Eldritch Diggory

Eldritch Diggory
Biographical information
Born	Pre-1716
Died	1747
Blood status	Pure-blood or half-blood
Nationality	British
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair colour	Light brown
Skin colour	Light
Relationship information
Family members	Helen Thistlewood (great-niece) Eddie Thistlewood (great-nephew) Amos Diggory (possible relative) Cedric Diggory (possible relative) † Diggory family
Magical characteristics
Wand	Unknown length, Poplar, unknown core
Affiliation
Occupation	Minister for Magic
House	Hufflepuff
Loyalty	Diggory family Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Hufflepuff British Ministry of Magic

"Back in London, Diggory established a committee to explore alternatives to Azkaban, or at least to remove the Dementors as guards."

— Ministry Diggory horrified by Azkaban

Minister Eldritch Diggory (d. 1747) was a British wizard who served as the fourth Minister for Magic of the British Ministry of Magic, in office from 1733 to 1747. He defeated Perseus Parkinson for re-election in 1733 and was re-elected at least once.

Biography

Minister Diggory was born into the Diggory family, a wizarding family of unknown blood status. At an unknown point (though probably at age eleven like most children), he bought a wand at Ollivanders. According to Garrick Ollivander, he owned a "fine" poplar wand.

Diggory was later appointed as the British Minister for Magic. He was a popular Minister and first established an Auror recruitment programme in Great Britain.

At some point in his career, Diggory visited Azkaban. This proved to be a shock for him, since he'd had no idea of the awful conditions inside the prison. Many within the prison died of despair and the rest were mostly insane. When he returned to London, Diggory established a committee to explore alternatives to Azkaban, or at least remove the Dementors as guards. Experts argued that if the Dementors were deprived of prisoners' souls on which they could feed, they might abandon the prison and head for the mainland. However, Diggory, being so horrified at what he had seen, continued his search for alternatives nonetheless.

In 1747, Diggory died in office due to a case of Dragon Pox. This disabled the committee from reaching a decision concerning Azkaban.

During the Calamity in the late 2010s and early 2020s, an Auror member of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force discovered a hand-written diagram etched by Diggory tucked within a book on defensive wards. The Auror studied the diagram, helping them improve their defences in combat. A Calamity Investigator working for the task force later discovered a long-lost memo written by Diggory positing that keeping one's mind completely clear could amplify a particular charm's effects. Through repeated trial and error, the Calamity Investigator used this method to increase the effectiveness of their Inn Charm.

It is very likely that Amos Diggory, an employee of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the British Ministry of Magic, and his son, Cedric Diggory, Hogwarts' champion for the Triwizard Tournament in 1994, were his descendants.

Etymology

Eldritch is an English word of uncertain origin meaning "alien, supernatural". The term is most closely related with the works of American horror author H. P. Lovecraft, which launched a type of monsters known as "eldritch abominations", of which Dementors are sometimes seen as a low-key example.

It is believed that the surname "Diggory" was chosen by Rowling in honour of Digory Kirke, a character created by C. S. Lewis, one of her favourite authors.

Behind the scenes

• Diggory's portrait is voiced by Matthew Waterson in Hogwarts Legacy.
• If the player chooses Hufflepuff house in Hogwarts Legacy, they receive a house-specific quest involving Eldritch. If the player chooses a different house, this event is contradicted by others that occur instead. The quest for Hufflepuff is called Prisoner of Love which involved finding Richard Jackdaw's ghost.
  • In the quest, which takes place during the 1890–1891 school year, a portrait of Diggory enlisted the help of the new fifth-year by sending them to his great-niece Helen Thistlewood to help to solve a crime involving Richard Jackdaw, Anne Thisbe, and Apollonia Black.

Appearances

• Pottermore (First mentioned)
• Wizarding World (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (Mentioned only)
• Hogwarts Legacy (First appearance) (Appears in portrait(s))

Notes and references

Minister for Magic of Great Britain
Ministers for Magic
Ulick Gamp (1707–1718) Damocles Rowle (1718–1726) Perseus Parkinson (1726–1733) Eldritch Diggory (1733–1747) Albert Boot (1747–1752) Basil Flack (1752–1752) Hesphaestus Gore (1752–1770) Maximilian Crowdy (1770–1781) Porteus Knatchbull (1781–1789) Unctuous Osbert (1789–1798) Artemisia Lufkin (1798–1811) Grogan Stump (1811–1819) Josephina Flint (1819–1827) Ottaline Gambol (1827–1835) Radolphus Lestrange (1835–1841) Hortensia Milliphutt (1841–1849) Evangeline Orpington (1849–1855) Priscilla Dupont (1855–1858) Dugald McPhail (1858–1865) Faris Spavin (1865–1903) Venusia Crickerly (1903–1912) Archer Evermonde (1912–1923) Lorcan McLaird (1923–1925) Hector Fawley (1925–1939) Leonard Spencer-Moon (1939–1948) Wilhelmina Tuft (1948–1959) Ignatius Tuft (1959–1962) Nobby Leach (1962–1968) Eugenia Jenkins (1968–1975) Harold Minchum (1975–1980) Millicent Bagnold (1980–1990) Cornelius Fudge (1990–1996) Rufus Scrimgeour (1996–1997) Pius Thicknesse (1997–1998) Kingsley Shacklebolt (1998–c. 2019) Hermione Granger (c. 2019–?)