Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’ll be discussing
professor Filius Flitwick- resident charms master of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and
wizardry, and head of Ravenclaw house. Filius comes from the latin word for ‘Son’ and
it has been expressed that his name is derived from ‘filius philosophorum’ which means
‘the philosophers son’- a symbol in alchemy.
When new students are first sorted in to Ravenclaw- they are introduced to their head of house
in the follower manner:
"Speaking of eccentrics, you'll like our Head of house, Professor Filius Flitwick. People
often underestimate him, because he's really tiny (we think he's part elf, but we've never
been rude enough to ask) and he's got a squeaky voice, but he's the best and most knowledgeable
Charms master alive in the world today. His office door is always open to any Ravenclaw
with a problem, and if you're in a real state he'll get out these delicious little cupcakes
he keeps in a tin in his desk drawer and make them do a little dance for you. In fact, it's
worth pretending you're in a real state just to see them jive."
Flitwick is an interesting character as, though he is quite prevalent, not a lot of information
is ever revealed about him or his backstory. At least not too directly. However, what we
can do is piece together Flitwick’s story with the little tidbits that we’re sporadically
given.
Filius was born somewhere in the British Isles to the wizarding family, the Flitwicks. His
small stature can be attributed to what Rowling has described as a ‘dash’ of goblin blood-
stemming back to what we believe to be his great, great, great grandparent. Clearly,
goblin blood is quite potent, as despite preceding Filius’s existence by several generations,
it still had a profound impact on his physical stature. We don’t know which of Filius’
parents carried the goblin blood, or exactly how far back it would have been introduced
to his bloodline-but we do know that it stemmed from long before Filius. We don’t know what
year he was born, because we don’t actually know how old Filius Flitwick is- and this
is further complicated by the fact that the character we see on screen in films is portrayed
in 2 very different ways. We’re first introduced to Flitwick right at the beginning of the
books/films, in Harry Potter & the philosopher’s stone- then we see the same Flitwick return
in harry Potter and the chamber of secrets. This version of Flitwick is grey-bearded,
bald and clearly quite old - perhaps even giving Dumbledore a run for his money. But
then, out of nowhere, The Prisoner of Azkaban introduces us to an entirely different, NEW
Flitwick- a much younger version of the professor sporting a full head of brown hair, and a
large curled moustache. They did a bit of a 180 on his character, but I have personally
become much more familiar with the younger, brown-haired Flitwick that was present for
the majority of the films.
But, while we don’t know Flitwicks EXACT age, there is a lot of speculation floating
around that he was born sometime between 1935 and 1958 (this is a wide range, I know). 1958
seems late, because this would mean that he was only 40 during the Battle of Hogwarts,
which makes no sense to me. 1935 on the other hand would make him 63 during the Battle of
Hogwarts, which doesn’t quite match his newer appearance. I’m thinking that I personally
feel best about splitting the difference- and assuming that Flitwick was born in the
year 1946, which would make him 52 during the battle of Hogwarts. For some perspective,
this would make him 5 years older than Bellatrix Lestrange, 2 years older than Alastor Moody,
and 11 years younger than McGonagall (assuming she was born in 1935)- this seems about right.
Like most other characters, Flitwick also attended Hogwarts in his youth. Due to his
goblin heritage-Flitwick was initially treated like a second class citizen by many - the
result of stigma towards goblins in the wizarding community.
“Goblins, while they appear to have at least a grudging co-existence with the wizarding
world, have nonetheless experienced much discrimination from wizards, and many have led significant
uprisings against them in the past.”
However, despite the discrimination that Flitwick experienced first hand, he had no issues at
the school- this was no doubt the result of his incredibly thick skn, and ability to perceive
those who treated him differently as ignorant simpletons- rather than malicious sectarians.
This was a testament to Flitwick’s overall tolerance. He was a man that could handle
a lot, and what he endured in his life made him very tough. So tough in fact, that it
was revealed to us in the Chamber of Secrets that Flitwick was once a duelling champion:
"Flitwick was a duelling champion when he was young..."
He supposedly has a ‘shelf full of trophies’ to prove it.
During Flitwick’s sorting ceremony, the sorting hat did take some time to sort Flitwick-though
it should be noted that no hatstall occurred. A hatstall occurs when the sorting hat needs
additional time to come up with a decision-usually 5 minutes or longer, and though with Flitwick
it took some extra time, it didn’t need 5 minutes. It occurs when a student has a
personality that could be considered equally suitable for each of the Hogwarts houses-
and in Flitwick’s case, the hat viewed Flitwick as a nearly equally suitable candidate for
both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.
Gryffindor house has an emphasis on bravery as a character trait, and Ravenclaw has an
emphasis on intelligence and knowledge. Though Flitwick was exceedingly brave, his intelligent
and studious mind ended up being a better fit for Ravenclaw house - where he would later
feel right at home.
Flitwick was a promising young student who achieved high grades in both his OWL and NEWT
exams- showcasing exceptional ability across a multitude of subjects. However, what Flitwick
really excelled in was charms. Charms are spells which add certain properties to objects
or individuals. Charms should not be confused with transfigurations, as transfiguration
refers to a spell that changes what the object is, rather than just changing properties of
the object. There are countless charms in Harry Potter that cover an extensive number
of outcomes. Charms also include enchantments, and we see Flitwick exercising his charms
abilities while casting defensive enchantments over Hogwarts before its attack by Voldemort
and the death eaters. Flitwick is thought to be one of the most talented charms teachers
that ever taught at Hogwarts, and had no difficulty producing even the most complex, complicated
and powerful shield charms.
After graduating from Hogwarts, Flitwick became a master duellist, and dove further in to
other areas of magic- eventually mastering some of the trickiest areas of magic, like
Defence against the dark arts. And it was Flitwick’s knowledge of the dark arts that
allowed him to personally defeat a handful of death eaters during the siege on Hogwarts.
From there, Flitwick found himself right back at his old stomping grounds- taking up the
post of charms master at Hogwarts in classroom 2E. Flitwick’s classroom was located in
the charms corridor on the third floor of the training grounds tower-the same tower
where the library is located.
Flitwick was a gifted professor, and commanded a great deal of respect from both his colleagues
and students. Not only was he an excellent teacher, but he was also considerably more
tolerant and patient than some of the other professors. During charms lessons, Flitwick
was the target of many misfired spells that were produced at the hands of Ron Weasley,
Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, and others.
Flitwick was also far more tolerant of disobedience, and would rarely deduct house points or give
his students detention. Flitwick’s class was among Hermione’s favourites, as she
praised him as a professor. It also helped that she did particularly well in his class.
Knowing that Hermione was very talented with charmwork, he would sometimes turn a blind
eye to her showing up late to class, or missing it altogether. It was this attitude that made
him very well-liked by the student body. Additionally, due to Flitwick’s introduction to discrimination
very early on in his life, he was particularly conscious of and fair when it came to the
consideration of students houses. He had no bias toward students of his house- and treated
all students the same- as he should.
Flitwick taught at the school for many many years, and in 1998 helped with the defence
of Hogwarts against the death eaters. Flitwick played a pivotal role in the defence of Hogwarts,
as he was able to help defeat numerous death eaters, including the powerful Antonin Dolohov.
This is a true testament to Flitwick’s abilities.
After the battle of hogwarts, Flitwick simply resumed his post as charms master at the school.
He was a passionate and devoted professor that loved educating new generations on charmwork-
and after the battle he still had plenty of life left in him. Flitwick, the ‘tiny little
wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk” was one of the best
things to ever happen to the school.
And that’s it for the video! Who do you guys want next? If you enjoy the content,
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YER A WIZARD ARRY