This Secret Harry Potter Movie Villain Remains a Mystery for Fans
Of all the famous antagonists in Harry Potter, there is one mysterious man whose character didn’t even have a proper name — but still got way too much recognition.
Summary:
- Many fans are surprised to find a mysterious character on their Harry Potter puzzles, cards, etc.
- The enigmatic person no one seems to remember is called the “Hogsmeade Death Eater.”
- Despite only having a few short appearances in Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the Hogsmeade Death Eater is part of several Harry Potter merchandise pieces.
Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir Greyback, Peter Pettigrew, Dolores Umbridge, and every other somewhat prominent Harry Potter villain should really step aside and learn from him. No one knows his name, origins, or fate — but he’s part of several official Harry Potter merchandise. Who might he be, you may ask?
Enter the Hogsmeade Death Eater.
Hogsmeade Death Eater: Harry Potter’s Biggest Mystery
Most Potterheads claim to know the lore and characters of the Wizarding World (the original books and movies, in particular) really well. When it comes to Harry Potter’s villains, it’s quite an easy feat to pull off, too: there are only so many real antagonists in the franchise, and it’s enough to check the Slytherin list to recall all of them.
Well, save for Peter Pettigrew, but that’s not the point.
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Can you imagine the surprise Harry Potter fans went through when on various official Wizarding World merchandise like puzzles and cards, they started finding a stranger they couldn’t remember from any movie? The character no one seemed to recall was presented as part of Voldemort’s crew, but Potterheads had no idea who he was.
Who Was the Hogsmeade Death Eater, Really?
It’s easy to see why no one remembered the mysterious man as he was, in fact, one of the Death Eaters who made several minor appearances in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. He was such a tertiary character that he didn’t even have a proper name: the titles referred to him as the…Hogsmeade Death Eater.
The Hogsmeade Death Eater was portrayed by Benn Northover and appeared in five second-long scenes in the movie. He was searching for the trio when they apparated into Hogsmeade (hence the nickname), fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, and was seen fleeing after Lord Voldemort was defeated. Not a track record to be proud of.
Despite his less-than-impressive role in the movie, Ben Northover made his way into official Harry Potter puzzles and cards, confusing numerous fans with his existence.
Legacy of the Hogsmeade Death Eater
Despite his identity having been figured out years ago, every now and again, another Harry Potter fan discovers a piece of merchandise with the Hogsmeade Death Eater and comes around to forums and subreddits asking who in Merlin’s beard that guy is. At this point, the Hogsmeade Death Eater has become a long-running fan gag.
“He is the Jar Jar Binks of [Harry Potter], a secret villain poised to be the real master puppeteer, teacher of Voldemort. But at the last minute, they decided to drop his character completely,” Reddit user ArtWrt147 replied when another fan asked about the mysterious Man on the Puzzle.
Of course, that’s not the only version of Ben Northover’s character’s origins.
“He looks like he is in an early TNG Starfleet uniform. Clearly, he’s been caught in some temporal anomaly and found himself in 1990’s England surrounded by people claiming to be magical but he knows there’s some kind of science behind it,” suggested DSMilne.
Jokes aside, our only guess is that Ben Northover won a cast lottery to be put into the Wizarding World merchandise pieces or something along these lines. There’s no other explanation for the Hogsmeade Death Eater phenomenon, but we’re glad it exists, anyway. Watching clueless fans freak out about this enigmatic character on a regular basis is entertaining, to say the least.