James Potter

Origin: Harry Potter
Hair:
Eyes:
Species: Human
Birthday:
Grandparents: Henry Potter & Wife
Parents: Euphemia & Fleamont Potter
Partner: Lily Potter
Child: Harry
Grandchildren: James Sirius, Albus, Lily Luna &
Grandchild:

Residence: Olsen Street 25 (14-106)
Occupation:
Affiliation: Shifty Business
Talent: Magic, Shapeshifter (Stag)
Medical notes:
Sports/Instruments:
Languages:
Import Date: 5 (+)

James Potter I (27 March 1960 - 31 October 1981),[1] also known as Prongs, was an English pure-blood[3][4] wizard and the only son of Fleamont and Euphemia Potter.[12] He was also the grandson of Henry Potter, whom he named his son after.[17] He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1971 to 1978 and was sorted into Gryffindor.
When James started at Hogwarts, he met and became best friends with three fellow Gryffindor students: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. He also met Severus Snape, a Slytherin student with whom he became bitter rivals. During his seventh year, James was appointed Head Boy and began dating Lily Evans.
After graduating from Hogwarts, he married Lily and together they had a son, Harry James Potter, of whom he made Sirius Black the godfather. James, Lily, and their friends all fought in the First Wizarding War as members of the Order of the Phoenix; he and his wife defied Lord Voldemort three times. However, James and Lily were forced to go into hiding after a prophecy was made concerning Voldemort and their infant son. James and Lily were ultimately betrayed to Voldemort by one of their close friends (Peter Pettigrew).
As a result of this, James was tragically murdered by Voldemort on Hallowe'en in 1981. He and his wife died while trying to protect infant Harry.
James briefly appeared again in May 1998 through the Resurrection Stone. He appeared through it along with Lily (his wife), Sirius Black and Remus Lupin (his friends). After the Second Wizarding War, James posthumously had three grandchildren through his son: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna Potter, the first of whom was named after his grandfather and his father's godfather (and friend of the former).

Early life (1960–1971)
James Potter was born on 27 March 1960 to Fleamont Potter and his wife Euphemia. Fleamont was an accomplished, yet retired cosmetic potioneer and entrepreneur best known for inventing Sleekeazy's Hair Potion in 1926. Both Fleamont and Euphemia were elderly even by wizarding standards.[12]
Having been conceived so late in his parents' lives, he was raised in a doting household with little material limits, and pampered a great deal. Hence, it was no surprise that he grew to be proud, arrogant, and boastful, but deep down still a good person.[18]
James started his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1971 and was sorted into Gryffindor House. While there, he befriended fellow Gryffindors Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, and together they formed a small gang known only to themselves as the Marauders. Though more mischievous than diligent, James proved to be a clever student.
At some point during his education, he became Chaser for his House's Quidditch team, in which he was completely aware of his talent and often boasted to his fellow students. It is possible that he also collected Chocolate Frog Cards, as at an unknown time, the History of Magic teacher, Professor Cuthbert Binns, gave him the Circe card, which later came into the possession of Quirinus Quirrell, who kept it at Gringotts Wizarding Bank in Vault 998.[19]
At some time at school, he and Sirius used an illegal hex (perhaps Engorgio Skullus) on Bertram Aubrey which caused his head to grow twice its original size. It is unknown what motivated the duo to hex him, though it rewarded them a double detention.[20]
As second years, James, Sirius, and Peter figured out that Remus was a werewolf, but rather than abandoning him (James, in particular, insisted this monthly hazard did not mean Remus was truly abnormal), they spent three years learning to become Animagi in order to accompany Remus in his transformations. In his fifth year, James managed to perfect the transformation and become a stag Animagus, which earned him the nickname "Prongs". Using their new nicknames, the four friends created the Marauder's Map, which displayed the Hogwarts Castle area and everyone within it —including all staff, ghosts and students — in their current location at a given time, and thus made sneaking out of the castle and avoiding teachers much easier.[5]
At some time during his school years, James took a photograph of Hogwarts Castle at sunset that he gave to Lupin.[21]
For the vast majority of his time at school, James was somewhat an obnoxious youth with a love of showing off and exceptional self-confidence that bordered on arrogance. Severus Snape once said that he was so arrogant that "criticism simply bounced off him".[22] This rebellious attitude was notably shaped by the negative qualities he developed, such as the habit of ruffling his already messy hair to make it even untidier to look as though he had just alighted from his broomstick. Also, he tended to enjoy hexing innocent students for no other reason than because he could (especially Snape, a Slytherin in the same year as him who he had become rivals with). These qualities came about as a result of his pampered and spoiled upbringing.
James and Snape had a strong rivalry throughout their time at Hogwarts. To Remus and Sirius, the reason this rivalry began was due to Snape's jealousy over James's talent at Quidditch and his popularity, as well as Snape's interest in the Dark Arts, which James despised. However, it was later revealed that James and Sirius had got off on the wrong foot with Snape from the beginning: when they first met Snape during their first year on the Hogwarts Express, they insulted him (setting a solid foundation for rivalry), and their further interactions only served to make their rivalry intense and permanent — Snape followed the Marauders around, looking for reasons to get them expelled. James, in turn, used the hexes Snape himself had made up against him.[23]
At some point in their school years, Snape grew very interested in where Remus went every month, and saw Madam Pomfrey and Remus going to the Shrieking Shack using a secret passage under the Whomping Willow. Sirius had, as a joke, told him that the trick to getting past the Whomping Willow was to poke the knot at the bottom. Snape followed Sirius's directions, and was nearly at the Shrieking Shack when James pulled him back. At great risk to his own life, James saved Severus from certain death from Remus in werewolf form, but Snape adamantly refused to believe that his old rival would have done him a favour, believing that James had only saved him in order to avoid expulsion, and despised being in his debt.[24][5]
James spent much of his academic career chasing after Lily Evans, an attractive Muggle-born fellow Gryffindor from Snape's hometown of Cokeworth who was secretly Snape's best friend and childhood crush since before they both started at Hogwarts. Lily was among those who were not so impressed of James, considering him arrogant and obnoxious.
She once demanded James to quit jinxing Snape for fun. The former and his friends were in the middle of bullying Snape with a spell of Snape's own invention. Lily told him to stop and James responded with, "I will if you'll go out with me, Evans." When James took the jinx off, Snape in his humiliation and anger, called Lily a "filthy little Mudblood". James demanded him to apologise, but Lily responded that James was as bad as Snape and she would not date him "even if it were a choice between him and the Giant Squid".[16] Snape's friendship with the vivacious and pretty Lily may have sparked envy in James and further fuelled the hateful enmity between the two.[18]
At the age of sixteen, James's parents allowed Sirius to move in with them so he could escape his own horrible family, and Sirius soon became an unofficial member of their family. By the time he was at his seventh year, James had matured to the point that he lost the more mischievous aspects of his personality, and was even appointed Head Boy alongside Lily, despite the fact that he had not been a prefect. He stopped hexing bystanders for fun, though he still secretly hexed Snape, and in turn, Snape never lost an opportunity to hex him back, although it's implied that James was willing to stop for Lily's sake.[25] He also finally managed to impress Lily, and began dating her at this time.
In late 1977, Lily and James had a disastrous first meeting with Lily's sister Petunia Evans and her then-fiancé, Vernon Dursley, which presumably took place over Christmas break, as they were both still at Hogwarts. When Vernon tried to impress James with his car, the wizard in turn boasted of his own material wealth, and a row ensued. The evening ended with both Vernon and Petunia storming out of the restaurant and Lily bursting into tears, with James promising he'd apologise and make it up (which, due to his and Lily's untimely deaths, never happened). Petunia married by the end of that year. Though Lily and James were invited to the wedding, Petunia refused to have Lily as a bridesmaid, upsetting her deeply. At the reception, Vernon would not talk to James, but described him as "some magician" within his earshot.[26]
After graduation (at only eighteen years old) James married Lily Evans and Sirius served as their best man at the wedding. It was a quiet ceremony because of the dangers of the First Wizarding War. Lily's older sister Petunia did not attend, for she was highly against Lily being a witch and marrying a wizard. It is highly likely that Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew attended, as they were best friends of James. Both James's parents, Fleamont and Euphemia Potter attended the wedding.[27] It's unknown as to whether either of Lily's parents attended as well.
James, Lily, and Sirius (along with Remus and Peter) joined the Order of the Phoenix, in the fight against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. In around 1977[28], he and Sirius were involved in a motorbike chase with two Muggle policemen. Although the chase started off as a bit of fun, it turned slightly more serious when the pair were attacked by three men on broomsticks. Sirius and James used their wands to raise the police car that had been chasing them, and their attackers crashed into it.[29]
During the course of the next three years, James and Lily defied the Dark Lord three times as the war continued. The first was when they refused to join Voldemort's side when he attempted to recruit them.[30]
At some point between 1979 and 1980, James's parents died of Dragon Pox, and he inherited the vast Potter family fortune from them, which enabled him to comfortably support his family without the need for a paying job. James also used his wealth to support Remus, who was unemployable due to his status as a werewolf.[31]
In the autumn of 1979, Lily became pregnant, which caused her and her husband to go into hiding.
On 31 July 1980, Lily gave birth to their son, Harry James Potter, but it was not long before Albus Dumbledore found out that they were in the gravest of dangers: Harry had become a target of Lord Voldemort himself due to a prophecy concerning the one who could ultimately defeat him for good. Voldemort had learned of the prophecy through his follower, who was none other than a bitter old enemy of James as well as the former best friend of Lily: Snape.[32]
In 1981, Dumbledore told the Potters that their best chance of remaining safe against Voldemort was the Fidelius Charm. James insisted on using Sirius as their Secret-Keeper, even though Dumbledore himself had offered to fill the position.[33] However, Sirius had a different plan — he convinced James and Lily to use Peter Pettigrew as their Secret-Keeper instead, with him (Sirius) as a decoy. They agreed and Dumbledore cast the charm in secret, but this attempt at a double-bluff ended in tragedy. The only people to know about the switch were James, Lily, Sirius, and Peter. Even Dumbledore and Remus were kept in the dark. Less than a week later, Peter betrayed the Potters to Voldemort.[34]
When the Dark Lord arrived at Godric's Hollow on Hallowe'en in 1981, James told Lily to take Harry and run. After his wife and son were out of the room, he stood to face the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time on his own, in order to give his wife and child time to escape the cottage. However, James had made a fatal mistake; he had left his wand in the living room, where he had been entertaining his young son with it before Voldemort's arrival. Voldemort effortlessly murdered him with the Killing Curse — James "fell like a marionette whose strings were cut".[35]
Voldemort then proceeded upstairs to where Lily and the infant Harry were hiding. Voldemort murdered Lily, who died protecting Harry, but thanks to her loving sacrifice, the Killing Curse Voldemort cast at Harry rebounded and destroyed the Dark Lord's body leaving Harry with only a lightning-bolt scar. Thus, Harry became known as "the Boy Who Lived" and whose name would be famous.[8]
After James and Lily's deaths, their son was raised by Lily's unloving sister, Petunia Dursley, and her grumpy husband, Vernon, along with their gluttonous son, Dudley. Despite not remembering his parents, Harry held them in high esteem. This faltered slightly where his father was concerned. He learned that James had been something of a bully in his youth, witnessing a memory of Snape's, in which James and Sirius picked on and humiliated Snape simply because they were bored.[16]
Snape, who switched sides after Lily's death and became Potions professor at Hogwarts, treated Harry with disdain throughout his academic career, perceiving him to be "arrogant as his father, a determined rule-breaker... attention-seeking and impertinent".[23] In revenge he frequently bullied and humiliated Harry.
In an attempt to stay hidden from Argus Filch, the school caretaker, Harry stumbled upon the classroom where the mirror was being stored. Upon looking into it, Harry saw his late parents, Lily and James Potter.[36] Over the next few days, Harry proceeded to visit it as often as he could to see his parents' faces. The Mirror also occupied his thoughts beyond anything else, to the extent that he disregarded Ron's warning that he was growing obsessed with it.
Harry only stopped visiting the mirror after Dumbledore found him one night. Dumbledore found Harry and explained what the mirror was all about. Dumbledore told him that the mirror was to be moved and requested that Harry not go looking for it. 1992 was the last time Harry saw his parents faces in the mirror. Later, at the end of Harry's first year, Rubeus Hagrid gave Harry a special photo album containing pictures of his parents.[37]
In his third year, whenever Harry encountered a Dementor, he was forced to relive his parents' deaths. The death he was particularly forced to relive was Lily's.[38][39] This could be due to Harry being in the same room as Lily when she died, while James was murdered in the hallway. Therefore, Harry did not witness nor hear James's death.
In Harry's fourth year, Wormtail had placed Voldemort's rudimentary body into a cauldron containing the nearly finished potion. He added the first two ingredients: his hand and Harry's blood, as Voldemort believed it would make him stronger and make his enemy touchable. This was because he indirectly received Lily's sacrificial protection. However, this action also bound Harry's life to Voldemort again but inversely: Harry couldn't die as long as Voldemort still lived, which ironically meant he couldn't kill the boy.[40]
On 24 June 1995, during Harry's duel with Voldemort in the Little Hangleton graveyard, they experienced Priori Incantatem. Shades of his mother and father, and others whom Voldemort had murdered came out of Voldemort's wand, encouraging Harry and distracting Voldemort so the younger wizard could escape from the graveyard.[41]
In 1996, Harry also witnessed a memory of James viciously humiliating Snape back when they were Hogwarts students. James had suspended Snape in the air and went as far as taking Snape's trousers off in front of a large crowd of students. Harry was disgusted by James's attitude, despite his own hatred of Snape.[16]
In 1998, Harry learned he was a Horcrux of Voldemort's, and walked toward his death in the Forbidden Forest. Upon entering, he used the Resurrection Stone to summon James and others who had perished in the war against Voldemort. James and Lily told Harry that they were tremendously proud of him, proud of his outstanding courage and strength, and assured him that they would stay with him until the very end. Harry described their very presence as his courage, the reason he was able to keep putting one foot in front of the other, with Lily smiling at him, and James nodding in encouragement.[42]
Harry eventually named his eldest child after his late father. James would gain two more grandchildren: Albus Severus and Lily Luna Potter.[43]

Physical description
James was a tall, thin man with hazel eyes and untidy black hair that stuck up at the back.[11][10] During his Hogwarts years, he had an indefinable air of having been well cared for and even adored. As late as his fifth year, he started wearing glasses, though he had not in his first year.[16]
His son, Harry, was constantly noted to look very much like him, having the same untidy hair, thin face, mouth, eyebrows, and even hands. However, as observed by Harry in Snape's worst memory, James's nose was slightly longer than his son's,[16] though this could be Snape's negative perception towards him.
In his Animagus form, James was a tall and powerful red stag, large enough to subdue an adolescent werewolf alongside Sirius's bear-like black dog form.[5]

Personality and traits James was a clever and talented wizard, but very mischievous in his youth. He was arrogant and boastful. He occasionally bullied and jinxed other students just for fun, particularly his long-time rival, Severus Snape.[16] However, even in this stage of arrogance, he still displayed some positive qualities of character. Despite being a pure-blood, he strongly disagreed with the concept of blood purity. He was disgusted with any prejudice towards Muggle-borns and did not hold prejudice towards creatures like werewolves, and was shown to be very kind to Remus Lupin, his friend who was a werewolf.
This loyalty he felt towards Lupin would extend to his adulthood. Demonstrated, when he used his wealth to support the unemployable Remus. Additionally, even despite his bad relationship with Snape, James never wanted him actually dead or hurt in a traumatic way, and even risked his life to prevent Snape from being killed by Lupin in his wolf form, showing he may humiliate but even at his worst he would never stoop to the level of murder by inaction.[5] Snape would later point out that James was lazy.[44]
James ultimately matured and changed his ways as his school years went on; he lost some of his arrogance and stopped using his magic irresponsibly on others. He became enough of a responsible student and leader to be Head Boy in his final year, and later a member of the original Order of the Phoenix. Though he never completely lost his rebellious side, it was clear James had left Hogwarts a far better person than he had been upon entering it.
His best quality was his willingness to sacrifice himself for his wife and son, as demonstrated when he told Lily to take Harry and run while he held off Voldemort, proving himself to be a true Gryffindor.[35]

Magical abilities and skills
Transfiguration: James's wand was said to be "excellent for Transfiguration",[13] with his own skills showing his exceptional proficiency in this notably very difficult, scientific and even dangerous branch of magic. He was so skilled in Human Transfiguration, that he learned how to become an Animagus at the age of fifteen.[5] He also very likely succeeded in this subject whilst as a Hogwarts student.
Potions: James was exceptionally proficient in potion-making. At the age of fifteen, he successfully brewed an effective Animagus potion. This testified to his remarkable talent in the subject, as the Animagus potion was known to be highly complex, difficult to brew, and had great consequences if done incorrectly.[46] Remus also described the Animagus transformation was a very difficult branch of magic that "could go horribly wrong". The fact that James not only succeeded at it[5] (but also helped Peter to manage it as well) is concrete evidence of his being an skilled potioneer. It is possible that his exceptional talent in potions at such a young age stemmed from his extensive lineage. He was descended from great potioneers such as Linfred of Stinchcombe, his earliest ancestor and creator of an early version of the Pepperup Potion. He was also descended from Fleamont Potter, creator of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion (or simply Sleekeazy), which quadrupled the family fortune.
Charms: James was highly talented in charm-work from a young age - he and his fellow Marauders managed to create the magically-complex Marauder's Map during their teenage years, with the Homonculous Charm,[5] along with a Charm to insult Severus Snape.[24] He was also able to cast the highly advanced Patronus Charm, conjuring a corporeal Patronus whose form was identical with his Animagus form, a stag.[14] He could also cast simpler charms proficiently, such as the Disarming Charm and Scouring Charm, which he once used to bully Snape in his fifth year.[16]
Duelling: James was a highly skilful duellist. During his student years, he was able to humiliate Severus Snape, who was already a skilled wizard in his youth, albeit with help from Sirius Black. He could cast several offensive spells competently, such as the Disarming Charm, Impediment Jinx, Levicorpus (along with its counter-jinx Liberacorpus) and other hexes, which he often used to bully Snape.[16] During the First Wizarding War he presumably took part in battles against the Death Eaters and other dark forces, surviving until the end of the war. He and his wife, Lily, also defied Voldemort himself three times, which showcased his exceptional talent in martial magic.[23]
Flying: James was an accomplished Quidditch player, playing Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team during his school years.[6] He was noted to have excellent reflexes, as seen when playing with a Snitch he had taken from the Quidditch supplies. Sirius also stated that Harry's Quidditch and flying skills were as good as those of James'.[47]

Possessions
Wand: James's wand was 11 inches long, mahogany, and had an unknown core. The wand was described as "pliable", slightly more powerful than Lily's wand, and "excellent for Transfiguration", which would later come in handy.[13]
Invisibility Cloak: James owned the invisibility cloak (actually one of the fabled Deathly Hallows) that he and his friends often used during their days at Hogwarts to assist them in their mischief. Albus Dumbledore had the cloak prior to James's death and later passed it down to Harry.[36][37]
Marauder's Map: The map was created by the Marauders between 1975 and 1978.[5] It is a magical document that reveals all of Hogwarts. Not only does it show every classroom, every hallway, and every corner of the castle, but it also shows every inch of the grounds, as well as all the secret passages that are hidden within its walls and the location of every person in the grounds, portrayed by a dot.[33] However, the Room of Requirement is not visible on the map, being the only known area of the castle not to be seen on the Map, other than the Chamber of Secrets.
Two-way mirror: James owned this mirror during his school years; he and Sirius Black used a pair of two-way mirrors so they could talk to each other while they were in separate detentions. Sirius later gave James's mirror to Harry in 1996.[48]
Potter inheritance: When James's parents died, they left him a small fortune that he would later pass on to his son, Harry.[13]
Potter cottage: James owned a cottage in Godric's Hollow along with his wife Lily during the final weeks of the First Wizarding War. This is where he and his wife were murdered and his son Harry was marked as the "Boy Who Lived". The cottage still stands as a reminder of what happened that Hallowe'en night in 1981.[1]
Cat: This was a pet of the Potter family. What happened to it after the attack is unknown.[49]