Phineas Brown

**Phineas Brown** (17 March, 1847 - 13 September, 1925) was an English pure-blood wizard and member of the Brown family. He was the son of Wendellin Brown I and Ottoline Brown (née Fleamont). He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1858 to 1865. Phineas became extremely rich, bringing wealth back into the Brown family once more, and was one of the three young pioneering individuals who developed the Hogwarts Express, a railroad route and business from London to Hogsmeade. Phineas owned the controlling share in the group.

He married Zelia Parkinson, a daughter of Theseus Parkinson and his wife Blanche Parkinson (née Dreesen) on 1 July, 1871. Together they had five children, Nigellus, Basil, Adelheid, Maudlin, and Lancelot. He died in the year 1925 at the age of 78. He was a lifelong resident of Upminster, Havering.

Phineas Brown is a paternal ancestor of many witches and wizards in Great Britain, including sisters Lavender and Ophelia Brown, as well as Neville Longbottom. He is their third great-grandfather through his son Nigellus, grandson Wendellin Brown II, and great-grandchildren Octavius Brown and Augusta Longbottom (née Brown).

## Biography

### Early life (1847-1865)

Phineas Brown was born on 17 March, 1847, in Upminster, Havering, Middlesex, England. Upminster, the town in which he was born, is located in East London, and part of the London Borough of Havering. Historically a rural village, it originally formed as an ancient parish in the county of Essex.

His father was Wendellin Brown I, an employee of the Department of Magical Transportation at the Ministry of Magic. His mother was Ottoline Brown (née Fleamont), a member of the Scottish Fleamont family. His maternal grandparents were Ormond Fleamont, a Scottish wizard, and Bathsheba Fleamont (née Orpington), an English witch.

He, unlike his father, was not an only child: he had a sister, Molly, who was three years younger than him. They lived in a small cottage Upminster. His paternal grandfather, Cenhelm Brown, had gambled away most of the family lands, leaving the Browns with only the cottage in Upminster by the time Phineas's father was born.

Phineas began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1858. He was a member of Gryffindor House, like all the members of the Brown family had been before him, in school. He completed his education in the year 1865.

Phineas became extremely rich, bringing wealth back into the Brown family once more, and was one of the three young pioneering individuals who developed the Hogwarts Express, a railroad route and business from London to Hogsmeade. Phineas owned the controlling share in the group.

### Later life (1866-1925)

He married Zelia Parkinson, a daughter of Theseus Parkinson and his wife Blanche Parkinson (née Dreesen) on 1 July, 1871. Together they had five children: Nigellus, born in 1871, Basil, born in 1874, Adelheid, born in 1878, Maudlin, born in 1882, and Lancelot, born in 1887.

His son, Nigellus, married Octavia Bonham in 1899. They had one son together, named for Phineas's father, Wendellin Brown I. His grandson, Wendellin Brown II, was born in 1900.

His other son, Lancelot, became a Healer at St. Mungo's.

Phineas's sister, Molly Brown, had married Bertram Prewett, a member of the minor House of Prewett, and had three children with him. He was the maternal uncle of Muriel Prewett, as a result of this.

#### Death

Phineas Brown died on 13 September, 1925, at the age of 78.

#### Legacy

Phineas Brown is a paternal ancestor of many witches and wizards in Great Britain, including sisters Lavender and Ophelia Brown, as well as Neville Longbottom. He is their third great-grandfather through his son Nigellus, grandson Wendellin Brown II, and great-grandchildren Octavius Brown and Augusta Longbottom (née Brown).

## Etymology

The name Phineas probably means "Nubian" from the Egyptian name *Panhsj*, though some believe it means "serpent's mouth" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament Phinehas is a grandson of Aaron who kills an Israelite because he is intimate with a Midianite woman, thus stopping a plague sent by God.