Xenophilius Lovegood

"The most eccentric-looking wizard... Slightly cross-eyed, with shoulder-length white hair the texture of candyfloss, he wore a white cap whose tassel dangled in front of his nose and robes of an eye-watering shade of egg-yolk yellow. An odd symbol, rather like a triangular eye, glistened from a golden chain around his neck"

- Harry Potter's impression of Xenophilius Lovegood

Xenophilius "Xeno" Lovegood was the editor of The Quibbler magazine, the husband of Pandora, and the father of Luna Lovegood. His wife died when their only child was nine years old, and he raised his daughter by himself. He was likely the source of his daughter’s eccentric beliefs, although he was often correct in his assumptions. He believed in the existence of the Deathly Hallows and supported Harry in The Quibbler when few others would.

Xenophilius and Luna lived in a house shaped like a rook chess piece near the village of Ottery St Catchpole and were friends with the Weasleys. In the summer of 1997, Xenophilius and Luna attended Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding at the Burrow. In 1998, Luna was kidnapped by Death Eaters. To save her, Xenophilius betrayed Harry Potter to Death Eaters; but Harry, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley managed to escape. He was temporarily imprisoned in Azkaban by the Death Eaters.

After the Second Wizarding War, he left the prison and continued editing The Quibbler. When Luna married Rolf Scamander, Xenophilius had two grandsons, Lorcan and Lysander.

Early life
Xenophilius was born into the Lovegood family and attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a Ravenclaw. At an unknown time, he married Pandora Lovegood with whom he had a daughter, Luna Lovegood. He raised Luna himself after Pandora died when her magical experiment went wrong.

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. It is likely that he shared his ridiculous beliefs with Worple, as the latter remembered him as a "seriously unbalanced man".

Quidditch World Cup
In 1994, Xenophilius and Luna watched the Quidditch World Cup; Ireland vs Bulgaria.

The Quibbler
In 1996, Xenophilius published 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.

Bill and Fleur's wedding
"What is Xenophilius Lovegood wearing? He looks like an omelette!"

- Muriel criticising Lovegood at the wedding

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.

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 1997



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, and explained that the symbol of the Deathly Hallows was worn by believers and seekers of the Hallows to identify themselves to one another. When they grew suspicious of him after realising 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 the Human-presence-revealing spell 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 realise the truth about her father, and accepted that some of his creatures did not exist. She married Rolf Scamander, grandson of the famous Newt Scamander, and the couple had twins, Lorcan and Lysander, thus making Xenophilius a grandfather.

It is not known what happened to Xenophilius beyond this, except that when his daughter travelled to the Patagonian Desert, in Argentina, to attend the final of the 427th Quidditch World Cup, in July 2014, Lorcan and Lysander were left at home "with grandpa", which may have meant Xenophilius or the twins' paternal grandfather (Newton Scamander's son or son-in-law).

Physical appearance
Xenophilius was an eccentric-looking wizard, who looked slightly cross-eyed and had shoulder length hair that was 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 cared a great deal about his daughter Luna, and shared her strange beliefs; he was likely the cause of them. He thought the Daily Prophet was an awful paper, and only published stories that he thought were important and needed to be known by the public. He was extremely firm in his bizarre beliefs and felt those who disbelieve in them are "painfully limited", "narrow" and "close-minded ". Every time a sceptic demands the evidences for his beliefs, he in turn asks them to prove them untrue themselves. Due to his bizarre views, the wizarding world thinks he is senile. Elfred Worple even remembers him as a "seriously unbalanced man" after meeting him at one of his book signings. According to Luna, her father did not care about making money and did not pay people to write for The Quibbler; she claims they did so because it was an honour to see their name in print. Luna also said that her father was 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.

Xenophilius believed in the Deathly Hallows, (which actually proved to be real), as well as numerous magical cryptids such as Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. He also believed that gnomes had powerful magic, and that the dirigible plum would enhance one's ability to accept the extraordinary. Although he sought the Deathly Hallows, given his personality, he was likely interested in them more as a matter of curiosity about such unusual objects, rather than a desire to actually possess or use them.

Given his tendency to believe in anything dubious and ridiculous, Xenophilius sometimes becomes the subject of pranks, such as when a young wizard gave him an Erumpent horn and claimed that it belonged to a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Unbeknownst to Lovegood, the Erumpent horn will explode if given even the slightest touch. This also shows that he is ignorant about some magical creatures, as he was unable to identify the horn at first glance.

Magical abilities and skills

 * Defence against the Dark Arts: Xenophilius could cast several defensive spells including the Stunning Spell.
 * Herbology: The Lovegoods grew Dirigible plums in their garden.

Possessions

 * Wand: Xenophilius's was of unknown length, core and wood materials. He or his parents purchased it prior to his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
 * Dress robes: Xenophilius Lovegood wore brightly-coloured dress robes to the wedding of William Weasley and Fleur Delacour, along with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. He explained that wearing sun colours to a wedding was believed to be good luck. His daughter, Luna, wore the same colours to the wedding.
 * Necklace: This was an ornament that he wore to Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding. Some, like Viktor Krum suspected him of being a Dark Wizard, but actually the necklace simply bears the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.
 * House: The Lovegood House is a black-coloured cylindrical house on top of a hill with a stream at the base of it, located near the village of Ottery St Catchpole. It is the home of Xenophilius and and his daughter Luna during Luna's childhood.
 * Erumpent horn: Xenophilius owned an Erumpent horn that he claimed to be the horn of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. He proudly displayed it and accidentally blew it up, which resulted in his home being torn apart.
 * Bust of Rowena Ravenclaw: This bust of Rowena Ravenclaw was created by Xenophilius Lovegood, who was trying to recreate the magical properties of her diadem.

Etymology


Xenophilius' name comes from two Greek words: Xenos "strange" and -Phile "love". As opposed 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, Xenophilius is played by Welsh actor Rhys Ifans.
 * In, Xenophilius triggers the Taboo, which leads to the capture of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, which differs from the book, where Harry triggers the Taboo.
 * It is possible that Xenophilius and Luna fought the Death Eaters at the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour after it was attacked.

Appearances

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Notes and references
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