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Revision as of 11:33, 3 September 2007 by 65.96.4.111 (talk) (→Background)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For the record label, see Mad Eye Recordings.Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series of books, an ex-Auror working for the Order of the Phoenix. In the films, he is portrayed by Brendan Gleeson.
Background
According to the Harry Potter series of books, Moody is perhaps the most famous Auror in modern times, single-handedly responsible for capturing numerous wizard criminals. He is also said never to have killed his quarry "if he could help it." He did however kill Evan Rosier according to what Harry heard when inside Dumbledores Pensieve. He is responsible for half the cells in Azkaban being filled according to Ron and he also captured Igor Karkaroff. Moody's face is badly scarred, described as looking as if it had been carved out of wood by a person with only the crudest understanding of the human face. He has lost several body parts, including his left eye, right lower leg, and part of his nose, in fighting practitioners of the Dark Arts, and is cautious - some might say paranoid - in that he refuses to eat or drink anything which he himself has not prepared, because as he says "it was so easy for a Dark Wizard to poison an unattended cup." He is particularly conspicuous because of his peculiar magical eye which can rotate 360 degrees and see through almost everything (including walls, doors, invisibility cloaks and the back of his own head), hence the nickname "Mad-Eye". He walks with a pronounced limp due to his prosthetic leg, and uses a walking staff to aid him. He presumably dies near the beginning of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows during a fight with Voldemort.
Irish actor Brendan Gleeson plays Moody on screen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Appearances
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Moody is appointed as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, coming out of retirement as a favor to Dumbledore. Shortly before the school year begins, however, Moody is attacked by Bartemius Crouch Jr, a previously imprisoned and escaped Death Eater and faithful servant of Voldemort, and Peter "Wormtail" Pettigrew. As part of Voldemort's plan to use Harry's blood to reconstitute his human body, Crouch uses the Imperius Curse to subdue Moody and drinks Polyjuice Potion to assume his form. He keeps the real Moody alive so that he can be interrogated about his mannerisms and memories, and goes to Hogwarts in Moody's place, teaching the Defense Against The Dark Arts classes. Moody's well-known habit of carrying around his own drinks in a private hip flask allows Crouch to take the Polyjuice Potion as needed without raising suspicion.
Moody, or actually Crouch acting as Moody, becomes noted for teaching and demonstrating otherwise higher-level topics to Harry's fourth-year class, such as the Unforgivable Curses. Crouch/Moody also mentors Harry, encouraging and tutoring him in the three Tournament tasks. But after Harry unexpectedly returns alive from the graveyard battle with Voldemort, Crouch/Moody takes Harry back to his office, questions him about Voldemort and the graveyard, and reveals that he is in fact working on Voldemort's behalf. He then prepares to kill Harry, expecting to be rewarded, but he is stopped by Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape. Having neglected to take his hourly dose of Polyjuice potion, Crouch transforms back to his own appearance and, under the influence of Veritaserum potion, confesses everything. Dumbledore then rescues the real Moody from his magic trunk. Template:HP4
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry first interacts with the genuine Moody just prior to beginning his fifth year at Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In that book, Moody has joined the newly re-formed Order of the Phoenix, and is accompanied by fellow Order members Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin and Kingsley Shacklebolt, among others, especially when transporting Harry to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place at the opening of the book. He appears at the climax of that book, along with Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Sirius Black, by arriving at the Department of Mysteries after being tipped off by Severus Snape. He also appears with Lupin and Tonks at the very end, when they give the Dursleys a warning concerning their treatment of Harry. Template:HP5
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Moody makes a brief appearance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the end, when he attends Albus Dumbledore's funeral. Template:HP6
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Moody is presumably killed by Lord Voldemort; he falls off his broom after he is abandoned by Mundungus Fletcher, who is acting as a decoy, having used Polyjuice Potion to assume Harry's appearance. The survivors are unable to recover his body, but later his eye is found by Harry Potter upon Dolores Umbridge's door, being used as a security measure. Harry steals the eye, disgusted that it would be used in such a way, and later buries it at the base of an old tree in Mad-Eye's memory. It is unclear what happened to the rest of his body, but it was apparently discovered by either the Death Eaters or the Ministry. He trained Nymphadora Tonks as an Auror just before he retired, and she considered herself his protégé.
Even after his death, the defensive spells he had cast on Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place to ward off Severus Snape were still functional; anybody who attempted to enter the house was greeted by Moody's voice whispering "Severus Snape?" and they had to make a declaration of innocence to a phantom of Albus Dumbledore that would manifest. Template:HP7
