Giffard Abbott

Giffard Abbott
Biographical information
Died	Before 1989
Nationality	British or Irish
Title(s)	Professor Headmaster
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair colour	Red
Eye colour	Brown
Skin colour	White
Relationship information
Family members	Abbott (possibly) † Mrs Abbott (possibly) † Hannah Abbott (possibly) Abbott family
Affiliation
Occupation	Headmaster of Hogwarts School
House	Hufflepuff
Loyalty	Abbott family Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Hufflepuff

"Pass, friend to Hufflepuff!"

— Giffard Abbott

Professor Giffard Abbott was a wizard, with several portraits of him hanging in Hogwarts Castle. He had a male pet dog and seemed to have access to a source of food because fellow portrait Damara Dodderidge frequently asked him if he had any to give her.

Biography

Lifetime

Gifford Abbott was part of the Abbott family, which was one of the pure-blood families listed in the Sacred Twenty-Eight directory in the 1930s. However, Giffard's actual blood status was unknown and may have been a half-blood individual within the pure-blood family, like some Malfoys, or a muggle-born wizard born into the family after the 1930s.

Giffard would have attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in his youth and was sorted into Hufflepuff house. Later in his adult life, he was appointed Headmaster of Hogwarts at an unknown point.

1992–1993 school year

In early 1993, Giffard had a portrait of himself at the Grand Staircase, hung immediately below the first-floor landing. As it was placed in an inaccessible place, it is unlikely he guarded any shortcut to another part of the school.

1995–1996 school year

One of his portraits was hanging at the Grand Staircase, guarding the shortcut to the Transfiguration Courtyard, under the password "Dragon's Egg". When Abbott informed Harry Potter that he would need to ask a Hufflepuff student for the password in order to use his shortcut, Harry Potter had no difficulty doing this, as most Hufflepuffs had immense respect for him due to his loyalty to the late Cedric Diggory during the Triwizard Tournament. There was another set of portraits of him, hiding another hidden passageway between the Clock Tower and the corridor outside the Library; the password needed to gain access to this shortcut was "Tempus neminem manet".

1996–1997 school year

Giffard's portrait was moved to another landing of the Grand Staircase, during the next school year. However, he still guarded a secret passage to the same place in the Transfiguration Courtyard. Its password became "Light Against Darkness". He had a penchant for sighing wistfully, "Oh, to be young again!", when approached.

Behind the scenes

• Giffard died prior to early 1993, as the portraits hung at Hogwarts depict deceased individuals. His clothes indicate that he most likely lived during the Middle Ages.
• It is possible that Abbott's portrait is a reference to a portrait of Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire by Titian.

Etymology

• "Giffard" is from an English surname, which was derived from the Germanic given name "Gebhard".
• "Abbott" is a Middle English surname.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film) (First appearance) (Appears in portrait(s))
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (Appears in portrait(s))
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game) (Appears in portrait(s)) (First identified as Giffard Abbott)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game) (Appears in portrait(s))
• Harry Potter for Kinect (Appears in portrait(s))
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Appears in portrait(s))