Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing ONE of the most hated characters from the entire series. No it’s not Vernon
Dursley and no it’s not Voldemort- it’s none other than Dolores Jane Umbridge- Hogwarts
High inquisitor, proud Ministry employee and HEAD of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission.
More specifically-however, we’re going to be digging in to Umbridge’s past and uncovering
her humble beginnings. Was she always awful? Who were her parents? Where did she grow up?
Why was she so prejudiced? Sit back, relax and enjoy the life of Dolores Jane Umbridge.
Now, before we get started I just want to refute one thing: Umbridge did NOT hail from
the Selwyn family. In the deathly Hallows, while serving as head of the Muggle-Born registration
commission, Dolores claimed that the ‘S’ on the necklace around her neck stood for
‘Selwyn’.
"That's - that's pretty, Dolores," she said, pointing at the pendant gleaming in the ruffled
folds of Umbridge's blouse.
"What?" snapped Umbridge, glancing down. "Oh yes - an old family heirloom," she said, patting
the locket lying on her large bosom. "The S stands for Selwyn... I am related to the
Selwyns... Indeed, there are few pure-blood families to whom I am not related....”
While this was probably more of a distraction tactic rather than a genuine claim- she still
said it, and I want to make it perfectly clear that Umbridge was NOT related to the Selwyns-
in fact, she wasn’t related to any pure-blood families...at all. The truth is- Umbridge
was a half-blood,part of her existence that she tried very hard to hide.
Dolores Umbridge was a british half-blood witch born sometime BEFORE the year 1965.
BEFORE 1965 is a bit vague, but that’s all we’re given, so she could have been 31 when
starting working at Hogwarts, or 61- it’s quite unclear. She was a short woman with
a broad flabby face, little neck, and slack mouth- resembling a toad. She was born in
the British Isles to one magical and one muggle parent. Her family was quite small. Her father
was a wizard by the name of Orford Umbridge, her mother was a muggle named Ellen Cracknell,
and her younger brother’s name is never actually revealed. Isn’t it interesting
how the department head for the muggle-born registration commission was in fact a muggle-born
herself?
Dolores’ family and home life was already very dysfunctional, and so it didn’t help
that her father, her magical parent, had very little ambition- perfectly happy to work as
a floor mopper at the ministry of magic.
Later in life when Dolores worked at the Ministry herself, she was occasionally questioned about
her relationship to the floor mopper at the ministry- a connection that she would vehemently
deny. In fact, it’s later revealed that those who did question her identity, or her
fathers, almost always had ‘nasty things’ happen to them:
“Nasty things tended to happen to people who asked about Orford, or anything that Dolores
did not like talking about, and people who wanted to remain on her good side pretended
to believe her version of her ancestry.”
I’m sure you can only imagine what a terrible and judgemental person like Umbridge would
think of a floor mopper. However, Dolores wasn’t the root cause of all of the issues
in her family, in fact- I think it was her father that ended being being the root cause
of the families problems- as he actively blamed Dolores’ mother for birthing a squib- the
SQUIB in question of course being Dolores’ brother- whose name is never revealed. Despite
having very little ambition- having a squib child was a source of shame for him- and the
main focal point for all of the families troubles. This was undoubtedly an unhealthy environment
for Dolores to grow up in, and I have no doubt that it contributed to turning her in to the
dysfunctional woman that she would become. I’ll continue discussing her family later
on, but for now let’s jump into Umbridge’s earlier years and her proper introduction
to magic.
Like so many before and after her, At age 11 it was time for Umbridge to start planning
to head to Hogwarts- “the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world”-
at least, according to Hagrid.
When they come of age, all young witches and wizards should expect a Hogwarts acceptance
letter - even the ones like Umbridge. The Hogwarts acceptance letter informs new students
of their acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and along with the
letter includes a list of required textbooks and materials required for the upcoming school
year. From this point, students are required to travel to diagon alley and purchase the
materials-one of the most important pieces of kit of course being a WAND. For this particular
item students know exactly where to go: Ollivander’s wand shop.
As we all know- the wand chooses the witch or wizard, and what’s even more interesting
is that you can actually derive a lot about someone’s personality from their wand. When
it came time for a wand to choose Dolores- she ended up with an 8 inch birch wand with
a dragon heartstring core. The first thing that should pop out to you here is that Dolores’
wand is abnormally short- particularly as Ollivander chiefly gives out wands between
9 and 15 inches in length. While this short wand wouldn’t mean much coming from another
wandmaker, it actually SIGNIFIES a lot coming from Ollivander.
“Wandmakers often match the wand length to the height of the witch or wizard who will
use it, but Ollivander considers this measure inadequate. In his experience, longer than
average wands tend to be drawn to those with a physical peculiarity or a bigger personality
whereas abnormally short wands select people whose character lacks in something.”
What this tells us is that even at age 11 Dolores’ character was ‘stunted’ (especially
morally) or lacked something. A short wand, particularly an ABNORMALLY short wand, is
certainly no compliment.
After collecting all of her school supplies it was time for Umbridge to head off to school-
to Hogwarts- and so she travelled to platform 9 ¾ just like all of the other children her
age. After arriving at Hogwarts it wasn’t long before the sorting ceremony began- the
ceremony that decides which Hogwarts house you best fit in to.
What I’m sure won’t surprise any of you is that Umbridge was sorted in to Slytherin
house- the house most commonly associated with those that were morally dubious. Umbridge
was a good student and took school very seriously- but because she clashed with her head of house,
Horace Slughorn, she was never awarded any positions of power- i.e Prefect, head girl
etc. despite possibly being deserving of those potions. While she certainly isn’t charming
to any degree, Slughorn really didn’t take to her, and once described her as an ‘idiotic
woman’. Her inability to garner any positions of power or additional responsibility at the
school in spite of her work ethic meant that Umbridge never enjoyed her time at Hogwarts.
Meanwhile, homelife for Umbridge was difficult as well- and she grew to hate each of her
parents more and more as she grew older. In fact, the constant internal struggles that
the family faced eventually split them up.
“Dolores’s parents were unhappily married, and Dolores secretly despised both of them:
Orford for his lack of ambition (he had never been promoted, and worked in the Department
of Magical Maintenance at the Ministry of Magic), and her mother, Ellen, for her flightiness,
untidiness, and Muggle lineage. Both Orford and his daughter blamed Ellen for Dolores’s
brother’s lack of magical ability, with the result that when Dolores was fifteen,
the family split down the middle, Orford and Dolores remaining together, and Ellen vanishing
back into the Muggle world with her son. Dolores never saw her mother or brother again, never
spoke of either of them, and henceforth pretended to all she met that she was a pure-blood.”
The family split while Umbridge was still studying at Hogwarts, at age 15, but at this
stage she hated them all so much that it didn’t really matter. Instead of being sad about
it, she just continued to focus on her studies in the pursuit of one day achieving some level
of power. I do wonder, though, how the split would have affected her mentally- as by the
time she was 15 she would have known her mother/brother quite well. Not seeing them ever again must
have been tough- but then again, this is Dolores Umbridge we’re talking about.
After graduating from Hogwarts, Umbridge finally had an opportunity to receive recognition
for her work ethic. During her time at Hogwarts her growth was stunted by Slughorn, largely
because he didn’t like her, but when she secured a job at the Ministry of Magic she
climbed the ranks quickly. She started off as an intern at the Improper Use of Magic
Office, and by the time she was 30- 10 or so years later, she became head of that same
department. Umbridge achieved this role while still very young, largely due to a combination
of three things: strong work ethic, ruthlessness, and an outwardly ‘sweet’ demeanour when
important.
However, despite having a strong work ethic she certainly didn’t play by the rules,
and would often take credit for other people’s work. She was known for tyrannising her subordinates
(who she felt could offer nothing to her) and being overly flattering towards her superiors
(in the hopes that it would further advance her career). Basically- she was a suck up,
but the ‘sweet’ side that she would show to her superiors was of course entirely contrived.
Of course, working at the Ministry also meant that she now worked in the same place as her
father- but, as I mentioned earlier, she denied any affiliation with him. In fact, she actually
paid him off- offering him a monthly allowance to simply get out of public sight- she didn’t
want to risk any connections being made. This was the beginning of Dolores’ outrageous
claims regarding her pure-blood status.
With her father gone, and her ruthless nature, she continued to climb and climb the ranks
of the ministry- eventually becoming Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic-
even earning herself a spot in the Wizengamot. One thing that I’ve always found interesting
is how Umbridge established herself and got started in the ministry without her identity
ever being properly questioned. In a world that had only just recently begun to accept
half-bloods and muggles-borns as part of their society, it’s curious that Umbridge got
by the way that she did. Had she tried to enter the ministry a century sooner, it’s
untelling how that would have gone for her.
While working at the Ministry Dolores did any and everything she could to rise to the
top of the career ladder- and this included looking for a potential partner. Repeatedly,
Umbridge tried to garner the affections of one of her superiors in order to elevate her
status- but everyone at the ministry found it quite difficult to like her. In fact, her
prejudiced viewpoint toward certain groups- basically anyone that wasn’t a pure-blood
HUMAN wizard, started to become obvious. In fact, in 1993 Umbridge passed anti-werewolf
legislation, and in 1994 started a campaign calling for merpeople to be rounded up and
tagged.
Soon Umbridge would begin at Hogwarts- but before that happened we also of course need
to remember the incident in little whinging involving dementors. You see, since becoming
Under-secretary to the MInister for Magic, Fudge- Umbridge became reasonably close with
him- only because they worked directly together. As Umbridge was a little bit deceitful and
undercutting, she took advantage of Fudges paranoia surrounding the return of the dark
lord - and took action to take care of Harry Potter who was insistent that Voldemort had
returned. In order to ‘silence’ Harry, SHE anonymously ordered the dementor attack
on Dudley and Harry in Little whinging. By sending Dementors there, she knew that she
would get her desired result either way. If the Dementor’s successfully ‘kissed’
Harry, then great- he would keep his mouth shut. And if Harry used a Patronus charm to
get rid of them, then he could be expelled for using magic in the presence of a muggle.
It was a win-win for Umbridge, except not, because Harry didn’t end up getting expelled.
You see, despite her presence at Harry’s trial, the court ended up voting in Harry’s
favour- and the charges were dropped. However, this wasn’t the last that Harry saw of Umbridge,
as not long after, at Hogwarts of all places, they met again.
In 1995 disaster struck Hogwarts- for you see, it was this year that Umbridge was appointed
as the new defence against the dark arts professor. Umbridge was a poor teacher, mainly because
she taught her own biased and ineffective curriculum. However, she didn’t act in this
role alone for long, as she was eventually appointed as Hogwarts’ first ever ‘high
inquisitor’- a position that she used to harass students and peers. However, this power
still wasn’t enough for Umbridge- as Dumbledore was still technically in charge- he was headmaster.
During this time the ministry (namely Fudge) and Dumbledore were continually butting heads.
Fudge was lashing out-He was blinded by fear, and in utter denial that the dark lord Voldemort
had returned. Dumbledore, continually tried to convince Fudge of the truth, but his efforts
were futile, and Fudge continued to punish Dumbledore in whatever way he could.
Eventually, Dolores Umbridge and her ‘Inquisitorial Squad’ discovered the headquarters of Dumbledore’s
army in the Room of Requirement. Dumbledore’s Army was of course formed by Harry and had
nothing to do with Dumbledore, but with Dumbledore’s name in the group’s name, fingers started
to get pointed at him. Dumbledore happily took responsibility for the formation of the
group-claiming that it was all his idea, and that no students should be punished in his
place. After a minor scuffle with Umbridge, some Aurors and Fudge- Dumbledore eventually
left Hogwarts- this left the school without a Headmaster. At this point Umbridge passed
Educational Decree Number Twenty-Eight, which effectively replaced Dumbledore with Umbridge.
Umbridge was headmistress of Hogwarts. This was a DARK dark time for the school- arguably
as dark as when Snape took over- but fortunately, it didn’t last long.
Umbridge ran a tight ship at Hogwarts- which meant that not a lot of illicit activity when
unnoticed. So, when Umbridge eventually saw an opportunity to punish Harry for something-
she jumped on it- and even threatened him with the Cruciatus Curse. In order to prevent
Harry from basically being tortured by the school’s new headmistress, Hermione decided
to distract Umbridge by mentioning a ‘secret weapon’ of the order of the phoenix.
From here, Umbridge was tricked in to travelling to the Forbidden Forest with Harry and Hermione-
at which point they were confronted by a group of centaurs. Umbridge, arrogant and prejudiced
as ever, didn’t back down in their presence, and began to attack them. This only angered
the centaurs (who already didn’t like Umbridge) even more, and they subsequently snapped her
wand in half and captured her. Umbridge was eventually saved by Dumbledore, who the centaurs
came to respect, though she did hold a substantial fear of centaurs for the rest of her life.
With the irrefutable evidence pointing to Voldemort’s return, Dumbledore was re-appointed
as headmaster and, much to the joy of the Hogwarts population, Umbridge no longer had
anything to do with the school.
Amazingly, however, Umbridge still found herself with a job after leaving Hogwarts. In fact,
the Ministry accepted her back in her previous role of Senior Under-Secretary to the Minister
of Magic. Also, at this stage the Ministry had a new Minister- Rufus Scrimgeour.
Despite a brief appearance at Dumbledore’s funeral, the next we hear of Umbridge is in
1997 following Voldemort’s takeover of the ministry. In addition to her primary position
of under-secretary, Umbridge also became head of the muggle-born registration commission,
where she conducted trials that were effectively designed to prosecute muggle-borns.
While working at the ministry under Voldemort’s regime, Umbridge wore a locket around her
neck- a locket which turned out to be the locket of Salazar Slytherin- a HORCRUX. She
received the locket as a bribe from Mundungus Fletcher- and didn’t really know of its
significance, or of the fact that it was affecting her behaviour. It made an already insufferable
person that much worse- and it only strengthened her extremist ideals and hatred towards groups
which she disliked. She claimed that the locket was an heirloom, and that the ‘S’ stood
for Selwyn- the name of a known pureblood family, but this was of course a lie, like
I mentioned in the beginning of the video.
Eventually, while working in her new role, Umbridge once again came face to face with
Hermione, Ron and Harry, who were disguised as Ministry employees. They arrived at the
active hearing of muggle-born witch Mary Cattermole, who was being unfairly prosecuted by Umbridge.
Unable to contain his anger any longer, Harry ended up attacking Umbridge and Corbin Yaxley
with a stunning spell, which allowed the trio to steal the locket from around her neck and
flee. Unfortunately, however, after the trio escaped, Umbridge was left with free reign
to continue unfairly prosecuting muggle-born witches and wizards, and presumably, she did
so a with newfound FURY having been bested by the trio once again.
Umbridge doesn’t appear much more in the story after this, as there are bigger problems
in the wizarding world- Lord Voldemort. However, with Voldemort’s eventual downfall, the
ministry once again came under the control of NORMAL witches and wizards- expunging all
of Voldemort’s followers from positions of power. The Ministry of Magic essentially
underwent a reformation, headed by Kingsley Shacklebolt who became the new minister for
magic. Fully aware of the type of person that Umbridge was, and the crimes that she had
committed during Voldemort’s regime- Kingsley had Umbridge arrested, tried, convicted and
given a life sentence to the island fortress of Azkaban.
Ah, don’t you love a happy ending?
And that’s it for this video! I hope you enjoyed it- if you want more of these ‘life
of’ style videos then let me know in the comment section below.
Until next time
YER A WIZARD ARRY