Edward Tonks

"Knew they were coming for me. Heard Death Eaters were in the area last week and decided I’d better run for it. Refused to register as a Muggle-born on principle, see, so I knew it was a matter of time, knew I’d have to leave in the end. My wife should be okay, she’s pure-blood."

- Ted on the run from Snatchers in 1998

Ted Tonks was a Muggle-born wizard, the husband of Andromeda Black and father of Nymphadora Tonks. When Andromeda married Ted, rather than making a "respectable pure-blood marriage" like her sisters Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, she was disowned by her family and burned off the family tree.

Ted and Andromeda's home served as one of the safehouses of the Order of the Phoenix during the Second Wizarding War and was where Harry Potter and Rubeus Hagrid took refuge after the flight from Little Whinging. Ted fixed Harry's ribs, tooth, and arm before sending him and Hagrid off to the Burrow. He and his wife were both very worried for their daughter when Harry informed them that Death Eaters ambushed the group.

After the fall of the Ministry to Lord Voldemort in August 1997, Ted and Andromeda were tortured for information about Harry, like many other families with connections to Order members; Remus Lupin said they were "shaken, obviously, but otherwise okay". Their daughter came to stay with them once she discovered she was pregnant and her husband temporarily left her side, worried about passing on lycanthropy to their child.

When the Ministry began its persecution of Muggle-borns, Ted was forced to go on the run, as he refused to register with the Muggle-Born Registration Commission as a matter of principle. His wife did not accompany him, presumably in order to help care for their pregnant daughter. Ted was, for a time, travelling with goblins Griphook and Gornuk and fellow wizards Dirk Cresswell and Dean Thomas. The group was eventually caught by Snatchers and Ted was killed.

He was the namesake of his grandson, Teddy Lupin.

Behind the Scenes

 * Ted Tonks is rumored to be the news reader Ted that is mentioned in the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
 * Ted is a short form of the names Theodore and Edward. Theodore is derived from Greek meaning "gift of God" and was the name of many Christian saints. Edward is derived from the Old English words ead, meaning "blessed", and weard, meaning "guard", and has been the name of many members of the English nobility and royalty.