Bertha Jorkins

Bertha Jorkins was a witch who worked for the Ministry of Magic. Though largely unseen in the narrative, her fate is a pivotal catalyst for the events of the Second Wizarding War. Characterized by her nosiness and poor memory, her accidental discovery of the concealed Barty Crouch Jr. led to her being subjected to a powerful Memory Charm. This charm was later broken by Lord Voldemort, who tortured the information from her before murdering her. The intelligence she provided allowed Voldemort to orchestrate his return to a physical body and infiltrate Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament.

Bertha Jorkins attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the same time as James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius Black remembered her as being exceptionally nosy and a gossip, but not very clever. After graduating, she took a job at the Ministry of Magic. She worked in several departments, including the Department of Magical Games and Sports under Ludo Bagman, who found her to be a liability due to her absent-mindedness. She was eventually transferred to the Department of International Magical Cooperation under Barty Crouch Sr.. While delivering papers to the home of Barty Crouch Sr., her natural curiosity got the better of her. She heard Winky the house-elf talking to someone unseen and, upon investigation, discovered that Mr. Crouch was illegally hiding his son, the convicted Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr., who was supposed to be dead in Azkaban. When Bertha confronted him, Barty Crouch Sr. placed an extremely powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget her discovery. The charm was so potent that it caused permanent damage to her memory, exacerbating her existing forgetfulness. Some time later, Bertha went on holiday to Albania. There, she encountered Peter Pettigrew, who was also in hiding. Recognizing her from their Hogwarts days, he lured her into a trap and brought her before the disembodied Lord Voldemort. Voldemort used his immense power and skill in Legilimency to break the Memory Charm placed on her by Crouch Sr., an act which Voldemort himself admitted left her mind and body “damaged beyond repair.” From Bertha, Voldemort extracted two pieces of critical information:

1. The Triwizard Tournament was scheduled to be held at Hogwarts.
2. His loyal servant, Barty Crouch Jr., was alive and being hidden by his father.

After retrieving this intelligence, Voldemort murdered her. Her death was used for the dark magic that created a rudimentary body for Voldemort, and as Albus Dumbledore later deduced, her murder was also the act used to transform Nagini the snake into a Horcrux. During the duel between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort in the Little Hangleton graveyard, Bertha's echo emerged from Voldemort's wand due to the Priori Incantatem effect. Along with the other victims, her spirit-like form helped Harry by distracting Voldemort, giving him the precious seconds he needed to escape.

Bertha Jorkins's physical appearance is never described in the novels. When her echo emerges from Voldemort's wand, she is simply noted as “a woman Harry had never seen.” Her personality is more clearly defined through the recollections of others. She was known for being incredibly nosy and a gossip, but this was paired with a notable lack of intelligence and a poor memory. Sirius Black called her “gormless” and stated she had “no brain,” while Ludo Bagman remembered her as “absent-minded.” The powerful Memory Charm placed on her by Barty Crouch Sr. significantly worsened her memory issues. Despite her reputation, her innate curiosity was sharp enough to uncover a secret that a powerful wizard had gone to great lengths to hide.

As a graduate of Hogwarts and an employee of the Ministry of Magic, Bertha was a qualified witch, though the extent of her magical talent is unknown. Her story is more defined by the magic used upon her rather than by her. The Memory Charm cast by Barty Crouch Sr. was exceptionally powerful, strong enough to permanently damage her mind and require the full force of Lord Voldemort's magic to break.

No specific possessions of Bertha Jorkins are mentioned in the novels.

• Barty Crouch Sr.: Her former boss in the Ministry of Magic. To protect his secret and his son, he performed a powerful Memory Charm on her that ultimately led to her capture and death.
• Ludo Bagman: Another of her former bosses. He viewed her as incompetent and a nuisance, easily dismissing her disappearance as her getting lost.
• Peter Pettigrew: A contemporary from Hogwarts. He was directly responsible for her capture, luring her to Voldemort in Albania.
• Lord Voldemort: Her torturer and murderer. He exploited her to gain the intelligence needed for his return to power and used her death to create a Horcrux.
• Sirius Black: A fellow student at Hogwarts who remembered her clearly, though unfavorably, as a nosy gossip.

• Bertha: A name of Germanic origin meaning “bright” or “famous.” This is deeply ironic, as she was considered dim-witted by her peers, and her fame is entirely posthumous and tied to her tragic death.
• Jorkins: The surname has no clear origin but may be a variant of “Jerkins.” A jerkin is a simple, sleeveless jacket, which could be a subtle nod to her being perceived as a simple or unsophisticated person.

• J.K. Rowling has described Bertha Jorkins as a “linchpin character” for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, stating that the entire backstory of the book relies on what happened to her. Her fate was intended to show the depths of Voldemort's cruelty before he even returned to full power (J.K. Rowling interview).
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Bertha Jorkins is entirely omitted from the story. Her role in providing Voldemort with information about the Triwizard Tournament and Barty Crouch Jr. is not included, and the film does not explain how Voldemort and Pettigrew learned of these events (film).