Bem

"It's like trying to catch smoke...like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands."

- Bem on trying to catch Sirius Black

Bem (born c. 1980 ) was a student who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1991 to 1998. He was sorted into Gryffindor and is in Harry Potter's year, however he does not dorm with Harry and friends.

Early years
Bem began his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1991, along with students Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. He was Sorted into the house of Gryffindor, but would not share a dormitory with the other known Gryffindor boys in his year due to the rather taboo issue of him being female. During Bem's second year, the school would be under attack from a basilisk. Many students became petrified. Hogwarts was under threat of being closed. Bem was not a mentioned casualty.



Third year
Bem chose Care of Magical Creatures and Divination as electives in his third year. During a Tessomancy lesson, Professor Trelawney looked in Harry Potter's cup, and said he had the Grim. Seamus Finnigan, mishearing the name of this omen, asked what "the Grin" was. Bem called Seamus an idiot and then proceeded to explain the significance of the Grim by reading from his Divination textbook.

Later on in Bem's third year, Seamus Finnigan came into the Great Hall to announce that Sirius Black had been seen, and Bem likened searching for the fugitive to "trying to catch smoke with your bare hands." Bem was present to witness Harry Potter open his new broom he received from Sirius Black and watched him give it it's first test fly.

Fourth Year
During Bem's fourth year, Hogwarts held the Triwizard Tournament. Harry Potter from the same house as Bem was chosen as one of the student finalists along with Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum. Bem was sat next to Padma and Parvati Patil during the feast at the start of the year. As Bem was known as Professor Severus Snape's least favorite student, he was suspected for stealing boomslang skin and lacewing flies from the Potions store room. He was later proven innocent when he recieved shamefully terrible marks in Potions. Bem was also seen sitting in the back of the Great Hall next to Heather Watts and Zachary Easley, two of Hufflepuff's worst students, during the memorial to the late Cedric Diggory at the end of the year.

Fifth Year
"Every great wizard in history has started out as nothing more than what we are now: students. If they can do it, why not us?"

- Harry Potter to the students of Hogwarts

Bem's fifth year would be under the watchful eye of the Ministry of Magic and Dolores Umbridge, who took on the role of the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Throughout the year both the Ministry and Umbridge blamed "notorious mass murderer" Sirius Black for the Azkaban escapes and the murders. Whether or not Bem believed this is unknown, but he commented in previous years how he felt about Sirius Black. It is very likely that Bem joined the alliance against Umbridge, Dumbledore's Army, but it is not a confirmed fact. Come the end of the year, the Ministry had seen sense an the start of the Second Wizarding War was announced.

Sixth Year The summer before the sixth term, Bem interned at Honeydukes. He spent his free-time conditioning for the hope of becoming a beater for the coveted position on Gryffindor's team, which he didn't make. Bem received an owl informing that he did not make prefect for the upcoming year. He scored 3 outstandings on his O.W.L.'s and went on studying to become professor of divination. He did not fight at the Battle of Astronomy Tower. It is unknown about his whereabouts after this term, but he is assumed to be hiding in Fanghorn Forest preparing for the day he comes face to face with Macnair, a Death Eater. Later Life

In his later years, Bem went on to become an accomplished actuary. He worked for the Ministry of Magic keeping tabs on the population of threstals in Godric's Hollow, but was soon relieved of his position when his supervisors found out he hasn't witnessed death. He ended up marrying Millicent Bulestrode. They had 4 kids: Thomas-Cody, Bezelda, Yuri, and Jennipher (all who are in Hufflepuff).

Etymology
The name Bem means "peace" in the language of the Tiv of Nigeria and Cameroon. "BEM" is also an abbreviation for British Empire Medal, a medal received from British royalty for meritorious civil or military service. This could reflect on the character appearing in Gryffindor, a house of bravery.

Behind the scenes

 * Like the character Nigel, Bem is not mentioned in the books, but is credited in the films. Played by Ekow Quartey, the character is listed in the credits for Prisoner of Azkaban as simply "Boy 1". However, on the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD, the closed captions identify the character as "Bem" during the Divination class scene.
 * There is some confusion over Bem's House. In Prisoner, he clearly wears a Gryffindor robe and tie, however he cannot be a canonical Gryffindor, since he would then share the dormitory with Harry Potter—which is impossible since the dormitory has only five beds and we know all the occupants; the other beds belong to Ronald Weasley, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom. This creates speculation that there may be another boy's dormitory.

Appearances

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

Notes and references
Bem