Dolores Umbridge

"Now enough! I will have order!"

- Dolores Umbridge

Dolores Jane Umbridge was Senior Under-Secretary to Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. In her ambition for glory, she climbed her way to Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts, High Inquisitor and Headmistress of Hogwarts. She is currently incarcerated at Azkaban for joining the murderous Lord Voldemort.

Early Life
Little is known of Dolores Umbridge's early life. However, in her ambition for power she quickly grew to powerful positions in the Ministry of Magic at a relatively young age.

Senior Under-Secretary
As Senior Under-Secretary to the Minister for Magic in 1995, Umbridge used her power to intimidate Harry Potter during an interrogation before the Wizengamot. Harry was to be punished for inadvertantly violating the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, however thanks to the efforts of Albus Dumbledore, he was released without punishment.

What Umbridge did not reveal at the time was that she herself had ordered the Dementor attack on Harry and his cousin Dudley Dursley, leaving him no choice but to violate the Decree by casting a Patronus Charm. She claimed such an order was impossible. However, in June the next year, she revealed to a crowd of Hogwarts students she had in fact made that order.

Professor at Hogwarts
Umbridge was installed at Hogwarts as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor by order of the Ministry of Magic. She taught according to a politically-restricted curriculum which entailed learning strictly the theory of Defence Against the Dark Arts without any practical applications. Most students were concerned and felt they would be left defenseless against the Dark Arts. Some spoke out openly in class, but were immediately silenced or punished by Umbridge. For instance, when Harry contradicted the Ministry of Magic's official position that Lord Voldemort was dead, Umbridge punished him with torture. She forced him to write the phrase "I must not tell lies" repeatedly with a special quill that caused those words to be carved into the back of his hand, eventually leaving him scarred.

High Inquisitor
"Having already revolutionized the teaching of Defence Against the Dark Arts, Dolores Umbridge will, as High Inquisitor, have powers to address the seriously falling standards at Hogwarts School."

- Cornelius Fudge

Her power was increased as she was appointed the first-ever "Hogwarts High Inquisitor". She used this position to evaluate and harass the teachers at Hogwarts. When Harry formed a group to teach practical Defence Against the Dark Arts, Umbridge abolished all student groups of three or more members. When Harry gave an interview about Lord Voldemort to The Quibbler, Umbridge then banned possession of the magazine. These actions were sanctioned by the Ministry of Magic in the form of Educational Decrees, but students merely found ways to circumvent them. With her new power, she dismissed Sybill Trelawney as Professor of Divination, but was unable to have Trelawney physically extricated from the school. She was horrified when Dumbledore replaced Trelawney with a centaur named Firenze, and considered him, a mixture of human and horse, a "filthy half-breed."

Headmistress
"You know... I really hate children."

- Dolores Umbridge

Through her great efforts to discredit and ruin Albus Dumbledore, Umbridge was made the first ever (and only ever) High Inquisitor at Hogwarts. She soon after formed the Inquisitorial Squad, which rewarded certain students for reporting on others and sanctioned them to act as enforcement goons. She tried to prosecute Harry for forming the Defence of Dark Arts club, but Dumbledore took the blame and he disappeared from Hogwarts, after a minor scuffle with Aurors and the Minister for Magic himself. Umbridge replaced him as Headmistress, but found herself in over her head as she became the target of numerous pranks, many of which are orchestrated by Fred and George Weasley. The teachers, who disliked Umbridge intensely, did as little to help her in her duties as possible. The teachers also lavished favors on Harry in the form of House Points and even candy, specifically Squeaking Sugar Mice.

She later fired Gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid, as he was also of mixed race. When attempting to subdue Hagrid with four wizards, they seriously injured Professor Minerva McGonagall, who was protesting the force used to wrangle Hagrid.

Umbridge interfered with as much as she could while in her various positions at Hogwarts. She tried to prevent Harry Potter from contacting his godfather Sirius Black. She read all incoming and outgoing student mail, and Hedwig was even injured. It was suggested that Hedwig was attacked by a Thestral, but there is also the possibility that she was manhandled by Argus Filch, who gleefully assisted Umbridge in anything she requested of him.

She was finally outwitted by Hermione Granger, who tricked her into following her into the Forbidden Forest in search of an alleged "secret weapon" of the Order of the Phoenix. There she was confronted by a herd of centaurs, who she shamelessly insulted with racial slurs and arrogance. She was chased and nearly killed by them.

"What are you doing!? I am Senior Undersecretary Dolores Jane Umbridge! Let me go!!"

- Dolores Umbridge

She was ultimately rescued by Dumbledore, although how Dumbledore managed to rescue her from the human-hating centaurs without suffering any injury himself remains a mystery.

After Voldemort appeared in the Ministry of Magic - and was seen by a number of people, including Cornelius Fudge - Dumbledore was restored as the Headmaster. Umbridge, who had been in the school's Hospital Wing, attempted to leave the castle without anyone noticing. Peeves the Poltergeist discovered her and chased her out, beating her over the head alternatively with a walking stick and a sock full of chalk, leading a crowd of students. Professor Minerva McGonagall expressed regret at not being able to chase Umbridge herself because Peeves had borrowed her walking stick and she was not fully recovered.

Umbridge was seen at Albus Dumbledore's funeral at Hogwarts, though she did not speak.

Muggle-Born Registration Commission
Following Voldemort's takeover of the Ministry of Magic in 1997, Umbridge resumed her post as Under-Secretary and oversaw the registration and persecution of Muggle-born witches and wizards.

Following Alastor Moody's murder at the hands of Death Eaters, Umbridge took possession of his "mad eye." Affixing it to her office door, she was able to terrorize all Ministry employees with the mere concept that she could observe their every move. This, in addition to her manner of causing general misery, would suggest that Umbridge was in league with Voldemort, though it was never explicitly stated until she was seen working with a Death Eater known as Yaxley.

At some point, Umbridge received a locket as a bribe from petty thief Mundungus Fletcher. This locket was, in fact, Salazar Slytherin's locket, the one once owned by Merope Gaunt as well as Hepzibah Smith (which cost her her life). While it is unclear if Umbridge was aware that the locket was a Horcrux of Voldemort, Umbridge did seem to be aware that it is a relic of Slytherin's. However, she chose to lie about the meaning of the cloisonné S, stating it was a Selwyn family heirloom. She stated this to Hermione Granger, who was, at the time, in the guise of Ministry employee Mafalda Hopkirk. This was stated during one of Umbridge's blood purity hearings. At that moment, full of rage, Harry Potter attacked both Umbridge and Yaxley. Umbridge was Stunned, leaving Harry and Hermione free to snatch the locket from around Umbridge's neck and flee the scene.

Incarceration at Azkaban
Following Voldemort's demise, and the cleansing of the Ministry's corruption, Umbridge was arrested, put on trial and imprisoned at Azkaban for her crimes against Muggle-borns.

Physical Appearance and Traits
Dolores Umbridge is a short, squat woman who resembles a toad. She was known to wear a black velvet bow in her hair that could remind one of a fly about to be caught. She was also known to wear head-to-toe matching pink outfits that would have been better suited for someone half her age. She has a high, girlish voice that has been described as sounding like poisoned honey.

Umbridge is fanatically prejudiced against non-humans, which she calls "half-breeds." It was her prejudice that caused her to pass a series of Anti-Werewolf legislations, which made it almost illegal for those afflicted with lycanthropy to hold jobs.

Etymology
"Dolores" is a typical Spanish name, although it might have been picked because the word "dolores" is the plural form of "dolor", which means pain.

Jane is a sweet name for a girl, adding a cruel irony to her nomenclature. Because her middle name is "Jane," J.K. Rowling changed Hermione Granger's middle name (which was also Jane) to "Jean" in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

"Umbridge", a pun on the English "umbrage" meaning "offense or insult", indicates that Dolores Umbridge is destined to do only harm and cause only unhappiness.

Behind the scenes

 * Professor Umbridge is easily the least popular Harry Potter character ever to grace the series, surpassing even archvillain Lord Voldemort. J. K. Rowling herself has noted that Umbridge is "a nasty piece of work."
 * Novelist Stephen King, writing as a book reviewer for the July 11, 2003 Entertainment Weekly, ||251753|0_0_,00.html noted the success of any novel due to a great villain, with Umbridge the "greatest make-believe villain to come along since Hannibal Lecter."
 * While never stated it is highly implied that she is a Slytherin, she hates half-breeds and Muggle-born, additionally she was saw wearing a green tweed after a quidditch match, implying that she was cheering for them.

Appearances

 * 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 Deathly Hallows

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