Ernest Macmillan

> "*Personally I think this is really important, possibly more important than anything else we'll do this year, even with our O.W.L.s coming up. I, personally, am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher on us at this critical period. Obviously, they are in denial about the return of You-Know-Who.*"
> ― Ernie Macmillan's high opinion of Dumbledore's Army [source]
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**Ernest "Ernie" Macmillan** (b. 1980) was a pure-blood wizard who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1991-1998. He was in the same year as the famous Harry Potter and was sorted into Hufflepuff House. He was also born into the Macmillan family, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

Ernie was an academically strong student and good friends with Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch-Fletchley. In 1992, Ernie initially suspected that Harry Potter was the Heir of Slytherin during the opening of the Chamber of Secrets in his Second year. However after Hermione Granger was petrified he told Harry that he knew Harry would never do that to her. After he apologised to Harry for his suspicions and accusations, the two became good friends.

In Ernie's fourth year their friendship temporarily wavered after Harry's name came out of the cup after Hufflepuff's Cedric Diggory. He thought Harry cheated and proceeded to wear Potter stinks badges, courtesy of Draco Malfoy. When Harry proclaimed that Voldemort had returned at the end of the year Ernie was one of the few who believed him.

In his fifth year, Ernie became a member of Dumbledore's Army, an organisation taught and led by Harry for the purposes of learning practical defensive magic. He joined the D.A. again when it was reinstated during his seventh year, opposing Death Eater control of Hogwarts and fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts on the 2 May, 1998.

It remains unknown what happened to Ernie after the Second Wizarding War, but he likely survived as his name wasn't listed among the casualties. What Ernie did after the war, if he survived, is unknown.

## Biography

### Early life (1980-1991)

> "*In case you’re getting ideas, I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and warlocks and my blood’s as pure as anyone’s.*"
> ― Ernie believing Harry Potter to be the Heir of Slytherin[source]
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Ernie was born into a pure-blood family that could trace its lineage back nine generations; he may have been related to Melania Black (née Macmillan), Sirius Black's paternal grandmother, a pure-blood family, which references to both his surname and blood heritage. Although he was proud of his blood status, Ernie was not prejudiced against those of other blood statuses, befriending and looking out for Justin Finch-Fletchley, a Muggle-born.

### Hogwarts years (1991-1998)

#### First year

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Ernie began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on 1 September, 1991. He was sorted into Hufflepuff House, which valued characteristics such as loyalty and friendship, and readiness to work. During the Welcoming Feast he soon became friends with fellow Hufflepuff students Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, and Justin Finch-Fletchley and stayed friends with them through out the entire school year.

#### Second year

> "*Hannah, he’s a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that’s the mark of a Dark Wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue. Remember what was written on the wall? Enemies of the Heir, Beware. Potter had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch’s cat’s attacked. That first year, Creevey, was annoying Potter at the Quidditch match, taking pictures of him while he was lying in the mud. Next thing we know — Creevey’s been attacked.*"
> ― Ernie's suspicions about Harry Potter[source]
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During his second year, Ernie came to believe that Harry Potter was the Heir of Slytherin, after he spoke Parseltongue in front of the entire Duelling Club. In actuality Harry was trying to stop the snake conjured by Draco Malfoy from attacking Justin Finch-Fletchley. However, Ernie perceived it differently. He believed that Harry was in fact urging the snake to attack instead. He showed bravery when he stepped in to protect his friend, suggesting that he should hide in their common room and stay there until the coast was clear.

Ernie went into discussion with the other Hufflepuffs regarding if Harry was the heir of Slytherin, considering the coincidences with the victims. He voiced that being a Parselmouth was the very symbol of a Dark wizard and was probably the reason why Voldemort wanted to kill Harry, Voldemort did not want another Dark Lord competing against him. Harry, who was attempting to explain to Justin what really happened, was eavesdropping on their conversation and attempted to convince Ernie that the altercation at the Duelling Club was not what it seemed. Ernie stated that Harry should not try anything, as he himself was pure-blood and also brought up the fact that Harry hated his Muggle relatives. When it seemed that their argument was going nowhere, Harry eventually gave up.

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Soon enough, Ernie's fears worsened when Justin was petrified. He discussed the matter with their mutual friend Hannah, who was initially sceptical because she thought Harry was nice, but was eventually persuaded to Ernie's point of view.

However, Hermione Granger, one of Harry's best friends, was later petrified as well. This made Ernie realise that Harry could not be the Heir of Slytherin, as he knew Harry would never harm Hermione, and he gave Harry a public apology. He believed that Malfoy could be the culprit, but Harry gave an emotionless no, making Ernie and Hannah stare.

#### Third year

In his third year, Ernie took many subjects similar to Hermione. He once told Ron Weasley that she had never missed a Muggle Studies lesson, despite having another class at exactly the same time that she also attended. This was due to Hermione's use of a Time-Turner to attend all her lessons.

#### Fourth year

> "*Only a week away! I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I’ll go and tell him....*"
> ― Ernie's excitement over the Triwizard Tournament[source]
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In the summer of 1994, Ernie and his family attended the Quidditch World Cup final between Ireland and Bulgaria. Whilst there a Death Eater raid ensued, resulting in chaos amongst those attending.

Ernie's fourth year held place to the Triwizard Tournament, which was hosted at Hogwarts that year. He supported fellow Hufflepuff Cedric Diggory when he qualified and again stopped speaking to Harry Potter, who also qualified, but underage, as he was one of many students who initially believed that Harry had entered himself into the tournament in a bid for further glory. He tried to convince friends in Hufflepuff to agree with him, but they needed not much convincing.

 File:Hufflepuff's teasing Harry.jpg
He also wore a *Support Cedric Diggory/Potter stinks* badge. Ernie and other Hufflepuffs frequently harassed Harry Potter with their badges, even though Cedric asked them not to. However, he likely wore off wearing this badge after Cedric requested his housemates to stop wearing them after the first task. After the tournament came to a close, Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort, coming as a shock to all students and staff members. He attended Diggory's memorial feast as did his friends. Cedric Diggory was a member of Hufflepuff and since Harry was with him when he died, Ernie appeared to have forgotten any ill wishes he thought of Harry and believed his claims to Voldemort returning whilst the Ministry did not. Ernie was among the very few students that did believe Harry's account of Voldemort's return.

#### Fifth year

> "*I'm doing eight. Eight or nine. I'm getting an hour in before breakfast everyday. Eight's my average. I can do ten on a good weekend day. I did nine and a half on Monday. Not so good on Tuesday — only seven and a quarter. Then on Wednesday —*"
> ― Ernie's time spent studying for his O.W.L.s[source]
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In 1995, Ernie became a Hufflepuff prefect, alongside Hannah Abbott. Unlike previous years, during which he had thought ill of Harry for certain acts he believed him to have committed, Ernie was one of the few Hogwarts students who believed Harry's story that Lord Voldemort had returned. He even went as far as to make an openly public declaration of support on Harry's behalf.

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Shortly after the beginning of term, Ernie joined Dumbledore's Army because of his belief in Harry and because of his dismay with Dolores Umbridge, a Ministry of Magic employee who became Defence Against the Dark Arts professor but refused to teach students any practical defence. Ernie believed Dumbledore's Army to be one of the most important things they would be doing that year—apart from O.W.L.s. In the run-up to his examinations, he would study between eight and ten hours a day. He developed the irritating habit of boasting about this fact, then inquiring about other students' study habits.

When Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was forced to flee the school after the D.A. was discovered, Umbridge took his place as Head of the school. However, Hogwarts itself refused to recognise her authority and sealed the Headmaster's Tower against her, prompting her to throw what was referred to as a "right little tantrum". This act was witnessed by the Fat Friar, Hufflepuff's house ghost, who told Ernie about it and who in turn relayed it to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Unfortunately, this happened to be overheard by Draco Malfoy and several other Slytherins who had joined Umbridge's newly-formed Inquisitorial Squad.

When Malfoy stated that he would have to dock points from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, Ernie immediately contradicted him by stating that fellow Prefects had no authority to do so, but was overridden by the Squad's new powers and his contradiction was used as an excuse to dock five points from Hufflepuff, much to Ernie's mingled shock and fury. When Fred and George Weasley implied that they were going to cause some trouble in the school, Ernie looked uncomfortable and made an excuse about some unfinished Transfiguration homework so he wouldn't be associated.

After term had ended, Ernie was one of the members of the D.A. who helped foil an ambush on Harry by Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle on the Hogwarts Express, cursing them so vociferously that they were reduced to three gigantic slugs in Hogwarts robes. Ernie and Justin then helped hoist them into the luggage rack to ooze out the journey, taking particular pleasure in doing so as revenge for the points Malfoy had unfairly docked from Hufflepuff.

#### Sixth year

**Ernie**: "*Harry! We heard a noise and someone said something about the Dark Mark —*"
**Harry Potter**: "*Out of the way!*"
— Ernie witnessing Harry chase Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy[src]

Ernie's hard work and determination from the previous year paid off. He was the only Hufflepuff student in his year who reached the required level to advance to N.E.W.T Potions. Ernie earned at least an 'Exceeds Expectations' on his O.W.L. exam, something Severus Snape claimed was very hard to achieve. Ernie had also qualified for N.E.W.T-level Defence Against the Dark Arts, most likely because of Harry Potter's teaching the previous year. Ernie also attended Apparition lessons with his fellow students and during the first lesson he did a leap into his hoop. An action that had both Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan roaring with laughter at his expense.

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Later in the year, Death Eaters invaded Hogwarts, Dumbledore's Army was called to battle and the Battle of the Astronomy Tower broke out. It was likely Ernie never received his D.A. signal, as he had left the Hufflepuff Common Room to investigate a disturbance he had heard when he saw Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape, and Harry Potter running down a corridor. He asked Harry what was going on, but got no response save for two of his housemates getting knocked aside. He would later discover that Albus Dumbledore had been killed that night by Snape, and then presumably attended his funeral several days later to pay his respects.

#### Seventh year

**Professor McGonagall**: "*Prefects, when I give the word, you will organise your House and take your charges in an orderly fashion to the evacuation point.*"
**Ernie**: "*And what if we want to stay and fight?*"
— Ernie's willingness to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts[src]
As a pure-blood, Ernie was able to return to Hogwarts for the 1997-1998 school year after the Ministry of Magic fell under Lord Voldemort's control; indeed, Hogwarts attendance became mandatory. Presumably, Ernie's Muggle-born friend Justin Finch-Fletchley was not able to come back to school, though Hannah Abbott returned.

Ernie and Hannah joined the revived Dumbledore's Army, which was led by Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood in the absence of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, who were off hunting down Voldemort's Horcruxes. The D.A. members opposed the anti-Muggle propaganda and Dark Arts taught by Death Eater professors Alecto and Amycus Carrow. They painted rebellious phrases on the walls and freed students from detention, where they faced beatings and even the Cruciatus Curse.

#### Battle of Hogwarts

On 2 May, 1998, Harry, Ron and Hermione returned to Hogwarts as Voldemort approached with his army. A meeting was held in the Great Hall, and when Professor McGonagall laid out the plans to evacuate the younger students from the school, Ernie indicated his willingness to fight against the Death Eaters by directly asking McGonagall about those who wished to remain behind. His question was applauded by a number of students who held similar feelings.

During the subsequent battle, Ernie, along with Luna Lovegood and Seamus Finnigan, came to the aid of Harry, Hermione, and Ron by using their Patronuses to drive off a group of Dementors. Ernie's took the form of a boar.

### Later life (1998-?)

Ernie's later life is unknown. It can be assumed that he survived the final battle of the Second Wizarding War as his name wasn't mentioned amongst the casualties.

## Physical appearance

Ernie Macmillan was described to be a stout-looking boy with blondish hair. When concentrating, such as during Apparition lessons, his face would go a deep shade of pink. Being stout implied that he was on the chubbier side, or was, at least, heavier than the average student.

## Personality and traits

> "*I must say, I'm looking forward to seeing Malfoy's mother's face when he gets off the train.*"
> ― Ernie shortly after helping Harry Potter hex Draco Malfoy[source]
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Despite being somewhat pompous, Ernie was loyal to his friends and always honest, traits of a true Hufflepuff. He would usually shake Harry's hand in a portentous manner and speak in a somewhat ostentatious and presumptuous manner. He was never afraid to speak his mind, and could readily admit when he was wrong. As a student, he was hard-working and strived to get good marks, which was particularly evident in his fifth year, when he claimed to be revising for his O.W.Ls around nine hours a day. He also displayed great bravery and loyalty in his participation in the Battle of Hogwarts.

Ernie did however seem to have a habit of jumping to conclusions regarding Harry Potter; in his second year, he believed and ultimately spread a rumour that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin. During his fourth year, Ernie made his disapproval of Harry's participation in the Triwizard Tournament as an illegal fourth champion clear, claiming Harry had done it to steal the spotlight from Hufflepuff.

Despite being a pure-blood and proud of it, Ernie never displayed any prejudice towards those of different blood status, as many other pure-bloods did. In fact, his two closest friends at Hogwarts were a Muggle-born, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and a half-blood, Hannah Abbott, and he looked out for both of them throughout his studies. His friendship with both of them technically made him a blood traitor by association, which may contradict on how proud he was of his wizarding lineage, or he may simply not care who he associated with. Ernie was also one of the first to openly express his support of Harry and Albus Dumbledore during the Ministry's smear campaign against them.