Eulalie Hicks

Eulalie Hicks
Biographical information
Born	1890s - 1900s
Nationality	American
Also known as	Lally
Title(s)	Professor Keeper of the Keys
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Relationship information
Family members	Grandmother Stanley (cousin) Hicks family
Magical characteristics
Wand	African rosewood, African mermaid hair, unknown length
Affiliation
Occupation	Charms professor at Ilvermorny Author
Loyalty	Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Dumbledore's first army

Professor Eulalie "Lally" Hicks was an American witch and a Charms professor at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the early 20th century and fought in the global wizarding war in the 1930s.

Biography

Early life

Eulalie Hicks was born into the Hicks family sometime between the 1890s and 1900, and grew up in the neighbourhood of Harlem, Manhattan, New York. Despite the fact that she grew up living in the No-Maj world, she displayed signs of magic from an early age and was taught about the traditional magic that existed in their family by her grandmother.

In her youth, she attended Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and gained a wand made of rosewood with an African mermaid hair core. During her school life, she became best friends with Porpentina Goldstein, and knew her younger sister Queenie as well, growing up together.

Teaching career

Sometime after her graduation, Eulalie at some point was hired as the Ilvermorny Charms professor. Evidently a respected member of the teaching staff, she was also named the school's Keeper of the Keys by the headteacher of the day. Eulalie at some point released a book on charms titled Advanced Charm Casting.

Lally became acquainted with Newton Scamander at some point, and became fan of his book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. She first met him in 1932 and told him that she had made his book mandatory reading for her all fifth-years at Ilvermorny. He too appreciated her work.

Moving against Grindelwald

On September 1927, Eulalie became aware that Nicolas Flamel was reaching out via phoenix-embossed books to her and he told her that Gellert Grindelwald was holding a dangerous rally in Paris. Eulalie, unable to do anything herself at the time, urged him to do what he could and assured him that they all believed in him.

In 1932, Hicks agreed to take a more active part in the anti-Grindelwald movement by joining Dumbledore's first army to assist Dumbledore in thwarting Grindelwald's rise to dominance over the wizarding world. Shortly before this team was due to meet up at The Great Wizarding Express headed for Berlin, she was sent to recruit the Jacob Kowalski, who had grown disillusioned with wizardkind after losing Queenie Goldstein. To accomplish this, Hicks travelled to his bakery in New York and, with the help of her cousin Stanley and his friends, staged an altercation where she pretended to be harassed by them so Jacob would come to her rescue in order to remind him of his bravery, worth and value to their cause.

Having transported Jacob and herself away with the help of a portkey made from one of her own books, Hicks brought her new companion to a place where the pair of them could join the rest of the group on the train via the Floo Network. Once there, she met Newt Scamander for the first time. Together, they travelled to Berlin to visit the German Ministry of Magic. There, they witnessed the acquittal of Grindelwald by Anton Vogel, much to their shock, and attended the Candidates' Dinner, where they stopped an assassination attempt on Vicência Santos, with Hicks having to save Jacob after he foolishly confronted Grindelwald at the dinner and made himself look like the assassin.

After the group members completed their missions, they all met at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where Lally spoke to some students in the Great Hall about the importance of studying Charms. She was informed of the Eyrie in Bhutan by Dumbledore and travelled there via a portkey in the Room of Requirement, to attend The Walk of the Qilin Ceremony. She was handed a duplicated copy of Newt's suitcase before travelling to deceive Grindelwald's followers there, as the real suitcase contained a living Qilin.

When in Bhutan for the ceremony, Lally and Theseus Scamander fought Grindelwald's followers in the streets when they sought to take their suitcases, defeating many, but they were soon outnumbered. However, upon Helmut opening the fake suitcases, him and Grindelwald's men were attacked by various enchanted objects within, allowing Lally and Theseus to escape. Lally witnessed Grindelwald's defeat in the election, his electoral fraud being discovered and his subsequent escape.

Sometime later, Lally attended Jacob's and Queenie's wedding in Kowalski's Quality Baked Goods, along with other allies.

Personality and traits

Lally was shown to be an intelligent and witty witch. She was also kind and supportive, given how she encouraged Jacob Kowalski to believe in himself. She also had a strong sense of morality and bravery, given how she opposed Gellert Grindelwald and his followers and worked diligently and firmly to assist Albus Dumbledore in stopping him.

Magical abilities and skills

• Charms: As a Professor of Charms at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hicks was an authority on this branch of magic and even authored a book on the subject titled Advanced Charm Casting. She could cast charms such as the Full Body-Bind Curse and Atmospheric Charms proficiently and nonverbally.
• Defence Against the Dark Arts: Albus Dumbledore noted that she possessed superb skills in defensive magic, to the point where he had no qualms about entrusting her with the task of thwarting a possible assassination attempt at the Candidates' Dinner in Berlin, and she had no qualms about "welcoming the challenge".
• Duelling: In Bhutan, she, with the help of Theseus Scamander, fought and defeated Helmut's men despite the two of them being greatly outnumbered. During this skirmish, she was shown to be resourceful by utilising the environment around her; she bewitched garments that had been hung up to dry to restraining one of the Aurors she was combating, thus putting him out of the battle, and also levitated crystal balls into the air and launched them at them, knocking several of them over.
• Nonverbal magic: Hicks could cast nonverbal spells swiftly with remarkable ease and precision. She was able to nonverbally paralyse Frank Doyle.
• Apparition: Lally appeared to be capable of apparition, having appeared in Jacob Kowalski's bakery after having only been in the street moments before, not having used the door to enter.

Possessions

• Wand: Hicks was able to wield this wand in the 1930s. It was made of African rosewood and had an African mermaid hair core.
• Key: As the Keeper of the Keys at Ilvermorny, Professor Hicks carried a key to the school with her at all times.

Etymology

• "Eulalie" is the French form of "Eulalia", which is derived from Greek ευλαλος (eulalos) meaning "sweetly-speaking", itself from ευ (eu) "good" and λαλεω (laleo) "to talk".
• The surname "Hicks" is an English patronymic derived from "Hick", which is from the medieval personal name "Hicke", a pet form of "Richard" (meaning "powerful ruler"). "Hicks" is a widespread surname in England, and is common in the southwest and southern Wales.

Behind the scenes

• Eulalie Hicks is played by Jessica Williams in a cameo in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and also in a larger and more significant role in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
• Jessica Williams stated that Eulalie came from the No-Maj world, though it is unclear if she was No-Maj-born or from a wizarding family that lived among No-Majs.

Appearances

• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay (First appearance) (Appears in photographs)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Appears in photographs)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore: Movie Magic
• Wizarding World (Mentioned only)

Notes and references

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