Xenophilius Lovegood

"What is Xenophilius Lovegood wearing? He looks like an omelette!"

- Muriel

Xenophilius Lovegood (sometimes called Xeno for short) is the editor of the magazine The Quibbler, husband of Mrs. Lovegood and the father of Luna Lovegood. His wife died when his daughter was nine years old. A widower, he raised his only child by himself. He shares his daughter’s strange beliefs, and is likely the source of them. Xenophilius and his daughter lived in a house shaped like a rook near the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, and may be friends with the Weasleys. In 1998, Luna was kidnapped by Death Eaters. In order to save her, Xenophilius attempted to betray Harry Potter to Death Eaters, but failed. He was temporarily imprisoned in Azkaban by the Death Eaters. After the Second Wizarding War, he most likely left the prison and continued editing the Quibbler. When Luna married Rolf Scamander, Xenophilius had two grandsons; Lorcan and Lysander.

Family life
Xenophilius' wife died in a magical accident when their daughter, Luna, was nine years old, leaving Xenophilius to raise Luna himself. According to Luna, her dad has done a lot a research into Gernumbli magic. Xenophilius and Luna attended the 1994 Quidditch World Cup and had camped there for a week.

At some point during his life, Xenophilius attended one of Eldred Worple's book signings. Worple remembered him as a "seriously unbalanced man".

The Quibbler
In 1995, Xenophilius agreed to publish Harry Potter's story about the night he saw Lord Voldemort return, and sent Harry a free copy. This was the fastest selling edition of The Quibbler, even being reprinted at least once before Mr. Lovegood sold the story to the Daily Prophet. The Lovegoods used the money received from selling the story to the Prophet to travel to Sweden over the summer to search for a Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

When Rufus Scrimgeour became Minister for Magic, Xenophilius planned to print a story in The Quibbler stating that Scrimgeour was a Vampire. However the Ministry stepped in and prevented him from printing the story; Xenophilius believed that this was because the Ministry did not want the truth to get out.

Opposition to the Ministry
In the summer of 1997, Xenophilius and Luna Lovegood attended Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding at the Burrow. There, Xenophilius got into an argument with Viktor Krum over the necklace he was wearing; Viktor identified it as the mark of the Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald, but it was in fact a symbol of the Deathly Hallows.

After the Ministry of Magic fell under the control of Lord Voldemort, the Daily Prophet fell under the control of the Death Eaters as well. The Quibbler, however, continued to print the truth and Xenophilius made his support of Harry Potter very clear.

Daughter's ransom
"They took my Luna because of what I've been writing. They took my Luna and I don't know where she is, what they've done to her. But they might give her back to me if I -- If I... I must save Luna. I cannot lose Luna. You must not leave."

- Xenophilius to Harry Potter in 1998

Xenophilius's public support of Harry Potter eventually got him in trouble with Death Eaters, who kidnapped his daughter and held her hostage at Malfoy Manor; Xenophilius intended to do whatever it took to get her back. Thus, when he was visited by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger later in the year, Xenophilius alerted Death Eaters, hoping they would return Luna in exchange. While waiting for the Death Eaters' arrival, Xenophilius told the trio about the Deathly Hallows. When they grew suspicious of him after realizing that Luna had not been home in some time, Xenophilius attempted to stun Harry and his friends, but missed, hitting an Erumpent horn and causing his house to collapse.

The Death Eaters Travers and Selwyn arrived and briefly tortured Xenophilius, believing that he was trying to trick them about Harry being at his home. After Homenum Revelio revealed that there were others in the house, the Death Eaters sent Xenophilius up the stairs. Hermione rapidly wiped his memory of what they had discussed with him, and then blasted a hole through the floor to facilitate the trio's escape, engineering it so that the Death Eaters saw that Harry was indeed there, thus ensuring that neither Xenophilius nor Luna were punished for lying, and so that neither saw Ron, who was supposed to be at home sick with spattergroit.

Imprisonment and release
After the trio's escape, Xenophilius was arrested and sent to Azkaban, though he was released after Voldemort’s defeat in May of 1998. Luna, in the meantime, was rescued by the house-elf Dobby from Malfoy Manor, and survived the war.

Later life
As an adult, Luna would soon come to realize the truth about her father, and accept that some of his creatures do not exist. She married Rolf Scamander, grandson of the famous Newt Scamander, and the couple had twins, Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, thus making Xenophilius a grandfather. It is not known what happened to Xenophilius beyond this.

Physical appearance
Xenophilius is an eccentric-looking wizard, who looks slightly cross-eyed and has shoulder length hair that is the texture of candyfloss. At Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour’s wedding, he wore a cap with a tassel that dangled in front of his nose, and wore a golden chain around his neck, that bore the sign of the Deathly Hallows sometimes mistaken as the mark of Gellert Grindelwald. He also wore robes of an eye-watering shade of egg-yolk yellow which Muriel said made him look like an omelette.

Personality and traits
Xenophilius cares a great deal about his daughter Luna, and shares her strange beliefs; he is likely the cause of them. He thinks the Daily Prophet is an awful paper, and only publishes stories that he thinks are important and needed to know by the public. According to Luna, her father does not care about making money, and does not pay people to write for The Quibbler and that they do so because it is an honour to see their name in print. Luna also said that her father is supportive of any anti-Ministry action. Mr. Lovegood fully supported Harry Potter, and encouraged others to do so as well, until his daughter was kidnapped by Death Eaters. Among his beliefs is the belief in the Deathly Hallows, as well as the existence of numerous magical cryptids such of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. He also believes that Gnomes have powerful magic, and that the Dirigible plum would enhance ones ability to accept the extraordinary.

Etymology
Xenophilius' name comes from two Greek words: Xeno "strange" and -Phile "love". As opposed to Xenophobe, one who fears the strange, his name means one who loves the strange.

Xenophilius' name bears a similarity to the X-Files, and like X-Files main character Fox Mulder, he describes himself as a "believer." Both characters investigate and believe in numerous conspiracy theories which are not accepted by their mainstream culture.

Behind the scenes

 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Xeno is played by Welsh actor Rhys Ifans.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)

Notes and references
Xenophilius Lovegood