Dean Thomas

"We’re fighting, aren’t we? The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight! I’ll have to get a wand, though..."

- Dean before the Battle of Hogwarts

Dean Thomas was a student in the same year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as Harry Potter. He was sorted into Gryffindor house, played as a Chaser for their Quidditch team for a time, and joined Dumbledore's Army in his fifth year. Dean, although a half-blood wizard, could not prove that he had any wizarding heritage, and was thus in danger when Lord Voldemort took control of the Ministry of Magic in 1997. Dean was forced to go on the run to avoid arrest and imprisonment by the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, and thus missed his seventh year of schooling. He was eventually captured by Snatchers, but escaped Malfoy Manor along with several other prisoners and soon returned to Hogwarts to participate in the final battle of the Second Wizarding War.

Early life


Dean is the son of a wizard father and a Muggle mother, though he grew up thinking that he was Muggle-born. His father left when Dean was very young, never telling his wife that he was a wizard, out of the belief that not knowing the truth would protect her. He was later killed by Death Eaters when he refused to join them.

Dean's mother later remarried a Muggle, Mr. Thomas, who raised Dean as his own son. Dean lived with multiple half-sisters in London. He had a "very happy home life." He was a supporter of the West Ham football team, and was very artistic and showed off his talent throughout his school career.

Hogwarts Years
The arrival of a letter for Dean from Hogwarts caused Mrs. Thomas to suspect that Dean's natural father may have been a wizard, though they never had proof. Dean started at Hogwarts on September 1, 1991 and was sorted into Gryffindor house, where he became friends with fellow Gryffindors Seamus Finnigan and Fred and George Weasley. In his first year, Dean drew the banner of "Potter for President" for his dormmate Harry Potter during the first Quidditch match in that year. Dean shared a dormitory with best friend Seamus Finnigan, as well as Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. During Dean's fifth year, he was one of the first to arrive for the inaugural meeting of the group that became Dumbledore's Army in 1995 and his support for his friends does not appear to have faltered, even though Seamus, his best friend, initially believed the smear campaign the Daily Prophet launched against Harry and Albus Dumbledore over their claims that Lord Voldemort had returned.

Sometime around the end of his fifth year, Dean became romantically involved with Ginny Weasley, who he dated well into his sixth year. That same year, he also replaced Katie Bell as the Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team after she was hospitalized for touching a cursed necklace. At first, Dean's relationship with Ginny seemed to be strong, as the couple spent a lot of time together, in spite of her brother's disapproval after catching them snogging. However, Ginny became angry with Dean after he laughed when Harry Potter was hit with a Bludger, and started to become increasingly irked with him because she felt he was overly solicitous with her.

Thus, Dean and Ginny's relationship was already rocky, according to Hermione Granger, when Ginny was pushed through the portrait into the Gryffindor common room. Harry had bumped into her while under his Invisibility Cloak and under the influence of Felix Felicis. Harry had luck on his side and an interest in Ginny, thus Ginny believed that Dean had pushed her, and the two had a fight which ended their relationship. Dean was shocked when Harry and Ginny shared a kiss at a Quidditch party soon afterwards, breaking his glass in astonishment that his dormmate and ex-girlfriend would start a romance so soon after his break-up with her.

On the Run
"I know Harry Potter. And I reckon he’s the real thing — the Chosen One, or whatever you want to call it."

- Dean to his fellow fugitives

Dean's presumed Muggle-born status put him on the run from the Ministry of Magic in 1997, when it fell under the control of Lord Voldemort and began rounding up Muggle-born wizards and witches, imprisoning them in Azkaban for allegedly stealing magic.

At some point, Dean joined a group of fellow runaways — Muggle-born wizards Ted Tonks and Dirk Cresswell, and goblins Griphook and Gornuk. They were overheard once by Harry, Hermione and Ron; Dean expressed worry at hearing that his former girlfriend, Ginny, had gotten into trouble back at Hogwarts, as well as the belief that Harry was fighting Voldemort.

Later, the group of fugitives were found by a group of Snatchers that was led by Fenrir Greyback. Dean and Griphook were the only survivors of the violent capture. Around the same time, Harry Potter triggered the Taboo curse on Voldemort's name, alerting the Snatchers to the trio's location. Harry, Ron and Hermione were also captured, and the prisoners were all brought to Malfoy Manor, Death Eater headquarters. All of them but Hermione — who was tortured with the Cruciatus Curse by Bellatrix Lestrange — were imprisoned in the dungeons in the basement, where Luna Lovegood and Mr. Ollivander were already held.

However, the group was soon rescued by Dobby the house-elf, who was fatally injured shortly after successfully transporting them to the home of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour, Shell Cottage. Dean helped Harry and Ron dig a grave for Dobby by hand to show gratitude, rather than do it with magic. Dean placed a wooly hat on top of Dobby, to represent that Dobby was a free elf. At the funeral, Dean expressed his thanks to the elf for rescuing them.

Dean spent the next few months of hiding at Shell Cottage with Luna, Griphook and the trio. During this time, Dean and Luna seemed to grow close, despite Dean's bemusement at some of the comments she would make. Mr. Ollivander was able to make Luna a new wand, but Dean was left without one. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were all using wands they had taken at Malfoy Manor, and soon left the cottage with Griphook to break in to Gringotts Wizarding Bank.

Battle of Hogwarts
In May of 1998, Dean, Luna, Bill, and Fleur received the call to arms from Dumbledore's Army via Dumbledore's Army Coins, as Harry, Hermione and Ron had returned to Hogwarts. Despite not even having a wand, Dean returned to Hogwarts. When Dean entered the Room of Requirement, Seamus Finnigan ran forward and hugged him. Dean then fought with his fellow D.A. members in the Battle of Hogwarts, at some point winning himself a wand. During the battle, the trio spotted Dean and Parvati Patil fighting against Antonin Dolohov and stunning other Death Eaters.

Dean was not among the casualties Harry noted at the end of the battle, thus he likely survived to witness Harry's final defeat of Lord Voldemort and the end of the Second Wizarding War.

Personality and Traits
Dean has dark hair and dark skin and is even taller than Ron Weasley.

Dean is generally an easy-going and good-natured person, able to get along well with many people. For example, he never displayed any anger towards Harry Potter in their sixth year, despite being upset when Harry began dating his ex-girlfriend Ginny Weasley shortly after their break-up. He also easily established a friendship with Luna Lovegood, whom many would consider strange. Dean is also brave and loyal; he was eager to participate in the defence of his school against Death Eaters despite not even having a wand, and never lost his faith in Harry Potter, believing him when he claimed that Lord Voldemort had returned and that Harry would defeat the Dark Lord.

Dean also appeared to be "good with a quill", as in his first year, for Harry's first Quidditch match, he drew a "large Gryffindor lion" on a "Potter for President" banner he had crafted with the help of Hermione, Neville, Ron and Seamus. Also, in his third year, when Harry was not allowed to go to Hogsmeade because Uncle Vernon had not signed his permission slip, Dean offered to forge Uncle Vernon's signature.

Seamus Finnigan
Dean grew close to Seamus Finnigan, one of his dormmates, during their first year at Hogwarts, and the two remained best friends throughout their school years. The two were often seem together at school, and Dean attended the Quidditch World Cup with Seamus and his mother in 1994. Seamus initially believed the smear campaign the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet ran against Harry Potter when he claimed that Voldemort had returned, but this does not appear to have affected his friendship with Dean, who did believe Harry and who eventually managed to get Seamus to attend the final D.A. meeting of the year.

Seamus was also displeased when Dean was chosen as the replacement Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team over him when Katie Bell was injured over himself, but again, the two still remained close friends. Since Dean could not return to Hogwarts for his final year, the two did not see each other for some time. When Dean eventually did return to Hogwarts in 1998 to fight in the final battle, Seamus was ecstatic to see him, and ran to hug him.

Ginny Weasley
Dean started dating Ginny Weasley around the end of his fifth year. Ginny's brother and Dean's roommate Ron disapproved of the romance, as demonstrated by his furious reaction to stumbling upon the couple kissing passionately in a deserted hallway. They appeared to be very close at first, but, according to Ginny's friend Hermione Granger, things began to get rocky as Ginny became displeased with Dean for what she perceived as overprotectiveness, as Dean constantly tried to assist her in everything.

Harry contributed to their ultimate break-up by bumping up against Ginny when she and Dean were going through the portrait hole while under his Invisiblity Cloak and after having taken Felix Felicis. Thus, luck was on the side of Harry, who had developed an interest in Ginny, and she thought Dean was trying to push her through the portrait. This row led to their split.

Ginny clearly got over Dean soon after they broke up, as she began dating Harry soon after and admitted to him that she had never really given up hope that the two of them might be a couple. Dean, however, seemed astonished and hurt when he saw Harry and Ginny kissing, and went as far as smashing his glass, indicating that he took their split harder. Later, while Dean was on the run and heard news about Ginny, Harry noted that Dean was concerned for her welfare.

Other relationships
After they were both rescued from Malfoy Manor in 1998, Luna Lovegood and Dean seemed to grow close while staying at Shell Cottage. Dean still seemed rather bemused at some of the odd things Luna said at times, but did not ridicule her, and was seen offering her his hand and helping her in the Room of Requirement just before the Battle of Hogwarts.

Dean was also relatively close to his dormmates Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Neville Longbottom, though not to the same extent as with Seamus. Ron spent more time with Dean and Seamus during their fourth year, when he initially believed that Harry had cheated in order to get his name into the Goblet of Fire. He disapproved when Dean started dating his younger sister, though the two remained friendly. Dean made a banner for Harry during his first Quidditch match, and believed him about the return of Lord Voldemort in 1995, unlike Seamus, eagerly joining Dumbledore's Army. Harry resented Dean slightly during their sixth year out of jealousy over Dean's romance with Ginny Weasley, on whom he had developed a crush. When Dean and Ginny split up, Harry's enmity lifted, though Dean then became upset when Harry kissed his ex-girlfriend soon after their break-up. In spite of this, Dean never seemed to carry any ill will towards Harry. In fact, during his rescue from Malfoy Manor, he was reluctant to escape with Dobby and leave Harry behind.

Dean was also good friends with both Fred and George Weasley, older Gryffindor students. He helped them in their efforts to sabotage Dolores Umbridge during his fifth year.

Behind the scenes

 * A drawing at one time posted on J.K. Rowling's website revealed that Dean's first name was "Gary" in early drafts of Philosopher's Stone.
 * Rowling included information on Dean's background in an early draft of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but ultimately cut it out, as she felt it was an "unnecessary digression." She stated that she had to a certain extent traded Dean's "voyage of discovery" for Neville Longbottom's because the latter character's discoveries about his past were more relevant to the main story.
 * Rowling said that when it came time for casting the film adaptation of Philosopher's Stone, she told director Chris Columbus about Dean, and that she thought he was "slightly taken aback" by how much she had developed the background of such a minor character.
 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dean seemed to take Lee Jordan's place, such as helping Fred and George with their Skiving Snackbox and saying Lee's line in the Hog's Head.

Notes and references
Dean Thomas Dean Thomas Дин Томас