Muriel

Muriel
Biographical information
Born	Between 2 August 1889 and 31 July 1890
Blood status	Pure-blood or half-blood
Nationality	English
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Hair colour	Red (possibly, originally) Light grey
Skin colour	Light
Relationship information
Family members	Mother Possible grandson, great-nephew or great-nephew by marriage Nephew or nephew by marriage Lancelot (cousin) Ignatius Prewett (possible nephew) Tessie (possible niece or niece by marriage) Possible relative Leander Prewett (possible relative) J. E. Prewitt (possible relative)
Affiliation
Loyalty	Prewett family Order of the Phoenix (indirectly)

"Nightmare, Muriel is."

— Ron Weasley, describing Muriel's unpleasantness

Muriel (born c. 1890) was an English pure or half-blood witch and the great-aunt of Molly Weasley (née Prewett). 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 was 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.

Second Wizarding War (1997-1998)

"...and your hair's much too long, Ronald, for a moment I thought you were Ginevra. Merlin's beard, what is Xenophilius Lovegood wearing? He looks like an omelette... Isn't Harry Potter here? I was hoping to meet him. I thought he was a friend of yours, Ronald, or have you merely been boasting?"

— Muriel's unpleasant demeanour

Muriel allowed the Order of the Phoenix to use her home as a safe house during the Second Wizarding War. In the Battle of the Seven Potters on 27 July 1997, this house was the planned destination for Tonks and Ron Weasley. Muriel attended to the pair upon their arrival there.

Muriel owned a goblin-made tiara which she claimed had been in her family for centuries. After being persuaded by her great-niece, Molly Weasley, she lent the tiara to Fleur Delacour, who wore it at her wedding to Molly's son, Bill.

Harry Potter, Elphias Doge and Muriel sitting at Bill and Fleur's wedding in 1997

Muriel was also invited to the wedding, but was a rather unpleasant presence, drinking copious amounts of champagne and belittling the other guests. 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.

Muriel (bottom right) attending Bill and Fleur's wedding

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. 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. She also took in Garrick Ollivander, who returned the tiara to her, at Fleur's request. She may have possibly owned Shell Cottage before Bill and Fleur.

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."

Personality and traits

Ron Weasley: "Wow. You look great!"

Hermione Granger: "Your Great-Aunt Muriel doesn't agree. I just met her upstairs while she was giving Fleur the tiara. She said, ‘Oh dear, is this the Muggle-born?' and then, ‘Bad posture and skinny ankles'."

Ron Weasley: "Don't take it personally, she's rude to everyone."

— Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in 1997

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 and based on her reaction to Bill marrying Fleur, she seemed to hate Fleur's status of being French. 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.

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. 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.

Relationships

Weasley family

"Another Weasley? You breed like gnomes."

— Muriel upon her introduction to "Barny Weasley"

The Weasley family holidaying in Egypt

Muriel was not fond of her great-niece's family, the Weasleys, but nonetheless opened her home to them when they were in danger. She came to The Burrow for dinner every Christmas until Fred and George set off a Dungbomb under her chair. She likely wrote them both out of her will for this stunt. According to Molly Weasley, however, Muriel had a soft spot for Bill and when he and Fleur arrived at her home after escaping the Death Eaters, she fussed over both of them. It seems she had a distant relationship with Ron and Ginny, as she seemed to insult Ron a lot, and only called Ginny by her given name rather than her preferred nickname. She also disapproved of her great-great niece's dress at the wedding, thinking it was inappropriate.

Etymology

The name "Muriel" is the Medieval English form of a Celtic name which was probably related to the Irish name Muirgel. It was brought to England from Brittany by the Normans. In the modern era, it was popularised by a character from Dinah Craik's novel, John Halifax, Gentleman (1856). It is also of Gaelic origin.

Behind the scenes

• Muriel was played by the late Matyelok Gibbs in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Muriel's scene is much smaller than in the book, and it is not introduced as to who she is.
• She has some similarities to Harry’s aunt Marge, although they obviously have differences: for example, Muriel was a witch and Marge was not.
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book, Harry calls Muriel Ginny's great-aunt, but he is mistaken, as she is actually the great-great-aunt of the Weasley children.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (First mentioned)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game) (Voiced and mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter (website)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Mentioned only)