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Merlin1

Merlin, founder of the Order of Merlin, which was originally an organisation, not an award.

The Order of Merlin is an award bestowed upon wizards and witches who have achieved great deeds. It has three different levels: First Class, Second Class, and Third Class.

It could be said to be comparable to the Muggle Victoria Cross, Congressional Medal Of Honor, Presidential Medal of Freedom or the Nobel Prize.

History

The Order of Merlin was founded by Merlin in the Middle Ages as an organisation with the goal of promoting laws to protect and benefit Muggles.[1] It is unknown when the Order changed from an organisation to an award or when its focus shifted from advocating Muggle rights to honouring great accomplishments in general.

Known recipients

Order of Merlin, First Class

This was either Arcturus Black III or Pollux Black. Awarded for his "services to the Ministry," which, according to Sirius, was another way of saying that he had given them a lot of gold.
Probably for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald, possibly contributed to by his discovery of the Twelve Uses of dragon's blood.
Awarded posthumously, or so it was believed at the time, for his "heroic confrontation" with Sirius Black. Pettigrew, not Black, was later revealed to have been the one who betrayed the Potters, and his Order of Merlin was retracted as a result.
Awarded for saving the lives of several Muggles during the Ilfracombe Incident in 1932.
Awarded posthumously for saving the life of a Muggle child from a runaway manticore.

Order of Merlin, Second Class

Order of Merlin, Third Class

Recipients of unknown class

May have been awarded for his invention of the lycanthropy-treating Wolfsbane Potion.[2]

Possible recipients

Cornelius Fudge promised to give Severus Snape the Order of Merlin for capturing Sirius Black, then assumed to be a fugitive murderer, but Black escaped before Fudge could follow through on his word. It is more than likely that he was awarded the Order of Merlin First Class posthumously after his true role in the Second Wizarding War was revealed to other members of the Order of the Phoenix, including Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Notes and references

  1. Famous Wizard Card (Merlin)
  2. Horace Slughorn states in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 7, "I was just telling young Marcus here that I had the pleasure of teaching his Uncle Damocles. Outstanding wizard, outstanding, and his Order of Merlin most well-deserved."
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