Theodore Nott

Theodore Nott
Biographical information
Born	1 September, 1979 – 21 April, 1980 Great Britain
Blood status	Pure-blood
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair colour	Brown
Relationship information
Family members	Mr Nott (father) Mrs Nott (mother) † Cantankerus Nott (possibly)
Affiliation
House	Slytherin
Loyalty	Nott family Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Slytherin Death Eaters (indirectly)

Theodore Nott (b. 1979/1980) was a pure-blood wizard who was a Slytherin student in the same year as Harry Potter at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He came from a family of Death Eaters and supporters of Pure-blood supremacy.

Biography

Early life (1980-1991)

Theodore Nott was born to an elderly wizard, Mr Nott and his wife. After the death of his mother, Theodore was raised by his father, who was a Death Eater.

Hogwarts years (1991-1998)

Theodore started at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on 1 September, 1991 and was sorted into Slytherin house.

During a Care of Magical Creatures lesson in his fifth year, he was one of only three students present who could see Thestrals. This suggests that he may have witnessed his mother's death firsthand. He found the creatures rather distasteful as he watched one eating.

Fifth year

Hermione Granger pointed out Theodore's name to Harry Potter for the first time in 1996. She did this when Theodore was gathered in the school library with fellow Slytherins: Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Draco Malfoy. All four boys had fathers who had recently been outed by Harry as Death Eaters in an article published in The Quibbler. Theodore was the only member of the group whose reaction to seeing Harry was not specifically noted as being either negative or threatening (it wasn't mentioned at all).

Sixth year

"I wouldn't bank on an invitation. He asked me about Nott's father when I first arrived. They used to be old friends, apparently, but when he heard he'd been caught at the Ministry he didn't look happy, and Nott didn't get an invitation, did he?"

— Discussion of Slug Club invites

Theodore and twelve other students in N.E.W.T.-level potions class

While on the Hogwarts Express in 1996, Horace Slughorn waylaid Blaise Zabini and inquired after Theodore's father. Blaise replied that Mr Nott was a Death Eater imprisoned in Azkaban for breaking into the Department of Mysteries the previous June. Slughorn, not wanting any association with Death Eaters, wasn't pleased and thus invited Blaise, not Theodore, to join the Slug Club.

Theodore was one of four Slytherin students who progressed to the N.E.W.T.-level in Potions. During his first lesson with Professor Slughorn, he sat next to Draco, and they both sniggered when Hermione revealed that she was a Muggle-born. They also were sceptical about the effects of Amortentia.

Seventh year

Theodore attended his seventh year at Hogwarts. Due to being a pure-blood Slytherin, as well as the son of a Death Eater, he was likely treated better than most. Shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts, students were being evacuated from the school including the Slytherins. It is unknown if he was one of the few students to join Lord Voldemort, or if he simply joined those who evacuated.

Later life

In 2020 Nott duelled Harry Potter (the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement), before being arrested for the illegal possession of an unregistered and advanced Time-turner.

Nott had created at least two Time-Turners for Lucius Malfoy. The prototype, which was restricted by a boundary of five minutes, was seized by Potter and used by his son to travel to the past. The improved Time-Turner, which gleamed gold and allowed the traveller to stay in the past for an unlimited time, was kept by Lucius who never used it. Draco Malfoy then used it to save his son in the past.

Physical description

Theodore is "weedy" and "stringy," indicating that he is tall, thin, and perhaps weakly built. He was also considered to be "rabbity" in appearance by some.

Personality and traits

"Harry saw Malfoy lean close to Nott and whisper something; both of them snickered."

— Nott and Draco Malfoy making fun of Hermione's Muggle-born status

Theodore is a solitary boy who has never felt compelled to join "gangs," such as the one headed by Draco Malfoy. He is seen as a loner who does things by himself, although he does seem fit to join in by laughing at Hermione Granger's blood-status. He was also described as being clever.

Magical abilities and skills

• Potions: Theodore was skilled at potion-making, as he was only one of twelve students able to advance to N.E.W.T.-level in 1996. He either achieved an 'Exceeds Expectations' or an 'Outstanding' on his O.W.L. exam.
• Spell creation: Theodore was very skilled. He successfully created two Time-Turners that allow the user to travel far back into time, surpassing the Hour-Reversal Charm on the Ministry-issued devices.

Possessions

• True Time-Turners: Theodore created two Time-Turners while working for Lucius Malfoy, that had not been registered nor approved by the Ministry. Nott kept the prototype, which was made of inexpensive metal. The time-turner allowed the traveller to travel as far back as they wanted, but stay in the past for five-minutes before returning to the present.

Etymology

Theodore is an English name that comes from the Greek name Theodros, which is derived from the words theos, meaning "God", and dōron, meaning "gift". Thus, it is often considered to mean "gift of God". It was the name of many early Christian saints. The Welsh version of the name, Tewdwr, was anglicised to Tudor, the name of a royal dynasty of England that ended with Elizabeth I. It could imply that Theodore was "God's gift" to his parents, if the version of his mother being an older woman are true and she was already out of age to get pregnant.

In Norse mythology, Nótt is the personification of night. Also, Josiah C. Nott was a nineteenth century American physician who advocated and popularised polygenist theories about the inherent superiority of Caucasians.

Behind the scenes

• Rowling created a subplot which was eventually cut from the series storyline, where Theodore and Draco Malfoy were talking in the garden of Malfoy Manor, which would have been one of the few times that Draco would be seen conversing with someone he regarded as an equal, as Rowling said that Theodore was just as pure-blooded as him. Rowling stated that she liked the scene so much that she tried to use it twice: first in Chamber of Secrets and second in Goblet of Fire.

• Rowling states that she knows much more about Nott than what is revealed in the books, and expresses a similar sentiment in regards to Dean Thomas.
• It is possible that Theodore Nott was portrayed by Elliot Francis, who played an unidentified boy at Slughorn's dinner party. Like the Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) and Robert Knox (Marcus Belby) he was not seen as a guest at the christmas party again. In the book, all three of them (Neville, Marcus and Theodore) were not invited by Slughorn for christmas.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play)
• Quidditch Through the Ages (checked out the book)
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)