Geoffrey Cresswell

**Geoffrey Cresswell** (born 20 June, 1981) was the son of Dirk Cresswell and his wife Millicent Cresswell (née Fawley). He was born in Sedgley, Dudley, in the West Midlands. He began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the age of eleven in 1992, and was sorted into Gryffindor House. He was a friend of Aquila Black's.

Geoffrey joined Dumbledore's Army in his fourth year of school, an organisation taught and led by Harry Potter. He participated in the Battle of Hogwarts and survived unscathed.

His father was Dirk Cresswell, the Head of the Goblin Liaison Office at the Ministry of Magic, until August 1997, when he was forced to go on the run. In Geoffrey's sixth year of school, his father was caught and murdered by Snatchers.

He was a supporter of the Tutshill Tornadoes.

## Biography

### Early life (1980s)

Geoffrey was born in the village of Sedgley, in the West Midlands. He has a younger brother called Johnny. Their father was a muggle-born wizard who became the Head of the Goblin Liaison Office at the Ministry of Magic, and their mother was a half-blood witch who stayed at home. His father became fluent in Gobbledegook, which helped him gain the position.

Geoffrey and his brother lived in a relatively large house in the countryside, hidden from muggle sight. It used to belong to their maternal grandfather, Amos Fawley. Their mother was Millicent Fawley. Their maternal greatgrandfather was Hector Fawley, who was the British Minister for Magic from 1925 to 1939. His term in office coincided with the beginning of Gellert Grindelwald's "For the Greater Good" revolution. Fawley did not take Grindelwald's threat to the world wizarding community sufficiently seriously, and his lack of response was openly questioned. The Daily Prophet once asked in 1926, whether "Flamboyant Fawley" was doing enough.

Geoffrey and his brother Johnny supported the Tutshill Tornadoes as children.

### Hogwarts years (1990s)

Geoffrey received his Hogwarts letter in the summer of 1992, and was Sorted into Gryffindor House on 1 September 1992, one year behind the famous Harry Potter. He shared a dormitory with Arthur Dodge, Colin Creevey, Gregory Sampson, and George Bell. His closer friends were Colin, George, and Arthur. He did enjoy Aquila Black and Ginny Weasley's company as well, partnering with them in Divination when there was an odd number, which all three found to be a joke.

In his fourth year at school, Geoffrey joined the student organisation Dumbledore's Army, which was founded by Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley from the year above him. Dumbledore's Army (also known as the D.A.) was a secret organisation initiated to teach Hogwarts students proper Defence Against the Dark Arts in 1995. It was founded by Hermione, but taught and led by Harry.

This organisation was made necessary by the refusal of Dolores Umbridge, the subject's professor during the 1995-1996 school year, to teach anything in her classes other than textbook theory.

The group was disbanded during the 1996-1997 school year following the appointment of Severus Snape as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, when Geoffrey was in his fifth year.

At the outbreak of the Second Wizarding War on 18 June, 1996, Geoffrey's mother reportedly did not want to let him return to school; however, he managed to convince her, and returned for his fifth year to take his O.W.L.s. During his fifth year at school, he began dating fellow Gryffindor fifth-year Matilda Corner.

During the height of the Second Wizarding War, on 1 August, 1997, the Ministry of Magic was taken over by Lord Voldemort. Shortly after, it began persecuting Muggle-born wizards and witches, beginning with the formation of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission and the Snatchers organisations, in accordance with the Death Eater ideology. Muggle-borns were accused of having stolen magic and sentenced to Azkaban for it.

The next year, when Hogwarts attendance became mandatory and compulsory, they had a similar argument. Geoffrey made the decision to return to Hogwarts for his sixth year, while his father dealt with troubles with the Muggle-Born Registration Commission.

Geoffrey's father, Dirk Cresswell, arranged with a wizard to forge a false family tree so that the Ministry would believe that Dirk was of a different blood status. However, Albert Runcorn, a powerful Ministry official and supporter of the Death Eater regime, tracked the wizard who faked his family tree and Geoffrey's father was arrested. While Death Eater-controlled and newly instated Minister Pius Thicknesse, alongside Dolores Umbridge, Yaxley, and Albert Runcorn, delivered a speech to the Ministry employees about the changes in Ministry policy, Snatchers arrived and dragged a battered and bruised Dirk Cresswell across the Atrium.

Auror John Dawlish was charged with transporting Geoffrey's father to Azkaban fortress in the North Sea, via broomstick. Halfway to the prison, Dirk managed to stun Dawlish, whom he believed to be under the effects of the Confundus Charm, and stole the Auror's broomstick, using it to escape.

With his father on the run, Geoffrey began ignoring his mother's letters asking for news of Dirk's whereabouts. He knew that if there was a possibility of them getting intercepted, his father could be caught and killed. For evading capture, Dirk Cresswell was now a wanted man.

Geoffrey was also apart of the restored Dumbledore's Army in his sixth year, and ended up staying in the Room of Requirement to escape the Carrows. The school year was incredibly difficult for Dumbledore's Army. He, along with many others, started to show the cost of standing up to the new regime at Hogwarts. His girlfriend's cousin, Michael Corner, was brutally beaten for freeing a chained-up first-year, Neville Longbottom was tortured at length for refusing to perform the Cruciatus Curse, and Seamus Finnigan began to look unrecognisable. Geoffrey had his own fair share of the fight, however- his face was covered in bruises and scratches.

#### Father's death (March 1998)

*"But before we hear from Royal and Romulus, let's take a moment to report those deaths that the Wizarding Wireless Network News and Daily Prophet don't think important enough to mention. It is with great regret that we inform our listeners of the murders of Ted Tonks and Dirk Cresswell."*
—Lee Jordan announces Dirk Cresswell's murder in *Potterwatch*
Geoffrey's father's death was announced on the *Potterwatch* radio programme in March 1998. His hysterical mother sent him letters for news, but Geoffrey did not reply for fear that they were being watched. An explosive argument between Matilda Corner and Aquila Black ensued inside the Room of Requirement, arguing whether Geoffrey should inform his mother of his father's death.

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

When Voldemort's army attacked the castle, Geoffrey was among many of those who stayed to fight. He was charged with helping Seamus Finnigan blow up the Wooden Bridge to prevent Snatchers from entering the school. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Geoffrey, George Bell, and Luna Lovegood saved Harry, Ron, and Hermione from hundreds of Dementors by casting the Patronus to hold them back, before Harry drove them away with his own. His Patronus was in the form of a cat. Geoffrey as well as George and Katie Bell were also seen being lead into battle by Aberforth Dumbledore sometime during the opening stages of the battle.

## Personality and traits

He rejoined the revamped Dumbledore's Army, this time run by Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, Aquila Black, and Luna Lovegood. The D.A. opposed the new headmaster, Severus Snape, and the two new Death Eater professors, Alecto and Amycus Carrow, who taught anti-Muggle propaganda and the Dark Arts. Geoffrey got in trouble with the Carrows, along with many others, for refusing to practise the Cruciatus Curse on other students as a method of punishment, as well as for standing up against their bigotry and cruelty.

The revived D.A. helped protect fellow students from being bullied by the Death Eater teachers, and generally rebelled against authority, such as writing *"Dumbledore’s Army, still recruiting"* on the Hogwarts walls and freeing students from detention. Geoffrey, Aquila, and Ginny also attempted to steal Godric Gryffindor's sword from Snape's office, but were caught on the way out. In his own way to subvert the Carrows' manner of discipline, Snape only gave them a detention, sending them into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid. Geoffrey eventually decided to cease their open rebellion after his girlfriend Matilda's cousin, Michael Corner, was caught and brutally tortured freeing a chained-up first year.

## Magical abilities and skills

* **Defence Against the Dark Arts**: Once properly motivated by Harry Potter during Dumbledore's Army meetings, and made more confident, Geoffrey proved to be proficient in Defence Against the Dark Arts. His talent with defensive spells and Counter-curses was also proven in the Second Wizarding War (which he survived).
* **Charms**: Geoffrey could even produce a corporeal Patronus Charm, proving of his superior magical ability given the immense difficulty required with casting such an advanced and powerful protective charm.