| “ | Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off... | „ |
| ~ James to his wife, holding off Lord Voldermort. |
| “ | You are nearly there. Very close. We are… so proud of you. | „ |
| ~ James to his son, seeing him through the seeing stone. |
James Potter Sr. is one of the overarching protagonists of the Harry Potter series. He is the husband of Lily Potter, the father-in-law of Ginny Weasley and the father of Harry Potter. He died protecting his son from Lord Voldemort.
He was an active member of the Order of the Phoenix and he also fought bravely in the First Wizarding War against Lord Voldemort. His infant son Harry was marked by the Dark Lord as his equal after hearing a prophecy that told of the baby growing up to kill him. With the help of traitor Peter Pettigrew, who was the secret keeper of the location of the Potters' house, Voldemort was able to track them down and attempt to kill the whole family. James possessed great bravery, which was another quality of a Gryffindor, and he ran to attack Voldemort without his wand but ended up being murdered with the Killing Curse.
He is portrayed by Adrian Rawlins. As a teenager, he is portrayed by Robbie Jarvis. As a child, he is portrayed by Alfie McIlwain.
Biography
Early Life
James Potter was born on March 27th, 1960 to Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, two elderly pure-blood wizards who had given up hope on having a child. Due to his parents being in their old age when he was born, James grew up pampered and dotted by them, causing him to gain a boastful personality.
Attending Howarts
When he was eleven years old, he was allowed to become a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school that his father previously attended. Just like Fleamont, James would be sorted into House Gryffindor, where he became best friends of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. The group would form the Marauders, and became well known troublemakers and caused mischief around the school. Additionally, the Marauders would create the Marauders map, which was made for other mischief makers to travel across the school unnoticed.
During his second year, James discovered that Remus was a werewolf, and decided to spend his years to become an Animagi to accompany Lupin. He would manage to do so alongside Sirius during their fifth year, and Potter earned the nickname "Prongs" since he could turn into a stag. Despite his loyalty and compassion towards his friends, James was noted to be a boastful showoff, and would often bully Slytherin student Severus Snape, who would become his rival. Even if he disliked Snape, James would save Severus' life from being killed by a transformed Remus, which caused Snape to hate being in James' debt. Potter would also become romantically interested in Lily Evans, who was a friend of Snape, and she despised him due to his bullying. During his final years at Hogwarts, James would mature for the best, becoming head boy and managing to start a relationship with Lily.
After graduating from Hogwarts, James would marry Lily, and became a member of the Order of the Phoenix to stop Lord Voldermort and his Death Eaters. During this time, James would meet the rest of Lily's family, and attended the wedding of Lily's sister, Petunia, to Vernon Dursley. When Lily became pregnant, the family decided to go into hiding, and their son Harry James Potter was born in the summer of 1980. While going into hiding, Voldemort was informed of a prophecy by Snape, who had joined the group, that foretold of the dark lord being defeated by a child born that year.
Death
Despite hiding in Godric's Hollow, the Potters would be betrayed by Pettigrew, who revealed their location to Voldemort, which resulted in Sirius being blamed for their deaths. The family were attacked by the dark lord, and James sacrificed himself to protect his wife and son, albeit only temporarily. Though killed by the killing curse, Lily would protect Harry, which caused their son to be permanently protected from the dark lord due to their love. Voldemort was defeated that night, causing Harry to become famous in the wizarding world, but he would be taken to the Dursleys for his own safety.
Harry Potter Series
The Deathly Hallows
In The Deathly Hallows, James appears alongside Lily, Sirius and Remus as ghosts to Harry, who was preparing to have himself be killed by Voldemort since he was a Horcrux. James and Lily told Harry that they were proud of him, and that they would be with him always.
Personality
In his schooling years, James was both a jock and also a mischievous troublemaker. He was extremely prideful and he constantly butted heads with a fellow schoolmate, Severus Snape with the help of his best friend Sirius Black, and would repeatedly bully Snape, including public humiliation; while James didn't have malicious intent, his carefree attitude caused him to be disrespectful to anyone outside of his friend group. As he got older, however, he eventually matured, becoming head boy and earning the trust and love of Lily Evans. He possessed great bravery shown when he defied Voldemort multiple times as a member of the Order of the Phoenix and also with his heroic attempt to save his family which lead to his death.
Gallery
Trivia
- James was the owner of the Invisibility Cloak before his son inherited it.
- James played the position of Chaser in the sport of Quidditch.
- He can be considered a foil to Tom Riddle Sr. He was a pureblood while Tom Riddle Jr was a Muggle, though both of them were well-off. Both were insensitive, but while James grew out of it, Tom Riddle Sr. did not. And while James formed a genuine friendship with three other boys, there’s no indication that Riddle ever made a friendship with anyone.
External Links
- James Potter on the Harry Potter Wiki
- James Potter on the Heroic Benchmark Wiki
