The Seven Potters

• Type: Diversionary Tactic / Secret Operation
• Architects: Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt
• Originator of Idea: Mundungus Fletcher (who was given the idea via a Confundus Charm by Severus Snape)
• Participants: Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter

The “Seven Potters” was the codename for a high-risk Order of the Phoenix operation designed to move Harry Potter safely from his relatives' home at Number Four, Privet Drive to the protection of The Burrow. The plan was necessitated by the fact that the magical protection provided by his mother, Lily Potter, would expire upon Harry's seventeenth birthday, leaving him vulnerable to Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The core of the strategy was deception. Six of Harry's friends and allies would transform into identical decoys of Harry using Polyjuice Potion. Each of the seven Potters—the real one and the six fakes—would then be escorted by an experienced wizard or witch, flying in pairs to different safe houses. This was intended to split the enemy's forces, making it impossible for them to know which pair contained the real Harry Potter.

The plan was executed on the evening of 27 July, 1997. The primary magical component was the Polyjuice Potion, which required hairs from Harry Potter to create. The six individuals who volunteered to act as decoys were Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Fleur Delacour, and Mundungus Fletcher. The seven pairs departed Privet Drive using a combination of Broomsticks and Thestrals:

1. Pair 1: The real Harry Potter and Rubeus Hagrid on Sirius Black's enchanted motorbike.
2. Pair 2: Hermione Granger (as Harry) and Kingsley Shacklebolt on a Thestral.
3. Pair 3: Ron Weasley (as Harry) and Nymphadora Tonks on a Broomstick.
4. Pair 4: Fred Weasley (as Harry) and Arthur Weasley on a Broomstick.
5. Pair 5: George Weasley (as Harry) and Remus Lupin on a Broomstick.
6. Pair 6: Fleur Delacour (as Harry) and Bill Weasley on a Thestral.
7. Pair 7: Mundungus Fletcher (as Harry) and Alastor Moody on a Broomstick.

Despite the Order of the Phoenix's precautions, their plan was compromised. The Ministry of Magic official Pius Thicknesse had been placed under the Imperius Curse by Yaxley and revealed the date of Harry's departure. This information was passed on by Severus Snape, who, acting as a double agent, also supplied the Death Eaters with the “Seven Potters” plan to maintain his cover with Voldemort. Almost immediately after leaving Privet Drive, the seven pairs were ambushed by approximately thirty Death Eaters, including Lord Voldemort himself. A fierce aerial battle, later dubbed the Battle of the Seven Potters, ensued. Key events and consequences of the battle include:

• Hedwig's Death: Harry's beloved owl, Hedwig, was killed by a stray Killing Curse early in the battle.
• Mundungus Fletcher's Desertion: When confronted directly by Lord Voldemort, a terrified Mundungus Fletcher Disapparated, leaving his partner, Alastor Moody, exposed.
• Alastor Moody's Death: Left undefended, Alastor Moody was struck by a Killing Curse from Voldemort and fell from his broom. His body was never recovered by the Order.
• George Weasley's Injury: George Weasley lost his left ear to a Sectumsempra curse cast by Severus Snape. Snape was aiming for a Death Eater's hand to prevent them from cursing Remus Lupin, but missed.
• Identifying the Real Harry: Voldemort and the Death Eaters eventually focused their attack on the real Harry. This was partly because Hedwig's attempt to protect him gave him away, and because Harry used his signature spell, Expelliarmus, against Stan Shunpike, who was under the Imperius Curse.

All surviving members of the party eventually made it to The Burrow or the other safe houses, but the operation came at a great cost.

The “Seven Potters” event is a pivotal moment at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It serves several crucial functions:

• It marks Harry's final, violent departure from the Muggle world and his childhood home.
• It tragically underscores the extreme danger of the Second Wizarding War with the immediate deaths of Hedwig and Alastor Moody, two significant figures in Harry's life.
• It demonstrates the profound loyalty and courage of Harry's friends, who willingly risked their lives to protect him.
• The permanent injury to George Weasley provides a stark, physical reminder of the costs of war.
• The compromised plan confirms that the Ministry of Magic has effectively fallen to Voldemort's control, setting the stage for the rest of the story.

• In the film adaptation, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Hedwig's death occurs differently. She is not in her cage but is flying alongside Harry, and she is killed when she actively intercepts a Killing Curse meant for him. It is this act of loyalty that gives the real Harry away to the Death Eaters (film).
• The film visually depicts the ambush as the Death Eaters appearing from dark smoke clouds and surrounding the seven pairs in the sky, creating a highly dramatic cinematic sequence (film).
• The book explains that Snape intentionally cast the curse that injured George, though his target was a Death Eater's hand. The film does not include this detail, leaving the identity of the caster ambiguous (film).