Fenrir Greyback

By the mid-1960s, the amount of Dark magical activity across the country was growing steadily. The Death Eaters were recruiting Dark creatures to help them overthrow the Ministry of Magic, and among them was Fenrir Greyback, who did not join the Death Eaters because he believed in Voldemort’s cause, but because allying himself with them would give him greater access to potential victims. Although considered to be a Death Eater by the enemies of the Dark Lord, Greyback was not given the Dark Mark on his forearm. Nor was he ever accepted as a Death Eater by those belonging to Voldemort’s innermost circle of followers, as Voldemort was prejudiced against his lycanthropy; despite Greyback‘s services to their cause: Greyback was used as a weapon by Voldemort, who would often use the notorious werewolf to intimidate people to do his bidding, threatening to send Greyback after their children. It was around 1965, after one such attack that resulted in the deaths of two Muggle children, that Greyback was brought in for questioning before the Ministry of Magic. Due to the inadequacy and ill-maintenance of the Werewolf Registry, the Ministry did not know Greyback to be a werewolf, and he pretended to be a Muggle tramp who was amazed at finding himself in a room full of wizards and horrified at the talk about the dead children.

His filthy clothing and lack of wand managed to convince most of the questioning committee, although Lyall Lupin, an authority on Non-Human Spiritous Apparitions that was among them, recognised certain telltale signs in Greyback’s appearance that made him suggest that Greyback should be kept in detention until the next full moon, which was, coincidentally, one day away. The ignorant committee members thought it unnecessary, and Greyback started taunting Lupin, who grew angry and described werewolves as “soulless, evil, deserving of nothing but death“. Lupin was ordered out of the room, the head of the committee apologised to Greyback, and the werewolf was released. Before the wizard who was escorting him out of the inquiry could cast a Memory Charm on the “Muggle tramp” so that he would forget having been at the Ministry, Greyback overpowered him and fled with three other werewolf accomplices. As soon as he escaped, he started planning his revenge on the wizard who said he deserved nothing but death. Shortly before Remus Lupin, Lyall Lupin’s son, turned five, he was attacked by Greyback. As the little boy slept peacefully in his bed, Greyback forced open his window and bit him. Lyall reached the bedroom in time to save his son and to drive the werewolf out of the house using a number of powerful curses. The deed, however, was done, and Remus Lupin became a full-fledged werewolf from that point on.

After Voldemort was presumed dead in 1981, Greyback was one of the Dark Lord’s numerous followers who believed him to have been killed and therefore did not make any attempt to find him. With the Dark Lord gone he continued attacking wizard, and witches, but mostly children.

With Voldemort’s return in 1995, Greyback returned to Voldemort’s side. As weapon he was sent along with Bellatrix Lestrange and other fellows Death Eaters to kill Harry at the Burrow.

In July of 1996, shortly after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Greyback and several Death Eaters raided Diagon Alley, kidnapping the wandmaker Garrick Ollivander. He was also among a group of Death Eaters that destroyed the Millennium Bridge, in London.

When Voldemort charged Draco Malfoy with the murder of Albus Dumbledore, Malfoy invoked Greyback’s name as a threat to ensure Mr Borgin’s cooperation with the scheme to transport Death Eaters inside the grounds of Hogwarts via the use of a paired set of Vanishing Cabinets.

Greyback, along with several Death Eaters, invaded Hogwarts on 30 June, 1997, cornering Albus Dumbledore atop the Astronomy Tower, much to Draco Malfoy’s shock and Dumbledore’s disgust. He mockingly asked Dumbledore if he was pleased to see him, to which Dumbledore replied that he was not. Dumbledore was rather disgusted to discover that Greyback was cannibalistic and attacked people in his human form. He was among those who urged Draco Malfoy to kill the Headmaster and attempted to take over the job himself, before Severus Snape stepped in.

Months later, after the fall of the Ministry of Magic, Greyback became a primary leader in the Snatchers organisation, and led a group of them around the countryside scouring for fugitive Muggle-borns, blood traitors, and truants who had escaped persecution. It was Greyback’s group that tracked down a fugitive group comprised of Dirk Cresswell, Ted Tonks, Dean Thomas, and goblins Griphook and Gornuk. Dean and Griphook were captured, while Dirk, Ted, and Gornuk were murdered while resisting capture. In March of 1998, Greyback and his gang captured Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley after they triggered the Taboo on Voldemort’s name, Greyback hoped to receive the two hundred thousand Galleon reward for capturing Potter (along with what he thought was the phoenix wand), and was also eager to bite Hermione. However, Bellatrix spotted Godric Gryffindor’s Sword among the captives’ possessions and became frantic, as she had believed it to be in her vault in Gringotts. 

During the subsequent battle against members of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore’s Army, Greyback assaulted Bill Weasley, scarring his face. Fortunately for Bill, Greyback was not in his wolf form when he attacked, therefore he would not be a true werewolf, but only have some “wolfish” behaviour. Greyback also tried to bite Harry Potter during the battle, but Harry retaliated with a Full Body-Bind Curse, temporarily paralysing him.

During the Battle of Hogwarts, where he was repelled by Hermione Granger while fatally wounding Lavender Brown. He hit the marble staircase bannister and attempted to return to his feet, but before he could, he was struck on the head by a crystal ball from Sybill Trelawney. Later, he was present when Voldemort attempted to kill Harry Potter in the Forbidden Forest. In the continuation of the battle, he was “brought down” by Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom in the Great Hall.