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&hellip;"

- 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 therefore 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, missing his 7th 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 several half-siblings, most of whom were his sisters, in London. He had a "very happy home life." He was a supporter of the West Ham soccer team, and was very artistic and showed off his talent throughout his school career. All of Dean's half-siblings were non-magical.

Early Years
"GO GO GRYFFINDOR! GO GO GRYFFINDOR!"

- Dean Thomas amongst students supporting Gryffindor.

The arrival of a letter for Dean from Hogwarts caused Mrs. Thomas to suspect that Dean's natural father may have been a wizard, which he was, though they never had proof so he was believed to be Muggle-born. Dean started his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on September 1, 1991 and during the Welcoming Feast he was sorted into the house of Gryffindor, where he became friends with fellow Gryffindors Seamus Finnigan and Fred and George Weasley. Dean shared a dormitory with best friend Seamus Finnigan, as well as Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, with whom he later became good friends with. Due to his muggle upbringing Dean, like Harry, was not a supporter of Quidditch as he had never heard of the sport and he hung a West Ham soccer team poster above his bed, which Ron Weasley found annoying as he was a fan of Quidditch. Ron questioned Dean on how he could find a game with only one ball and two goals interesting and prodded the poster in an attempt to get the soccer players to move.

Dean, being artistic, drew the banner titled "Potter for President" for his dormmate Harry Potter during his first Quidditch match in that year. The poster pictured a realistically painted Gryffindor lion that due to Hermione Granger's enchantment paint changed colours throughout the game. Later in the match, Harry is fouled by Marcus Flint and Dean having a muggle upbringing demands that the referee sends Flint off, Ron Weasley explains that in Quidditch that doesn't happen.

In his Second Year, Dean Thomas joined the Duelling Club, a precautional club taught by Gilderoy Lockhart in an attempt to train students in battle against and possible danger that may be lurking around Hogwarts. He among other students shared their speculation about the Chamber of Secrets and what might be inside and how to get in, Dean is about to make a correct speculation but Professor Binns cuts him short before he can finish. Dean was believed to at risk to being attacked as he was a presumed muggle-born and muggle-born students were being attacked through the year. However, due to his actual half-blood status he was not attacked. In Dean's third year, he would have been now allowed to visit the village of Hogsmeade, and he expressed positive interest in the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher Rubeus Hagrid as he always got on with him. However, in their first lesson when Hagrid introduced the class to a Hippogriff named Buckbeak, Dean stepped back and showed fear when Hagrid asked for a volunteer to pet him.

During Dean's Fourth Year Hogwarts held place to the Triwizard Tournament and his friend, Harry Potter had qualified as an underaged champion, Dean supported Harry throughout the course of the tournament. Dean would also be allowed to attend the Yule Ball as part of the tournament traditions, he commented that Harry and Ron were lucky to get the prettiest girls in the year as their dates, twin sisters Parvati and Padma Patil. Later on in the tournament, after Ron Weasley had forgiven Harry, Dean also seemed to be more supportive. After the third and final task, Harry returned back to Hogwarts with Cedric Diggory's dead body, and he said that Lord Voldemort was at large again. Albus Dumbledore took this information and at the end of the year he gathered students for a Memorial Feast to Cedric Diggory in which he told them about the events that took place during the third task.

Fifth Year


During Dean's fifth year, Dolores Umbridge was appointed to Hogwarts school to act as the "eyes of the Minister". Dolores Umbridge did not get along well with Dean, during her first lesson she and he argued openly about their opinions on the teaching methods at Hogwarts. She slated Remus Lupin as a "dangerous half-breed", which caused Dean to jump in to his defence, claiming that he was the best teacher he ever had. He also was very supportive of Harry's claims that Voldemort had returned.

She eventually caused an uproar amongst the students, and when it was time to fight back Dean 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.

Dean also that year accidentally insults his new Divination teacher, Firenze after Umbridge sacks Sybill Trelawney, Firenze was telling Dean that he had been banished by his herd living in the Forbidden Forest and Dean is excited to discover there are more Centaurs around the school grounds and asks him if Hagrid is breeding them. Firenze tells Dean that Centaurs are their own race and have little to do with humans and do not require their help to breed, which causes Dean to become extremely embarrassed.

During his fifth year Dean would have been taking his O.W.L. exams, and after he is finished he is pleased to hear that the results do not arrive until sometime in July, meaning he doesn't have to worry about them until the middle of school vacation. Also, Dean served detention with the rest of Dumbledore's Army when Umbridge discovered them, all members listed on the parchment were required to perform detention in the Great Hall in which they had to write lines using a Blood Quill. Some time around the end of his fith year, Dean became romantically involved with Ginny Weasley and the two continued dating well into his sixth year.

Sixth Year
In his sixth year, Dean 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 which continued into his sixth year seemed to be strong, as the couple spent a lot of time together, in spite of her brother's disapproval, but their relationship started to spiral downwards. Ginny had started re-developing a crush on Harry Potter (like she did in her first year at school) and she soon became angry with Dean after he laughed when Harry was hit by a Bludger during a Quidditch game. As a result, Dean started to become overly solicitous with her trying not to provoke another argument to keep their relationship going, which increasingly annoyed Ginny.

According to Hermione Granger when Harry had bumped into Ginny while under his Invisibility Cloak and under the influence of Felix Felicis, Ginny believed that it was Dean who had pushed her, and the two argued over it, Dean sticking to his grounds saying he didn't push her and Ginny ended their relationship. Dean was shocked at the insensitivity of his friend Harry, when he and Ginny shared a kiss at a Quidditch party so soon after he broke up with her, breaking his glass in astonishment that his dormmate and ex-girlfriend would start a romance so soon, despite this Dean shared no hate to either Ginny or Harry for their relationship, he was just hurt they would do such a thing so shortly after he was dumped. The same year was also the year that the headmaster of Hogwarts school, Albus Dumbledore was killed. Dean Thomas attended his funeral with his best friend Seamus Finnigan after Seamus had rowed rather publically with his mother to allow him to stay for the ceremony.

Life 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 whilst on the run

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. This also meant he couldn't return to study his final year of education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as they now had a strict no-muggle-born policy under the influence of new headmaster, Severus Snape.

At some point whilst on the run Dean joined a group of fellow runaways — Muggle-born wizards Ted Tonks, father of Order of the Phoenix member Nymphadora Tonks and Dirk Cresswell, and goblins Griphook and Gornuk, the group stuck together and camped in different areas in an attempt to mislead any trails they may have left. They were overheard once by Harry, Hermione and Ron who where also in hiding; Dean expressed his worry at hearing that his former girlfriend, Ginny Weasley, had gotten into trouble back at Hogwarts, as well as the belief that Harry was fighting Voldemort.

Captured by Snatchers
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.

Rescued by Dobby
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.



The Battle of Hogwarts
"You haven't got a wand -?!"

- Seamus reacting to his friend offering to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts without a wand.

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.

After the main battle had been put on pause, Harry Potter and Voldemort were to have a one-on-one face off, after Harry defeated Voldemort and won the battle there was a pile of dead bodies laid in the hall, Harry looked through the pile and recognized his friends: Tonks, Lupin, Colin. Dean was not mentioned among the casualties Harry noted, 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's physical description tells him to have dark hair and dark skin and be even taller than Ron Weasley. Dean also is very non-prejudice, when Dolores Umbridge remarked that Remus Lupin was a "filthy half-breed" he jumped in for his defence, and being believed to be muggle-born he stood up for himself. 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 seen 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, 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 over-protectiveness, 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 Invisibility 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 on Harry. 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. Ron very much 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 6th 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.

Character reduction
Dean Thomas was originally going to be a more prominent character in the novels, like Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood are, but his role was initially cut down. Originally, Dean was called "Gary", and in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Dean Thomas was going to be first introduced during the "Sorting Hat" chapter. His character was cut from the UK copies due to needing to shorten the chapter, however he still is in some US copies. He also was going to be featured in the chapter "Midnight Duel" going along with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville to confront Draco Malfoy, but he was cut out of this scene entirely. After having cut Dean out so much from the books, Jo did not want him to go unnoticed in the films and when the film version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was in production she blew director Chris Columbus by the amount of information she had on such a minor character. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets J.K. Rowling had originally included Dean Thomas' background story, which explained about his "Muggle-born" blood status and his father being a wizard, but it was cut out again as it was "unnecessary content". Jo has said that she believes she swapped developing Dean Thomas to develop the character Neville Longbottom instead, as he was more relevant to the overall plot. Dean later plays a somewhat larger role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, where he becomes Ginny's boyfriend and a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, where he is on the run, kidnapped, and rescued.

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.
 * Dean Thomas is played by Alfred Enoch in all the film adaptations released so far.
 * Dean is also the tallest out of all the boys in Harry's dorm.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)

Notes and references
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