Ginny Weasley

The red-haired powerful witch

Responds to the name of: Ginny (Weasley) Potter.
Came to this world in: 11th August 1981.
Can easily be recognized by: Her vivid, flaming red hair, her freckles.
Might be found along with: Her husband (Harry), her two sons (James and Albus), her daughter (Lily).
Might be found in: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, The Burrow, playing with The Holyhead Harpies, The Ministry, The Potter’s home.
Ginny Weasley is played by Bonnie Wright in the films series. Read some facts about Bonnie here.

The biography

Ginevra “Ginny” Molly Weasley was born in August 11th, 1981 to Arthur and Molly Weasley. She’s the only daughter of the couple. She’s also the youngest of seven children: Bill, Charlie, Percy, the twins Fred (†) and George, and Ron. They all grew up outside of Ottery St. Catchpole in England, in a home lovingly referred to as The Burrow.

Being the youngest and the only girl made her to be more tough (or gusty in J.K. Rowling words). Her twin brothers had repeatedly said that she’s more powerful than she seems. At the age of six, she broke into the brooms shed to practice Quidditch on her own since neither of her brothers let her play with them.

On September 1st, 1991, she accompanied her mother to King’s Cross station to see off her brothers as they departed for Hogwarts. While saying her good-byes, she found out that the famous Harry Potter was on the train and she tried to get her mother to let her go on the train to see him. She began to cry when the train pulled out, and ran along the platform after the train until she stopped and started to wave them off.

When it was time for the Weasleys to come back home, Ginny and her mum were once again at King’s Cross to receive them. This time Ginny was eagerly awaiting to see Harry Potter pointing him out to her mother when she spotted him walking through the barrier of platform 9 and 3/4.

First Year

After seeing Harry on the train station, she developed a crush on him and talked non-stop about him during the summer. Harry then arrived to The Burrow (after being rescued by Ron and the twins) she suddenly became very shy and clumsy whenever he was around.

Once they all got their letters from Hogwarts, they decided to make a trip to Diagon Alley to buy new things for school. Harry received a Gilderoy Lockhart’s set of books as a publicity stunt but he decided to give them to Ginny since he could afford a set of his own. This action made Ginny to stand up for him when Draco Malfoy started to insult Harry. Draco was there with his father, Lucius Malfoy, who started to insult the Weasleys. During his tirade, he managed to slip Tom Riddle’s diary into Ginny’s battered second-hand copy of A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration.

On September 1st, 1992, Ginny started Hogwarts. She was sorted into the house of Gryffindor, as well as her entire family.

She discovered Tom Riddle’s diary in amongst her school things, and began writing in it. To her amazement, the diary wrote back, and she started to confide in Tom Riddle’s memory. She poured her heart out to the diary, and told Tom’s memory all about Harry’s story. Her despair, however, served to strengthen Tom Riddle’s memory, and he began to pour a little of his own soul back into her, and slowly started to possess her.

Later on, the signs of the possession began to show on Ginny. By the 31st of October, the memory of Tom Riddle was able to take full control of Ginny, and used her to open the Chamber of Secrets, releasing the basilisk and petrifying Argus Filch’s cat, Mrs. Norris. She opened the Chamber of Secrets another two times, resulting in the petrification of Colin Creevey and Justin Finch-Fletchley. She became more visibly upset, but her brothers put it down to other causes.

Ginny confided in the diary, however, that she thought she was going mad. She woke up with rooster feathers on her robes, and couldn’t remember where she had been on Halloween and when Colin was attacked. She started to think that she was attacking everyone.

She had started to become suspicious of the diary, and several weeks after Christmas attempted to get rid of it by throwing it down a toilet in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom.

Free of the diary, Ginny sent Harry an anonymous Singing Valentine. He received it in front of her as she was going into a Charms lesson when he was accosted by a dwarf assigned to deliver it. During the delivery, Harry’s bag was torn, and the contents were dropped onto the floor. To Ginny’s horror, she saw that Harry now had the diary.

Fearful that Harry would discover her secrets and that she might be responsible for the attacks, she waited until the boy’s dormitory was empty then ransacked Harry’s belongings to recover the diary. Recovering it, Ginny was once more possessed by the memory of Tom Riddle, and opened the Chamber again, this time petrifying Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater.

Ginny tried to tell Harry and Ron what was going on, but couldn’t get the words out, and she was interrupted by Percy. The memory of Tom Riddle was furious, however, as he had been planning on taking on Harry Potter himself after learning his story. Realising that Harry would come to save Ginny, he made her write a farewell on a corridor wall, then enter the Chamber of Secrets to die. She had poured so much of her life into the diary that she couldn’t fight Tom’s possession of her, and the last thing she remembered as she lay down on the floor of the Chamber was Tom coming out of the diary. The memory of Tom Riddle had fed off her, gaining enough strength to become corporeal. As Tom grew stronger, the life in Ginny faded away until she slipped into an unconscious state.

Ginny awoke in the Chamber to find that Harry had saved her and destroyed Riddle’s diary by piercing it with a basilisk fang, and Ginny’s vitality was restored to her. Tearful and scared, Ginny revealed what had happened to Harry, and was sure she was going to be expelled from school. After leaving the Chamber with the aid of the phoenix, Fawkes, Ginny was reunited with her parents in Dumbledore’s office. Despite her fears, Dumbledore did not place the blame onto her, saying that older and wiser wizards had been duped by Lord Voldemort, and sent her to the hospital wing to recover from her ordeal with a mug of hot chocolate.

Following her ordeal, Ginny returned to normal, and was happy and relaxed for the rest of the summer term. At the end of the school year, she travelled back to King’s Cross with her brothers, Harry, and Hermione on the Hogwarts Express, playing Exploding Snap.

Second Year

Ginny traveled to Egypt in the summer of 1993 with the rest of her family to visit her brother Bill after her father won seven hundred galleons in the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw.

Ginny and her family stayed at the Leaky Cauldron the night before setting off to start her second year at Hogwarts, and she met Harry again. She was even more embarrassed in front of him than usual, muttering a hello but not looking at him. The next day, on Platform 9¾, she did meet his eyes as they shared a laugh over Percy’s behavior when trying to impress his girlfriend.

On the Hogwarts Express, Ginny was separated from her brothers until the train stopped because of the Dementors. In the dark, she found her way into the compartment containing Harry, Hermione, Ron and Professor Lupin. When the Dementors came to the compartment, Ginny was one of the worst affected by them because of her experiences with Tom Riddle’s diary. She went very pale and shook like mad, eventually sobbing and having to be comforted by Hermione.

Later in the year, after Harry fell from his broomstick in a Quidditch match, Ginny visited him in the hospital wing. She had made him a get well card that sang shrilly when opened, and presented it to him while blushing furiously.

Third Year

In the summer of 1994, Ginny spent a lot of time with Hermione, who was staying at The Burrow before and after the Quidditch World Cup. They shared Ginny’s room, and a tent at the World Cup, and solidified their growing friendship. Aware of her interest in Harry, Hermione advised Ginny to relax around him more and show him what she was really like since she could barely talk if he was in the same room as her. She even told Ginny to start going out with other people. Although she was still shy around Harry, who was also staying at The Burrow, she took Hermione’s advice and was much more relaxed and spent time with him, Ron and Hermione. She attended the Quidditch World Cup with the majority of her family, and was shaken by the appearance of Death Eaters in the aftermath of the Irish victory.

Ginny returned to Hogwarts, and maintained a good relationship with Hermione. Ginny was the only one that Hermione confided in when Viktor Krum asked her to the Yule Ball. As a third year, Ginny wasn’t allowed to attend the ball unless asked by an older student. Neville Longbottom asked her to go, and she accepted since she was friends with him and it was a good opportunity. She comforted her brother, Ron, when he asked Fleur Delacour to the ball while under the influence of her part-Veela heritage.

However, she still harboured feelings for Harry, and was displeased to hear that he had asked Cho Chang to the ball. She was even more despondent when Ron suggested that Harry take her to the ball since he didn’t have a date. Struggling with the idea that she could have gone with Harry, she nevertheless remained loyal to her agreement with Neville and attended the ball with him. At the ball, she met Michael Corner, and started dating him at the end of the year.

Fourth Year

With the revelation that Lord Voldemort had returned, Ginny’s parents became active members of the reconstituted Order of the Phoenix. As a result, the family was relocated to the Order’s headquarters at Number 12, Grimmauld Place during the summer of 1995. Ginny stayed at headquarters, sharing a room with Hermione, and helped her mother to clean the place to make it a suitable base of operations. She learned the truth about Sirius Black, and met Nymphadora Tonks, who acted like a big sister towards her and Hermione. When Harry arrived at Number 12, Ginny was pleased to see Harry, and, due to her relationship with Michael Corner, was relaxed and composed in his presence, showing none of the embarrassment and shyness towards him that she had shown during previous meetings.

Ginny returned to Hogwarts in the September of 1995 with her brothers. During the train ride on the Hogwarts Express, Ginny introduced Harry and Neville to Luna Lovegood, a fourth year Ravenclaw. With the arrival of new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Dolores Umbridge and a theory-based course, Harry, Ron and Hermione decided to form a study group to teach practical defence spells. Ginny joined the group, bringing her boyfriend Michael Corner with her, and several other Ravenclaws. During the first official meeting of the group, she came up with the name for the group – Dumbledore’s Army.

Just before the Christmas of 1995, Harry, along with Fred and George, received a life-long Quidditch ban from Umbridge for attacking Draco Malfoy during their game against Slytherin. Ginny tried out for the team, and became the new seeker, although she admitted that Harry was better than her, and that she preferred playing Chaser and scoring goals.

What should have been a happy time for Ginny was marred by the attack on her father by Nagini just prior to Christmas. Along with her brothers and Harry, she was instantly sent to Number 12, Grimmauld Place to await news. Relieved to find out he was ok, Ginny saw him the next day in St Mungo’s and hugged him immediately. Following the visit, she noticed that Harry started to distance himself from everyone. Learning that Harry had convinced himself that he had been possessed by Lord Voldemort and attacked her father, she railed on him for not seeking advice from the one person who had definitely been possessed by the Dark Lord. She quieted his fears by relaying her experiences to him, and admitted that she had never truly gotten over it.

She spent Christmas at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, and visited her father again on Christmas Day.

Returning to Hogwarts after Christmas, Ginny played her first game for the Gryffindor House team against Hufflepuff. Probably as a result of her being more confident and relaxed in front of Harry, her willingness to stand up to him, and their shared experiences of being a seeker, Harry and Ginny grew closer. Around Easter, he confided in her that he needed to speak to Sirius, and she encouraged him to; she then went to Fred and George, and asked them to find a way for Harry to do so.

In May, Ginny played her second game of Quidditch for the Gryffindor team against Ravenclaw. She managed to capture the Golden Snitch, beating Cho Chang, and securing the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor. In the aftermath of the victory, Michael Corner became very moody and sulked about the result. Because of his attitude, Ginny dumped him shortly after the match.

When Harry had a vision of Sirius being tortured in the Department of Mysteries by Voldemort in June, he informed Ron and Hermione. The latter convinced Harry to check to see if Sirius was at Number 12 Grimmauld Place before rushing off to rescue him, and Ginny and Luna came to their assistance. With Harry and Hermione breaking into Umbridge’s office, and Ron distracting her with news that Peeves was wrecking havoc, Ginny and Luna stopped people from entering the corridor leading to the office by saying that someone had flooded it with Garrotting Gas. Unfortunately for them, Umbridge saw through their ruse since she knew of Peeves’s true location, and ordered her Inquisitorial Squad to round them up. Ginny was captured by Warrington, and when Neville saw what was happening and tried to help, he was caught as well.

When Umbridge threatened to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry to make him tell her what he was doing, Hermione faked a breakdown and told a lie about a weapon that Albus Dumbledore had told them to make. She and Harry lured Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest, leaving Ginny, Ron, Luna and Neville alone with the Inquisitorial Squad. They managed to break free using skills that they had acquired in their D.A. sessions; Ginny hit Draco Malfoy with the Bat-Bogey Hex. They then regrouped with Harry and Hermione, who had left Umbridge with a group of enranged Centaurs.

Convinced that Sirius was in mortal danger, Harry resolved to travel to London and rescue him. Although Harry tried to prevent Ginny, Neville and Luna from accompanying him, Ron and Hermione, he was eventually persuaded otherwise. After flying Thestrals to London, they entered the Ministry of Magic using the visitor’s entrance, and headed for the Department of Mysteries. In the Hall of Prophecies, they found no sign of Sirius, but Neville did find a prophecy pertaining to Harry. As Harry removed it from the shelf, the group was surrounded by Death Eaters led by Lucius Malfoy, and learned that Voldemort had used the connection between himself and Harry to lure him there to remove the prophecy. Ginny was threatened with torture by Bellatrix Lestrange, who wanted to use the Cruciatus Curse on her to force Harry to hand over the prophecy. At Harry’s signal, all six D.A. members fired Reductor Curses to ward off the Death Eaters, and began running.

Ginny, along with Luna and Ron, were separated from the other three, and were chased through various rooms by Death Eaters. In one room containing a three-dimensional representation of the solar system, one of the Death Eaters grabbed Ginny by the ankle, breaking it. Luna used the Reductor Curse to blow up the model of Pluto in the Death Eater’s face. Ginny was helped to safety by Luna, but she was in shock and pale, and played no further part in the battle. Luckily, the Death Eaters were intent on grabbing the prophecy from Harry, and were soon distracted by the arrival of members of the Order of the Phoenix.

Following the battle, Ginny recovered in the hospital wing at Hogwarts where Madam Pomfrey fixed her ankle in a trice. On the train ride back to London, Ginny revealed that she had ditched Michael Corner, who was being sulky about Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw in Quidditch and who had moved on to Cho Chang. Ron told her to choose better next time, while casting Harry an oddly furtive look, to which she replied that she already had. Ginny was now dating his classmate Dean Thomas, much to Ron’s horror.

Fifth Year

Ginny spent the summer of 1996 at The Burrow with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Despite having to put up with her brother Bill’s new fiancé, Fleur Delacour (who she nicknamed “Phlegm”), she had a good summer practising Quidditch and planning to try out for the House team as a chaser. On a trip to Fred and George’s new shop, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, in Diagon Alley, she bought her first pet, a purple Pygmy Puff that she named Arnold.

On September 1st, she met up with Dean Thomas on the Hogwarts Express, but was interrupted by fellow DA member Zacharias Smith, who attempted to get information out of her regarding what had happened that night in the Department of Mysteries. Tired of his continued questioning, she cursed him with the Bat Bogey Hex, and was seen by the new Potions teacher, Horace Slughorn. She feared detention, but Slughorn was so impressed that he invited her to take lunch with him as part of a select group of students he hoped to cultivate.

As term started, Ginny tried out for the Gryffindor House Quidditch team, of which Harry had been made the Captain. She excelled as a chaser, and was given a spot on the roster. Following one Quidditch practice, she and Dean were caught kissing by Harry and Ron. She and Ron had a blazing argument over her kissing Dean in public, but Ginny countered that Ron only saw it as wrong because he had never kissed anyone himself. The argument led to a frosty relationship between the two siblings.

During the first Quidditch match of the season against Slytherin, Ginny scored several goals to help the team to victory. Following the match, she purposely crashed her broomstick into the commentary box because the commentator, Zacharias Smith, had been making disparaging remarks about the Gryffindor team. Her feud with Ron over his attitude towards her and Dean was worsened when, in the aftermath of the victory, he began going out with Lavender Brown. Ginny branded her brother a “filthy hypocrite” for his actions.

Ginny spent Christmas at The Burrow with her family, and when she returned to Hogwarts, she seemed unenthusiastic about meeting up with Dean. After Ron was accidentally poisoned on his birthday, Ginny visited him in the hospital wing and they seemingly forgave each other. She and Harry discussed what had happened to Ron endlessly, trying to come up with an explanation for what had happened.

Ginny played in the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, where Ron’s bedridden status forced Harry to play reserve keeper Cormac McLaggen. During the match, McLaggen took one of the beater’s clubs, and accidentally knocked a bludger directly at Harry. Harry was knocked unconscious and suffered a fractured skull. Dean, who had been playing as reserve chaser in place of Katie Bell, laughed about the incident, causing him and Ginny to have a row. Ginny subsequently visited Harry in the hospital wing.

Ginny and Dean were going through a rocky patch, and in April they finally split up when she accused Dean of always trying to help her through the portrait door into the Gryffindor common room. In reality, Harry had been wearing his invisibility cloak, and bumped into her while under the influence of Felix Felicis, but the incident finally brought an end to their already unstable relationship. Despite the break-up – or because of it – Ginny was still her usually bubbly self, and hung around with Harry and Ron more because of Quidditch training. She also defended Harry’s use of the Sectumsempra spell against Draco Malfoy, even if it had earned him a detention that forced him to miss the last Quidditch match of the year.

With Harry in detention, Ginny took the role of seeker for the Gryffindor team for the final match against Ravenclaw. They won the match and the Quidditch cup, and, during the post-match celebrations, Ginny and Harry spontaneously kissed. Ginny, who had never really given up on Harry, was over the moon, as was he, as he had been harbouring feelings for her all year. Ginny and Harry started dating, although their time together was limited due to Harry’s weekly detentions and Ginny’s O.W.L. revisions.

In June, Death Eaters were let into the school by Draco Malfoy while Dumbledore and Harry were away searching for one of Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Harry, who had suspected that Draco was a Death Eater for a while, forewarned Ron and Hermione to be vigilant, and gave them the remains of the Felix Felicis potion. Ginny, along with Neville and Luna, joined Ron and Hermione in taking the potion, giving them extra luck in case they needed it.

In the ensuing battle Ginny duelled with Amycus Carrow, but suffered no injuries due to the Felix Felicis potion. In the aftermath, Ginny was shocked to find that her brother Bill had been badly injured and permanently scarred by Fenrir Greyback. She was able to lead Harry away from Dumbledore’s body and up to the hospital wing, where Harry broke the news that Dumbledore had been killed by Severus Snape.

After the former headmaster had been laid to rest, Harry broke up with Ginny, fearing that if Voldemort knew how he felt about her, she would become a target and he could not knowingly endanger her life. Despite saying that she knew the risks involved in being with Harry, she accepted his decision.

Sixth Year

With the death of Dumbledore, and the knowledge that the protective charm over Harry was due to end soon, the Weasley family and the Order of the Phoenix arranged to move him to protection of The Burrow. While most of her family went off to assist in the operation, Ginny stayed behind with her mother. As the team started to miss their portkeys, Ginny started to worry for their safety, and was only partially relieved to see Harry turn up at the Burrow. When George turned up with his ear cursed off, Ginny was shocked and helped her mother tend to him. Finally, as each member of her family returned, she relaxed, but the death of Mad-Eye Moody sobered the occasion.

Over the next few days, Ginny interacted little with Harry because of their split, despite her feelings towards him. However, while setting the table for dinner, Harry let slip that he, Ron and Hermione were about to set off on a quest to stop Voldemort. On Harry’s seventeenth birthday, Ginny confessed that she didn’t know what to give Harry since anything she gave him would have to be small enough for him to carry around. Instead, she kissed him like she never had before in the hopes of giving him something to remember her by. However, they were interrupted by Ron with Hermione in tow.

On August 1st, she attended the wedding of Bill and Fleur, serving in the capacity of bridesmaid. She wore a golden dress, and as the ceremony began, her Aunt Muriel remarked in a carrying whisper that her dress was far too low cut. Ginny responded to this by turning around and winking at Harry. During the reception, she danced with Luna, Lee Jordan, and others. Harry, disguised a member of the Weasley family, jealously warned Viktor Krum off of speaking with her when he remarked on Ginny’s attractiveness, warning him that she had a big and jealous boyfriend. In the middle of the celebration, the guests were warned by Kingsley Shacklebolt’s Patronus that the Ministry of Magic has fallen, that Rufus Scrimgeour was dead, and that the Death Eaters were coming. Although Death Eaters appeared and questioned the Weasley family, Ginny was unharmed.

As part of the new Ministry’s regime, Ginny was allowed to attend Hogwarts. However, while there, she joined up with Neville and Luna, and began an underground resistance against Snape’s new regime. They openly defied authority and snuck out at night painting graffiti on the walls of the corridors – Dumbledore’s Army, Still Recruiting. On one occasion, she attempted to steal the Sword of Gryffindor from Snape’s office along with Neville and Luna, but was caught and punished. She served detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest, and was banned from all trips to Hogsmeade. During the Easter holidays, Ginny was at The Burrow when the Weasley’s were forced into hiding at Aunt Muriel’s.

When Harry returned to Hogwarts in search of a Horcrux, he was met by Neville and the remnants of Dumbledore’s Army that had stood up to Snape. Acting on a promise to Ginny, Neville sent word to her, via the enchanted galleons, that Harry was at the school. Ginny arrived with her brothers and Lee Jordan on the understanding that a battle was about to be fought.

As more members of Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix arrived for battle, Mr and Mrs Weasley forbade their daughter to take part in the fighting since she was underage. Ginny argued against it, not wanting to leave when her whole family would be fighting and wait at home for news. Lupin offered a compromise; Ginny would stay in the Room of Requirement so as to be on the scene, but not involved in the fighting. Although she didn’t like it, she agreed.

During the battle, Harry needed the Room of Requirement to change form in order to retrieve Rowena Ravenclaw’s Diadem. He asked Ginny to leave the room, on the proviso that she would re-enter it once he had completed his task. Freed of her sanctuary, Ginny joined the battle. After the initial fighting, Lord Voldemort called a temporary truce to allow the combatants to retrieve their dead, and for Harry to give himself up to avoid further killing. Ginny was shocked and heartbroken by the death of her brother, Fred, and was comforted by Hermione. She later assisted in the recovery of the wounded outside the castle. When Harry passed her on his way to face Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest under the Invisibility Cloak, she was comforting a girl wounded in the battle. Though she sensed something was there, she and Harry had no contact.

When the seemingly lifeless body of Harry was presented to the defenders of Hogwarts by Voldemort, Ginny could not believe it. However, his apparent death spurred the defenders on, and Neville took up the Sword of Gryffindor and beheaded Nagini. With the battle rejoined, Ginny, along with Luna and Hermione, duelled with Bellatrix. Just as a Killing Curse missed her by inches, her mother took up the fight and killed the woman who had threatened her daughter. Ginny was overjoyed to find Harry still alive, and watched as he duelled and finally defeated Lord Voldemort in the Great Hall.

19 Years Later

After the end of the Second Wizarding War, Ginny and Harry rekindled their romance. Ginny became a celebrated Quidditch player for the Holyhead Harpies for several years, and married Harry at some point. She then retired and had a family with Harry which produced three children; James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna.She would also become the senior Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet.