Fay Dunbar

Fay Dunbar (b. 1979/1980) was a British witch and Gryffindor student who aspired to become a member of the Auror Office. She attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, her first year being the 1991–1992 school year.

Fay was a fan of Quidditch, and liked to play as a Beater. She planned to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team in 1993. That year, she took Care of Magical Creatures and Divination, hoping to become an Auror. It is unknown if she fulfilled her dream after graduating from Hogwarts.

Biography

Early life

Fay Dunbar was born in late 1979 or early-to-mid 1980, presumably into a pure-blood or half-blood family, as she seemed unfamiliar with a Muggle hairdryer. She thought that Quidditch was the greatest sport in the world, and her preferred position was, apparently, playing Beater. She was also a fan of Gobstones.

At the age of eleven, Fay was accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland.

Hogwarts years

First and second years

After arriving at Hogwarts Castle, Fay was Sorted into Gryffindor House, presumably after Tracey Davis was made a Slytherin, meaning she was brave and daring. She shared a dormitory in Gryffindor Tower with Lavender Brown, Hermione Granger, Parvati Patil and a ginger girl. Fay and the ginger girl befriended, while Parvati and Lavender grew close and Hermione gradually became friends with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley.

Fay's friendship with the girl was unlikely, as, whereas she loved Quidditch, her friend found that it was too fast-paced for her and did not like it. However, they were rarely seen without one another and became almost inseparable. The both of them came to dislike Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who were renowned as bullies. She also came to acknowledge that, in her opinion, the Ravenclaw Quidditch team had the most handsome players in the school, though she considered Cedric Diggory as the best-looking.

At some point in her first few years, Fay may have joined the Gobstones Club.

As second years and above are allowed to have their own broomsticks, Fay brought her broom to Hogwarts and rested it against her bed. She also kept her Beater's bat at the foot of her bed, by her trunk. At the end of her second year, when her class had to choose their elective subjects, Fay chose Care of Magical Creatures, presumably believing that Professor Silvanus Kettleburn was still teaching, and Divination. These two subjects were also chosen by all the other girls in her dormitory, though her friend also did Arithmancy.

Third year

At some point in the summer holidays, Fay's mother or father signed her Hogsmeade permission form, allowing her to go to Hogsmeade at designated weekends.

After the summer holidays, Fay returned to Hogwarts, though this time Dementors were standing guard at every entrance. Neither Fay nor her friend liked the Dementors. After Fay heard that she was doing the same subjects as Draco Malfoy, she was highly displeased, and wished she did not have any classes with him. Her friend felt the same about having Care of Magical Creatures with Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe.

Fay planned on trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. As she had a Beater's bat by her bed, she presumably liked playing Beater, but the team already had two; Fred and George Weasley. However, it is possible that she hoped she could replace one of them, or was simply confused.

Fay and her friend, as well as Parvati and Lavender, were up and ready for their first day before Hermione was, though Parvati and Lavender had already left. While Hermione rushed to her class, the two friends remained in the dormitory, talking for a while. In the lesson, they were taught about Boggarts by Remus Lupin, the new teacher as of Professor Lockhart's departure, and had a practical lesson on how to destroy them. Fay faced the Boggart, and it frightened her by becoming either a rat, rattlesnake or eyeball, the other two belonging to her friend and to Lavender.^[3]

During the first Care of Magical Creatures, they went into the forest, which Fay's friend was afraid of because of the Dementors, and were told that their copies of The Monster Book of Monsters, which had bitten them, had to be stroked in order to open. When Professor Hagrid, who took Kettleburn's place after he resigned, introduced the Hippogriff Buckbeak, Fay, along with the rest of the class, did not seem to be able to believe her eyes. After Hagrid asked for a volunteer, she was afraid and stepped back, leaving Harry Potter to interact with Buckbeak instead. She watched apprehensively behind Hermione and Ronald Weasley, and applauded happily after Harry flew the Hippogriff. Unfortunately for him, Malfoy insulted Buckbeak, who proceeded to attack him. Fay ran and hid behind a rock with her best-friend and Parvati. The class was dismissed while Hagrid took Malfoy to Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing.

Fay went to Hogsmeade Village, on at least the first weekend they were allowed, and went with a girl other than her friend, she may not have been able to go.

After Sirius Black broke onto Gryffindor Tower, Fay slept with the rest of the school in the Great Hall in squashy purple sleeping bags that Professor Dumbledore conjured. However, she returned to her normal bed the day after, and spent most of her time talking with her friend in their dormitory.

Fay was later present during the Divination lesson that Hermione, after being insulted by Professor Trelawney, stormed out of the class. At the time, she was crystal-gazing with her friend, and looked up in surprise after Hermione left. She returned to her work straight away, and was later one of the last out of the classroom. On the Divination staircase, she walked with another girl, rather than her friend, who walked into Harry Potter.

Fourth and fifth years

In her fourth year, Fay and the rest of the school mourned the loss of Cedric Diggory during the Triwizard Tournament. The year before, Fay had said that she thought Cedric was the most handsome boy in the school.

In her fifth year, Fay sat her Ordinary Wizarding Levels. By this time, she had decided she wished to be a member of the Auror Office and be a Dark wizard-catcher. She achieved an Exceeds Expectations or Outstanding in Transfiguration, good marks in Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms and an Outstanding in Potions.

Sixth and seventh years

In her sixth year, Fay studied hard for her Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests, still wanting to become an Auror. This year, she could often be found in the Middle Courtyard, near the Transfiguration department.

Shortly before the Christmas holidays, Harry Potter was looking for a Muggle hairdryer for Arthur Weasley, a collector of non-magical artefacts. Fay told him that one of the girls in her dormitory had "a machine for drying her hair", most likely referring to her friend.

That same year, Fay also played Gobstones with Harry, who was trying to defeat all the Gobstones players to win the Gobstones Cup.

The attendance of Hogwarts being made mandatory in her seventh year, Fay probably returned to the school under Headmaster Severus Snape. It is assumed that she participated in the Battle of Hogwarts, once that Harry Potter claimed that the entire Gryffindor table remained after McGonagall's order to those who did not want to fight, or were under age, leave Hogwarts.

It can be presumed Fay survived the Second Wizarding War, as her name was not given among the fallen fifty of the Battle of Hogwarts.

Physical description

Fay was considerably taller than her friend, with brown hair which reached her shoulder blades. She had blue eyes and often wore her uniform tidily, though she took off her jumper and robe during one Care of Magical Creatures lesson and carried them around on her arm. Occasionally, she wore her hair in pigtails, like her friend.

Personality and traits

Fay was more outgoing than her friend, openly shouting "go away!" one morning when Hermione rushed passed her, while her friend just exclaimed "hey!". She was the only girl in her dormitory who liked Quidditch, and was unashamed at saying that Cedric Diggory was the most handsome boy in the school. She was also rather lazy at times, staying in the dormitory while everyone else ran off for Defence Against the Dark Arts. However, she was furthermore shown to be academically gifted, talented and aspirational, as she aspired to be an Auror, and she achieved high grades in many subjects for her Ordinary Wizarding Levels, which allowed her to progress to N.E.W.T. level, meaning she was very hard-working as well.

Magical abilities and skills

• Transfiguration: Fay managed to achieve an Exceeds Expectations at Ordinary Wizarding Level in Transfiguration, showing her to be clearly very skilled and competent in this difficult field of magic. 
• Herbology: Fay achieved either an Exceeds Expectations or Outstanding in this subject at Ordinary Wizarding Level. 
• Defence Against the Dark Arts: Fay achieved either an Exceeds Expectations or Outstanding in this subject at Ordinary Wizarding Level. She aspired to become an Auror, so it can be presumed she was very skilled and interested in this subject.  
• Charms: Fay achieved either an Exceeds Expectations or Outstanding in Charms at Ordinary Wizarding Level. 
• Potions: Fay achieved an Outstanding in Potions at Ordinary Wizarding Level, showing her to be immensely talented in potion-making.  

Etymology

Derived from Middle English faie meaning "fairy". It appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Arthurian legends in the name of Morgan le Fay. It has been used as a given name since the 19th century. In some cases it may be used as a short form of Faith,^[4] or another spelling for the mythological Irish creature; the Fae.

Dunbar means "castle headland" and comes from the old barony of Dunbar, now in East Lothian in Scotland. The place name Dunbar itself comes from the Gaelic dun meaning "fort" and barr meaning "summit". Locality from the town of Dunbar, at the mouth of the Frith of Forth, Scotland, so called from its situation on the rock which at this place projects into the sea.^[5]

Behind the scenes

• Fay was named only in the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. However, from the little we learn of her in this game, we can identify her with one of Hermione's roommates seen in The Prisoner of Azkaban game:
  • Fay says that one of the girls in her dormitory has a hairdryer. Harry proceeds to ask Hermione. Therefore, she is one of the "unidentified Gryffindor girls".
  • As she shares more physical characteristics with the brown-haired roommate than the red-haired, we can tell that they are one and the same.
• Fay and her friend were two of the fifth year Gryffindors who did not join Dumbledore's Army.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game) (First identified as Fay Dunbar)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Notes and references

Hogwarts Gobstones Team
Known Captains
Eileen Prince
Gobstones players
David Boorman · Felix Brunt · Poppy Caxton · Fay Dunbar · Craig Dunn · Cordelia Gifford · Gryffindor boy · Gryffindor boy's friend · Jason Swann · Gareth Pewsey · Bastien Queensbury · Ivan Renshaw · Arman Shettigar · Vikram Thakur · Nigel Wroxton · Zara Valli