Professor Charity Burbage

Professor Charity Burbage was the witch who taught Muggle Studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during Harry Potter's time at the school. A vocal proponent of tolerance and cooperation between the magical and non-magical communities, she was an outspoken opponent of Lord Voldemort's pure-blood ideology. Her capture and murder at the hands of Lord Voldemort at the beginning of the Second Wizarding War's final year served as a chilling demonstration of the Death Eaters' complete control of the Ministry of Magic and the brutal new order they intended to enforce upon the wizarding world.

Little is known of Professor Burbage's early life or her time at Hogwarts as a student. As a professor, she was a colleague of individuals like Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape. Her subject, Muggle Studies, was an elective course for third-year students and above. In the summer of 1997, following the death of Albus Dumbledore and the subsequent rise of Lord Voldemort, Professor Burbage wrote a passionate editorial for the Daily Prophet. In her article, she defended Muggle-borns and argued for the benefits of wizards integrating with and learning from Muggles, stating that the decline of pure-blood families would be remedied by “fresh blood” from the non-magical world. This public stance made her a primary target for the new regime. She was abducted by Death Eaters and taken to Malfoy Manor, where Lord Voldemort was holding a meeting. Suspended upside down by an invisible spell over a long, ornate table, she was used as an example to the assembled Death Eaters. Lord Voldemort mocked her pleas for a world without a division between pure-bloods, half-bloods, and Muggle-borns. Despite her terror, she recognized Severus Snape among the attendees and begged him for help, indicating a prior friendly or at least professional relationship. Snape did not intervene. Lord Voldemort then performed the Killing Curse on her. Her body fell to the table, and as a final act of desecration, Lord Voldemort fed her remains to his snake, Nagini. Her murder was covered up by the Ministry of Magic, which announced that she had “resigned” from her post at Hogwarts. She was succeeded as Muggle Studies professor by the Death Eater Alecto Carrow, who twisted the subject into anti-Muggle propaganda.

The novels provide no description of Charity Burbage's physical appearance. Her writings and final actions reveal her to be a woman of immense courage, principle, and compassion. She was a progressive thinker who believed strongly in equality and tolerance, willing to risk her life by publicly defending Muggles and Muggle-borns in the face of a virulently anti-Muggle regime. Her final moments, pleading with Severus Snape, show her desperation but also her belief in the goodness of a colleague, a trust that was tragically misplaced in that moment.

• Muggle Studies Expertise: As the professor of the subject, she possessed an expert-level academic understanding of the non-magical world and its customs.
• General Magical Ability: Her position as a Hogwarts professor indicates she was a fully qualified and competent witch. No specific spells cast by her are mentioned in the novels.

• Wand: As a witch, Professor Burbage would have owned a wand, though no details about its wood, core, or length are known.

• Severus Snape: Professor Burbage considered Snape a friend and colleague. In her final moments, she appealed directly to him for help, suggesting a level of trust between them. Snape's impassive response was part of his deep cover role as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix, but to Burbage, it was a final, horrifying betrayal.
• Albus Dumbledore: As her employer and the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore presumably hired her, suggesting that her tolerant and pro-Muggle views aligned with his own.
• Lord Voldemort: He was her murderer. Voldemort despised her philosophy of wizard-Muggle equality, viewing it as a contamination of the wizarding world. He killed her to make a statement and to punish her for what he considered blood treachery.
• Death Eaters: The group was collectively her enemy. They abducted her and showed no remorse or pity as she was tortured and killed, with figures like Bellatrix Lestrange laughing at her predicament.

• Charity: The name comes from the Latin caritas, meaning “generous love.” It is one of the three theological virtues in Christianity (faith, hope, and charity), representing selfless, unconditional love for others. This name is highly appropriate for a character whose central belief was compassion for all people, magical or not.
• Burbage: This is an English surname, derived from several places in England. It may be a reference to Richard Burbage, one of the most famous actors in William Shakespeare's troupe, perhaps alluding to the dramatic and theatrical nature of her death scene which opens the final book.

• In the film adaptation Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Charity Burbage is portrayed by actress Carolyn Pickles. The scene of her death at Malfoy Manor is depicted very closely to its description in the novel.
• J.K. Rowling has stated that the chapter detailing Burbage's murder, “The Dark Lord Ascending,” was a replacement for a different opening chapter she had originally planned. She felt the original opening was too weak and that the Malfoy Manor meeting provided a much more immediate and terrifying start to the book, showing the scope of Voldemort's power from the outset (J.K. Rowling interview).