Blaise Zabini

"Yeah, Zabini, because you're so talented... at posing...."

- Ginny Weasley's opinion of Blaise

Blaise Zabini (b. 1979/1980) was a wizard and a student in Harry Potter's year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was Sorted into the Slytherin house, and was on friendly terms with fellow Slytherins, Draco Malfoy and his gang, and Pansy Parkinson.

Early life
Blaise Zabini was the son of a famously beautiful witch who had been widowed seven times over by 1996. Each husband's death occurred both under suspicious circumstances and left the already wealthy Ms. Zabini and her son with more money. Blaise was incredibly vain and did not befriend Muggles or Muggle-borns.

Early years
In 1991, Blaise started his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Slytherin House. Due to Blaise's reserved nature, he kept to himself most of the time and did not really make friends with other Slytherins, nor other students in his year — though this may have been because he was prejudiced against Muggle-borns and "blood traitors." Blaise seemed to get along with Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson — he was able to sit with them on the train journey to Hogwarts — but other than that, he was not mentioned to be hanging around that group.

Sixth year


Blaise was one of the students who received an invitation from Professor Horace Slughorn for lunch on the Hogwarts Express journey, which might imply that none of Blaise's relatives were Death Eaters, as Slughorn wanted nothing to do with them (it was the reason why he chose not to invite Theodore Nott to join the Club). Slughorn was sizing up the student body for potential new members of his famous Slug Club, which he started when he last taught at Hogwarts. During the meeting Blaise seemed quiet as usual and did not join in the discussions; he did, however, give a little cough of "amused scepticism" when Slughorn told the group that he thought Harry Potter had powers beyond the ordinary. This caused him to provoke Ginny Weasley to snap at him, and Slughorn jokingly warned Blaise not to annoy Ginny, remembering how well she could cast a Bat-Bogey Hex. When questioned on his family, Blaise talked about his mother and the line of husbands she had who had all left her large amounts of galleons in their wills after their suspicious deaths.

After the lunch meeting ended, Blaise retired to his compartment on the Hogwarts Express in which Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson were also sitting. Harry Potter followed Blaise back to this compartment under his Invisibility cloak in an attempt to hear Draco's conversation, and give him some perspective as to what Draco had been planning over the summer. Once they arrived at Hogwarts, Blaise apparently passed the litmus test that Slughorn had set, as he continued to receive invitations to Slughorn's parties after the school year began. He did not seem to have a high opinion of his fellow members, if his comments to Draco Malfoy on the train were any indication, but, in spite of this, he continued to accept the invitations.

Seventh year
Blaise attended his seventh year at Hogwarts.

When evacuation started moments before the Battle of Hogwarts on 2 May, 1998, Blaise presumably left with the other Slytherins through the passageway to Hog's Head Inn in Room of Requirement.

Physical appearance
Blaise was a tall, dark skinned boy with high cheekbones and long, slanting eyes. He was described as being vain about appearances.

Personality and traits
"Zabini gave a tiny little cough that was clearly supposed to indicate amused scepticism."

- Blaise regarding Harry Potter

Blaise seemed to be a highly arrogant person, who looked down on nearly everyone and everything, though he rarely expressed his disdainful opinions in a confrontational manner. He reacted with scornful amusement when Professor Slughorn praised Harry Potter's power, and with contempt when Slughorn suggested that he should not anger Ginny Weasley, who insulted Blaise's vanity. He also insulted most of his fellow Slug Club members and the parties themselves to Draco Malfoy, though he continued to attend the meetings and also did not seem to respect Draco very much.

Blaise was prejudiced against Muggles, Muggle-borns, and those who were accepting of them, as made clear when Pansy Parkinson accused him of finding Ginny attractive, Blaise said he would never touch "a filthy blood traitor like her" However, he also did not seem to hold a high opinion of followers of Voldemort, either; in the same conversation, he taunted Draco on his father being outed as a Death Eater. It seemed he was so arrogant that he was more or less indifferent and dismissive of everyone, regardless of status.

Magical abilities and skills
Potions: Blaise was proficient at potion-making, considering he was one of the few students that progressed to N.E.W.T.-level in his sixth year (1996-97). He achieved either an 'Exceeds Expectations' or an 'Outstanding' on his O.W.L. exam.

Etymology

 * Blaise is a French name derived from the Latin blaesus, "lisping". In mythology Blaise was the tutor and, later, biographer, of Merlin - which makes this an appropriate name for a wizard. Another famous bearer was, a French mathematician and philosopher. Also, is an eighteenth-century mansion house and estate in Bristol, England called "the finest place in England" in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.
 * The surname Zabini is Italian, suggesting that Blaise be of Italian descent.

Behind the scenes

 * Blaise is portrayed by Louis Cordice in the film adaptations of and . He appears in several scenes and has one line in the film.
 * Because the name Blaise is gender-neutral, Blaise's gender and nature were hotly debated in fan forums for many years, and both male and female versions of the character were heavily featured in fanfiction. This was mostly due to the indeterminate nature of Blaise's character in canon and lack of further explanation on J. K. Rowling's part until it was revealed in that he was male..
 * The Dutch edition of PS undefined actually turned Blaise into a female character, by translating his name into Bella when he appears at the sorting ceremony. When the Dutch translation of Half-Blood Prince was released, the character was renamed to the masculine Benno, correcting this mistake.
 * In, Blaise plays as a Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team. It doesn't happen in the book.
 * In, Blaise is present in the fight in the Room of Requirement in place of Vincent Crabbe, whose actor was sentenced to 120 hours of community service. What happened to Goyle in the book happened to Zabini in the movie and what happened to Goyle in the movie happened to Crabbe in the book.
 * Given his surname and his race, it is likely that Zabini is of (at least partial) Italian and African descent, respectively.

Appearances

 * PS undefined

Notes and references
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