Order of Merlin

Cornelius Fudge: "Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class, if I can wangle it!"

Severus Snape: "Thank you very much indeed, Minister."

— Cornelius Fudge's expected offering of this award to Severus Snape

An Order of Merlin award

The Order of Merlin (abbreviated O.M.) was an award bestowed upon wizards and witches who had achieved great things for the wizarding world. It had three different award levels: First Class, Second Class, and Third Class. It was the wizarding world's equivalent to the Order of the British Empire, with first class being the equivalent to the most senior order: a knighthood.

History

"...an Order of Merlin, First Class, that had been awarded to Sirius's grandfather for 'Services to the Ministry'."

— Arcturus Black was awarded the Order of Merlin for donating a lot of gold

Merlin, whom the Order of Merlin award was named after

An organisation called the Order of Merlin was founded by Merlin in the Middle Ages. Merlin believed that wizards and witches should help Muggles, and, thus, the Order of Merlin established rules against the use of magic on Muggles.

The award known as the Order of Merlin was created in commemoration of Merlin and was first given out by the Wizengamot in the 15th century. It is unknown whether this award was connected to the earlier organisation of the same name.

As often happened with such highly coveted awards, Ministry of Magic favourites seemed to receive the Order of Merlin, especially the higher classes, more often than one might expect. Notable unworthy recipients were Cornelius Fudge, who gave it to himself despite his less-than-distinguishable career, the fraudulent Gilderoy Lockhart, the treacherous Peter Pettigrew, and Arcturus Black, who was widely believed to have bought it by loaning the Ministry a large amount of gold.

Minerva McGonagall's Order of Merlin award which she kept in her office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry became a Foundable in the Calamity which affected the wizarding world in the late 2010s/early 2020s. It was returned to her office by members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force.

Appearance and classes

The Order of Merlin consisted of a "handsome" golden medal which hung on a coloured ribbon indicating its class.

There were three different classes of Order of Merlin that were awarded:

• First Class: Awarded for "acts of outstanding bravery or distinction" in magic. The colour of the ribbon for this class was green, which was believed to represent Merlin's Hogwarts house, Slytherin.
• Second Class: Awarded for "achievement or endeavour beyond the ordinary." The colour of the ribbon for this class was purple.
• Third Class: Awarded to individuals who "have made a contribution to our store of knowledge or entertainment." The colour of the ribbon for this class was white.

Known recipients

Order of Merlin, First Class

Portrait	Name	Date	Notes
	Podric Batworthy	Unknown	Batworthy held, additionally, the title of Grand Sorcerer, which suggests he was particularly accomplished in magic.
	Orabella Nuttley	1754 (Minister Hesphaestus Gore)	Awarded for her use of the Mending Charm to repair the Colosseum after it was destroyed by an explosion that occurred when a fight broke out between supporters of two broom racers in 1754.
	Arcturus Black (III)	Between 1901 and 1991	Awarded for his "services to the Ministry", which, according to his grandson Sirius Black, was another way of saying that he had given them a lot of gold. Medal thrown into the rubbish when 12 Grimmauld Place was being cleaned out in August 1995, but possibly smuggled out of the rubbish by Kreacher, as Kreacher mentioned an Order of Merlin, First Class being among the items stolen from 12 Grimmauld Place in 1997 by Mundungus Fletcher.
	Tilly Toke and her family	1932 (Minister Hector Fawley)	Awarded for saving the lives of several Muggles during the Ilfracombe Incident in 1932.
	Albus Dumbledore	1945 (Minister Leonard Spencer-Moon)	Awarded for his defeat of the Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, effectively putting an end to the Global Wizarding War. During the campaign to discredit him, it was mentioned by Remus Lupin that the Ministry would consider taking away the Order of Merlin from Dumbledore. Dumbledore claimed that he didn't care as long as he wasn't taken off of the Chocolate Frog Cards. However, when Dumbledore's credibility was restored, the Ministry's consideration to retract the medal was cancelled.
	Norvel Twonk	1957 (Minister Wilhelmina Tuft)	Awarded posthumously for saving the life of a Muggle child from a runaway manticore.
	Peter Pettigrew	1981 (Minister Millicent Bagnold)	Awarded posthumously (or so it was believed at the time) for a "heroic confrontation" with Sirius Black. The medal was given to Pettigrew's mother. In 1994 and later, it was revealed that he had been the one who betrayed the Potter family, and that Black was just the scapegoat.
	Cornelius Fudge	Between 1990 and 1995 (Minister Cornelius Fudge)	Presumably for his work as Minister for Magic; awarded by Fudge to himself, which caused controversy in the wizarding community.
	Crescent Flump	Offered multiple times prior to and including 1992 (Minister Cornelius Fudge)	Awarded for his role in saving multiple Aurors during a particular mission. Flump refused to accept the award multiple times, believing himself responsible for the deaths of those he couldn't save.
	Remus Lupin	1998 (Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt)	Awarded posthumously for his role as a member of the Order of the Phoenix and for his death during the Battle of Hogwarts. Remus was the first werewolf ever to be accorded this honour.
	Minerva McGonagall	1998 (Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt)	Awarded for her unwavering allegiance to the Order of the Phoenix during the Second Wizarding War and her actions during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Order of Merlin, Second Class

Portrait	Name	Date	Notes
	Newton Scamander	1979 (Minister Harold Minchum)	Awarded "in recognition of his services to the study of magical beasts, Magizoology".

Order of Merlin, Third Class

Portrait	Name	Date	Notes
	Gilderoy Lockhart	Between 1982 and 1992 (Minister Millicent Bagnold or Minister Cornelius Fudge)	Awarded for his encounters with many dark creatures and penning his autobiographic works with instructions on how to safely repel them. In 1993 and later, it was revealed that he had only taken credit for these deeds and had not really done any of them.

Recipients of unknown class

Portrait	Name	Date	Notes
	Cottismore Croyne	Unknown	May have been awarded for his tenure as Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards.
	Albert Gibbering Stump	Between 1662 and 1700 (Wizards' Council)	For unknown reasons.
	Damocles Belby	Sometime after the mid-1970s	May have been awarded for his invention of the lycanthropy-treating Wolfsbane Potion.

Behind the scenes

• The "Muggle" counterpart to the Order of Merlin could include the Order of the British Empire, Order of St Michael and St George, or the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert. Each is/was a British system of honours which was divided into various classes and could be won by a person from any rank of society.
• Since 1966, the International Brotherhood of Magicians has been awarding its own Order of Merlin to long-standing members.
• Since Albus Dumbledore was on the verge of losing his Order of Merlin during Cornelius Fudge's campaign to discredit him and Harry Potter, it means that a certain level of disgrace is capable of causing a recipient to lose the Order of Merlin.
  • As Fudge was heavily disgraced for his lack of actions against Lord Voldemort's return (not to mention that the worth of his award was heavily questioned to begin with), it is possible that his Order of Merlin was retracted following his sacking from office.
  • When Peter Pettigrew's true actions of betrayal and frame-up of his friends and his membership in the Death Eaters were revealed, it is possible his Order of Merlin was retracted from his mother's possession.
• It is possible that Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom were awarded the Order of Merlin later in their lives due to their contributions throughout the Second Wizarding War and their crucial roles in the defeat of Lord Voldemort.
  • It is also likely that Severus Snape was posthumously given the Order of Merlin, First or Second Class, for his role as a double agent during the Second Wizarding War.
    • Snape was originally promised to be given such Order of Merlin by Cornelius Fudge for returning Sirius Black (assumed to be a fugitive murderer at the time) to Ministry custody, but Black escaped before Fudge could follow through on his word. It was later stated that the loss of this Order of Merlin hit Snape hard, and this allegedly was the reason that he let it slip that Remus Lupin was a werewolf.
• During the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, on 12 May 2018, a stage invader disrupted the United Kingdom performance, grabbing singer SuRie's microphone and shouting "Nazis of the UK media, we demand freedom", before being swiftly dragged offstage. Australian commentator Joel Creasey described the stage invader as "some absolute cockhead" during the live broadcast; on Twitter, J. K. Rowling commended Creasey and awarded him with the Order of Merlin, First Class.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (Mentioned on a Famous Wizard Card)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First mentioned)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) (Mentioned on a Famous Wizard Card)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter (website) (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore Presents: Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter Limited Edition (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault (Mentioned only)
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells (First appearance)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells (Mentioned only)
• Hogwarts Legacy (Mentioned only)