Marietta Edgecombe

Marietta Edgecombe is a witch who was a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1990 to 1997. She was sorted into Ravenclaw house and was the best friend of Cho Chang. In her sixth year, Marietta joined Dumbledore's Army at Cho's urging, despite being reluctant to get on Dolores Umbridge's bad side. When she became afraid that her mother's job at the Ministry of Magic might be threatened by her membership in the organisation, Marietta betrayed the D.A. to Umbridge. This activated a jinx that caused boils to erupt on Marietta's face, and a Memory Charm was later placed on her in order to prevent her from fully incriminating her fellow D.A. members.

Early Years at Hogwarts
Marietta began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1990 and was sorted into Ravenclaw house.

Sixth Year
In her sixth year, Marietta was made to enter attend the first meeting of what would become Dumbledore's Army in Hog's Head by her friend Cho Chang, despite her obvious suspicion of Harry Potter's intentions as well as his claims that Lord Voldemort had returned. She gave Cho a disapproving look for signing the piece of parchment drawn up by Hermione Granger for all members to sign, and only added her name reluctantly.

Despite Harry's extremely effective teaching methods, Marietta did not enjoy the lessons at the very least, and continued to resent Harry's words. Her membership in the D.A. became particularly difficult as it increasingly came into conflict with High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge, who was at Hogwarts as the representative of the Ministry of Magic, where Marietta's mother worked.

After six months of the meetings, from the pressure her mother gave, Marietta betrayed Dumbledore's Army to the Ministry. Just before she was to confess all to Umbridge, Kingsley Shacklebolt, an Auror and a secret member of the Order of the Phoenix, performed a Memory Charm on her so that she could not implicate Albus Dumbledore and Harry.

Marietta would soon come to regret her decision, as the parchment she and the other members of the D.A. had signed at the first meeting was jinxed, making anyone who betrayed the organisation break out in pimples that spelled the word "SNEAK" across her face. This humiliated Marietta so much that she would not show her face for many months. Cho was upset for her friend and defended her to Harry Potter, calling Hermione's jinx a "horrible trick". Harry, however, considered Marietta a traitor and Hermione's jinx brilliant. After this row, their relationship fell apart.

Seventh Year and Later
Marietta still had blemishes on her face from the jinx the following school year, and took to wearing thick make-up to try to cover them up, with limited success. She sat with Cho on the train to Hogwarts for their final year; they saw Harry Potter on the way, but did not speak to him.

Physical appearance
Marietta is described as having curly, reddish-blonde hair. After she was struck with Hermione Granger's jinx for betraying the D.A., she bore pimples spelling "SNEAK" across her face. They faded with time, but Marietta was left with a few scars.

Personality and Traits
"She's a lovely person really. She just made a mistake..."

- Cho Chang describing Marietta.

As described by her best friend Cho, Marietta was a lovely person. However, she is one of the many people who are loyal to the Ministry of Magic, and was distrustful to Harry Potter's statement of Lord Voldemort returning.

Marietta's loyalty is due to her mother being a Ministry employee. As such, Marietta receives much pressure to maintain a good impression to the Ministry. This pressure made her easily willing to betray Dumbledore's Army and have all its members expelled from school, even though her best friend was in it. J.K. Rowling stated that Marietta is a traitor.

Etymology

 * Marietta is a female given name, an Italian diminutive of Maria. It means "little bitter".
 * Edgecombe is a mispelling of Edgcumbe, an English surname. The name Edgecombe was also used for a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina, named after Richard Edgcumbe, a Member of Parliament from 1701 to 1742 and a Lord of the Treasury, who became 1st Baron Edgcumbe in 1742.

Behind the scenes

 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the character of Marietta was cut, and Cho Chang was the one who betrayed the D.A. whilst under the effects of Veritaserum though she was mentioned in the game when Harry asked Cho to bring her to the DA meeting when trying to ask her for a date.
 * In the books, Marietta has never had any dialogue of her own, though other characters have discussed her.
 * J. K. Rowling confirmed that Marietta's pimples faded but left a few scars, commenting "I loathe a traitor!"

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince