| “ | Are you quite sure it’s him, Lupin? It’d be a nice lookout if we bring back some Death Eater impersonating him. We ought to ask him something only the real Potter would know. Unless anyone brought any Veritaserum? | „ |
| ~ Mad-Eye Moody to Remus Lupin. |
| “ | The one thing we've got on our side is that You-Know-Who doesn't know we're moving you tonight. We've leaked a fake trail to the Ministry, they think you're not leaving until the thirtieth. However, this is You-Know-Who we're dealing with so we can't just rely on him getting the date wrong. | „ |
| ~ Mad-Eye Moody to Harry Potter. |
Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody (d. 27 July 1997) is a major character in the Harry Potter franchise.
He was a pure-blood wizard, a legendary Auror and member of the Order of the Phoenix. He gained a reputation for being paranoid, and was noticeable for having a magical eye, which allowed him to see through anything. When the Second Wizarding War began, Mad-Eye returned to the order to fight Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, but was killed by the Dark Lord himself during the Battle of the Seven Potters.
He was portrayed by Brendan Gleeson, who also played Frank in 27 Days Later, and voiced Ferny Toro in Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks.
Biography[]
Background[]
Alastor Moody was born to unnamed parents, who were pure-blood wizards and like their ancestors, were well-regarded and powerful Aurors. Once he reached the appropriate age, Moody attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but the house he was sorted into by the sorting is undocumented. Despite his years at Hogwarts being clouded in mystery, Moody excelled in his studies, earning high marks in his N.E.W.T.'s. Afterward, Alastor became an Auror like his parents, and would go on to work at the Ministry of Magic. When the First Wizarding War started, Moody became a pivotal member of the Order of the Phoenix, as he managed to stop numerous Death Eaters by apprehending them, or defeating them by lethal means. It's assumed that Alastor lost his eye and leg during the war, and started to become more paranoid due to seeing "Dark wizards" everywhere.
During the first war, Moody would capture Igor Karkaroff, and was present at his trial where Igor would reveal the names of several Death Eaters to lighten his prison sentence. Once Lord Voldemort was defeated, Moody presumably continued to hunt down Death Eaters, but would later retire to mentor Auror-in-training, Nymphadora Tonks.
Appearance[]
Mad-Eye Moody had a fierce and intimidating appearance. His face is described as tough looking, as if it were made of wood, and he had long dark hair (blonde in the movies). Due to his long career as a dark wizard hunter, Moody carried many scars, especially on his face. He is also described as looking like part of his nose was missing. His most notable features were his peg leg and his magical eye, which acted independently and earned him his nickname.
Personality[]
Moody was shown to be gruff and tough, but also intense and paranoid, to the point many questioned his sanity. He prepared all his meals himself and only drank from his own flask. His experience in hunting dark wizards resulted in him being slow to trust anyone and seeing the worst in most people. Despite his paranoia and cynicism, he was an exceptionally brave and loyal wizard, neither of which were ever doubted by anyone. He was fiercely loyal to Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix. His bravery was shown when he sacrificed himself when fighting Lord Voldemort himself.
He was also shown to be highly intelligent, being a skilled tactician and strategist. While most Aurors focused on simply catching dark wizards, Moody put himself in the dark wizards' shoes, "thinking like them," which resulted in his success. He was also able to outsmart Voldemort during the Battle of Seven Potters, which contributed to Harry's survival.
Harry Potter Series[]
Goblet of Fire[]
In 1994, Mad-Eye Moody was convinced by Dumbledore to become the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, but he would kidnapped by Barty Crouch Jr. and Peter Pettigrew. During the school year, Alastor remained in his trunk as Crouch disguised himself as Mad-Eye via the use of Polyjuice potion, and would make sure Harry Potter would enter the Triwizard Tournament to be confronted by Voldermort. The real Moody would be freed from his imprisonment by Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape, as Crouch was stopped from killing Potter.
Order of the Phoenix[]
The following year, Moody decided to return to the Order of the Phoenix, and would escort Harry from the Dursley's home to the order's headquarters. He would participate in the battle at the Department of Mysteries, and later intimidated Vernon Dursley into treating Harry better.
Half-Blood Prince[]
After the death of Dumbledore by Snape, Moody would attend his funeral and later placed more protection at 12 Grimmauld Place to prevent Death Eaters from entering.
Deathly Hallows[]
Wanting to protect Harry from the dark lord, Mad-Eye Moody came up with a plan to have his allies disguise themselves as Potter via Polyjuice Potion to fly to the Burrow. The group were ambushed by Voldemort and his army and Alastor was personally killed by the dark lord and his body fell to the ground. Though the order failed to recover his body from the Death Eaters, Harry would find his magical eye being used by Dolores Umbridge on her door, and decided to steal it so he could at least give Moody a proper burial. His death would be avenged by Harry during the Battle of Hogwarts, as Lord Voldemort was defeated by his own rebounding killing curse.
Powers and Abilities[]
Widely considered the greatest Auror who ever lived, Mad-Eye Moody was an exceptionally powerful and skilled wizard. He was an extraordinary duelist, killing or capturing dozens of Death Eaters and countless dark wizards over the course of his career. Nearly half of all prisoners in Azkaban were put there by Moody.
His skill was such that he was hired as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor as Hogwarts, although he was kidnapped by Barty Crouch Jr who disguised himself as him throughout the year. Lord Voldemort himself, the most powerful dark wizard of all time and the second strongest wizard in history, acknowledged Moody as a serious threat and one of the strongest wizards alive after Dumbledore's death.
One of his special abilities was his magical eye, which replaced the one he lost. The eye was enchanted and allowed him not only to see but allowed him to see through anything and everything. He could even see through Invisibility Cloaks and the back of his own head.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Gimmicks of Alastor's walking staff is more elaborated in films than in the books, in which it displayed magical capabilities which ensured him not defenseless should he got deprived of his wand such as generating concussive force and summoning broomsticks as seen in the fifth movie which in turn, adapted from Order of the Phoenix.
External Links[]
- Alastor Moody on the Harry Potter Wiki
