History Characters / HarryPotterFactions

Note: This page formerly contained entries for the Hogwarts Houses, a few Hogwarts clubs, and the Dementors. All of the entries have been moved to Characters/HarryPotterHogwartsStudents except for the Dementors, which have been moved to Characters/HarryPotterOtherCharacters.

!!Dementors

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/250px-DementorOP_6051.jpg]]
Uncanny creatures in {{black cloak}}s that are essentially walking (err, make that floating) {{Mind Rape}}s waiting to happen. Initially, they serve the Ministry of Magic as guards for Azkaban, but care nothing for human morality; all they want are victims whose [[EmotionEater emotions they can feed on]], and they're more than willing to switch their allegiance to Voldemort when he offers a better deal. Notable for being Harry's worst fear, because they can use their powers to force him to relive the many traumatic experiences of his life, particularly his parents' deaths.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Goes with the territory of being personified despair.
* BlackCloak
* TheDreaded
* EmotionBomb: Despair, mixed with fear.
* EyelessFace: Which they conceal beneath their hoods.
* TheFaceless: Until they attack, at least...
* FateWorseThanDeath: The Dementor's Kiss, where a dementor [[YourSoulIsMine forcibly extracts its victim's soul from their body, leaving them an empty, but still living, husk]]. [[spoiler:Happens to Barty Crouch Jr in the books and Umbridge in the films.]]
* TheHeartless
* {{Humanoid Abomination}}s
* TheJailer: Basically their hat, at least during the first part of the series.
* MindRape: Merely being in the presence of a dementor causes lite MindRape; when there are lots of them, or they actually attack, it gets ''much'' worse.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast
* NightmareFuel
* VaderBreath
* TheVoiceless: Considering that they're able to work out deals with wizards, they probably have ''some'' method of communicating, but never speak on-page.
* WalkingWasteland: The movie versions.
* WriteWhatYouKnow: JKRowling based the Dementors on her own struggles with depression that she suffered prior to the success of ''HarryPotter'', saying in an interview Dementors are the "absence of being able to envisage that you will ever be cheerful again. The absence of hope. That very deadened feeling, which is so very different from feeling sad."
** Visually, they are based on figures from Rowling's childhood nightmares.
* YourSoulIsMine: The Dementor's Kiss.
----

!!Dumbledore's Army

[[quoteright:200:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s_Army_Logomark_on_Parchment_7152.JPG]]
Created by Harry, Ron and Hermione as a response to [[SadistTeacher Dolores Umbridge's]] prohibition on teaching students to defend themselves against Voldemort, Dumbledore's Army is the Hogwarts equivalent to the Order of the Phoenix. Its members are Hogwarts students who want to fight Voldemort, and they learn defense from Harry in the Room of Requirement. They communicate using gold coins modified by the Protean Charm to display summons.

Though their activities were interrupted by Dolores Umbridge, Dumbledore's Army remained active in the sixth and seventh books, contributing to the defense of Hogwarts. The organization was named by Ginny Weasley, who said that what the Ministry of Magic would most fear was Dumbledore raising his own army.

* BigDamnHeroes
* LaResistance
* MildlyMilitary
* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers

!!Gryffindor

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/250px-Gryffindorcrest_3597.jpg]]
This Hogwarts House was founded by Godric Gryffindor and exemplifies courage and honor. Its color is red and gold, its animal is the lion, its ghost is Nearly-Headless Nick, its Head of House is Minerva [=McGonagall,=] and it is associated with the element of fire. Most of the heroes in the series are Gryffindors, and their heroics cost their house as many points as they gain for their deeds.

Notable Gryffindors: Harry Potter, the Weasleys, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva [=McGonagall=], Rubeus Hagrid, James Potter, Lily Evans, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.

* BigDamnHeroes
* {{Determinator}}: Likeable or not, proud or vain, excitable or maligned, nobody in this house ever seems willing to quit.
* DumbIsGood / DumbMuscle: One of the few negative labels the house has, at least if one is to believe a young Snape. Makes sense since intelligence, ambition and hard work are all traits that would help one's grades, while bravery isn't.
** Probably that's just an opinion of Slytherin; aversions include [[TeenGenius Hermione]] and [[EccentricMentor Dumbledore]].
** In ''HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', we encounter two bad Gryffindors, the boastful Cormac [=McLaggen=] and the pushy Romilda Vane. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil similarly seem to be short on courage.
* EnforcedColdWar: With Slytherin.
* TheHero: Contributed the most members of any house to Dumbledore's Army, and the most student combatants to the Battle of Hogwarts. Gryffindors like to take charge of things.
* HonorBeforeReason: Probably a more accurate negative aspect to the house.
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield / SwordOfPlotAdvancement: The Sword Of Gryffindor.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight

!!Slytherin

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/250px-Slytherincrest_6152.jpg]]
This Hogwarts House was founded by Salazar Slytherin and exemplifies ambition and cunning. Its color is green and silver, its animal is the serpent, its ghost is the Bloody Baron, its Head of House is Severus Snape (later Horace Slughorn) and it is associated with the element of water. Slytherins have a reputation for being underhanded bigots, and their house has the reputation of producing more dark wizards than any other house.

Notable Slytherins include Tom Marvolo Riddle, Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, the Blacks, Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Horace Slughorn.

* AlphaBitch
* AmbitionIsEvil: The former TropeNamer.
* BlackSheep: Salazar Slytherin was this to the other Hogwarts founders, due to his pureblood supremacist views.
* BlackShirt
* DumbMuscle: Despite being described as cunning, witty and ambitious, most Slytherins fit this trope, i.e. Crabbe, Goyle, and just about the entire Slytherin Quidditch team.
* DirtyCoward: If they're not actually on the side of the bad guys, they tend to be this.
* EnforcedColdWar: With Gryffindor.
* FantasticRacism: Many Slytherin characters we are introduced to have serious Pureblood biases.
* ForTheEvulz
* JerkAss
* LesCollaborateurs: More Slytherins supported Umbridge than anyone else did, and the Slytherins were also the first to be evacuated during the Battle of Hogwarts so that they would not be able to help the Death Eaters.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch
* TheUsualAdversaries

!!Ravenclaw

[[quoteright:267:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ravenclawcrest_4835.jpg]]
This Hogwarts House was founded by Rowena Ravenclaw and exemplifies intelligence. Its color is blue and bronze, its animal is the eagle, its ghost is the Grey Lady, its Head of House is Filius Flitwick, and it is associated with the element of air. Ravenclaws prize perception and unorthodox thinking, but they also have a reputation for being ivory-tower intellectuals who do not dare to do enough.

Notable Ravenclaws include Helena Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood, Cho Chang, Filius Flitwick, Roger Davies, and Gilderoy Lockhart.

* AdaptationDyeJob: The house colors, at least, were changed from the original blue/bronze to blue/silver. Likewise, the AnimalMotif was changed to a raven from an eagle.
* TheBeautifulElite: Not only are Ravenclaws very intelligent, but also many Ravenclaws are very attractive.
* HufflepuffHouse: Though not as bad as the TropeNamer.
* IceQueen
* TheLancer: Ravenclaw is usually second in the House Cup, and second in the Quidditch Cup.
* NerdsAreSexy
* RiddleMeThis: How to get into the common room, as compared to other houses, who use passwords.
* TheSmartGuy
* TheSpock
* TeenGenius: Most of its members.

!!Hufflepuff

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/250px-Hufflepuffcrest_8817.jpg]]
This Hogwarts House was founded by Helga Hufflepuff and exemplifies tolerance and hard work. Its color is yellow and black, its animal is the badger, its ghost is the Fat Friar, its Head of House is Pomona Sprout, and it is associated with the element of earth. Hufflepuff has produced few great wizards, and has the reputation of being the house for those that could not get in anywhere else, but Hufflepuff has perhaps the most decent and humble people of any house.

Notable Hufflepuffs include Pomona Sprout, Cedric Diggory, Nymphadora Tonks, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Zacharias Smith.

* TheBigGuy: After Gryffindor, Hufflepuff contributed the most student combatants to the Battle of Hogwarts.
* ButtMonkey: Hufflepuff is definitely the most maligned and mocked house in the fandom as well as canon. Hagrid tells us the first thing we ever hear about Hufflepuff, which is "everyone says Hufflepuff are a load o' duffers," although it's not made clear whether or not he actually agrees with this assessment. In any case, the books imply many times that Hufflepuff doesn't deserve its in-universe reputation as the house of weak-willed idiots.
* {{Determinator}}: The House that contributes the most fighters to Hogwarts at the end of the seventh book (after Gryffindor). Loyalty is one of their defining traits.
* TheGenericGuy: Their one moment of glory was when Cedric Diggory was chosen as the Triwizard contestant for Hogwarts, which was soon overshadowed by Harry becoming the other contestant for Hogwarts.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: In-universe example, as Hufflepuff House rarely shines compared to the other Houses (noted in ''GobletOfFire''), despite being the house that hard work is associated with.
** It seems like the difference between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff is supposed to be the one between gazelles and warthogs. Academically, Hufflepuff students keep plugging at things till they get them and do good studious groundwork. Ravenclaws on the other hand would excel at their talents while neglecting fields that don't interest them, and make breakthroughs that are possible because of the good groundwork in question. It is entirely possible that while the Gryffindors, Slytherins, and Ravenclaws are highly visible, it is the Hufflepuffs who make that visibility possible.
* HufflepuffHouse: TropeNamer.
* TheReliableOne
* UndyingLoyalty

!!The Slug Club

[[quoteright:275:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smallslug_9018.jpg]]
An informal circle created by Potions master Horace Slughorn to bring together promising young students. Slughorn selects those who are famous, have famous relatives or have demonstrated exceptional talent, and interviews them. If they pass the interview, then they are invited to parties hosted by Slughorn, who also invites alumni who were in the club. This way, he can cultivate connections, ensure that club members become important, and be able to call in minor favors from them.

Members include Horace Slughorn (founder), Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, Lily Evans, Gwenog Jones, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Cormac [=McLaggen=], Blaise Zabini, Marcus Belby (film only), Neville Longbottom (film only), and the Carrow twins (film only).

* AmbitionIsEvil: Subverted. The circle is a way for Slughorn to get ahead without directly leading, and getting ahead is the non-bigotry component of the Slytherin credo.
* DancesAndBalls
* DarkIsNotEvil: Just because it's an elite circle run by a Slytherin doesn't mean it's bad.
* {{Expy}}: Of fraternities and "inner circles" such as the Billingdon Club at Eton or the Skull and Bones.
* InitiationCeremony: Interview with Slughorn, followed by attendance at a party.
* LighterAndSofter: Compared to the other organizations in the series.
* TheManBehindTheMan
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Ron derisively calls it the Slug Club, and the name sticks.
* WackyFratboyHijinx: Averted
* YoungFutureFamousPeople: What Slughorn hopes the people in his circle will become.

!!Ministry Of Magic

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/250px-Ministry_of_magic_logo_1787.png]]
The wizard government of Britain, ostensibly a secret ministry of the Cabinet, but in truth a state unto itself. The Ministry is controlled by the Minister of Magic, who enjoys nearly autocratic powers, and the secretive Wizengamot, making the Ministry a police state on many occasions.

The primary purpose of the Ministry is keep wizards secret from the British public. It is usually very conservative, but becomes fascist after Voldemort takes over. Later on, it is reformed.

* DayOfTheJackboot: When Voldemort takes over.
* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: The bunch of students easily breaks into the secret labs in OTP. Harry and company comment on this at the time, its implied that the Death Eaters had already been through and countered all the security to let them in.
* HufflepuffHouse
* InspectorJavert: The Aurors, to Sirius Black.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: The Ministry seems to employ quite a few.
* PoliceAreUseless: These guys don't succeed at the hunting down the Death Eaters. At least, at the Second War.
* PoliceState: Useless against Voldemort, harsh against its own people.
* PretentiousLatinMotto: The Department of Magical Law Enforcement bears the motto "Ignorantia juris neminem excusat" ("Ignorance of the law excuses nobody").

!!Death Eaters

[[quoteright:160:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/th_Dark_Mark_6977.jpg]]
Here come the supporting villains! These are the men and women who follow Voldemort, and the enemies of Harry and his friends. The name of the group comes from their belief that they can "conquer death." Mortal enemies to the Order of the Phoenix, their goal is to exterminate all "impure" wizards, create a new world order in the wizarding society, and (eventually) achieve {{immortality}} - and during both the first and second wars, they are Voldermort's inner circle and act as the elite force in his [[ArmiesAreEvil Army]].

Death Eaters are recognizable by the Dark Mark, a magical sign branded into their forearms by Voldemort that burns whenever he summons them to him. The Dark Mark also serves as a CallingCard, which the Death Eaters cast into the sky over the scene of a murder.

Dumbledore describes the Death Eaters as a motley crew of "the weak, seeking reassurance, the ambitious, wanting power and shared glory, and the brutish, gathering around a leader who could show them new forms of cruelty."

* AerithAndBob: Their names are very different from each other, ranging from "Lucius" and "Bellatrix" to "Evan" and "Peter."
* AristocratsAreEvil: Several of the Death Eaters come from aristocratic families, though not all of them (there's little that's aristocratic or cultured about Greyback or the Carrows, for example).
* BlackCloak
* {{Brainwashed}}: Lucius uses this as a ploy to get out of being arrested.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Downplayed. While the Death Eaters are willing to work with dark creatures like werewolves and giants that the rest of the wizarding world won't have anything to do with, but those who aren't pureblood wizards will ''never'' rise higher than PsychoForHire.
* EvilCounterpart: To the Order of the Phoenix.
* DumbMuscle: The Carrows, Greyback, the Snatchers...hell, just about any Death Eater not mentioned in the bellow FiveBadBand group fits this trope.
* FiveBadBand: The top members of the group, including Voldemort himself.
** The BigBad: Voldemort
** TheDragon: Lucius Malfoy at first, then Bellatrix Lestrange
** The EvilGenius and [[spoiler:SixthRangerTraitor]]: Severus Snape
** Another EvilGenius: Barty Crouch Jr.
** The DarkChick: Peter Pettigrew
** TheBrute: [[PsychoForHire Fenrir Greyback]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: More like the KKK than Nazi's rich guys in hoods who dance in circles around a burning symbol in the sky.
* ObviouslyEvil
* OddlySmallOrganization: Partly justified, since they are Voldemort's fanatical inner circle and are sent on all special tasks. The {{Mooks}} below them are known as Snatchers, and are not so much an actual organization as an army of collaborators. In the last book, most of their dirty work is done by swarms of inhuman Dementors.
* PuttingOnTheReich: They view pure-blooded wizards (themselves) as the master race, and their ideology centers on cleansing the world of "mudbloods." Also, in the fourth film, their black robes and pointed hoods intentionally resemble the Ku Klux Klan.
** Not to mention the last two movies (but particularly so the first one): The anti-muggle propaganda pretty much follows the original color scheme, and the security guys at the ministry look like members of the Gestapo, complete with red armbands, which are also worn by the Snatchers.

!!Order of the Phoenix

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ordre_du_Phnix_Originale_2093.jpg]]
This secret society was created by Albus Dumbledore during the first war against Lord Voldemort, but gradually lost most of its original membership over the course of the war. It went dormant after Voldemort's disappearance, but was reinstated after his resurrection.

The Order of the Phoenix provides and protects opponents of Voldemort, though not always successfully. It has members at Hogwarts and in the Ministry of Magic, as well as in other parts of wizard society. Its members do not have any identifying marks, but communicate by Patronus. They meet in number 12, Grimmauld Place.

The Order is named for Fawkes the phoenix.

* AnimalMotifs: All the members use the Patronus to communicate.
* BigDamnHeroes
* HeroSecretService
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Harry doesn't get to see them do very much, but that's because he's at school largely.
* LaResistance
* MildlyMilitary: They would have greatly benefited from reading the "If I am Ever the Hero" list.

* MildlyMilitary

* SmashMook: The Carrows, Greyback, the Snatchers...hell, just about any Death Eater not mentioned in the above FiveBadBand group fits this trope.

* SmashMook: Despite being described as cunning, witty and ambitious, most Slytherins fit this trope, i.e. Crabbe, Goyle, and just about the entire Slytherin Quidditch team.

* PretentiousLatinMotto: The Department of Magical Law Enforcement bears the motto "Ignorantia juris neminem excusat" ("Ignorance of the law excuses nothing").

* FateWorseThanDeath: The Dementor's Kiss, where a dementor [[YourSoulIsMine forcibly extracts its victim's soul from their body, leaving them an empty, but still living, husk]]. [[spoiler:Just see what they did to Crouch Jr.]]

* EqualOpportunityEvil: Subverted and played straight. While the Death Eaters are willing to work with dark creatures like werewolves and giants that the rest of the wizarding world won't have anything to do with, but those who aren't pureblood wizards will ''never'' rise higher than PsychoForHire.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel

* TheBeautifulPeople: Not only are Ravenclaws very intelligent, but also many Ravenclaws are very attractive.

** It seems like the difference between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff is supposed to be the one between gazelles and warthogs. Academically, Hufflepuff students keep plugging at things till they get them and do good studious groundwork. Ravenclaws on the other hand would excel at their talents while neglecting fields that don't interest them, and make breakthroughs that are possible because of the good groundwork in question.