James Potter

Age: 21 at his death

House: Gryffindor

Distinguishing Features: Naturally untidy black hair, hazel eyes, and glasses.

Heritage: Either Pureblood of Half-Blood. James is from a wizarding family but his precise background is unknown.

Family: Largely a mystery. James had wealthy parents. His father owned an Invisibility Cloak that was passed on to James. Both parents are deceased.

First Mention: Chapter One of Philosopher's Stone/Sorcerer's Stone.

General: James Potter was born in 1960 to a Wizarding family of some wealth. The early demise of his parents (both died somewhere between 1976 and 1981) and his subsequent inheritance prevented him from needing to work later in life. He was therefore able to devote the short time between his graduation from Hogwarts and his murder by Voldemort to the fight against the Dark Lord.

James was a tall, thin boy with untidy black hair, and hazel eyes framed by glasses. He began to attend Hogwarts in 1971 at age 11 and was sorted into Gryffindor. While there, he befriended Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, and together they became known as the Marauders. James was exceptionally bright, one of the cleverest students in the school, and the ringleader of his gang.

James had great talent on the Quidditch Pitch as a Chaser for his house team, and he knew it. He was something of an obnoxious youth for the majority of his time at school: he liked to show off, and was exceptionally self-confident. He habitually ruffled his hair to make it even untidier, to look as though he'd just got off his broomstick.

James had a habit of hexing innocent students for no other reason than because he could, especially Severus Snape - a Slytherin in the same year as James. James and Snape had a strong rivalry throughout their time at Hogwarts. Remus and Sirius have said that the reason this rivalry began was due to Snape's jealousy over James' talent at Quidditch and his popularity. Snape followed the Marauders around, looking for reasons to get them expelled. James, in turn, used the hexes Snape himself had made up against him.

James spent the majority of his academic career chasing after Lily Evans, a redheaded girl his age, also in Gryffindor. He couldn't help but make a fool of himself when she was around, as she was perhaps the only student in the school who was totally unimpressed by him (as well as Snape, of course).

As second years, James, Sirius and Peter figured out that Remus was a werewolf. Rather than abandoning him (James in particular insisted this monthly hazard didn't mean Remus was truly abnormal), they spent three years learning to become Animagi in order to accompany Remus in his transformations. In his fifth year, James managed to perfect the transformation and become a stag Animagus, which earned him the nickname "Prongs".

In the Marauders' sixth year, Snape saw Madam Pomfrey and Remus going to the Shrieking Shack by way of the Whomping Willow. Snape was very interested in where Remus went every month, and Sirius told him that the trick to getting past the Whomping Willow was to poke the knot at the bottom. Snape followed Sirius' directions and was nearly at the Shrieking Shack when James pulled him back. At great risk to his own life, James saved Severus from certain death at the claws of a werewolf. This act formed a life debt between the two boys, which supposedly motivated Snape to save Harry's life in Harry's first year, however much he hated doing it.

At the age of 16, the James' parents allowed Sirius to move in with them so he could escape his own horrible family. He became like a member of their family. By his seventh year, James had lost the less savoury aspects of his personality and was even appointed Head Boy despite the fact that he hadn't been a Prefect. He also finally managed to impress Lily Evans and began dating her at this time. He stopped hexing bystanders for fun, the exception being Severus, who in turn never lost an opportunity to hex James.

After graduation, James married Lily and Sirius was best man at the wedding. The three of them, along with Remus and Peter, joined the Order of the Phoenix in the fight against Voldemort. During the course of the next three years James and Lily defied the Dark Lord three times as the conflict continued. Voldemort never tried to get James and Lily on his side, and it's speculated that the reason was they were too loyal and close to Dumbledore.

On July 31, 1980, Lily gave birth to their son Harry James Potter, but it wasn't long before Dumbledore found out that they were in danger. Little Harry had become a target of Lord Voldemort because of a prophecy Dumbledore had heard-and Voldemort knew about it too, because of none other than Severus Snape. In October 1981, Dumbledore told the Potters that their best chance of remaining safe against Voldemort was the Fidelius Charm. James insisted to use Sirius as their Secret Keeper, even though Dumbledore offered to fill the position.

Sirius, however, had a different plan. He convinced James and Lily to use Peter as their Secret Keeper, with Sirius as a decoy. They agreed and the charm was cast in secret, but this attempt at a double-bluff ended in tragedy. The only people to know about the switch were James, Lily, Sirius and Peter - even Dumbledore and Lupin were kept in the dark. Less than a week later, Peter betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort.

When the Dark Lord arrived at Godric's Hollow, James told Lily to take Harry and run, and stood to face the darkest wizard for a century on his own in order to give his wife and child time to escape. As talented as he was, he was no match for the might of Voldemort and he was killed. James Potter died protecting his family and is remembered fondly throughout the majority of the wizarding world.

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