Charity Burbage
Origin: Harry Potter
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Species: Human
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Residence: Silverberg Street 1 (28-98)
Occupation: Former Muggle Studies Teacher
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Talent: Magic
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Import Date: 5 (+)
Professor Charity Burbage (d. July 1997) was a witch and the Professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, after the departure of the wizard who formerly held the post. She started her career at Hogwarts presumably sometime from 1993 onwards, to 1997.[2]
She believed that muggles were not so different from wizards and witches, and used this viewpoint in her teaching. It would eventually lead to her death as Lord Voldemort murdered her personally for writing a Daily Prophet article about her views during the Second Wizarding War.[2]
Biography
Early life
Charity was born to Mr and Mrs Burbage.[4] Her parentage is unknown, but it is likely that she was half-blood or pure-blood.[3]
Burbage possibly gained her magical education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in her youth. It is likely that she achieved high O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. marks in Muggle Studies, as she secured a job teaching the subject later.[2]
Career as a professor
Burbage took up the post of Muggle Studies professor sometime after a male teacher left. It is unknown what academic year she started teaching at Hogwarts, but it was sometime before the 1997–1998 school year.[2]
Death
During the summer holidays of 1997, Burbage was abducted by Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. An official statement claimed that she had 'resigned', although many who knew her were suspicious about her disappearance. She was suspended over a table at Malfoy Manor while the Death Eaters were having a meeting there. Voldemort accused her of polluting the minds of young witches and wizards with pro-muggle ideas. He vilified her Muggle-friendly beliefs, claiming that she wanted to encourage more magical people to 'mate' with Muggles.[2]
Burbage, noticing that Severus Snape was among the Death Eaters, begged him to save her. This caused amusement among some of the Death Eaters present, such as Bellatrix Lestrange. However, as he was serving as a undercover agent and could not risk blowing his cover, he could do nothing. He sat and watched with mostly concealed remorse as his supposed master cruelly taunted her and then murdered her with the killing curse, afterwards nonchalantly feeding her corpse to Nagini.[2]
No one knew of Burbage's whereabouts after her death. Sometime before 27 July, Charity Burbage's alleged resignation from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was briefly mentioned of the front page of the Daily Prophet.[8] However, members of the Order of the Phoenix did not believe it, such as Arthur Weasley, as they were unable to locate her anywhere after the summer.[9]
Sometime after the Fall of the Ministry of Magic, an editorial was published on the Daily Prophet disregarding Burbage's previous editorial and informing the public she was reported in hiding.[10]
On 1 September 1997, under the tenure of Headmaster Severus Snape, attendance of Muggle Studies class was made mandatory by the Death Eater-controlled Ministry of Magic, under professor Alecto Carrow.[11] It is unknown whether Burbage's true fate was ever uncovered and revealed to the wizarding world after the Second Wizarding War.
Personality and traits
Charity Burbage seemed to be a kind person who had been friends with many other professors, such as Severus Snape. She held very strong and passionate views in favour of the rights of Muggles and Muggle-borns. She held very tolerant attitudes towards Muggles, believing them to be fully equal to Wizardkind and that the decline of pure-bloods was beneficial to wizarding society, most likely based on the belief that it would lead to greater acceptance of Muggles among wizards and the decline of pure-blood supremacy.[2]
Magical abilities and skills
Muggle Studies: Charity was knowledgeable of Muggles and their ways of living considering that she was the professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She incorporated her knowledge of Muggles into her teaching philosophy of promoting tolerance and understanding between Muggles and wizardkind.[2]
Charms: Charity could produce a non-corporeal Patronus,[6] a mark of superior magical ability given the immense difficulty of performing the highly advanced protective charm.
Relationships
Severus Snape
During her employment at Hogwarts, she apparently considered herself to be friends with Severus Snape. She begged him to save her during the Death Eater meeting at Malfoy Manor in the summer of 1997.[2] Despite his apparent murder of Albus Dumbledore (unbeknownst to most people, Dumbledore had planned his death with Snape), she viewed him as a friend.[12]
However, it is also possible that she did not actually see Snape as a friend and was simply making a last ditch attempt to save herself by appealing to the only person in the room she had some semblance of a relationship with, having both been faculty members at Hogwarts.[2]
Unfortunately he could do nothing to help her, as he needed to pretend that he was truly loyal to Voldemort, and any attempt to save Charity would have resulted in both of them being killed. Nevertheless, he seemed to feel a level of remorse for it, not looking as glad as the rest of the Death Eaters when Charity was about to be killed.[2]