Percy Weasley
Template:HP character Percy Ignatius Weasley is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling.
Biography
Percy is the third son of Arthur and Molly Weasley's brood of seven (younger brother of Bill and Charlie, and elder of Fred, George, and Ron, and sister Ginny). He shares his middle name with a member of the Prewett family, Ignatius, who was married to Lucretia Black of the Black family. He entered Hogwarts in 1987, is described as wearing horn-rimmed glasses (although he has not done so in the film adaptions), and, like Arthur, Bill and Ron, is described as being tall and thin.
When readers first meet Percy in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, he is a Gryffindor prefect; in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, he becomes Head Boy (of which he is very proud). As a fastidious adherent to regulation and procedure, Percy makes for an overbearing--if well-meaning--prefect and, later, Head Boy, complement to his neurotic, authoritarian boss Barty Crouch. Relatively humourless, he is often the butt of Fred and George's many jokes and pranks.
He owns a screech owl, Hermes (named after the Greek mythological messenger of the gods). Hermes was given to Percy by his father for being made a prefect.
Role in the books
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Percy is shown to be behaving furtively. He secretly has a girlfriend - Ravenclaw prefect Penelope Clearwater. Ginny discovers them kissing, which she later reveals to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
Academically a high-performing student, Percy received twelve OWLs (a feat which in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is shown to require using a time-turner). When he finished school in June 1994 at the age of seventeen, this academic distinction secured him a job in the Ministry of Magic. His immediate employer was Barty Crouch Sr, the former Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Percy somewhat idolized Mr Crouch in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but Crouch never seemed to remember Percy's name, calling him Weatherby. When Crouch is ill, Percy replaces him as a judge in the second Triwizard Tournament task. Although Harry finishes outside the time limit, he helps rescue all the hostages, and most of the judges feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks. Only Karkaroff disagrees. (pg. 507, Chap. 26, hardcover) Percy was also supposed to be a judge for the final task, but was forced to attend an inquiry regarding Crouch's mysterious long absence.
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Percy was promoted to Junior Assistant to the Minister of Magic by Cornelius Fudge; because Fudge and Dumbledore were at odds over Harry's claim that Voldemort returned, a dispute between Percy and Arthur erupted, resulting in Percy’s subsequent alienation from his family. Christmas gifts sent to him were returned, and a family photo showed that Percy had walked out of it.
When Percy learned Ron was made a prefect, he sent him an owl letter congratulating him for following in his footsteps, ignoring that his oldest brother was also a prefect. Percy urges Ron to sever ties with Harry, claiming Harry is an extreme danger to Ron's prefect status and that he has told lies about Lord Voldemort. He suggests that Ron instead pay loyalty to the Ministry and Dolores Umbridge, whom Percy calls a "delightful woman," and he even criticises their parents and Dumbledore. Ron burned Percy's letter.
By Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Percy remains estranged from his family, although he visits them at Christmas. This ends badly, however, the new Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour used the visit as an opportunity to try and coerce Harry Potter into supporting the Ministry. Harry refused and Percy stormed out after his siblings threw mashed parsnip at him. Percy attended Albus Dumbledore's funeral with Ministry officials, including Dolores Umbridge.
However, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Percy returned to his family (called by Fred a Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron in the process) and fought alongside Dumbledore's Army during the Battle of Hogwarts. He explains that he had been wanting to return for a while, "but I had to find a way out and it's not so easy at the Ministry, they're imprisoning traitors all the time." He battles Thicknesse the new, Voldemort-controlled Minister of Magic, shouting at him "Hello, Minister! Did I mention I'm resigning?" This delights Fred, since Percy rarely jokes. Halfway through making a comment about Percy's joke, Fred is killed, and Percy is clearly distraught, going so far as to shield the corpse from futher damage and desecration. Harry and Percy work together to hide Fred's body, and then Percy sprints off to pursue Rookwood (a Death Eater who he believed to have killed Fred). It is not made clear whether or not he was able to save any of the endangered Hogwarts students. In the last part of the battle, he and his dad work together to 'floor' Thicknesse. His final appearance is in the book's epilogue, at King's Cross Station, shouting out broom regulations to students. Clues as to his profession or ultimate fate are not mentioned.
Percy in the films
In the films, Percy is played by Chris Rankin. Not much of Percy's character is seen onscreen, though he acts pompously (Rankin said in an interview that he deliberately overacted for the part).[citation needed] Most of Percy's role in the film involves Prefect duties, such as leading the first years to their common room in the first film. He did not appear in the theatrical release of the fourth film, but returns in the fifth as an assistant to Cornelius Fudge, though he only appeared briefly and had no lines.
References
- [1] "JKRowling.com Archives: Birthdays" from MuggleNet
- [2] Information about the Weasley children's relative ages from the J.K.Rowling Official Site
