Philippa Beutel

**Philippa Beutel** (6 May, 1981 - 2 May, 1998) was a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was born in Gellmersdorf, Angermünde, Germany, but moved to Dorset when she was seven years old with her parents and little sister Augusta. She was a German pure-blood witch, the daughter of Johann and Marie Beutel (née Henning).

She was a member of Dumbledore's Army at Hogwarts, and joined in her fourth year at school. She stayed to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts in her sixth year and was killed by Hestia Carrow, who plead insanity for both her death and the death of a fellow student, Colin Creevey. Philippa and Colin's names are honoured in a memorial on Hogwarts grounds.

## Biography

### Early life (1981-1992)

Philippa was born on 6 May 1981, to Johann Beutel and Marie Beutel née Henning. Her father was a German pureblood and her mother was an German-English half-blood witch, who fled the country to stay with family during the First Wizarding War.

Philippa was born in Gellmersdorf, which is a village near Angermünde, a town in the district of Uckermark. It is located in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is about 43 miles (69 km) northeast of Berlin, the capital of Germany. The town has several Protestant churches, a former Franciscan church, a number of schools of higher learning and a recently refurbished historic marketplace with an old town hall.

Gellmersdorf is a wizarding village, but eight years after the war ended in England, Johann Beutel expressed curiosity about living there. He moved his entire family to Puddletown, a village in Dorset, in 1988. The family knew nobody and no one, but was attracted to the area because of its housing prices and nearby muggle schools, which Johann had hoped would better prepare his daughters for their wizarding education, which would be taught in English.

Johann secured a job in the Department of Magical Maintenance at the Ministry of Magic, and though the pay wasn't great, he still made enough to get his family by. Philippa and her little sister, Augusta, learned better English through the local muggle school, though it was difficult for them at first, considering that it was the first time that they had done any mathematics, or sciences.

### Hogwarts years (1992-1998)

Philippa received her Hogwarts letter in the summer of 1992. She purchased a wand made of ebony wood and a dragon heartstring core, in Gregorovitch's Wand Shop in Berlin. She bought all of the rest of her supplies, however, from Diagon Alley. It was the first time that she had been back to Germany since she'd left.

She was sorted into Hufflepuff House on 1 September, 1992, though it considered her for Slytherin first. She shared a dormitory with Lily Headley, Dorcas Spindle, and Nellie Symons. During Philippa's early time at Hogwarts, she was bullied, rather cruelly, by Hestia Carrow and Clotilda Avery for her German accent. It forced Philippa to practice nightly and she almost wrote home and demanded her parents to take her out of school. She was very miserable.

In her fourth year of school, however, things began to look up for Philippa: she joined Dumbledore's Army, along with her only friend, Stanley Ingham, who did not exactly consider *her* his closest friend, but had always been kind to her. Dumbledore's Army was a student-led organisation, founded by three Gryffindor fifth-years (the famous Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, and his two friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger), who had all expressed their disdain with Dolores Umbridge, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

The club was disbanded during the 1996-1997 school year after Umbridge was sacked in June of 1996, at the end of Philippa's fourth year. She, like many of the others, was disappointed that it was ending, and held onto her D.A. coin until it came time for her O.W.L. exams, when she abandoned the dream of the club beginning again. At the end of Philippa's fifth year, the Hogwarts Headmaster, was murdered, and Philippa's parents allowed her to stay for the funeral, and even paid their respects themselves.

*"Philippa Beutel was standing over by her two German-speaking parents- although they had been chattering away nearer to the start of the procession, they soon bowed their heads- Mr. Beutel pausing to take off his hat... even foreign wizards had turned up to pay their respects for Dumbledore..."*
—The Beutel family at the funeral of Albus Dumbledore
In Philippa's sixth year, Severus Snape replaced Albus Dumbledore as Headmaster of Hogwarts. She was also a student during the time that the Professors Amycus and Alecto Carrow took over the school, filling Defence Against the Dark Arts with Dark Arts lessons and Muggle Studies with lessons regarding pure-blood philosophy. This year, Dumbledore's Army was re-formed by Ginny Weasley, Aquila Black, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood: they organised small rebellions when they could get away with it, as the Carrows' regime was fierce.

#### Battle of Hogwarts (2 May, 1998)

Philippa was one of many members of Dumbledore's Army who stayed to fight during the Battle of Hogwarts, despite being underaged at the time. Her sister, Augusta, was evacuated, but Philippa claimed to her professors that her birthday, which was actually on 6 May, was on 2 May instead, and having very little time to begin with to verify her claim, they believed her, and she was allowed to fight.

Philippa was one of the only students whose death might have been prevented if the date of her birth had actually been verified. If she had been sent away and evacuated, she may not have lost her life. Then again, many other students stayed behind to fight that were born much later in the year than her: her friend Stanley Ingham, for example, was sixteen and born in July: Ginny Weasley sneaked past her parents, and she was born in August.

Philippa died while duelling her childhood tormentor, Hestia Carrow, who upon being released from the dungeons with the other Slytherins, was fighting on the side of the invading Death Eaters. Stanley Ingham said that she jumped in front of a killing curse that was likely intended for him, during the trial of Hestia Carrow.

#### Post-mortem

Philippa's killer, Hestia Carrow, pleaded insanity, and begged for mercy, which Philippa's grieving parents granted, in a moment which stunned many onlookers. Colin Creevey's parents were also apart of the decision, as their son also lost his life because of Hestia, and being muggles, they believed Hestia's story that, after Hestia saw her sister, Flora, dead in one of the courtyards, she suffered a psychotic break which made her want to watch everything and everyone burn.

Philippa and Colin were honoured in a memorial located on Hogwarts' grounds. Stanley Ingham was allowed to make a speech during the unveiling, taking the place of one of the speakers which had been allotted for Philippa, and shared many details of their time at Hogwarts together, and how they both became friends. Stanley said that he would never be able to thank Philippa enough for her sacrifice, and teared up at the end of his speech, as he thanked her parents endlessly for everything that their daughter had done.

## Etymology

The name Philippa is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "lover of horses". ... There have been several early Saint Philippas, and it was the name of the wife of Geoffrey Chaucer.

The name Beutel comes from Middle High German *biutel*, from Old High German *būtil*, from Proto-Germanic *buzdô* (“beetle, grub, swelling”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūs-* (“to move quickly”).