An-Mister Justin Finch-Fletchley

> My name was down for Eton, you know. I can't tell you how glad I am I came here instead. Of course, Mother was slightly disappointed, but since I made her read Lockhart's books I think she's begun to see how useful it'll be to have a fully trained wizard in the family...
>
> Justin introducing himself to Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

**Justin Finch-Fletchley** (b. 1979/1980) was a Muggle-born wizard. He was in the same year as the famous Harry Potter at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Hufflepuff House in 1992.

## Biographical information

### Date of birth

between 1 September 1979 and 31 August 1980

## Biography

### Early life Template:C

Unaware of his ***magic***al abilities, Justin was headed to the English public school Eton before receiving his letter of admission to Hogwarts. The prestige of this school and his double-barreled surname heavily imply that Justin came from an upper-class Muggle Finch-Fletchley family.

### Hogwarts years Template:C

#### First year

Despite his mother's misgivings, he was glad to go to Hogwarts instead of ***Eton***. In the summer holidays before second year, he gave Gilderoy Lockhart's books to his mother. The stories finally convinced her of the advantages of having a trained wizard in the family.

#### Second year

> What are you playing at?
>
> Justin after witnessing Harry Potter speaking Parseltongue, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

In the first Herbology lesson of his second year on 2 September, 1992, Justin was grouped with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. He cheerfully introduced himself to the trio and made flattering remarks to each of them, congratulating Harry on his general fame, Hermione on her intelligence, and Ron on his father's ***Flying Ford Anglia***. The latter did not go over well with Ron, who had just received a Howler from his mother for stealing the car.

 File:Hufflepuffs in Transfiguration class.jpg
Justin continued to talk about Lockhart; he was obviously impressed with the new teacher. He also shared that he was initially headed for ***Eton*** and how Lockhart's books had impressed his mother. Their conversation then ended because all students had to put on earmuffs to re-pot ***mandrake***s. He was later present in ***Defence Against the Dark Arts*** when Gilderoy Lockhart released a cage-full of Cornish pixies into their midst; Justin initially tried to salvage his books from the pixies' destructive rampage but quickly gave up the attempt and pelted for the door along with everyone else.

 File:Message on wall students.jpg
Harry met Justin again in a school corridor a few days after ***Mrs Norris*** was found Petrified on Hallowe'en. He opened his mouth to greet him, but before he could say anything, Justin turned and ran off in fright. Obviously, Justin believed a rumour started by ***Argus Filch*** that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin and being ***Muggle-born***, he saw himself as a potential victim. When Harry told Ron about this, Ron dismissed Justin as "an idiot" on account of his praise of Lockhart and did not put much stock into what Justin thinks.
Justin attended Gilderoy Lockhart's Duelling Club meeting on ***17 December***. Lockhart paired him with Neville Longbottom to practise *Expelliarmus*. Apparently, neither of them did particularly well; at the end of the first round, both were lying on the floor and panting. Most other students had not fared much better. Lockhart admitted that it might be good to teach defensive moves first and asked Neville and Justin to demonstrate for the class, but Severus Snape dismissed them on account of Neville's lack of talent.

 File:Duelling Club 1992.jpg
Snape picked Draco Malfoy and Harry instead. During their duel, Malfoy used *Serpensortia* to conjure a snake. Lockhart tried to vanish it, but his spell only let the snake fly up into the air and thud back unto the floor. Hissing angrily, it slithered towards Justin and prepared to strike. Before it could attack the boy, however, Harry instinctively commanded it in Parseltongue to stop. The snake grew peaceful and turned away from Justin to face Harry. However, Justin, who had of course not understood Harry's command and already mistrusted him, thought that Harry had been encouraging the snake. Looking angry and scared, he shouted "*What are you playing at?*" and ran off before Harry could answer.
The fact that Harry was a Parselmouth solidified Justin and his fellow ***Hufflepuff***s' belief that he must be the Heir of Slytherin and that he had chosen Justin as his next victim. When their ***Herbology*** lesson was cancelled due to a blizzard the next day, ***Ernie Macmillan*** told Justin to hide in the dormitory. For some reason, Justin did not follow this advice and left the ***Hufflepuff*** ***common room*** alone. In an upstairs corridor (most likely on the fifth floor, possibly higher), he met ***Nearly Headless Nick***. Both of them saw the Basilisk there; Justin looked into the monster's eyes through Nick's transparent form which protected him from death. Unfortunately, it couldn't shield him fully and both Justin and the ghost were Petrified.

 File:Justin petrified.jpg
Meanwhile, Harry wanted to explain to Justin what had really happened the night before. He went to look for him and overheard a group of Hufflepuffs discussing their suspicions in the library. He was unable to convince them that he had not tried to set the snake on Justin and stormed out of the library. After a short encounter with Rubeus Hagrid, he went upstairs and came into the corridor of the recent attack. ***Peeves*** saw him, Justin and Nick, and started yelling. So many people burst into the corridor that Justin was almost squashed. Among them was Ernie, who accused Harry of being "caught in the act".

 File:Petrification.jpg
Professors Flitwick and Sinistra carried Justin into the Hospital Wing, where he stayed until the evening of 29 May, when he and the other victims were cured with the Mandrake Restorative Draught. That night down in the Chamber of Secrets, Harry slayed Slytherin's Basilisk, and a great feast that lasted all night was held in the Great Hall. Harry and Ron were awarded 200 hundred points and Gryffindor won the House cup. During the celebrations, Justin came over to Harry from the Hufflepuff table to wring his hand and apologise at great length about suspecting him.

## Personality and traits

> That Lockhart’s something, isn’t he? Awfully brave chap. Have you read his books? I’d have died of fear if I'd been cornered in a telephone booth by a werewolf, but he stayed cool and — zap — just fantastic.
>
> Justin's adoration of Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

His behaviour was outgoing, talkative, cheerful, and friendly. He seemed a little naive and easily impressed and influenced by others; for instance, he believed all of Gilderoy Lockhart's fabricated tales and admired him greatly. He was also among the first to believe in rumours that Harry Potter was the Heir of Slytherin (even before it became known that Harry was a Parselmouth) and consequently ran away from him in fright.
Justin admitted that he was not particularly brave. The fact that the Sorting Hat put him in Hufflepuff indicated very strongly that he was hard-working, loyal, and just. However, despite his somewhat fearful disposition during his second year

## Magical abilities and skills

* ***Charm*s**: Justin was able to conjure a non-corporeal Patronus, a mark of superior ***magic***al ability given the immense difficulty of casting the said charm.

## Relationships

### Harry Potter

 File:HBP-Photoshoots-harry-potter-22934533-1868-1400.jpg
Justin first met Harry Potter in their first second-year ***Herbology*** lesson, where he politely and pleasantly introduced himself and his background to him, and thus the pair developed an amicable friendship. However, Justin began to be fearful of Harry later that year as he believed that Harry had deliberately commanded Draco Malfoy's conjured ***snake*** to attack him using Parseltongue, and thus he became frightened of him in his presence.
However, once Justin was cured of his petrification by the end of that year, he apologised to and thanked Harry for slaying the Basilisk, and the two became friends again.

## Etymology

* The English given name Justin is derived from the Roman name *Iustinus*, which is derived from *justus*, meaning "just" in Latin. It was the name of at least 8 saints.
* A Template:W is a type of small bird.
* Fletchley is not a recorded surname, however Fletcher its closest equivalent is said to have lots of variations which may well be the name's source. The name Fletcher can mean either 'maker of arrows' or 'a person who equips the bowman'. Fletching also is the part of the arrow used to make it aerodynamic, made most notably out of bird feathers, hence Finch-Fletching.

## Behind the scenes

* It is interesting to note that the trio formed by Ernie, Hannah and Justin is quite similar to the trio formed by Harry, Ron and Hermione. Both trios are made up by member each having a different Blood Status: Pure-blood (Ernie and Ron), half-blood (Hannah and Harry), and Muggle-born (Justin and Hermione).
* In the books, Justin is described to have curly hair, while in the films, he has straight brown hair.
* Justin is the only male character to display open admiration rather than disgust for Gilderoy Lockhart. Due to this, it has been suggested by some fans that he might be gay, but this has never been confirmed or denied by Rowling. Given Hogwarts' high tolerance for differences and his close relationship with Ernie Macmillan, this could be possible. Another possibility is that he was raised to respect his elders, and as such never questioned any Hogwarts professor and knew better than to backtalk his superiors. Yet another explanation could be that Justin misconstrued Lockhart's abilities. He mentioned earlier giving one of Lockhart's books to his Muggle mother, who then realised the importance of wizardry. As such, this may explain Justin's respect for Gilderoy Lockhart, albeit understandably misplaced.
	+ The way they hold their wand.
	+ Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin.
	+ Tom can use Dark Magic.
* In Template:COS, Justin is portrayed by British actor Edward Randell. He speaks with a very distinctive, upper-class accent and uses fairly posh words and phrases such as "frightfully brave" and "chap", further lending credence to the possibility that he is from an upper-class family. He also first meets Harry at the duelling club, not in Herbology class.
* He does not appear and he is not mentioned in the franchise again after the fifth instalment.

## Appearances

Template:Imagecat

* Template:COS Template:1st

Template:Hogwarts Duelling Club

## Notes and references

Template:Reflist

1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `PS7`
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Template:COS
3. ↑ Template:COS
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Template:COS
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Template:COS
6. ↑ Template:COS
7. ↑ Template:COS - "Harry, Ron, and Hermione were joined at their tray by a curly-haired Hufflepuff boy Harry knew by sight but had never spoken to."
8. ↑ Behind the Name: Justin