughter of Arthur and Molly Weasley neè Prewett, and the first female to be born into the Weasley line for several generations. She and her older brothers grew up in The Burrow on the outskirts of Ottery St Catchpole in Devon, which is in the South West of England.

She began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on 1 September, 1992, and was sorted into Gryffindor House, like the rest of her family. She met three great friends at Hogwarts: Aquila Black, Maisie Cattermole, and Ophelia Brown. She also met Peter Goyle, a Slytherin student with whom she and her friends became bitter rivals.

During her first year of school, Ginny came under the influence of the memory of Tom Riddle's sixteen-year-old self. The memory was preserved in a diary, which forced Ginny to re-open the Chamber of Secrets, endangering the lives of many students, including herself. In her second year of school, she became suspicious of her friends, Maisie and Aquila, and followed them into the Forbidden Forest, where she discovered that Maisie was a werewolf. Ginny refused to let that ordeal damage their friendship, and told Maisie just that. Also during that night's events, Ginny found Scabbers, her brother Ron's rat, in the Forbidden Forest, but he turned out to be Peter Pettigrew in disguise, as told by Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, when she and Aquila ran into them there. Ginny's unwitting capture of Pettigrew additionally ended up freeing Aquila's estranged brother, Sirius Black: for he was really innocent of crimes that Pettigrew had framed him for.

Following both ordeals, Ginny grew into a confident young woman. Her and her friends followed in the footsteps of a previous generation, completely unbeknownst to them, and became Animagi at the age of fourteen, to support their best friend, Maisie Cattermole. Ginny took the form of a grey mare.

That same year, Ginny and her friends also became important members of Dumbledore's Army, an organisation taught and led by Harry Potter. Ginny, Aquila, Maisie, and Ophelia would later fight in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries (1996), the Battle of the Astronomy Tower (1997), and the Battle of Hogwarts (1998) together, surviving all three.

## Biography

### Early life (1981-1992)

**Ginny**: "*Nine and three-quarters! Mum, can't I go...*"
**Molly Weasley**: "*You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet.*"
— Ten year old Ginny's enthusiasm about attending Hogwarts
Ginevra Molly Weasley was born on 11 August, 1981, to Arthur and Molly Weasley (née Prewett), the first girl born into the Weasley family in a long time, and the last for that generation after her six older brothers: Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and Ron. At that time, the wizarding community she grew up in at the height of the First Wizarding War, during which her maternal uncles, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, were murdered while fighting a group of four Death Eaters led by Antonin Dolohov. The war eventually ended for a time to months later, after Lord Voldemort's first defeat *"at the hands"* of Harry Potter on 31 October, 1981.

Ginny and her six older brothers grew up in the Burrow on the outskirts of Ottery St Catchpole in Devon, England. Despite the majority of her brothers being keen Quidditch players, Ginny wasn't allowed to play with them when she was a child. When she was six, she began a habit of breaking into the family broom shed and taking each of their brooms out in turn. She was never caught, and it only came to light eight years later when Hermione revealed it to Fred and George.

Ginny claims to have been looking forward to attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ever since her eldest brother started at the school. Although as she would only have been a year old at the time, it is entirely possible that she was exaggerating here.

#### Summer of 1992

After seeing Harry Potter at King's Cross, Ginny developed feelings for him and talked about Harry "all summer." When Harry arrived at the Burrow after being rescued from the Dursleys by Ron, Fred, and George, she became extremely shy in his presence. On their first meeting, she came down for breakfast to find him sitting at the table. Startled, she retreated back to her room and stared at Harry as he passed her bedroom on his way to Ron's. Ginny became extremely clumsy around Harry and had a habit of knocking things over when he entered a room. On the day their Hogwarts letters arrived, she blushed a deep red and knocked over a porridge bowl with a loud clatter and put her elbow in the butter dish when Harry asked her if she was starting at Hogwarts.

Ginny travelled to Diagon Alley with her family to buy her school supplies, and her excitement at finally going to Hogwarts was tempered by the fact that, due to the Weasleys' financial situation, she would have to make do with a lot of second-hand products, including her robes and books. In Flourish and Blotts, however, she became the owner of a brand new set of Gilderoy Lockhart's collected works. Harry, having been given them by Lockhart as a publicity stunt, gave them to her since he could afford a set of his own and was embarrassed by what Lockhart had done. With this act of kindness and recognition, Ginny finally spoke in front of Harry, standing up to Draco Malfoy when he started to insult him. Draco was with his father, Lucius, and the elder Malfoy took the opportunity to insult the Weasley family for associating with the Muggle parents of Muggle-born witch Hermione Granger and — in his eyes — being a disgrace to wizards. During his tirade, he managed to slip Tom Riddle's Diary into Ginny's battered second-hand copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.

In a later trip to Diagon Alley, further in the summer, accompanied by only her father on an errand, Ginny became acquaintances with the youngest daughter of the recently-deceased Orion Black. The acquaintanceship soon blossomed into a friendship. However, their brief first meeting was stunted when Walburga returned, being extremely cross that Aquila had supposedly snuck away from Gringotts. Aquila's mother personally insulted the Weasleys when Arthur and Ginny were within earshot. Arthur, having learnt his lesson after his brawl with Lucius Malfoy, decided not to engage, but Ginny looked upset by the confrontation.

### Hogwarts years (1992-1999)

#### First year

"*I d-didn't know! I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it there and forgotten about it!*"
—Ginny explaining how she got hold of the diary
She was sorted into Gryffindor House on 1 September, 1992, like all the Weasleys before her. She discovered Tom Riddle's diary in amongst her school things and began writing in it. To her amazement, the diary wrote back, and she started to confide in Tom Riddle's memory, writing about how her brothers teased her, how she had to come to school with second-hand robes and books. Tom wrote back sympathetically, as Ginny poured her soul out to him.

In the meantime, Ginny made a few friends in her year and house: they were Maisie Cattermole, Matilda Corner, and Ophelia Brown. Aquila Black was on her way to becoming Ginny's best friend, and they shared a room together with the other girls in Gryffindor Tower, but Aquila had been unexpectedly sorted into Gryffindor, and had her own problems to deal with, thereby making herself scarce. And so for those first few months, Ginny's best friend was from her diary- Tom Riddle.

By the start of October, the signs of the influence began to show on Ginny. She started to look peaky, but a spate of colds in the school covered up the true nature of her condition. Her brother Percy forced her to take Pepperup Potion to get her over it. By 31 October, the memory of Tom Riddle was able to take full control of Ginny and used her to open the Chamber of Secrets, releasing its resident Basilisk, the Serpent of Slytherin which then petrified Argus Filch's cat, Mrs Norris and put all the other students in great danger.

Following the attack, Ginny seemed upset over Mrs Norris, and her brothers and her friends put it down to the fact that she was a cat-lover. She opened the Chamber of Secrets another two times, resulting in the petrification of Colin Creevey and Justin Finch-Fletchley. She became more visibly upset, but this time, her brothers put it down to other causes, while her friends became more worried. They knew that Ginny sat next to Colin in Charms, but that couldn't have been it. Ginny's brothers Fred and George attempted to cheer her up, in the meantime, but went about it the wrong way by leaping out at her from behind statues covered in fur or boils.

Ginny confided in the diary, however, that she thought she was going mad. She woke up with rooster feathers on her robes, and could not remember where she had been at Hallowe'en and when Colin was attacked. She started to think that she was attacking everyone. The missing pieces of her memory were starting to take a serious toll on her psyche and it was effecting her health beyond the point of looking peaky.

Along with her brothers, Ginny remained at Hogwarts over Christmas, instead of going to visit her brother Bill in Egypt with her parents. She had started to become suspicious of the diary, and several weeks after Christmas attempted to get rid of it by throwing it down a toilet in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Once free of the diary, Ginny sent Harry an anonymous Singing Valentine on 14 February, 1993. He received it in front of her, as she was going into a Charms lesson, when he was accosted by the dwarf assigned to deliver it. During the delivery, Harry's bag was torn and the contents were dropped onto the floor. To Ginny's horror, she saw that Harry now had the diary. To make matters worse, her best friend's cousin, Draco Malfoy, implied that she had sent Harry the Singing Valentine in front of everyone.

Ginny was fearful that Harry would discover her secrets, such as her feelings for him and how she thought he would never return her affections. In addition to the fact that she might be responsible for the attacks, so she waited until the boys' dormitory was empty. After the dormitory was empty for the day she then ransacked Harry's belongings to recover the diary. Retrieving it, Ginny was once more overcome by the memory of Tom Riddle and opened the Chamber again, this time petrifying Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater. Her friends tried to stage an intervention, believing that Ginny was a victim of a severe anxiety disorder, but Ginny told them that everything was fine and to go away. The tension escalated to the point of Aquila and Ginny screaming at each other and it ending in tears, in early March of 1993.

Ginny then tried to tell Harry and Ron what was going on, but could not get the words out, and she was interrupted by Percy. The memory of Tom Riddle was furious, as he had been planning on taking on Harry Potter himself after learning his story. Realising that Harry would come to save Ginny, he made her write a farewell on a corridor wall, then enter the Chamber of Secrets to die. She had poured so much of her life into the diary that she could not fight Tom's control of her, and the last thing she remembered as she lay down on the floor of the Chamber was Tom coming out of the diary. The memory of Tom Riddle had fed off her, gaining enough strength to become corporeal and regain the appearance of his 16 year old self. As Tom grew stronger, the life in Ginny faded away until she slipped into an unconscious state.

Ginny awoke in the Chamber to find that in a shocking development, her best friend Aquila and her crush, Harry Potter, had saved her, and destroyed Riddle's diary by piercing it with a basilisk fang, and Ginny's vitality was restored to her. Tearful and scared, Ginny revealed what had happened to Aquila and was sure she was going to be expelled from school. After leaving the Chamber with the aid of the phoenix, Fawkes, Ginny was reunited with her parents in McGonagall's office. Despite her fears, Dumbledore did not place the blame on her, saying that older and wiser wizards had been duped by Lord Voldemort, and he sent her to the hospital wing to recover from her ordeal with a mug of hot chocolate.

Following this traumatic experience, Ginny returned to normal and was happy and relaxed for the rest of the school term. At the end of the school year, she travelled back to King's Cross with her friends, Aquila, Maisie, and Ophelia, along with her brothers and Harry and Hermione on the Hogwarts Express.

#### Second year

"*You want to set a good example to your sister!*"
—Molly Weasley regarding the twin's antics
Ginny travelled to Egypt in the summer of 1993 with the rest of her family to visit her brother Bill after her father won seven hundred Galleons in the annual *Daily Prophet* Grand Prize Galleon Draw. She visited various tombs, but her mother would not allow her to go in the last one because of all the mutant skeletons.
Ginny and her family stayed at the Leaky Cauldron the night before setting off to start her second year at Hogwarts, and she met Harry again. She was even more embarrassed in front of him than usual, muttering a hello but not looking at him. The next day, on Platform 9¾, she did meet his eyes as they shared a laugh over Percy's behaviour when trying to impress his girlfriend, Penelope.

On the Hogwarts Express, Ginny went to go sit with her friends, Aquila, Maisie, and Ophelia, until the train stopped because of the Dementors. In the dark, she found her way into the compartment containing Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Professor Lupin, looking for her brothers. When the Dementors came to the compartment, Ginny was one of the worst affected by them as she had horrible experiences with Tom Riddle's diary last year. She went very pale and shook like mad, eventually sobbing and having to be comforted by Hermione.

Meanwhile, back in her friends' compartment, her three friends were incredibly upset that Ginny had slipped away, and Aquila had fainted. While Maisie Cattermole attempted to revive Aquila, a crying Ophelia Brown had to be brought to the dining compartment, which was the largest, in order to look for her sister, Lavender Brown. With the help of Lavender, Ophelia found Ginny, who immediately began sobbing again and was only comforted when Maisie and Aquila found them all in Harry, Ron, and Hermione's compartment. In the end, everything was alright, but it was still evident that the ordeal of the Chamber of Secrets had affected Ginny.

Later in the year, after her best friend Aquila had to be carried down from the stands after she and their classmate Evander Bourdillon landed their broomsticks there during a Gryffindor-Hufflepuff Quidditch match (in which more Dementors showed up) Ginny was seen to be terribly spooked by the incident, after Oliver Wood and Cedric Diggory arrived on the pitch with Aquila and Evan. She showed herself to be a incredibly resilient fan of the sport and friend of Aquila, however- as she had stood in the pouring rain to watch her play.

On the same evening as Buckbeak the Hippogriff was scheduled for execution, Ginny had become very suspicious of her friend, Maisie Cattermole's monthly disappearances. To add to that suspicion, her friend, Aquila, was acting very strange, and was pretending to have detention on a night that she didn't. Ginny eventually decided to venture after her friend Maisie across the grounds of Hogwarts, after hours, in order to see who was really coming to get Maisie in all of the times that she said that her mother was coming to pick her up, when she noticed that Maisie was heading toward the Shrieking Shack, and not to the gates of the school like Ginny expected.

Then, Ginny ran into Aquila, who was also wandering the grounds, after hours, but for an entirely different reason. They had little time to discuss this, however, as Maisie had recently just emerged from the Shrieking Shack looking strangely terrified, and began sprinting toward the Forbidden Forest: Aquila and Ginny followed.

It turned out that Maisie was a werewolf, but the place in which she regularly transformed (as Aquila apparently already knew) was occupied with people that she didn't recognise. It was probably due to Maisie's anxiety that she didn't recognise their Professor Lupin's voice or Harry, Ron, or Hermione at the time. Regardless, the Shack was occupied, and Maisie had nowhere to go except for the forest, and she begged her friends to run.

Ginny and Aquila were horrified and once they were already deep inside the forest, Maisie began to transform in front of them. About a half a mile away from where the three girls were, unbeknownst to Ginny, their Defence professor, Professor Lupin, was also transforming into a werewolf, and Peter Pettigrew had transformed into a rat, and had taken off running.

Ginny and Aquila ran into the rat, which Ginny blindly recognised as Scabbers, as they were running from Maisie, in the middle of the forest. Aquila had blasted Maisie away with a display of truly powerful magic, which unnerved Ginny slightly because she had never seen anything like it before, and was probably not thinking clearly because of what had just happened to her friend, and so she scooped the rat up, and asked Aquila to conjure a jar to keep him in. Aquila, being from an old pure-blood family, and being someone who had her wand long before she came to Hogwarts, easily did so, and the two girls crouched in some trees, convinced that if they made a sound, Maisie would find them.

It was there, on the edge of a clearing, that Hermione and Harry discovered Ginny and Aquila in the forest. They, similarly, had just recently escaped from a werewolf- either Lupin or Maisie, it was somewhat unclear. Harry soon realised that Ginny was clutching Scabbers inside a conjured cage: the transformed Pettigrew, Ginny must have caught him as Harry and Hermione's previous selves had become distracted by Professor Lupin. More agreeably than Ron had been, Ginny easily handed him over: and she and Aquila listened to a hastened explanation of why Sirius was innocent and why Hermione and Harry were out on the grounds after dark.

They were interrupted by the arrival of Dementors across the lake: for Ginny and Aquila, the Dementors were arriving for the very first time. Harry then cast a corporal Stag Patronus, when he realised that it was not his father that he saw but himself having travelled back in time, thereby saving not only his and Hermione's past selves, but Aquila and Ginny in the moment as well.

After Harry saved all four of them from the Dementors, the party decided to split up. Harry quickly explained that Sirius Black was being held in the North Tower, and that the reason that he and Hermione had Buckbeak the Hippogriff with them was that they were supposed to rescue him, too: Hermione and Ginny stayed on the ground to guard Pettigrew, while Harry and Aquila, being the unspoken better fliers, rode Buckbeak up to the North Tower to rescue Sirius.

All four of them then reunited inside one of the interior courtyards, but, unfortunately, they ended up stumbling into the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and his party of Aurors, who had just arrived by carriage to oversee Sirius's supposed execution. Fudge, upon seeing Black with the four children, immediately ordered the Aurors (Dawlish and Shacklebolt) to re-capture Black, but Hermione managed to perform a tricky bit of magic which forced Pettigrew back into his human form, just as Sirius was disarmed, freeing him from the jar that Ginny had dumped him in as Scabbers.

Sirius and Pettigrew were both dragged off for questioning in London, in front of Ginny, Hermione, Aquila, and Harry. Buckbeak was caught and taken back Hagrid's Hut to await another executioner, much to Hermione's- and later, Ginny's, distress, once everything was explained to her. She also visited her brother Ron in the hospital wing once Harry and Hermione told her that he had a broken leg.

Dumbledore met Ginny and Aquila in the hospital wing, and he told them that they were key witnesses, but he also told them that if they wanted to protect their friend Maisie, they wouldn't say anything about being out on the grounds after dark. Therefore, Ginny and Aquila's involvement in the story was limited, only that they had been in the interior courtyard when Harry and Sirius flew down on Buckbeak.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron were pulled to testify of the evening's events. The entire Weasley family, including Ginny, were also brought in to the Ministry of Magic to identify their former rat, and Ginny's father, Arthur Weasley, was questioned as to whether an average wizard was able to ascertain whether a pet was an animagus or not.

Thanks to Ginny and her friend Aquila's involvement and unwitting capture of Pettigrew, it was determined by the Ministry's Council of Magical Law that Sirius Black had been imprisoned unlawfully. Peter Pettigrew, Ginny's brothers former pet rat, was arrested after he confessed to the crime of killing thirteen muggles, and for his participation in an illegal terrorist organisation, and also because he was an unregistered animagus. He could not, however, be prosecuted for pseudocide or because he deliberately mislead and tricked the Weasley family into believing he was their beloved pet for twelve years. Ginny was somewhat weirded out by Pettigrew pretending to be their pet rat, and heavily denied it when her brother Percy asked her if she had ever seen the rat watch her undress.

During the trial of Peter Pettigrew, which began on 6 August, 1994, Ginny's father and two brothers were required to testify of how the rat 'Scabbers' came into their possession. Ginny had evidently wrangled her mother into bringing her to watch the proceedings, as it was noted that Molly Weasley was sitting, looking reluctant, beside a triumphant looking Ginny.

Also in attendance was Narcissa Malfoy, who looked, rather typical in-fashion, *"rather as if she had some dung up her nose".* On the third and final day of proceedings, Aquila was there, sitting beside Lucius Malfoy, who looked similarly disgusted. They left, or rather, Aquila was forced to leave, before she could say hello to Ginny. The two of them wrote to each other over the summer a lot, however.

## Appearance

Ginny can be described as an extremely pretty girl. She had the typical Weasley family traits: flaming red hair (which she wore in a long mane) and a freckled complexion. She was of light skin, a very petite stature, and blue eyes. When blushed, Ginny would go a shade of red that matched her hair. When in a highly emotional state, she was known to acquire a "hard, blazing look".

## Personality and traits

Ginny’s mischievous streak is brought out when she is with her friends. She has been known to play practical jokes on the Slytherins with Aquila Black, Maisie Cattermole, and Matilda Corner. She is kind to Ophelia Brown and makes sure to include her in their activities.

On the whole, she is a forceful, independent girl who often knew her own mind. She had an energetic, lively personality. Ginny also is known to be quick-witted, funny, and could often make others laugh even when they were feeling down. Ginny is popular at Hogwarts, and is fancied by numerous boys. Her brothers: Fred, George, and Ron, often think that she's too popular for her own good. However, Ginny is good at lying and capable of being opaque when necessary.

Growing up with six older brothers toughened her up. Ginny was not afraid to stand up to anybody, friends and foes alike. Notably, she stood up to Draco Malfoy on their first meeting in Flourish and Blotts when he insulted Harry in 1992. Furthermore, Ginny can be harsh towards those whom she dislikes. For instance, she makes fun of Molly Roper behind her back because she hangs out with Slytherins, including Peter Goyle, whom her friends despise, and Julius Alesci, who is arrogant in the best of circumstances. She also hexed and crashed into Alesci on the train to Hogwarts, and got detention with Matilda Corner before they were even Sorted.

Ginny is notably difficult to intimidate or frighten, as seen during her moments of standing up to Aquila during her moments of rage and anger. This is particularly impressive given that Aquila's rages are capable of terrifying even Maisie and Matilda, who are both incredibly courageous individuals.

## Magical abilities and skills

Ginny is a very powerful and talented witch. She is also a naturally talented at the Dark Arts, a gifted flyer and Quidditch player.

* **Charms**: Ginny is highly proficient in this branch of magic. In her first year, she animated "a well card to sing shrilly when opened". She once used a single Scouring Charm in 1992 to clean all the Stinksap out of a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. She also has highly swift reflexes with the Disarming Charm. Most impressively, at the age fourteen, she was able to cast the extremely advanced and powerful Patronus Charm, which took the corporeal form of a horse.
* **Dark Arts**: Ginny is surprisingly skilful in dark magic and with the casting of dark charms. In particular the Bat-Bogey Hex, which she is noted to be very adept with from a fairly young age. This even gained Professor Slughorn's notice entirely for her "marvellous Bat-Bogey Hex", although she could cast it from the age of twelve. Ginny was also capable of casting a very powerful and impressive Reductor Curse, which helped to distract Death Eaters once. She also was described to fire well-aimed jinxes at her opponents.
* **Flying**: Ginny eventually became an accomplished flyer and has played both Chaser (which she prefers, as she likes scoring goals) and Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, making the Reserves with her best friend Aquila in their second year. They switch off whenever a player is missing, ill, or injured to fill in.

## Relationships

#### The Weasley Family

Ginny appeared to worship her brother Bill, defending his choice of earring and hairstyle to their mother. She got on well with Charlie, but found Percy to be a little overbearing and stuffy. She caught him kissing his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, during her first year at Hogwarts, and proceeded to tell her other brothers about it after her recovery from possession by Tom Marvolo Riddle's memory.

Percy tried to be a role model for Ginny and Ron, but the two youngest siblings took after Fred and George, the fun-loving twins. In temperament, she resembled the twins, Fred and George, and, like them, often teased Ron, who was closest to her in age.

Ginny has something of a love-hate relationship with Ron, while she loves him as a brother very much and cares deeply for him, their fights are usually quite ferocious. She had no problem telling Ron off when she believed his behaviour was unreasonable and no issues with embarrassing him in public.

#### Aquila Black

Ginny and Aquila met in Diagon Alley before starting school, just outside of Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. Orion and Walburga Black traded slights with Arthur Weasley and Ginny later followed Aquila into Gambol & Japes Joke Shop, where they struck up a more polite conversation. They are the best of friends. Ginny is also highly trusted by Aquila, as Ginny was the first friend to be told about what really happened to her brother Tarry. Ginny and Aquila tell each other almost everything, and Ginny was the first person that Aquila goes to when she needs a good cry, and vice versa.

#### Maisie Cattermole

Ginny and Maisie met on the Hogwarts Express, and while the both of them weren't sure whether they would end up in the same house together, they hit it off right away. While they are not the best of friends, Ginny is sure to keep Maisie close so as to make sure everything's alright. They share the same dorm and are very good friends, though not as close as Ginny and Aquila are.

#### Ophelia Brown

Ophelia Brown is another Gryffindor student in Ginny's year. She befriended Ophelia in the first few weeks of school, and let her tag along with her, Aquila, and Maisie, and let Ophelia help them with the stunt that finally made Gryffindor Tower taller than Ravenclaw Tower. Ophelia received detention with everyone else and they became close friends from there. Ophelia often finds herself feeling inferior to the likes of Ginny, Aquila, and Maisie, but it is usually Ginny's kindness that reminds her that she is worth it.

#### Matilda Corner

Ginny received detention with Matilda Corner before they were even Sorted, for icing a corridor and hexing Peter Goyle. They are good friends too, although Matilda disliked Aquila at first, forcing Ginny to choose. They share the same dorm and were close in the first few months of school, until Matilda found other friends, which hurt Ginny a lot, because she was hoping that Matilda and her would remain friends.