Xenophilius Lovegood

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

- Muriel

Xenophilius "Xeno" Lovegood 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 is likely the source of his daughter’s strange beliefs. 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 Scamander.

Early life
Xenophilius was born into the Lovegood family and may have attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a Ravenclaw. At an unknown time, he married a witch with whom he had a daughter, Luna Lovegood. He was left to raise Luna himself after Mrs. Lovegood died due to a backfired magical experiment.

Xenophilius created a magazine called The Quibbler, in which he wrote about his obscure beliefs, including the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

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 1996, 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. He agreed to publish anti-Potter articles in the Quibbler, following the line of the Voldemort-dominated Ministry. 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. His attempted betrayal was unknown, with the anti-Potter issue of the Quibbler buried under the debris of his home and never distributed. 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. Harry, Ron and Hermione preserved Xenophilius' reputation and never revealed the truth, as his attempted betrayal had been motivated solely by concern for his daughter.

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. Xenophilius cared about Luna so much that he was willing to hand Harry, Ron and Hermione over to the Death Eaters in exchange for his daughter.

Among his beliefs is the belief in the Deathly Hallows, (which actually proved to be real) 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 oppos ed 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.
 * In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Xenophilius triggers the Taboo, which leads to the capture of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, which differs from the book, where Harry triggers the Taboo.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Lego_Xenophilius_lovegood_2_.jpg
 * 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: Part 1

Notes and references
Xenophilius Lovegood Ksenofilius Lovekiva Xenofilus Leeflang Ксенофилиус Лавгуд