Katie Bell

## Katherine "Katie" Bell

**Katie Bell** (born 13 September, 1978) is the oldest of two children, the daughter of Charles "Charlie" Bell and his wife Mrs. Bell. She had a younger brother, George. She was a Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. During her Hogwarts years, she became incredibly close friends with Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, who were Gryffindors from the year above her.

In her sixth year, she joined Dumbledore's Army, an organisation taught and led by Harry Potter. During her seventh year, she was tortured by a cursed Opal Necklace and recovered at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

## Biography

### Early life (1978-1990)

Katie was born in Chelmsford, Essex, England, on 13 September 1978. She had a younger brother, George. Their father, Charlie, took them to many Quidditch games and was very encouraging to get them to practice, as Charlie had been on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team as well in his youth.

### Hogwarts years (1990-1998)

Katie received her Hogwarts letter in the summer of 1990. She was Sorted into Gryffindor House on 1 September 1990. In her second year, Katie joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team, in order to play the position of Chaser. She played Chaser alongside Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet. Fred and George Weasley played the position of Beaters on the team as well. Team Captain Oliver Wood as Keeper and first-year Harry Potter as Seeker.

During her first ever Quidditch match against the Slytherin Quidditch team, she was hit in the back of the head by a Bludger. Fortunately, she did not sustain any serious injuries and continued to play. Later, they won the game one hundred and seventy points to sixty when Harry caught the snitch.

In her third year at Hogwarts, Gryffindor captain Oliver Wood lectured his team on their performance. Before any practise actually took place, the team was removed from the pitch by the Slytherin team, whom stated that they needed the pitch in order to train their new Seeker. Katie was then witness to Draco Malfoy calling Hermione Granger a Mudblood, a term which shocked and angered her. Her younger brother George also came to Hogwarts this year, being sorted into Gryffindor.

She also was a member of the Duelling Club in her third year and she attended the first gathering with Alicia and Angelina. At the Duelling Club, the three of them fought for Gilderoy Lockhart's cloak that he tossed into the crowd before duelling with Snape. Katie was also present when Harry Potter spoke Parseltongue, to a snake conjured by Draco Malfoy, that was attempting to attack Justin Finch-Fletchley. That year, Katie caught the Mumblemumps and was often seen resting in the Hospital Wing, complaining that she was bored. She also taught fellow Gryffindor team-mate Harry Potter the Full Body-Bind Curse.

In Katie's fourth year, Wood became more competitive, as Gryffindor had not won the Quidditch Cup in over seven years and he wanted to break the losing streak. During practise, Wood commented on his chasers playing "superbly". Gryffindor had originally planned to play Slytherin first, but due to Draco Malfoy's injury, they faced the Hufflepuff team instead, captained by Cedric Diggory. When Wood spoke of the Hufflepuff Captain Cedric, Katie, Angelina and Alicia started giggling and commented on Cedric's good looks. The game itself did not go too well, as the players struggled against the terrible weather, and Harry, Gryffindor's Seeker, had passed out in the presence of a Dementor and fell from his broom, leaving Cedric to catch the Snitch and Gryffindor to lose the match. Katie was also present the night that Sirius Black successfully broke into Gryffindor Tower (31 October, Hallowe'en), she was most likely very much shocked by the incident, along with her fellow Gryffindors.

Katie and her team later played Ravenclaw, and she scored the first goal and soon after Gryffindor were up by eighty points. Ravenclaw started to make a comeback but Harry caught the Snitch, and Katie kissed Harry on the cheek afterwards. The final match of the season, against Slytherin, was loaded with brutal play, and when Gryffindor was up by twenty points, Graham Montague had gripped Katie's hair and made her do a cartwheel in the air; she managed to stay on her broom but lost possession of the Quaffle. As a result, Madam Hooch awarded Katie a penalty and she scored. Gryffindor won the match and the Quidditch Cup. At the end of Katie's fourth year, she and her fellow players would bid farewell to Wood as he graduated from Hogwarts.

In Katie's fifth year, all Quidditch games had been cancelled due to the school hosting the Triwizard Tournament. When Harry was selected as the fourth champion, alongside Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and Viktor Krum of the Durmstrang Institute, Katie, like all the Gryffindors, was ecstatic. She was thrilled that Harry could pay Hufflepuff back for losing against them in their previous year by beating Cedric. Harry won the Triwizard Cup, but no one expressed happiness, as the school was in mourning over the death of Cedric Diggory. At the end of the school year, Albus Dumbledore held a memorial service to Diggory and he openly voiced the rise of evil and the start of the Second Wizarding War.

In Katie's sixth year, Angelina was named the new Gryffindor Quidditch captain and was no less demanding than Wood had been. During the term, Hogwarts was under inspection from High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge, who had a disliking for Harry and put him in detention several times, disrupting the Gryffindors' Quidditch practise schedule. During one training session, Keeper Ron Weasley passed the Quaffle to Katie rather quickly, causing it to hit her square in the face. Fred Weasley passed her a small purple something from his pocket to staunch the resulting nosebleed, but it actually increased the blood loss to the point that practise was cancelled and Katie was taken to the hospital wing by the twins. Later on in the year, Hogwarts was under rebellion from both students and staff alike.

In an attempt to defy Dolores Umbridge, Harry, with the help of Hermione, set up an organisation called Dumbledore's Army, where students could practise how to defend themselves in a practical manner. Katie and her friends joined the D.A. and attended several meetings. She then had a run-in with Peeves, who spilled an entire pot of ink over her head. In the opening match against Slytherin, the Gryffindor team were being taunted by Malfoy and his crew due to the poor quality of play by Ron Weasley. Gryffindor won after Harry caught the Snitch, but during a post-match fight between Malfoy and Harry, the three Chasers had to forcibly restrain Fred from attacking Malfoy after he insulted his family. At the end of the year, Katie had to bid farewell to both Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, as the two were seventh-year students graduating from Hogwarts.

In Katie's seventh and final year, she was the only original member of the Quidditch team left alongside Harry. However, she missed out on the position of Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, which instead went to Harry instead. When Harry held try-outs, Katie told Harry that she did not wish him to favour her because she was an old player, but to hold a fair trial and not put friendship first. This made Ron very uncomfortable, as he was Harry's best friend. Katie managed to keep the position of Chaser, working alongside newcomers Ginny Weasley and Aquila Black.

On the 12 October, whilst on a trip to Hogsmeade, Katie was put under the Imperius Curse by the Three Broomsticks innkeeper, Madam Rosmerta (herself under the Imperius Curse by Draco Malfoy). Katie was made to take a cursed Opal Necklace, which she found inside the girls' bathroom, to Dumbledore in an assassination attempt. However, as she argued with her friend Leanne, the package ripped and Katie came in contact with the necklace. Fortunately, as she had only touched it through a small hole in her glove, it only caused her terrible pain and not death. She was sent to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries and spent six months recovering.

Her little brother, George, temporarily replaced her as Chaser but she was healthy enough to return for the final against Ravenclaw and helped Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup for the third time since she was on the team. Harry questioned Katie on whether she had any recollection of who had given her the necklace, which she did not. However, Malfoy, who was responsible for the incident, overheard their conversation and believed she had actually implicated him.

## Magical abilities and skills

* **Flying**: Katie played the position of Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, indicating that she was a very skilled broomstick flyer and Quidditch player. She also understood that good Quidditch teams could been ruined due to Captains letting in their friends or playing the old faces, and wanted Harry to not fall into that, showing her very strong dedication to success in this field.
* **Duelling**: Katie learned how to duel at the Duelling Club in her third year. She was also taught various offensive and defensive spells while attending the meetings of Dumbledore's Army, under Harry Potter's masterful instruction. Katie along with many other Hogwarts students fought bravely in the Battle of Hogwarts against Voldemort's army and survived, showing her to be a very skilled duellist indeed with considerable and impressive skills in martial magic.
* **Transfiguration**:Katie was apparently skilled in transfiguration, a very difficult and complex branch of magic, as she took the subject at N.E.W.T.-level, meaning she must have achieved either an "Outstanding" or "Exceeds Expectations" in her transfiguration Ordinary Wizarding Level.
* **Charms** Katie was shown to be highly proficient and gifted in charm-work, as she was able to conjure a non-corporeal Patronus, which is a mark of superior magical ability and talent, given the immense difficulty of casting such an advanced and powerful protective charm.

## Possessions

* **Wand**: She owned a wand, which was of eleven inches in length, pear, and phoenix feather material. It was purchased by her, prior to her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1990, presumably at Ollivanders in Diagon Alley, London.
* **Broomstick**: Since Katie was a frequent and accomplished Quidditch player, Katie owned her own broomstick which she flew with.
* **Magic Storybook**: Katie owned a magical wizarding storybook, which contained various wizarding fairy tales, which she gained ownership of prior to the 1992–1993 school year.

## Etymology

* Katie is derived from *Katherine*, which itself is derived from the Greek name Αικατερίνη, from the name of the goddess Hecate (who is, perhaps coincidentally, the goddess of magic). It could be related to Greek αικία (aikia), meaning "torture", which is relative as Katie was tortured during her seventh year.
* Bell is an English name with various meanings: (1) a person who lived by a town or church bell; (2) a bell-ringer, as in a church; (3) beautiful or handsome (alluding to her attractiveness).
* Her wand wood was pear: which in the words of Garrick Ollivander, *"produces wands of splendid magical powers, which give of their best in the hands of the warm-hearted, the generous and the wise. Possessors of pear wands are, in my experience, usually popular and well-respected. I do not know of a single instance where a pear wand has been discovered in the possession of a Dark witch or wizard. Pear wands are among the most resilient, and I have often observed that they may still present a remarkable appearance of newness, even after many years of hard use."*
* Her wand core was phoenix feather. "*This is the rarest core type. Phoenix feathers are capable of the greatest range of magic, though they may take longer than either unicorn or dragon cores to reveal this. They show the most initiative, sometimes acting of their own accord, a quality that many witches and wizards dislike. Phoenix feather wands are always the pickiest when it comes to potential owners, for the creature from which they are taken is one of the most independent and detached in the world. These wands are the hardest to tame and to personalise, and their allegiance is usually hard won."*