Muriel
Origin: Harry Potter
Hair:
Eyes:
Species: Human
Birthday:
Residence: Lorentz Street 10 (39-84)
Occupation: Guard
Affiliation:
Talent: Magic
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Sports/Instruments:
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Import Date: 5
Pets:
Muriel (born c. 1890) was an English pure or half-blood[2] witch and the great-aunt[7] of Molly Weasley (née Prewett).[8] Thus she was the great-great aunt of the Weasley children, much to their dismay, as Muriel loved to gossip and was generally rude and unpleasant to be around.
Biography
Early life (late 1800s-1899)
Muriel was born sometime between 31 July, 1889 and 2 August, 1890 to a woman who was good friends with Bathilda Bagshot. Her surname is unknown; it may be Prewett, but only if she is related to Molly on her father's side.
During her youth, Muriel eavesdropped on a conversation between her mother and Bathilda Bagshot, listening in secretly from behind a door. She learned that the Dumbledore brothers had an altercation at their sister Ariana's funeral.[9]
Muriel allowed the Order of the Phoenix to use her home as a safe house during the Second Wizarding War.[8] In the Battle of the Seven Potters on 27 July, 1997, this house was the planned destination for Tonks and Ron Weasley.[10] Muriel attended to the pair upon their arrival there.[10]
Muriel owned a goblin-made tiara which she claimed had been in her family for centuries.[9] After being persuaded by her great-niece, Molly Weasley,[11] she lent the tiara to Fleur Delacour, who wore it at her wedding to Molly's son, Bill.[9]
Muriel was also invited to the wedding, but was a rather unpleasant presence, drinking copious amounts of champagne and belittling the other guests.[9] At the wedding, she also interrupted a conversation Elphias Doge and Harry Potter (disguised as "Barny Weasley") were having about Albus Dumbledore, which she had overheard as she was walking past. Muriel and Doge proceeded to have a heated argument regarding Dumbledore. Doge, being a childhood friend of Albus, defended him and Kendra passionately from the claims Muriel argued with that were based on evidence supplied by Rita Skeeter's new book, The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore and what she had heard Bathilda Bagshot tell her mother.[9]
In early 1998, Muriel allowed most of the Weasley family to take refuge in her house, as they had become targets of the Death Eaters.[12] Fred and George Weasley, unable to run their shop in Diagon Alley, began selling their products by owl out of Muriel's back room, much to her chagrin.[13] She also took in Garrick Ollivander, who returned the tiara to her, at Fleur's request.[13] She may have possibly owned Shell Cottage before Bill and Fleur.[5]
Physical appearance
At age one hundred and seven, Muriel had a beaky nose, red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes, and bony fingers. She wore a feathery pink hat that was described as giving her the appearance of a "bad-tempered flamingo."[9]
Personality and traits
Muriel was a loud, ill-mannered, and extremely rude woman who was able to find fault with everything and everyone. When she insulted Hermione Granger in 1997 for having "bad posture and skinny ankles" and rudely referred to her as a Muggle-born, Ron urged her not to take it personally, since Muriel was rude to everybody. Among her other insulting remarks were that Xenophilius Lovegood looked "like an omelette" in his yellow robes, that Ron's long hair made him nearly indistinguishable from his sister, that George's ears were "lopsided" after his right ear had been magically cut off, and that Ginny's dress was "far too low cut." Based on her insult to Hermione, she may have disliked Hermione's Muggle-born status[3] and based on her reaction to Bill marrying Fleur, she seemed to hate Fleur's status of being French.[14] Muriel liked to use her advanced age as a justification for her impolite actions, in spite of the fact that she seemed quite strong for her age.[9]
Muriel enjoyed gossip and was a fan of poison-pen journalist Rita Skeeter, stating that she "always" read Rita's work, and that she was eager to pre-order a copy of her book The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore.[9] She was also shown to use Skeeter's points as fact and parts of her arguments, for example when she was arguing about Albus Dumbledore she brought up points made in Skeeter's book.
Despite her rude behaviour, Muriel did have a soft side, as she lent her goblin-forged tiara to Fleur for her wedding with Bill despite an implied dislike of her and, more importantly, when the Weasley family was in danger of being arrested by Death Eaters, she allowed them to hide in her home.