Movies - James and Lily Potter

Home > Listing Index > Movies > James and Lily Potter

	Movies - James and Lily Potter

James Potter and Lily Potter (née Evans) are fictional characters of the Harry Potter series. They are the late parents of Harry Potter.

James Potter was born c. 1959 in England. He is described as having hazel eyes, a slightly longer nose than Harry's, but otherwise the same thin face, same hands, same untidy black hair sticking up at the back, and (nearly) the same height as Harry during his school days. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry c. 1970 to c. 1977 where his best friends were Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius fell out with his own parents when he was around sixteen and instead took his own place (with some financial help from a benign uncle who was subsequently kicked out of the family). He often visited the Potters, who regarded him as a "second son." James was an only child and his parents were quite elderly when he was born, even by wizarding standards; as a result, he was quite pampered.

Described by Severus Snape as "exceedingly arrogant", by Remus as "the height of cool" and by Sirius as sometimes an 'arrogant little berk', it seems that all three descriptions seem to fit James Potter. He eventually matured by the end of his schooldays, however. Scenes from James's time at Hogwarts have shown him behaving as something of a bully towards Severus Snape, who was in the same school year. He had the habit of hexing anyone who annoyed him and was more skilled at magical duelling than Snape, despite Snape's recognised ability with dark spells. After seeing Snape's recorded memories of James, Harry agreed with Snape's assessment of his father's arrogance.

James was a brilliant student, and in Book 1 was mentioned to have become Head Boy. He was also a Chaser on the Gryffindor house Quidditch team. There is considerable confusion over whether James Potter was a Seeker or a Chaser. Rowling has confirmed that James was a Chaser, and that his being a Seeker was introduced in the Harry Potter films. Despite having been a Chaser, however, he was known to play with a golden snitch outside of games and practices, ostensibly to show off. He similarly had a habit of rumpling up his hair to produce an action-man image.

James Potter and Sirius Black were apparently popular students, ingenious pranksters and very witty. (Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks pub in Hogsmeade village once talked fondly of how the two boys used to come into her bar, flirt and make her laugh.)

While at Hogwarts James met his future wife Lily Evans (born c. 1959) who was also in his year. Lily was also a very talented student, described by Professor Slughorn as having outstanding natural ability at Potions, being cheeky, but always seeing the good in others. She was, according to Slughorn, very brave and very funny and very charming, and he could not imagine that anyone meeting her would not have liked her. She became a member of the Slug Club, which was run by Slughorn for promising students. Lily was extremely attractive, and it is evident James was very taken with her, at least since their fifth year.

Lily was Head Girl when she was in her final year. For most of the time they were at Hogwarts, Lily regarded James as an arrogant bully, but when he matured and changed his attitude, she changed her mind and allowed him to take her out on dates. James was shown doodling Lily's initials during an examination in their fifth year, while Sirius recalled that he always tried to show off whenever she was around. However, Lily defended Snape against James's bullying and expressed contempt for his behaviour, showing 'great dislike' for him. They addressed each other only by surname, when everyone else was using nicknames.

Petunia recalls meeting an 'awful boy' who knew about magic, but it is not clear she meant James, who she normally refers to by name. Remus told Harry his parents only became attached in their seventh year, and married soon after leaving Hogwarts. J.K. Rowling has said in an interview that "James inherited plenty of money, so he didn't need a well-paid profession." It is not known what careers they took up after leaving school.

James and his school friend Sirius Black may actually be first cousins once-removed - not surprising, given the size of the Black family. A Charlus Potter was married to Dorea Black, granddaughter of Phineas Nigellus Black. Some fans speculate that Dorea and Charlus may have been James's parents. However, this contradicts Rowling's statements that James's parents were "old in wizarding terms" when they died, since she has also said that wizards have "a much longer life expectancy than Muggles". (Griselda Marchbanks is known to be over 160; Dorea died at only 57.) Their true relations to James (and Harry) thus remain something of a mystery.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for James and Lily Potter ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article James and Lily Potter; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay