Alastor Moody

"You-Know-Who acted exactly as Mad-Eye expected him to, Mad-Eye said he'd expect the real Harry to be with the toughest, most skilled Auror. He chased Mad-Eye first."

- Nymphadora Tonks on Moody

Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody (d. 27 July, 1997) was a wizard, arguably the most renowned Auror of all time, and a pivotal member of the Order of the Phoenix during the First and Second Wizarding Wars. Moody served with distinction during the first conflict, gaining a considerable reputation, as well as losing an eye, leg, and part of his nose while fighting the Dark Arts. To this end, Moody became overly-cautious and paranoid about his security. In 1994, he accepted Albus Dumbledore's offer to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, but was temporarily kidnapped by Barty Crouch Jr., who disguised himself as Moody. After he was rescued, the real Moody became a member of the second Order of the Phoenix. He fought in several battles of the war, including the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in 1996 and the Battle over Little Whinging in 1997, where he was killed by Lord Voldemort. His eye (the only part of Moody that was found) was buried by Harry Potter in the Forest near where the 422nd Quidditch World Cup had been held three years earlier.

First Wizarding War
Moody, during his time as an Auror, served the Ministry of Magic and fought the Death Eaters under Voldemort's command. He was an important member of the Order of the Phoenix, serving under Albus Dumbledore, in the struggle to defeat the most infamous Dark Wizard of all time and personally ensured half the cells in Azkaban were filled with fugitive Death Eaters. During the war, and in efforts to round up Death Eaters after its conclusion, Aurors were granted the power to use the Unforgivable Curses; as such, Moody killed some of Voldemort's followers, including Evan Rosier, although he never killed if it could be avoided.

At some point during his life, Moody violently tore apart a birthday present, paranoid that it may be a cleverly disguised Basilisk egg. It turned out that it was only a carriage clock.

It is more than likely that it was during the First Wizarding War and his time as an Auror that Moody lost his leg and replaced it with a wooden replacement and that he also lost his eye. At some point, Moody retired from active service, though by this time he was considered the greatest Auror of all time. In addition, he took Nymphadora Tonks as his protégée.

Between the wars
In 1994, Moody was convinced to come out of retirement by Albus Dumbledore and serve as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's latest Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Kidnapping by Barty Crouch Jr.
Before the school year began, however, Moody was attacked in his home by Barty Crouch Jr. and Peter Pettigrew, at Voldemort's order, and was overpowered and imprisoned in his own magical trunk. This was done as part of Voldemort's plan to regain power. To this end, Barty Crouch Jr. used Polyjuice Potion to take on Moody's form to replace him at Hogwarts, successfully fooling staff and pupils alike. Barty Crouch Jr. drank Polyjuice Potion out of Moody's hipflask regularly in imitation of the real Moody and expressed many of Moody's normal eccentric habits. Doing this allowed him to impersonate Moody for almost the whole year without raising suspicion. All the while, Crouch did his part in Voldemort's plan. Moody's life was spared due to Crouch needing his hair to create the Polyjuice Potion, and wanting to question Moody for his behaviour, patterns, and such so Crouch could successfully imitate him, all the while keeping Moody captive under the Imperius Curse.

Working incredibly hard and using all of his cunning, Crouch-as-Moody ensured that Harry Potter would get into the Triwizard Tournament and ascend to the Third Task. Upon doing so, Voldemort used Harry Potter to rise to power once again. When Crouch learned of this upon Harry's return, he tried to kill him, but Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Severus Snape stopped him. The professors waited patiently for the Polyjuice Potion to wear off, revealing Crouch's true form. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he admitted everything, and Moody was freed from his trunk. After recuperating in the Hospital wing, Moody returned to health, but was much more paranoid for his safety than before; and his eye occasionally got stuck as a result of Crouch having worn it.

Second Wizarding War
In 1995, Moody joined the reformed Order of the Phoenix and was part of the Advance Guard that took Harry from 4 Privet Drive to the Order of the Phoenix'es Headquarters in 12 Grimmauld Place. He later showed up for the party Molly Weasley threw for Ron and Hermione to celebrate them becoming Prefects, mentioning that Albus Dumbledore must have assumed Ron was good at resisting spells or he would not have put him in authority. He checked that something inside a writing case was indeed a boggart. Moody also showed Harry an old picture of the original Order of the Phoenix and described the members. He seemed to think it was very interesting, although Harry was a little disturbed.

Battle of the Department of Mysteries
Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and Ginny Weasley all went to the Ministry of Magic in 1996 in an attempt to rescue Sirius Black, who they believed was being tortured by Lord Voldemort. This was actually a lure to get Harry Potter into the Department of Mysteries to retrieve a prophecy, and after discovering this the members of Dumbledore's Army fought back against the Death Eaters and attempted to escape. After his friends were injured, Harry Potter was about to surrender the prophecy to Lucius Malfoy, who had been leading the group of Death Eaters, but then Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Alastor Moody himself, all members of the Order of the Phoenix, arrived, and the battle resumed. During the battle Moody duelled with Antonin Dolohov and was injured. Sirius Black was killed by his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange when she hit him with a spell that knocked him through the veil in the Death Chamber. Following this battle, Albus Dumbledore arrived and duelled Voldemort himself. Cornelius Fudge witnessed Voldemort fleeing the scene and was forced to finally admit the Dark Lord had returned.

In 1997 Hogwarts was invaded by Death Eaters in an attempt to assassinate Albus Dumbledore, although they were once again battled by several members of Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix. Severus Snape was believed to be a traitor after killing Dumbledore (although it had actually been on his own orders), and Moody personally put extra protections on 12 Grimmauld Place to prevent Snape and the other Death Eaters from entering.

Battle over Little Whinging and death
"The one thing we've got on our side is that You-Know-Who doesn't know we're moving you tonight. We've leaked a fake trail to the Ministry, they think you're not leaving until the thirtieth. However, this is You-Know-Who we're dealing with so we can't just rely on him getting the date wrong."

- Alastor Moody briefing Harry before the battle.

As it turned out, Moody's over-protectiveness of Harry would be his doom. Shortly before Harry's 17th birthday, Moody and a team from the Order of the Phoenix tried to move Harry away from 4 Privet Drive to The Burrow, using broomsticks, Thestrals, and a flying motorcycle to reach a network of carefully-placed Portkeys, when the original plan proved useless following Pius Thicknesse's subversion. Moody was partnered with Mundungus Fletcher.

The team was ambushed by Death Eaters on take-off. Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour witnessed and reported what had happened: Moody and Fletcher were heading north, close by Bill and Fleur, after the Order members scattered. Voldemort, using his ability to fly, went straight for them as he believed Moody to be the greatest wizard. Fletcher panicked, crying out, and Moody tried to stop him, but Mundungus Disapparated, leaving Moody vulnerable to attack. Voldemort fired a Killing Curse the second that Mundungus Disapparated, and hit Moody full in the face. Moody fell backwards off his broom and down to the ground, and even if he survived the curse (which is highly doubtful), Moody fell about 1000 feet with no wand, making his death a certainty. Because half-a-dozen Death Eaters were on their own tail, Bill and Fleur could do nothing.

Post-mortem
"Harry could not quite comprehend it. Mad-Eye dead; it could not be...Mad-Eye, so tough, so brave, the consummate survivor."

- Harry's reaction on Moody's death

The Ministry, meanwhile, did not report Mad-Eye's death, as Rufus Scrimgeour did not want to admit the truth about Voldemort's power, or the recent Azkaban breakout (which had resulted in the large numbers of Death Eaters attacking the order).

Moody's broken body was quickly retrieved by the Death Eaters, who were prompt in tidying up after themselves. To this end, they Transfigured Moody's body and stuffed it down an unknown location. Bill and Remus Lupin left to recover it but failed, as it had been difficult to know where Moody might have fallen, given the darkness and the confusion of the battle. As a result, The Order could not hold a funeral for Moody. Ron Weasley held out hope for Moody's survival, but Harry promptly pointed out the flaws in his logic, and so all, in the end, accepted the truth, but the shock and sadness were great for all.

Mad-Eye's magical eye was salvaged by the Death Eaters, and then, after the fall of the Ministry, given to the new head of its Muggle-Born Registration Commission's Head, Dolores Umbridge, possibly as a gift. It was set in the wood of her office door and used to aid her in spying on her workers. When Harry, Hermione and Ron infiltrated the Ministry to find the locket Horcrux, Harry discovered the eye and, disgusted by how it was being used, stole it. Doing so, however, raised the alarm. After escaping, Harry, early the next morning and before the other two were awake, left the tent they were staying in to search the woods around them for the oldest, most gnarled and resilient-looking tree he could find. Then in its shadow, he buried the eye and marked the spot by gouging a small cross in the bark with his wand. While it wasn't much, Mad-Eye Moody was given a proper burial.

Physical description
"But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening."

- Harry Potter's impression of Moody

Moody was described, by Harry, as looking as though his face was carved from wood by an untalented person. Due to injuries from his long career as an Auror, it was covered with scars, and a chunk of his nose was missing. He had dark grey, grizzled hair. He also had a wooden leg.

His eyes, however, were his most shocking feature: one was small and dark, normal eye while the other was a vivid, electric blue magical eye and moved around independently from his normal eye. Thanks to his magical eye, he was able to see through objects, Invisibility cloaks, and even the back of his own head. His eccentric eyes gave him the nickname of "Mad-eye Moody."

Personality and traits
Alastor Moody's second name represented a large part of his personality. He was surly, short tempered and has never been known to look on the bright side. Moody was said to enjoy getting himself into dangerous situations, and was always eager to test his abilities. Harry Potter thought of him as tough, brave and a consummate survivor.

Moody, despite his eccentric nature, had quite a lot of friendships, such as Arthur Weasley, who thought very highly of him and Nymphadora Tonks, who became his favourite colleague and protégée at the Ministry. Both of them were devastated at his death. He was also a close friend of Albus Dumbledore.

He was also very overprotective, and mistrusted everything: he wouldn't even let Harry carry his wand in his back pocket saying that "better wizards than him have lost buttocks" (with slight implications that he was speaking from experience). Moody's paranoia has led him to brutalize a witch who shouted "Boo" at him during a April Fools Day trick, as well as destroying a carriage clock that he received as a birthday present, thinking it was a cleverly disguised basilisk egg. Moody prepares his own meals and drinks out of his personal flask, in case of the enemy would try to poison him. These overly safety measures has led many people to consider Moody to be delusional.

Moody was extremely devoted to his job as a Dark Wizard catcher and became one of the Order of the Phoenix's most powerful and loyal members. However despite his dedication to his job, Moody was unable to throw off Barty Crouch's Imperius Curse, though it should be noted that he was stunned, freezing and exhausted.

Moody also had a habit of bellowing "Constant vigilance" in order to keep people on their guard.

Magical abilities and skills

 * Magical Mastery: Alastor Moody was known as the most powerful Auror of his time. He was a master of both offensive and defensive magic, the hallmarks of the Auror's trade, which he employed so effectively that he personally ensured that half the cells of Azkaban were filled with Death Eaters. He was also capable of placing powerful protective enchantments and curses on the headquarters of the Order as a means of warding off Death Eaters.
 * Charms Master: Moody was capable of performing the Disillusionment Charm, a charm which apparently required a high degree of skill as not many could do so; he did not require an Invisibility cloak to make himself and Harry Potter invisible when acting as a member of the Advance Guard.
 * Expert Duellist: Lord Voldemort himself considered Moody to be an extremely skilled duellist, and targeted him first of all the other capable wizards acting as protectors during the battle over Little Whinging. In the midst of the First Wizarding War and in its aftermath, Moody fought and defeated (and in some cases killed) dozens of skilled Death Eaters. Even together, Peter Pettigrew and Barty Crouch Jr. found it difficult to subdue Moody, despite him having been in retirement for many years. However, Moody was defeated by Antonin Dolohov during the battle of the Department of Mysteries. Moody's duelling style was aggressive but he also tried to avoid killing his opponents and would always try to take them alive. He was also known to cast spells with his staff which gave him an extra advantage in case he was deprived of his wand.
 * Flying Skill: Moody flew his broomstick while acting as a member of the Advanced Guard and fought in midair during the battle over Little Whinging. However Moody was not skilled enough to escape Lord Voldemort and was blasted off his broom by a Killing Curse.

Possessions

 * Magical Eye: Moody's most notable possession was his magical eye, which is electric blue and earned him his nickname "Mad-Eye". This eye allows him to see through anything, such as wood, invisibility cloaks (including Harry Potter's invisibility cloak which was one of the Deathly Hallows), and the back of his head. Ever since it was worn by Barty Crouch the eye tends to get stuck in its socket.
 * Wand: Like all wizards and witches, Moody carried a wand. If he was ever deprived of his wand he would use his staff instead.]]
 * Invisibility cloaks: Moody possessed two invisibility cloaks, though he lent one to Sturgis Podmore, which was never returned. Though it is unconfirmed it is possible that Moody's travelling cloak was one of his invisibility cloaks.
 * Magical trunk: Moody possesses a magical trunk, with seven compartments (one in which Barty Couch Jr hid the real Moody during his year at Hogwarts), along with the keys for each compartment.
 * Foe-Glass: Alastor's Foe-Glass shows the images of foes when they approach him.
 * Sneakoscope: Moody's Sneakoscope is large, and he disabled it because it keeps whistling for too many students are lying around it.
 * Secrecy Sensor: Moody's Secrecy sensor detects secrets.
 * Walking Stick: Moody's walking stick has magical capabilities and if he was ever deprived of his wand he would use his staff instead.
 * Silver Drinking Flask: Moody's paranoia leads to him believing an enemy may be poisoning his food behind his back, so he drinks from his personal flask to prevent that from happening. Barty Crouch Jr. filled it with Polyjuice Potion during his year in disguise, and was able to drink without arousing suspicion.
 * Broomstick: Moody flew his broomstick while acting as a member of the Advanced Guard, and fighting during the battle of Little Winging.
 * Wooden Leg: At some point during his career, Alastor lost one of his legs and therefore relied on a wooden leg to replace his lost one.

Nymphadora Tonks
"DON'T call me Nymphadora!"

- Tonks to Moody

Moody was Nymphadora Tonks's mentor during her time training as an Auror, and later during their time together in the Order of the Phoenix. Despite Moody's surly attitude and behaviour, Tonks was always at ease with him, making jokey comments at his opinions and lectures, such as the one he gave Harry on elementary wand-safety the night the Advance Guard escorted him to Grimmauld Place. For his part, Moody was openly fond of Tonks; Harry Potter once noted that she had been his favourite during their time together at the Ministry. When Tonks was injured during her duel with Bellatrix Lestrange in the Department of Mysteries, Mad-Eye crawled his way to her side in an effort to help her regain consciousness, despite having been injured himself by Antonin Dolohov. Tonks was devastated by Moody's death in 1997, openly crying in front of the Weasley family and other Order members.

Albus Dumbledore
"He's not Alastor Moody. The real Alastor Moody would never remove you away from me, after what had happened..."

- Albus Dumbledore to Harry Potter about Barty Crouch Jr.'s impersonation of Alastor Moody

Alastor Moody was one of Albus Dumbledore's closest friends. They fought alongside each other in many battles, but Moody teased Dumbledore for hating Dementors. In 1994, Moody accepted Dumbledore's offer to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts for a year, but was captured and imprisoned by Barty Crouch Jr., who impersonated him during the 1994–1995 school year, in order to send Harry Potter to Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore was able to deduce the impersonation once Crouch lost his composure from over-excitement. Dumbledore and Moody fought together in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Moody was the next member of the order to die after Dumbledore.

Harry Potter
"Don't put your wand into your back pocket! Better wizards then you have lost buttocks from it!"

- Alastor Moody to Harry Potter

Harry originally met Moody a year after he was impersonated by Barty Crouch Jr., when Moody came to 4 Privet Drive with other Order of the Phoenix members known as the Advance Guard. Upon first meeting the real Moody, Harry thought that Moody was a little mad and overprotective, as he suspected everybody, and didn't even let Harry carry his wand in his back pocket, saying that better wizards than him had lost buttocks.

When Moody was killed by Lord Voldemort during the Battle over Little Whinging, Harry was devastated by his death, as were the other Order of the Phoenix members. Later, when Harry, Ron and Hermione went at the Ministry of Magic, to steal Salazar Slytherin's Locket from Dolores Umbridge, Harry found Moody's magical eye in Umbridge's office door, and buried it under a tree, and marked the spot by gouging a small cross in the bark with his wand. While it wasn't much, Harry felt that Mad-Eye Moody was given a proper burial and would have appreciated this act of kindness.

Weasley family
Alastor Moody was always on good terms with the Weasley family. He was friendly with Arthur Weasley, whom he had met through the Ministry of Magic. Arthur had a high opinion of Moody, and thought he was a little mad, but he was a great wizard and the most famous Auror of his time. Arthur and Moody fought together in the Battle over Little Whinging. When Moody was killed by Lord Voldemort, Arthur was very sad.

Moody also seemed to be friendly with Molly Weasley. Although they didn't have a close relationship, Molly knew about him an knew Moody was a great Auror. Fred and George, and Ron also thought Moody was a great wizard, and thought he taught them great magic. However, in fact, it wasn't Moody, but Barty Crouch Jr., who was disguised as Moody. It is also possible that it was the kind of magic that the real Moody would teach.

He was also friendly with Bill, Charlie and Ginny. After he was killed, the Weasley family was devastated. Bill, along with Remus Lupin, went to search for Moody's dead body.

Order of the Phoenix members
Moody was a member of the Order of the Phoenix in both wizarding wars. He was friendly with his most fellow members of the orders, despite his overprotective behaviour and his madness. Except Nymphadora Tonks, Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Weasley family, Moody was also a friend of Remus Lupin. Lupin and Moody met each other during the First Wizarding War, but they also fought in several battles of the Second Wizarding War. When Moody was killed, Remus was devastated, and attempted to search for his dead body.

Moody was also a friend of Kingsley Shacklebolt. They fought together at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and the Battle over Little Whinging. Kingsley was also devastated by Moody's death, and became the leader of the order, after the battle.

He was also friendly with Hermione Granger. Hermione and Moody fought at several battles together, but, when Moody was killed, Hermione was devastated. He might have been also a friend of Sirius Black, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance, Hestia Jones, Sturgis Podmore, Elphias Doge, Mundungus Fletcher, Rubeus Hagrid, Arabella Figg and Fleur Delacour. Sirius was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, after he, Moody and three other attempted to battle the Death Eaters, in order to save Harry and his friends.

Vance was killed by Death Eaters in 1996, while Podmore was imprisoned in Azkaban for attempting to open the door of the Department of Mysteries. Moody didn't know it and was angry with Podmore, because he had taken his Invisibility Cloak.

Mundungus was paired along with Moody during the Battle over Little Whinging. When Voldemort attacked them, Mundungus was frightened and disappeared, abandoning Moody, who was killed by Voldemort.

Some of the members of the order were killed during the First Wizarding War. These included Marlene McKinnon, who was killed along with her family, Caradoc Dearborn, who was murdered by Death Eaters and his body was never found, Benjy Fenwick, who was killed and mutilated, Edgar Bones, who was killed along with his family, Dorcas Meadowes, who was murdered by Voldemort himself, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, who were killed by five Death Eaters, and James and Lily Potter, who were killed by Voldemort. However, Alice and Frank Longbottom were tortured into insanity by four Death Eaters; Bellatrix Lestrange, Barty Crouch Jr. and Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange. Harry Potter thought Moody found all that a little interesting, but that didn't mean Moody wasn't shocked.

The most members of the Order of the Phoenix were devastated after Moody was killed, and the most of them were killed, too, until the end of the Second Wizarding War.

Death Eaters and enemies
During his years as an Auror, Moody captured and defeated many Death Eaters, such as Evan Rosier. According to Sirius Black, Moody was very cruel with the Death Eaters he fought against, but he never killed if he could avoid it.

Moody captured Karkaroff after Voldemort's downfall. He also participated in Karkaroff's trial, and told Dumbledore that they should take information from Karkaroff and then send him back to the Dementors. However, Dumbledore refused. Moody and Karkaroff met again in 1994, during the Triwizard Tournament. In fact, he wasn't the real Alastor Moody, but Barty Crouch Jr, a Death Eater. After Harry Potter was chosen for the Tournament, Karkaroff got very angry, because Hogwarts had two champions. When Barty (disguised as Moody) told him how the Goblet of Fire might have been fooled, Karkaroff told him that he thought like a Dark Wizard. Barty answered that it was his job to capture Dark Wizards, and perhaps he remembered, meaning that Moody and Karkaroff knew each other well. It is unknown how the real Moody reacted when he learned that Karkaroff was killed by Death Eaters.

Moody also held a grudge against Barty Crouch Jr. for abducting, imprisoning, and impersonating him, and was furious that Crouch ruined his magical eye by wearing it, causing it to get stuck from time to time.

Name etymology

 * "Alastor" is Ancient Greek for "he who does not forget", thus (1) "avenger", "persecutor", "tormenter", (2) "one who suffers from divine vengeance". It is similar to "Alastair", which is the Scottish form of, which means "protector of mankind".
 * Moody means temperamental or tending to quickly change moods.

Behind the scenes

 * Moody is portrayed by Irish actor Brendan Gleeson in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, and Deathly Hallows: Part I.
 * In the films, Moody is portrayed considerably different from his literary counterpart. Differences between his description in the book and his portrayal on film include his magical eye being held in place by an eye patch-like strap and brass ring, having a less mutilated face, including a full nose instead of a piece of it missing. Additionally, in the book Moody's magical eye replaced his right eye, in the film adaptation the magical eye replaced Moody's left eye.
 * He also has blonde hair rather than grey, and is somewhat overweight. His artificial leg in the films is made of metal rather than wood.
 * He also speaks with Gleeson's natural Irish accent, although his nationality appears to be Scottish when he wears a kilt in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire during the Yule Ball.
 * In the film adaptation of Order of the Phoenix, Moody has a specialised broom and his wand is either concealed in his walking stick or is the stick itself.
 * Also in the film adaptation of Order of the Phoenix, during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries scene, Alastor Moody can be momentarily glimpsed in the background duelling two Death Eaters wielding not only his staff in his right hand, but what appears to be a wand in his left. (Exact time in reference 1:53-1:57)
 * Noble Collection also made a replica of Alastor's wand, as seen in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
 * In the film version of Order of the Phoenix, it is Sirius, not Moody, who gives Harry the picture of the original Order of the Phoenix members.
 * A keychain replica of Moody's magical eye was also released.
 * Despite the phrase "Constant Vigilance!" being Moody's catchphrase, he never used it in the series. Only Barty Jr., when impersonating Moody, used it. Also, in the film adaptions, the catchphrase is omitted altogether, by both the real and the fake Moody, aside from one use of it that was edited out of the final film.
 * The scenes of Moody's magical eye being taken and used by Dolores Umbridge, as well as Harry recovering and properly burying it have been omitted from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, though it is seen on Umbridge's door with no mention of it being used.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
 * 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
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
 * Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4

Notes and references
Alastor Maugrey Alastor Moody Аластор Грюм Alastor Vauhkomieli Alastor Dolleman