Amelia Bones

Amelia Susan Bones
Biographical information
Born	pre 12 August, 1978
Died	Between the 8th and the 14th of July 1996
Blood status	Pure-blood or Half-blood
Marital status	Single
Title(s)	Madam
Physical information
Gender	Female
Hair colour	Grey, short
Relationship information
Family members	Mr Bones (father) † Mrs Bones (mother) † Edgar Bones (brother) † Sister-in-law † Susan Bones (niece) nieces and nephews
Affiliation
Occupation	Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement
House	Hufflepuff (possibly)
Loyalty	Ministry of Magic Department of Magical Law Enforcement Wizengamot Order of the Phoenix (indirectly)

"Amelia Bones is okay... she's fair, she'll hear you out"

— Nymphadora Tonks regarding Amelia's nature

Madam Amelia Susan Bones (d. mid-July, 1996) was a witch and celebrated Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Born to Mr. and Mrs Bones, she likely attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry before joining the Ministry of Magic.

Madam Bones, having a seat on the Wizengamot, presided over the disciplinary hearing of Harry Potter. She was fair, unlike Cornelius Fudge, the prosecutor, and was astounded and impressed by Harry's ability to conjure a corporeal Patronus. She voted for the clearing of all of his charges and Harry was allowed to leave. A year after in the second week of July 1996, Amelia was murdered, likely by Lord Voldemort, though she put up a valiant fight.

Biography

Early life

Little is known about Amelia's early life, other than that the First Wizarding War took a heavy toll on her family: her father and mother were killed by Lord Voldemort: Amelia's brother Edgar, a member of the Order of the Phoenix, his wife, and their children were murdered by Death Eaters. She had at least one surviving sibling, however, as she and Edgar shared a niece, Susan, who was born to another brother. As she was a partial namesake of her niece, it is likely that she was close to that brother.

Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Sometime after her schooling, Amelia joined the Ministry of Magic and was there-on known as "Madam Bones". She became the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and had a seat on the Wizengamot.

Second Wizarding War (1995-1996)

"My father reckons your aunt's a troublemaker, someone will teach her a lesson!"

— Gregory Goyle foreshadows what happens to Amelia

Respected and celebrated by most, the father of Gregory Goyle called her a "troublemaker" and that someone should teach her a lesson, presumably disliking her due to her unbiasedness and his association with the Death Eaters.

Amelia at Harry Potter's disciplinary hearing

Madam Bones sat on the Wizengamot and presided over Harry Potter's disciplinary hearing in 1995, which was initially supposed to take place in her office but was instead moved to Courtroom Ten in the depths of the Ministry. There, she sat on the bench along with Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge who acted as "Interrogators". Albus Dumbledore was the "witness for the defence". Despite poor treatment of Harry by Fudge, Madam Bones managed to keep the trial fairly unbiased and in defiance of Fudge's recent threats to fire anybody loyal or friendly to Dumbledore, allowed him to speak.

She also confirmed that under the rules laid down by her department, the accused had the right to provide witnesses and evidence in their defence and to use magic in front of Muggles if circumstances threatened the safety of all present, something which Fudge was actively trying to deny. Thanks to this, Harry was found innocent by a large majority of the court, including Madam Bones herself. During the trial, Madam Bones expressed admiration for Harry's ability to produce a corporeal Patronus at such a young age, and believed Arabella Figg's testimony when Fudge stubbornly did not.

Death

Girl 1: "Did you hear about her aunt? Poor Susan."

Girl 2: "Yes, it's awful, I didn't want to leave my family behind this summer."

— Two students mentioning Amelia and Susan Bones

A 1996 Daily Prophet article: "Amelia Bones found murdered at her home"

Amelia was murdered during the second week of July in the 1996 summer holiday, presumably for her anti-Voldemort activities, in her own home. In the opinion of Fudge, who had recently been dismissed as Minister for Magic, she had likely been murdered by Voldemort himself, as she was known to be a very skilled witch and all the evidence left proved that considerable effort was required to kill her. Her murder was also reported in the Muggle newspapers, the nature of which baffled Muggle police officers as she was murdered in a room which was locked from the inside. Afterward, some members of the Order of the Phoenix referred to her as one of the greatest witches of her time, and that her absence would be keenly felt by many.

Pius Thicknesse replaced Madam Bones as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement after her death.

It is possible that she was targeted by Voldemort as she was seen as a likely replacement for Fudge after his removal (the position of Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is often used as a stepping stone to the Ministership) and would have been impossible to manipulate or control in that regard. Another possibility would be that she was acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most powerful witches of her time, and therefore Voldemort would certainly have regarded her as a significant threat.

Physical appearance

Amelia Bones was described as being a square-jawed witch with close-cropped grey hair and a monocle. This gave her an appearance of being a serious person, which matched her personality perfectly. She also had a loud, booming voice.

Personality and traits

Amelia Bones was a serious, but fair person who did not overlook obvious points. She gave Harry Potter and Mrs Figg a chance to testify, and was also one to be impressed with remarkable feats, given her admiration of Harry's production of a corporeal Patronus at such a young age. Unbiased and firm, she did not cave into Fudge's intimidation and corrupt authority, and even openly expressed her friendliness with Arthur Weasley, a known supporter of Dumbledore and Harry, even in Fudge's presence, whereas many other coworkers avoided him out of fear of the Minister threatening to fire anyone in league with them.

Besides this, Amelia was a courageous woman, putting up a valiant fight against Voldemort himself despite knowing that she would more than likely perish, though she was ultimately killed. It is also very likely that she was kind, given the fact that Susan Bones, her niece, was upset when she died.

Magical abilities and skills

"A terrible loss. She was a great witch."

— Albus Dumbledore expressing the loss of Amelia Bones

• Duelling: Amelia was a highly skilled duellist, being able to hold her own against Lord Voldemort himself for a while when he arrived to murder her. Fudge also confirmed that she was a very gifted witch, and the evidence showed that she had put up a good fight.
• Strong will: It was also highly likely that Amelia was an exceptionally strong-willed person, as there was no mention of any attempts to place her under the Imperius Curse before she was murdered, which in turn implies that she was resistant to the curse. She also did not waver in her convictions even when her superiors thought otherwise.

Relationships

Family

Amelia was a member of the Bones family, a family of many great witches and wizards. The Bones family supported the Order of the Phoenix during the First Wizarding War. Their support of the Order was the reason why the most of them were murdered by Lord Voldemort or his Death Eaters.

Amelia had at least one unknown sibling and one brother Edgar. Edgar had a wife and children, but were all murdered by Death Eaters during the First Wizarding War, along with Amelia's parents. Her surviving sibling had at least one child, her niece Susan. They seemed to have a close relationship, as Susan was distraught over her death in the summer of 1996. Amelia was also single and had no children.

Coworkers

Amelia commanded great respect from her fellow coworkers at the Ministry of Magic, and she respected them in return. During Cornelius Fudge's campaign to discredit Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter, in which he ensured anyone who affiliated themselves with either of the two would be dismissed, Amelia remained fair during the disciplinary hearing of Harry Potter, and followed Dumbledore's opinion of following the proper protocols, while accepting Arabella Figg's testimony without bias. She also remained in friendly terms with Arthur Weasley, a known supporter of Dumbledore and Harry, and did not let Fudge's tyrannical bias distort her job, which Fudge could not seem to circumvent. When she died in battle against Lord Voldemort, Fudge sadly regarded her death as tragic.

Albus Dumbledore

Amelia's effectiveness and unbiassed personality has earned the respect of Albus Dumbledore. During the hearing, he appealed to her to follow the protocols of the Wizengamot, in which she agreed, and she permitted him to speak in Harry's defence and bring in witnesses. When Amelia was murdered the following year, Albus noted she was a great witch, and mourned her loss deeply.

Harry Potter

"Impressive. A true Patronus at that age... very impressive indeed."

— Amelia impressed by Harry's ability to conjure a corporeal Patronus

During a disciplinary hearing, Harry Potter was tried unfairly by the corrupt Minister Fudge. However, Amelia managed to keep the court back on track, permitting Harry to explain his reasons for breaking the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery.

Amelia also questioned him about his Patronus and was very impressed that a fifteen-years old had managed to achieve a corporeal form, even extending this complimentary information with her niece. It was due to Madam Bones' fairness and impressiveness that Harry was correctly acquitted, and he came to respect her for it. When he read of her death the following year, Harry was saddened.

Etymology

Amelia is a female given name. It is a variant of Amalia, derived from the Germanic word amal meaning "work" and means "industrious" and "fertile". The diminutive is usually Amy, Lia, Mia, Mel, or Mimi.

Etymologists believe that the name Amelia/Amalia is unrelated to the Latin gens name Aemilia, which was translated into English as Emily. Equivalents of Aemilia/Emily in romance languages do sound similar to Amelia (e.g. Italian Emilia) but have a different origin from this Germanic name.

Behind the scenes

• Amelia Bones is portrayed by Sian Thomas in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Part 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
• In the film, Amelia was killed during the Christmas Holidays, as shown in the newspaper when Hermione and Harry returned to school, rather than over the summer.
• In the books, she is known to wear a monocle, whereas in the films her eyes have nothing on them.
• In an early script for the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Amelia is incorrectly referred to by the name of her niece, Susan.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only) (Seen on the Daily Prophet)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) (Seen on the Daily Prophet)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game) (Mentioned only) (Not by name)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Seen on the Daily Prophet)