(born in the ''
Harry Potter '' books. His character provides some
Comic Relief in the books. He generally plays small parts in the plot events of the stories. Probably his most significant role is to introduce various spells into the story.
Flitwick is the . His squeaky voice matches his tiny stature; he stands on a stack of books in order to see over the top of his desk and sits on a pile of cushions at the staff table. He has a distant
Goblin ancestor which leads him to empathise with others of mixed ancestry, such as
Hagrid {Link without Title} .
Flitwick's teaching style seems to be rather laid back in comparison to other professors. He has allowed his class to play games during the last class before the Christmas holidays and seems resigned to a fair amount of chaos as students practice new Charms. He is often hit by misaimed or bad spells, often flying around the room or growing boils. Some of the
Spells he teaches include a levitation charm, ''Wingardium Leviosa'', Cheering Charms, Summoning Charms, the Banishing Charm, and the Silencing Charm. The Charms classroom is on the third floor of the school , but Flitwick's office is on the seventh floor.
Professor Flitwick serves
Hogwarts in many ways outside of the classroom. He used his magical skills to help decorate the Great Hall at Christmastime in the
First Book . During Harry's second year, Flitwick helped
Professor Sinistra carry a petrified
Justin Finch-Fletchley to the hospital wing. He taught the front doors to recognize a picture of
Sirius Black after his second break-in in
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban . He helped patrol the perimeter of the maze for the third task of the
Triwizard Tournament held in Harry's fourth year. He eventually removed most of the swamp that had been created within the school by
Fred And George Weasley in the
Fifth Book in a couple of seconds (he chose to leave a small bit of it because he said he thought it was , "a good bit of magic." But it is possible that it was left as a tribute of the two troublemakers.), though he had previously left the swamp untouched to annoy
Dolores Umbridge . Near the end of
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince , Flitwick is summoned by
Minerva McGonagall to ask Professor
Severus Snape to come to the aid of the
Order Of The Phoenix against the
Death Eaters (
Battle Of Hogwarts ). However, he is unable to do so, because of being stupefied by Snape. It is possible that he will replace
Minerva McGonagall as Deputy Head of Hogwarts.
Flitwick is quietly supportive of both
Harry Potter and
Dumbledore when
Dolores Umbridge attempts to undermine them both in
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix . He gives Harry a box of squeaking sugar mice after Harry's interview is published in
The Quibbler . When fireworks are set loose in the castle, Flitwick calls Umbridge to deal with them rather than extinguishing them himself.
It is told that Filius Flitwick was a dueling champion, very intelligent, and quite handsome when he was younger. He taught at
Hogwarts when
James Potter and his contemporaries were there.
'']]
The name "
Flitwick " could be derived from the name of the town of Flitwick near
London (though that name is pronounced "Flittick"), or it could be a combination of "flit" (that is, to move quickly and lightly) and "wick" (a word from Northern
England meaning "lively.") Filius is the
Latin word for "son".
Warwick Davis played Flitwick in the
Harry Potter series. He also played the goblin
Bank teller in the first film. During the first two films, Flitwick is an old half-goblin with a big white moustache. In the third film, this same character does not appear, although Warwick Davis plays another character, a short human with brown hair and moustache, not very similar to the Flitwick in the previous movies. This character, the chorus conductor, is identified in the credits only as "Wizard". The character reappeared in the fourth movie, with the same make-up and still being the conductor, although in a speaking role. He was not named in the movie, but was seen eating at the staff table and was identified in the credits as "Filius Flitwick", suggesting that Flitwick is also a music conductor.
J.K Rowling said
{Link without Title} : "''I must admit, I was taken aback when I saw the film Flitwick, who looks very much like a goblin/elf (I’ve never actually asked the filmmakers precisely what he is), because the Flitwick in my imagination simply looks like a very small old man.''".
