Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody was a Scottish, pure-blood wizard and arguably the most famous Auror of modern times. A pivotal member of the original and reconstituted Order of the Phoenix, Moody was a staunch opponent of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Renowned for his exceptional magical skill, bravery, and extreme paranoia, he dedicated his life to fighting the Dark Arts. His significance in the story is marked by his capture and year-long impersonation by Barty Crouch Jr., his mentorship of Nymphadora Tonks, and his ultimate sacrifice while protecting Harry Potter.
Alastor Moody was born into a proud, old pure-blood wizarding family. He excelled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and later joined the Ministry of Magic to become an Auror. During the First Wizarding War, Moody became a legend. He was an exceptionally effective dark wizard catcher, responsible for filling “half the cells in Azkaban”. His successes came at a great personal cost; he lost a leg, an eye, and a piece of his nose in combat against Dark Wizards. His experiences fostered a deep-seated paranoia and his famous mantra, “Constant vigilance!”. It was he who apprehended the Death Eater Igor Karkaroff and sent him to Azkaban.
In 1994, Albus Dumbledore invited Moody to come out of retirement to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. However, before the school term began, Moody was attacked and subdued at his home by Barty Crouch Jr. and Peter Pettigrew. Using Polyjuice Potion, Crouch Jr. assumed Moody's identity and took his place at Hogwarts, keeping the real Moody imprisoned within his own seven-locked magical trunk. Throughout the school year, the impostor manipulated events to ensure Harry Potter would win the Triwizard Tournament and be transported to Lord Voldemort at the Little Hangleton graveyard. After Harry's return, Crouch Jr.'s identity was exposed when the Polyjuice Potion wore off. Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and Minerva McGonagall rescued the real, emaciated Alastor Moody from the trunk.
After his rescue, the real Moody rejoined the Order of the Phoenix and became one of its leaders. He was part of the Advance Guard that escorted Harry Potter from Number Four, Privet Drive to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place in the summer of 1995. He showed Harry a photograph of the original Order of the Phoenix, providing context for the sacrifices made in the first war. Moody later fought bravely alongside other Order members against Death Eaters in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.
Moody was murdered on 27 July, 1997, during the Battle of the Seven Potters, an operation he had devised to move Harry Potter from the Dursleys' home to safety. Paired with Mundungus Fletcher (disguised as Harry), Moody was attacked directly by Lord Voldemort. When Mundungus Fletcher panicked and Disapparated, a Killing Curse from Voldemort struck Moody squarely, and he fell from his broom high in the air. His body was never recovered. Later, Harry discovered that Moody's magical eye had been salvaged by Dolores Umbridge and affixed to her office door at the Ministry of Magic. Harry retrieved the eye and later buried it under an old tree to give the great Auror a proper, respectful resting place.
Alastor Moody was a man whose physical appearance was a testament to his dangerous career. His face was heavily scarred and described as looking like a chunk of gnarled wood. A large piece of his nose was missing. He had a gruff, growling voice. His most distinctive features were his prosthetics. In place of his missing eye, he wore a vivid, electric-blue magical eye that could rotate 360 degrees and see through solid objects, including wood, human skulls, and even Invisibility Cloaks. He walked with a pronounced limp due to a prosthetic wooden leg that terminated in a clawed foot. Moody's personality was defined by his extreme paranoia. He refused to eat or drink anything he had not prepared himself, carrying his own beverages in a personal hip flask. He was gruff, cantankerous, and trusted very few people. Beneath this harsh exterior, however, he was incredibly brave, fiercely loyal to the cause, and deeply protective of his allies, particularly Harry Potter and his protégée Nymphadora Tonks.