Bathilda Bagshot

Bathilda Bagshot was a celebrated magical historian, author of the definitive Hogwarts textbook, A History of Magic. A long-time resident of Godric's Hollow, she was a contemporary of Albus Dumbledore and the great-aunt of Gellert Grindelwald. In her later years, her historical connection to the Dumbledore family made her a person of interest to both Rita Skeeter and Harry Potter. Ultimately, she was murdered by Lord Voldemort prior to the winter of 1997, and her corpse was horrifically animated to house the snake Nagini as part of a trap for Harry.

A preeminent historian in the Wizarding World, Bathilda Bagshot's life's work was the book A History of Magic, which became a standard text for students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She lived her entire life in Godric's Hollow, the same village that would later be home to both the Dumbledores and the Potters. Her most significant impact on history occurred when her great-nephew, Gellert Grindelwald, came to live with her after his expulsion from the Durmstrang Institute. Bathilda introduced the brilliant young Grindelwald to the equally talented Albus Dumbledore, sparking a friendship that would shape the course of the 20th-century wizarding world. Following the tragic death of Ariana Dumbledore, Grindelwald fled, and Bathilda's relationship with the Dumbledore family became strained. Decades later, during the Second Wizarding War, an elderly and senile Bathilda became a key source for Rita Skeeter's scandalous biography, The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore. Skeeter admitted to using Veritaserum to coax memories from her, including the existence of a photograph of Dumbledore and Grindelwald as youths. Sometime before Christmas of 1997, Bathilda was murdered by Lord Voldemort or his Horcrux, Nagini. When Harry Potter and Hermione Granger visited Godric's Hollow seeking information about Dumbledore and a potential lead on the Sword of Gryffindor, they were lured into her home. They discovered too late that the silent, stooped figure they believed to be Bathilda was actually her corpse, possessed by Nagini. The snake attacked Harry, and the pair narrowly escaped Voldemort's arrival.

When Harry Potter encounters her, Bathilda is an extremely old woman, so stooped she is “about the height of a house-elf.” She has a deeply wrinkled face, a mane of wispy white hair, and eyes that are clouded and thick with cataracts. Her home is described as being incredibly dusty and smelling of old age, dirt, and uncooked meat, which were all signs of her death and the subsequent decay of her corpse. In her prime, Bathilda was considered a “most celebrated magical historian” by Albus Dumbledore. Ron Weasley's Great-Aunt Muriel dismissively referred to her as “dotty,” suggesting her mental decline was public knowledge in her later years. Rita Skeeter confirmed that her “mind was going” and that she was an unreliable narrator without magical persuasion. Her notes to Dumbledore in Skeeter's book show a kind and affectionate tone.

• Magical Historian: Bathilda's foremost talent was her skill as a historian. Her knowledge of wizarding history was unparalleled, leading to the creation of the seminal work, A History of Magic.
• General Magic: As a witch, she would have possessed standard magical abilities, though these likely deteriorated significantly with age.

• A History of Magic: The famous Hogwarts textbook she authored.
• Photograph of Dumbledore and Grindelwald: A photograph of her great-nephew Gellert Grindelwald with a young Albus Dumbledore. This photo was stolen by Rita Skeeter and published in her biography, providing Harry Potter with the first visual identification of the dark wizard who had stolen the Elder Wand from Gregorovitch.

• Gellert Grindelwald: Her great-nephew, whom she housed after his expulsion from Durmstrang. She was fond of him and introduced him to Albus Dumbledore.
• Albus Dumbledore: Bathilda was a long-standing friend of the Dumbledore family. Her relationship with Albus was close enough for her to introduce him to her nephew, though it likely became distant after the death of Ariana Dumbledore.
• The Potters: According to Muriel, Bathilda was on “good terms” with James and Lily Potter before their deaths, and they exchanged occasional correspondence via owl.
• Rita Skeeter: The journalist mercilessly exploited Bathilda's senility, using Veritaserum to extract sensitive information about Dumbledore's past for her biography.
• Nagini: The serpent used Bathilda's corpse as a disguise and a vessel, an ultimate act of desecration by Lord Voldemort.

• Bathilda: A name of Old German origin, derived from the elements badu (“battle”) and hild (“strife”). This is deeply ironic, as she is presented as a frail, non-violent scholar.
• Bagshot: An English surname, also the name of a town in Surrey, England. The word “bag” could be a subtle and morbid pun on her corpse being used as a “skin-bag” or vessel for Nagini.

• In the film adaptation Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Bathilda Bagshot was portrayed by British actress Hazel Douglas. In the film, Nagini bursts out of Bathilda's body in a more graphically violent manner than described in the book.
• J.K. Rowling confirmed on the Pottermore website that Rita Skeeter's use of Veritaserum on Bathilda was an illegal act, as the potion is strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic. (Pottermore)