Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Characters/Charity Burbage
| Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter - Character | |
| Charity Burbage | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Hair color | ginger |
| Eye color | Unknown |
| Related Family | Unknown |
| Loyalty | Dumbledore |
Overview
Charity Burbage is a previous Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts.
Role in the Books
Although her name is never mentioned, Professor Burbage is apparently teaching Muggle Studies. Hermione Granger takes this course and passes her exam with a mark of three hundred and twenty percent. Hermione, however, decides to drop the course at the end of the school year so she can return to a normal class schedule.
Professor Burbage affronts Voldemort and his Death Eaters by teaching that Muggles are not so different from wizards, and by daring to publish "an impassioned defence of Mudbloods" (Voldemort's words) in the Daily Prophet. As a result, she is kidnapped by Death Eaters and summarily executed by Voldemort. Nagini, Voldemort's snake, then eats Professor Burbage's dead body. A story about her "resignation" from Hogwarts appears in the Prophet, but members of the Order of the Phoenix discount it, as they are unable to locate her anywhere after that.
Strengths
Charity Burbage shows courage and determination in refusing to back down from what is right and just. As a teacher at Hogwarts and a decent, educated person, she knows that Lord Voldemort and other Dark wizards are once again at liberty in the world. Yet even during the most trying times, she persists in pursuing the right and noble cause. Moreover, as she is bound and slowly rotated upside down above the hearth at Malfoy Manor, doomed to death, she repeatedly pleads to Severus Snape to help her. There is another person in the room she could have called to, but did not. This indicates that Burbage suspected that Snape was on the side of the good, or might at least have enough pity to try and spare her.
Weaknesses
Relationships with Other Characters
We must assume that she has some professional contact with Professor Snape. We believe Hermione took a class with her, in Harry's third year. As we only see her for about fifteen minutes in the course of the entire series, and as she is unconscious for all but about two minutes of that time, we cannot form any serious conjectures about relationships.
Analysis
Questions