One-hit Wonders

I really apologize if this has been tackled elsewhere! After waiting a day to have my account ready to post with, I just can't stand the itch any longer.

It just occured to me after re-watching GoF yesterday: most characters are never really, really gone from Potterverse. If they are in the plot once, they will always have been mentioned in passing before, or will somehow pop up in dialogue several books later on. I never truly reflected on this until watching the GoF movie and realizing that I've no idea what Barty Crouch, Junior is up to these days.

Barty Jr. was soul-sucked by Fudge right after proving himself the one supreme Voldy homeboy, if I remember things right. Given how consistently Jo revisits characters, how come he's never, ever mentioned again after having such a crucial role in GoF? All the faithful DE:s were set free in the fifth book - shouldn't Junior have been first out of the gate, even if a vegetable? At the very least he could have been dropped a small byline of dialogue, upheld as a good example for DE:s to strive for and such?

I mean: even Fleur's sister is in one single chapter as a by-character for book number 5 and then revisited in dialogue for book 6 (twice, actually, as Fleur talks about the wedding)... and I can't even remember her name! Junior, on the other hand, brought the house down and gets all swept under the rug :(


Are there any other medium/major characters we can think of that got the One-Hit Wonder treatment? Or is Crouch, Jr. the one exception?

There is not much Crouch Jr. could do. He was an "empty shell." Most HP characters are mentioned in more than one book.

Qurriell is another but he died so its understandable.

Ludo Bagman is never heard of after GoF, that I can remember.

Also, if mention in dialogue in later books counts, Barty Crouch Jr. does not qualify. He is mentioned as having been a good DADA instructor in the first DADA class of OotP.

Qurriell is another but he died so its understandable.

He is also mentioned again, I believe in each of the last three books, and maybe also in earlier ones. Most notably (in terms of page time) Bella and Snape discuss him in "Spinner's End", HBP.

Ludo Bagman is never heard of after GoF, that I can remember.

Ludo is mentioned in OotP or HBP I think, something about betting Voldemort would come back....

I would think it would be very unlikely if a character wasn't wasn't MENTIONED in another book, but APPEARANCE is another matter...

I kind of miss Bagman. :sigh: He was funny. But he is mentioned in OotP by Rita, who says that even Bagman would not have betted on Voldemort's return...or something like that.

Quirrell is also mentioned in Umbridge's class. Harry brings up Voldemort sticking out of Quirrell's head and gets a detention.

I'm sure Barty would have loved to escape the authorities and rejoin his master, but without his soul, he was just an empty shell. An empty shell has no memory and no will. There is no reason he would be getting up again, even when so fervently loyal to Voldemort.

Nicolas Flammel I thought we'd hear lots more about, but he seemed to also fall into the void after book 1.

Barty Jr. was soul-sucked by Fudge right after proving himself the one supreme Voldy homeboy, if I remember things right. Given how consistently Jo revisits characters, how come he's never, ever mentioned again after having such a crucial role in GoF? All the faithful DE:s were set free in the fifth book - shouldn't Junior have been first out of the gate, even if a vegetable? At the very least he could have been dropped a small byline of dialogue, upheld as a good example for DE:s to strive for and such?

Are there any other medium/major characters we can think of that got the One-Hit Wonder treatment? Or is Crouch, Jr. the one exception?

Barty, Jr. may not have been in Azkaban to be broken out with the rest. He was probably in some sort of prison ward at St. Mungo's.

I don't know if any others who would qualify as "medium/major" appeared only once. Maybe "minor/medium".

I believe poor Dawlish only ever appeared in one scene (Dumbledore's escape in Phoenix), though he was referred to on three occasions after that. ...Usually in the same sentence with "Washington Generals" or "pinata".

Podmore and Vance were never seen after the Advance Guard escort in Phoenix. His arrest was reported in the Daily Prophet and the trio eventually deduced that he had been Imperiused. Her death was referred to in a later book.

Bob Ogden and Marvolo Gaunt only appeared once in the series. It was a flashback, though, and it was understood that they were both long dead.

Voldemort would not have bothered with him after that had happened. Voldemort was only thinking of himself like normal when he gave Barty Crouch JR that job. Voldemort gained a body and what did Crouch gain from it? Nothing except for the loss of his soul. He was used as a puppet. Once a vegetable Voldemort may have gone out of his way to make sure Crouch had dignity by murdering him but even then that would have been a long shot.

It is either that or Crouch was written into the story for that one bit. To act as a catlyst to set it off into action. Once that was done he need not be mentioned again.

I know what you're saying - even if Crouch Jr. was the same as dead, why was he not referenced to as much as other characters who had died, or were as good as dead (such as Neville's parents)? I'm not sure it was intentional on JKR's part, but it could've been for perhaps the following reason.

The ones who died in figthing or resisting Voldemort seem to be often recounted with reverence. There seems to be no such loving remembrances of, or glory given to, those on the side of Voldemort. Crouch Jr's ultimate goal in all he did was glory and to be held on high. His hopes were to be as celebrated as his master. Well, we see the opposite has happened: no one speaks of him with reverence or laments his soul-less shell. (Voldemort only spoke highly of him while he was serving a purpose, and seemed to do so primarily to shame the other DEs.) Once Kissed, and thus useless, Crouch Jr. has no glory, no fame, and is nothing but a minor footnote for the history books - the opposite of all he had hoped for. And all this, of course, is another illustration of how following Voldemort's path just isn't worth it for even the slimiest of scumbags.

The carrows were kind of one hit wonders, terrorising Hogwarts in the final book. Were they in HBP? But I dont know if they can be counted because they were such minor characters compared to some mentioned on here.

Yes, the Carrows were in HBP. Amycus was the lumpy man on the tower when Snape kills Dumbledore, and Alecto was the squat woman accompanying him. Snape also mentioned them in Spinner's End as having escaped Azkaban.

Vance got killed in HBP. Snape mentioned her. Podmore got out in either HPB or DH. Bagman seemed to disappear- maybe the goblin's or Death Eaters caught up with him. The Carrows were in the battle in HBP. Dawlish was mentioned in DH as being forced to work for Thicknesse. The Crouches were obliterated in GOF-no need to mention them. Flamel died in SS- DD said he would. Karkaroff was reported killed in HBP. Same thing with Fortescue. Ollivander talks about Gregorovitch in GOF when he is examining Krum's wand.

Nicholas Flamel is mentioned in Elphias Doge's tribute to Albus Dumbledore in DH, when speaking of Dumbledore's accomplishments and impressive connections.

Jo actually never tells us what happened to Florian Fortescue, just that he disappeared from his shop. This is a crying shame, because I've been fond of him ever since he gave Harry ice cream sundaes every half hour while he was studying during his sojurn in Diagon Alley in POA.

I agree about Fortescue. I was expecting at least something-- maybe even a mention of him being found dead. We had enough information on him to expect a little something more, but unfortunately, I guess it wasn't that important. Oh well...:sigh:

Rowling said he was connected to the Elder Wand in some way and was killed for that reason but she cut it out of the final book. She says this in her interview with Pottercast.

Oh, really? That makes sense, since we know Fortescue was a bit of a history buff. He may have known something about the wand's history.

Rowling said he was connected to the Elder Wand in some way and was killed for that reason but she cut it out of the final book. She says this in her interview with Pottercast.

She should have kept that. It would have been cool to have him explain the history of the Elder Wand.

She should have kept that. It would have been cool to have him explain the history of the Elder Wand.

I disagree. I think it makes better sense for the Wandmaker, Ollivander, to have given the history of the Elder Wand. I mean no one would know better the lore of wands, than a wandmaker (in my opinion).

But even thought barty Crouch Jr is never mentioned by name again doesn't mean he is never mentioned again. Harry repeatedly thinks that it was ironic "that a death eater in disquise convinced him to become an Auror." So he is mentioned without really being mentioned.

I did find it odd that Ariana was only ever mentioned in the 7th book. I figured that with as much as Hermione knew about Grendlewald, that she (or even Rita) would have at some point mentioned the Dumbledore family. Aberforth was at least mentioned as being in the OOTP in OOTP.

What about Hestia (in the Advance Guard in OotP)? I don't quite remember her being mentioned again in HBP or DH, but I have a funny feeling she might've and I probably forgot. ;)

What about Hestia (in the Advance Guard in OotP)? I don't quite remember her being mentioned again in HBP or DH, but I have a funny feeling she might've and I probably forgot. ;)

Dedalus Diggle and her escort the Dursleys from Privet Drive ;)

Of course! I had a feeling she was in DH or something! :lol:

This thread made me feel all fuzzy inside.

You know, I love the phrase "One-hit wonder". That's so true. Being a Barty Jr. fan is like loving an old song from the 80's. It was great at the time, people talked about it, wrote about it, etc. And then something else came out, something flashier (*coughOotPcough*) and everyone, both fans and artists, forgot about it. The slightest mention made my heart jump. Eventually, a remix came out in November 2005, but it just wasn't the same ol' song, you know, and the new fans it brought were mostly fans of the remix. And even it has died down now. It's getting lonely in there. :p
I would have loved to get something more than a precious few passing mentions (like at least knowing what happens to Dementor victims), but nope, now it's all about Lucius, Snape and newcomer Bellatrix who's here to stay until the last chapters of the series.

Miss_Lovegood and LookALethifold may be right too : even Voldemort probably didn't care. How sad _ not only do the fans forget about him, but so do the characters. God, it sucks to be obsessed with Barty sometimes. But I can't really help it you know. :lol:

But enough ranting. I also wonder what happened to Florian Fortescue (I think JKR answered this in an interview, but I don't remember). They don't talk a lot about Quirrell either _ hell, we know nearly nothing about him and his teaching methods, other than he had Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head. Lockhart got more than a mention though, that was very nice.

The only reason I can come up with that BC Jr is not revisited is Harry doesn't visit Azkaban in the series like he does St. Mungo's so he doesn't have a chance of coming upon Jr. I can see why Voldemort doesn’t care about him. Fudge had Jr’s soul sucked out so all he is is a shell. What can Voldemort do with him?

Hestia Jones shows up in DH with Dedalus Diggle to take the Dursleys into hiding.

You mean like Vanilla Ice or Right Said Fred? oh...

What about Mrs. Figg? She wasn't mentioned much after OotP, was she? I also agree with the people upthread whho wanted to know what happened to Florean Fortescue...who'd want to kill the ice cream man?

What about Mark Evans? Isn't anyone interested in what happened to him? ;)

What about Mark Evans? Isn't anyone interested in what happened to him? ;)

Who? The boy that Big D beat up? J/K.

I can see why Voldemort doesn’t care about him. Fudge had Jr’s soul sucked out so all he is is a shell. What can Voldemort do with him?
This is another of Voldemort's demonstrations of his ruthlessness to his followers, as well as his opposition. He let Quirrell die without any attempt to save him and used Barty Crouch Jr. to his fullest usefulness. After Voldemort had squeezed all of Crouch's usefulness out, he had no further use for him - exactly like what he did with Bertha Jorkins.
"He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies."
I also agree with the people upthread whho wanted to know what happened to Florean Fortescue...who'd want to kill the ice cream man?
Here is what JKR said:
MA: I have to ask this little thing that's been on my mind... what happened to Florean Fortescue?

JKR: Uh, he was killed.

JN: Awwww.

JKR: Yeah, I know. I didn't want that to happen. Bizarrely, my best friend, after I named Florean Fortescue, she went and met, and is soon to marry, a guy called Florean, which is very bizarre, because it isn't exactly a common name, is it? Because of him, I was very attached to Florean Fortescue but no-- Yeah, he died. He died.

MA: He was just an ice cream man, wasn't he?

JKR: The Scottish Book will reveal there was more to that than subsequently made it into the books. It was one of those little sub-plots that had to be sacrificed because it was not really leading anywhere, but I did have a sub-plot planned for Florean. And it was to do with the Elder Wand, so I will definitely put that into the Encyclopedia.
As we see in PoA, Fortescue was an extremely intelligent wizard, so it is sensible that his knowledge would tempt Lord Voldemort - especially if he was originally associated with the Elder Wand story.

One of the "one-hit wonders" I always hoped would make another appearance is Doris Crockford. She was one of the first witches we saw - one who was obsessed with Harry - and I thought she would play a larger role; the same is true for Dedalus Diggle, though I am delighted he reappeared in DH.

Here is what JKR said:-snip-

Aww, I never saw that interview. :( Looking forward to hearing about the subplot though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anhelda
What about Mark Evans? Isn't anyone interested in what happened to him? ;)
Who? The boy that Big D beat up? J/K.

I don't know if you're aware, Rebecca, but back in the days after OOTP first came out, the HP fandom was awash with speculation that Mark Evans would turn out to be very important. This is because his last name, Evans, is the same as Lily's last name. People came up with all sorts of speculation about how Mark was related to Lily and Harry and would prove to be a vital part of Harry's final confrontation with Voldemort. JKR finally skewered all the speculation by saying she just picked the name Evans for this random kid, completely forgetting that it was also Lily's surname. So my asking this is somewhat in the nature of a joke.

I'm not sure if she's been mentioned, but I don't think we see Winky again after GOF. She might be mentioned in OoTP, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't do anything significant or have a line after GOF.

I'm not sure if she's been mentioned, but I don't think we see Winky again after GOF. She might be mentioned in OoTP, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't do anything significant or have a line after GOF.

Yes, she gets a mention in OoTP. Winky has been drinking a lot so Dobby uses the Room of Requirements to find antidotes for Butterbeer and to let her sleep it off (Dumbledore's Army).

I did find it odd that Ariana was only ever mentioned in the 7th book. I figured that with as much as Hermione knew about Grendlewald, that she (or even Rita) would have at some point mentioned the Dumbledore family.

I think that Grindelwald and Ariana were not officially connected in any way. He fled, apparently fearing trouble with the law, but we have no evidence that he was ever sought in conenction with the death.

I'm not sure if she's been mentioned, but I don't think we see Winky again after GOF. She might be mentioned in OoTP, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't do anything significant or have a line after GOF.

I believe JKR said in some post-DH interview that Winky was still at Hogwarts through the events in Deathly Hallows and was among those house-elves in Kreacher's Charge of the Kitchen Brigade during the final battle.

I think that Grindelwald and Ariana were not officially connected in any way. He fled, apparently fearing trouble with the law, but we have no evidence that he was ever sought in conenction with the death.

I guess I wasn't very clear on that point. We know from Rita's book in the DH about the connection between Arianna and Grendelwald. What I meant was with as much that was written and known about Grindelwald, I just found it interesting/odd that Arianna is only mentioned in DH.

Sirius had mentioned Aberforth Dumbledore, but he may not have known about Arianna. I remember now that few people did because Kendra kept her family so private, but I just find it odd that we never heard of her sooner, even in passing as JKR has done with so many other names.

Ooh, I agree about Winky. I know what JKR said in the interview, but I would have loved to actually see her among the elves. :sigh:

Winky...I think JK did tell us she was in the last fight with Kreacher. And Hokey, who died balming himself for the death of Hepzibiath Smith.

Qurriell is another but he died so its understandable.

but he was mentioned again in ootp, when Umbridge said that Quirrel was a competent teacher and Harry retaliated

I'm trying to think - Was Yaxley mentioned in any of the other books other than Deathy Hallows? I can only recall him in the seventh book :hmm:.

if he was one of the more famous death eaters, he may have been in GoF, but I don't remember and I don't have my books with me in china (as much as I wish they were :()

Yaxley was the blunt featured 'brutal faced' death eater on the tower when Snape killed Dumbledore in HBP.

I'm trying to think - Was Yaxley mentioned in any of the other books other than Deathy Hallows? I can only recall him in the seventh book :hmm:.

Yaxley was mentioned during Spinner's End in HBP.

"You ask why I did not attempt to find him when he vanished. For the same reason that Avery, Yaxley, the Carrows, Greyback, Lucius and many others did not attempt to find him."
(bold mine)

This was quite a challenge: to find a character that was met or mentioned only once. It's really remarkable how so many characters were named before they appeared.

I don't count characters that showed up all through a book, or at least twice. Nearly everyone mentioned showed up in a later chapter or book. Dead people don't count, nor should authors count either.

Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies professor (book 7). Her name could easily been mentioned in any of the first six books but wasn't. Why?
Mortlake, the wizard Mr. Weasley caught putting charms on ferrets (book 2).
Millicent Bagnold, the witch who was Minister before Fudge (book 5).
Ragnok, the goblin head of Gringotts (book 5). "He's feeling pretty anti-wizard at the moment." - Bill.
Mandy Brocklehurst, Lisa Turpin, Moone, Morag MacDougal, Sally-Anne Perks, students in Harry's year who were only mentioned once during the Sorting (book 1)
Daphne Greengrass, student taking O.W.L.s with Harry (book 5). Of course this might be a flunky like Crabbe and Goyle trying to pass their Defense O.W.L. a year late.
Cuthbert Mockridge, Head of Goblin Liason office, one of several Ministry workers mentioned by Mr. Weasley at the Quidditch World Cup (book 4). Dirk's predescessor?
Warty Harris, Will (Willy Widdershins?) may have knicked his toads too (book 5).

Of course, JKR makes fun of people asking what all the characters names are: "Nevermind what he's called!" - Hermione.

I can see how a future reference guide might work:
Andromeda Tonks: mentioned book 5, chapter (4?); appeared book 7, chapter (?). Wife of Ted Tonks; Mother of Nymphadora Tonks; Sister of Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy; cousin once removed of Sirius Black; Grandmother of Teddy Lupin. Owned house to which Harry and Hagrid flew when they escaped Privet Drive. Possible member of Order of the Phoenix.

This was quite a challenge: to find a character that was met or mentioned only once. It's really remarkable how so many characters were named before they appeared.

I don't count characters that showed up all through a book, or at least twice. Nearly everyone mentioned showed up in a later chapter or book. Dead people don't count, nor should authors count either.

Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies professor (book 7). She's could easily been mentioned in any of the first six books but wasn't. Why?
(name to be added), the wizard Mr. Weasley caught putting charms on ferrets (book 2).
(name to be added), the witch who was Minister before Fudge (book 5).
(name to be added), the goblin head of Gringotts (book 5). "He's feeling pretty anti-wizard at the moment." - Bill.
(3-4 names), students in Harry's year who were only mentioned once during the Sorting (book 1) or O.W.L.s (book 5). Of course the latter might be a flunky like Crabbe and Goyle trying to pass their Defense O.W.L. a year later.

Charity Burbage was mentioned mulitple times in PoA thru to HBP by Hermione as her Muggle Studies teacher (not by name though)

All the other characters didn't have enough importance in the plot, IMO.

(name to be added), the wizard Mr. Weasley caught putting charms on ferrets (book 2).


Any chance that was Mad-Eye Moody? (just kidding)

If we're just looking for names that were mentioned and no actual appearance, dialogue or similar, then there are a few. Eileen Prince, Snape's mom, for instance (I believe she wasn't mentioned later on) and a couple of authors too, as well as for example Doris Crockford, who Harry met at the Leaky Cauldron. There are, however, less characters of the one-hit wonder type that played a major part in a book or contributed to the storyline (which already has been concluded).

Good lord, Andromeda. Such wasted potential here. :grumble:

Charity Burbage. That was the only character where I really did a double-take. I think it was right to use a vertual unknown as the victim in that scene at the beginning of DH. It shows the pointless killing that V engages in. But since she was a teacher at Hogwarts, why did we NEVER see her on patrol in corridors, or in some crowd of teachers dealing with one catastrophe or other. I did feel that this was a bit sad. She didn't have to have a big role, but to find at the ebginning of Dh that there was a teacher at Hogwarts who had even taught one of the trio, without ever hearing her name... that was weird.

I had, incidentally, wondered before DH whether there were any teachers in Hogwarts we didn't know about, and the fact that we didn't know the name of the Muggle Studies teacher was pretty obvious.

I thik it's probably an accidental omission, but with all the 'teacher action' we saw, and often not necessarily teachers in functions where they had to be harry's teachers (i.e. patrolling corridors) it's odd that some teachers never seem to participate in that sort of thing. I can't ever recall professor Vector getting involved in the action. hermione mentions him a few times, but why is he never there, either sitting at High Table, or in the common room, or panicking with the others at certain moments, or cheering in the quiddich crowd? There is plenty of stuff for 'teacher-extras' to do!

I thik it's probably an accidental omission, but with all the 'teacher action' we saw, and often not necessarily teachers in functions where they had to be harry's teachers (i.e. patrolling corridors) it's odd that some teachers never seem to participate in that sort of thing. I can't ever recall professor Vector getting involved in the action. hermione mentions him a few times, but why is he never there, either sitting at High Table, or in the common room, or panicking with the others at certain moments, or cheering in the quiddich crowd? There is plenty of stuff for 'teacher-extras' to do!
Well, some of the teachers just didn't do that. Professor Trelawney didn't really help out at those occasions either, like in the Chamber of Secrets when the frozen bodies were found. What's weird is though that we didn't see Charity at the teachers' table at the various feasts. Trelawney, Hagrid, Snape and all of the other teachers were there.

Teachers are ordinary people, after all, and not everyone likes to stick out in a crowd - or are interested in quidditch for that matter. It is of course possible that they cheered, but it wouldn't mean much to Harry, as he didn't know any of them very much. Mark Evans is only mentioned once, as far as I remember, I could be wrong here. (I found it funny, btw, to figure out how many times Mundungus had been mentioned - I didn't notice until I re-read the series after I'd read book 5.) And there are plenty of people mentioned by name in the sortings we see that we never hear of later. Which is not unusual, most people at a school don't know all the other people at school. And I think that bloke who went with Fleur to the yule ball, Roger or whatever his name was, wasn't mentioned many times either.

I also wondered why we had never even heard the name Charity Burbage before. But then again, Hermione didn't talk much about Muggle Studies during PoA, the only year sge took it, because it wold arouse suspicion from Harry and Ron about her schedule. We never hear of Bethusa Babbling (I think that's her name) either, the ancient Runes teacher. We hear Professor Vector's name a few times, but that's barely anything. I would have thought that since Charity came into the story a bit in DH we would have heard of her, but no. :shrug:

Any chance that was Mad-Eye Moody? (just kidding)
:lol::p


LOL

Quote

And I think that bloke who went with Fleur to the yule ball, Roger or whatever his name was, wasn't mentioned many times either.

He was mentioned a few times as the Ravenclaw captain, and he was also in the dreadful "Madame Puddifoots", during the disastrous Cho/Harry date, kissing a girl and was used by Cho, in a pathetic attempt to make Harry jealous, when she said that "Roger Davies asked her out."