Filius Flitwick

Filius Flitwick (b. 17 October 1958 or earlier) was a part goblin- part wizard who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Ravenclaw House, being an intelligent young man and a model student. Some time after his graduation, Flitwick returned to Hogwarts and became the Charms Master, as well as the Head of Ravenclaw House.

He was a close mentor to Severus's daughter, Nathara, who he highly praised. During the First and Second Wizarding Wars, Flitwick opposed Lord Voldemort. In 1995, he also opposed Dolores Umbridge, the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, and, in 1997, fought at the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, after which he attended the Funeral of Albus Dumbledore. He also protected the students from the Carrows in the 1997-1998 school year. On 2 May 1998, he partook in the Battle of Hogwarts and defeated many Death Eaters.

He survived the war, and likely continued to teach Charms at Hogwarts to future generations of students.

## Biography

### Early life

Filius Flitwick was born somewhere in the British Isles into a wizarding family with the distant descent of a goblin, which accounted for his short stature. He was prejudged and foredoomed from an early age because of his ancestral connection to a different breed of being that was both regarded and treated as second-class citizens by much of the wizarding community.

### Hogwarts years

"*Dumbeldore and Flitwick those model students...*"
— A brief description of Flitwick's time in Hogwarts...[src]

By the time young Filius began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he was already used to being judged by strangers.

Brave in the face of adversity, however, whilst Flitwick once admitted to having been subjected to scrutiny from those around him from the minute he set his foot inside the castle,[21] the future professor carried his burden remarkably well: Wise beyond his years and rather thick-skinned, he eventually came to regard those who judged him as ignorant rather than malevolent, reasoning that most people simply want those around them to be simple so that they would be easier to understand, as opposed to simply acknowledge the fact that people are complex. In this, he indirectly proved himself to be correct: During his Sorting Ceremony, when the Sorting Hat wavered between putting him in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor before it ultimately chose the former. As the decision took less than five minutes, though, Flitwick was not a true Hatstall.[22]

At some point, he asked the Grey Lady about the whereabouts of Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, which was rumoured to grant the wearer wisdom. However, she denied revealing the information. To his unknowing that she had already revealed it to a teenage Tom Riddle in the 1940s, It was also mentioned that Flitwick, being a model student with nothing to hide, never entered or used the Room of Hidden Things in the Room of Requirement.[18]

It is likely that he achieved a high graded O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. in Charms. He also may have taken exams in Defence Against the Dark Arts, as he became a Master Duellist sometime after leaving the school.

### Duelling champion

"*Flitwick was a duelling champion when he was young...*"
— Flitwick's impressive duelling skills[src]

After completing his Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests in his seventh year, Flitwick graduated from Hogwarts and then proceeded to become a Master Duellist and earned the title of "Duelling Champion" at some point,[9] and has a shelf full of trophies to prove it.[23] It is also likely Flitwick studied further into magic, becoming an accomplished wizard, masterful in spells, charms, and defensive magic, and even possibly earning the title of "Doctor", and becoming a fully-fledged and educated sorcerer before beginning his teaching career back at Hogwarts sometime in or before the early 1970s.[24]

### Career at Hogwarts (pre 1971–1995)

#### Early years

"*Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising! Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too —Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.*"
— Professor Flitwick using rhymes to teach[src]

Now back at his old school, Professor Flitwick took up the post of Charms Master. His classroom was Classroom 2E, which was located in the Charms corridor, on the third floor of the Training Grounds Tower.

Whilst to some degree still scrutinised for his short stature, he proved a gifted educator whom the students came to greatly respect, even if his teaching style was regarded as more "laid-back" than that of some other teachers at Hogwarts, such as Minerva McGonagall or Severus Snape. He, unlike them, allowed his students to play games during the lessons before the Christmas holidays, but he was not a bad teacher as Fred Weasley commented that he "*couldn't see old Flitwick getting marked down and he usually gets everyone through their exams alright*". He did not hand out many detentions or deduct points often, even for lateness.

He also got along rather well with his colleagues, and came to learn that the circumstance of his sorting occurred to Minerva McGonagall as well, which the two professors found amusing. This was because, had the Sorting Hat chosen Gryffindor for Filius and Ravenclaw for Minerva, they may have exchanged positions as Heads of House.

Known for his rich sense of humour, Filius was always fair with his students, even those who are not in Ravenclaw. Due to his heritage and the judgement he sometimes experienced because of it, Flitwick did not discriminate against those of different backgrounds and was inclined to allow people the benefit of the doubt. He also encouraged students to experiment with their own magic and did not generally give detentions for slack work; instead he preferred to give students homework so they could catch up. The only punishment he did give was lines, such as when Seamus Finnigan accidentally knocked him off of his stack of books by letting go of his wand in the air.[25]

#### First Wizarding War and aftermath

"*Quills down, please! That means you too, Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchment!* Accio*!*"
— Professor Flitwick overseeing the Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. written exam in 1971[src]

Flitwick lived through the First Wizarding War that raged during the 1970s, during which he was teaching at Hogwarts.

In 1971, Flitwick taught charms to: Liliana Selwyn-Evans, Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Severus Snape. He also taught many others during this time as well.

In 1976, Flitwick administered the Theory of Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. He walked between the hundreds of small desks in the Great Hall during the exam and, once their time was up, ordered the students to put down their quills, but had to tell a pupil named Stebbins twice before they put their quill down. Flitwick then used the Summoning Charm to collect in the papers, but was knocked over onto the floor when the hundred scrolls of parchments zoomed into his outstretched arms. Thankfully, some students present helped him back up again.

During the war, one of his most gifted and rebellious students, a young man by the name of Jacob Rivera began searching for five fabled rooms concealed in the school alleged by myths and rumours to be housing ancient treasure, and began breaking all sorts of school rules and endangering his fellow pupils to prove their existence, resulting in his expulsion. Prior to Jacob's departure from the school, Professor Flitwick, like the rest of the faculty, had to protect his charges from various powerful curses that were unleashed upon the school due to Jacob's meddling.

At the end of the war, his former students Liliana and James Potter were murdered, while protecting their infant son. Despite these dark times (or perhaps because of them) Flitwick continued to teach at the school. He attended Severus's wedding to Marvolo Prince-Slytherin, and attended the christenings for his daughters, Nathara and Snowbell.

#### Mystery of the Cursed Vaults

During the 1980s, Professor Flitwick taught Yasuko Rivera, who was met with a lot of whispers of her brother's misdemeanours and sudden disappearance shortly after he was sent away from Hogwarts. Accustomed to be judged by strangers, Professor Flitwick was sympathetic with her situation, and admittedly worried about how her peers would treat her.

When she expressed an interest in duelling, he agreed to teach her the Disarming Charm to teach her how to defend herself, on the condition that she agreed to only use it defensively. He carefully warned her that duelling on school grounds was forbidden and grounds for expulsion.

After Flitwick and Professor Prince-Slytherin subsequently caught Yasuko Rivera duelling Merula Snyde, Flitwick initially refused to teach them the Knockback Jinx, and excused them from that class. However their response convinced him that they had learned from the experience, and he relented.

The following school year, Yasuko Rivera asked him, prior to a lesson, if the spell in question, the Shrinking Charm, was safe to use on sentient beings. Flitwick was suspicious and asked them if they were up to something. He sternly warned that such a thing would be extremely difficult and dangerous and should not be done.

#### Protecting the Philosopher's Stone

"*Professor Flitwick... took the register, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.*"
— Harry Potter's first Charms lesson

Professor Flitwick, now in his elderly years, was still teaching at Hogwarts during the 1991–1992 school year. Just before the start of the new school year, Albus Dumbledore trusted him to contribute to the defences of the Philosopher's Stone Chambers. Flitwick, being the Charms Master, enchanted a considerable amount of Winged Keys to fly through the air. At the start of his first lesson of the school year, he took the register and, upon seeing Harry Potter and Nathara Prince-Slytherin's names on his register, squeaked excitedly and fell off of his stack of books. Also, Flitwick was very impressed when Minerva McGonagall, his long-time friend and fellow colleague, told him that she was giving a Nimbus 2000 to Harry after being chosen to play as the Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team in order to make the games more exciting.

Professor Flitwick did not allow his first year class to actually perform any magic until Hallowe'en, and, after some coaching, he gave each of his pupils a feather which they were to levitate using the Levitation Charm; *Wingardium Leviosa*. The class had been anxious to try this since Flitwick used the charm on Neville Longbottom's toad, Trevor. Nathara Prince-Slytherin, who was paired with Ronald Weasley, unconsciously performed the spell wandlessly and perfectly and Professor Flitwick happily announced her success to the class.

Professor Flitwick also attended the first Quidditch match of the season; Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. He sat high up in the stands near Severus Prince-Slytherin and Quirinus Quirrell. He looked extremely shocked and worried when Harry seemingly lost control of his broom, as well as when Severus's cloak caught fire, but applauded merrily when Harry regained control and caught the Snitch.

On Christmas Eve, Professors Flitwick and McGonagall were in charge of decorating the Great Hall. Flitwick used a spell to create golden bubbles to adorn the Christmas trees' branches. He also used live fairies to decorate, which he was rather fond of doing. The hall was noted to look absolutely spectacular. He also attended the Feast on Christmas Day and pulled a cracker with Professor Dumbledore. The Headmaster exchanged his pointed wizard hat for a flowery bonnet and Flitwick read a joke to him, which made him chuckle merrily.

As the first year exams approached, Professor Flitwick set the first years homework to learn various spells and charms off by heart. When it finally was time for the tests, Flitwick called his students one-by-one into his classroom and asked them to make a pineapple tap-dance across his desk. He presumably also set theoretical papers, which were to be completed in a swelteringly hot classroom. Once the exams were over, Hermione Granger visited Flitwick in the staffroom, saying that she was worried that she got a question wrong in the theory test. He, unable to help himself, told her in confidentiality that she had gotten one hundred and twelve percent, although she was a little ways behind Nathara, who had gotten a two hundred percent.

One day, during lunch, he discussed Severus's daughter and commented to Minerva, "*Nathara Prince-Slytherin... Sprightly girl, Minerva. A real leader and charming girl if I ever did see one.*".

#### Re-opening of the Chamber of Secrets

"*Yes, didn't you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?*"
— Flitwick goading Gilderoy Lockhart about the Chamber of Secrets

Professor Flitwick continued to teach during the 1992–1993 school year. During a Charms class, Ron Weasley's wand flew out of his hand and hit Flitwick squarely in between his eyes, leaving a great green boil there, which he presumably vanished. He also set a piece of homework for his second years to do, which involved using *The Standard Book of Spells*, Grade 2. One of the first lessons that Professor Flitwick taught during the first term was revising the Levitation Charm. He also taught the second years the Skurge Charm, which cleans away Ectoplasm, and the Fire-Making Spell. Throughout the year, he kept telling Severus how much of a joy Nathara was to have in class.

Later on in the year, Mrs Norris, Argus Filch's cat, was found Petrified on the first floor. Professor Flitwick was amongst the crowd of students and teachers who saw her there, hanging from one of the torches. Not long after, Colin Creevey, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Gryffindor House Ghost Nearly Headless Nick, were also petrified. Professor Flitwick and the rest of the staff arrived at the scene shortly after the discovery and he, assisted by Professor Aurora Sinistra of the Astronomy department, took Justin to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing for treatment.

When he found out how everyone in school was afraid of Nathara because she was able to speak Parseltongue, including her housemates, he offered her some comfort and advice.

Near the end of the year, Professor Flitwick, along with the rest of the staff, were called to the staffroom by Professor McGonagall. McGonagall told them that Slytherin's Monster had kidnapped a student and taken them to the Chamber of Secrets. Flitwick immediately let out a squeal. McGonagall told them that the Heir of Slytherin had left another message right under the first, which read; *Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.* Flitwick burst into tears at hearing the news. It had, in fact, been Ginny Weasley, one of Flitwick's students, and, when Lockhart entered the room, the whole staff turned against him. While all the teachers told him his comments of knowing what was in the Chamber and so forth, Flitwick piped in and said that he had told that he was quite sure he knew what was inside it.

The next day, Professor Flitwick was to send his Ravenclaws home on the Hogwarts Express. However, Harry Potter had slain the monster, sealed the Chamber and saved Ginny with help from Nathara, but not before a tiny shard of the horcrux left a small scar on her hand, so Hogwarts remained open. Instead, Flitwick attended the End-of-Term Feast and applauded happily when Rubeus Hagrid returned from Azkaban, being wrongfully sent there on suspicion of the Chamber openings.