Almost all people have somehow heard of the little wizard Harry Potter and his friends. But few people know about minor characters. In this article, we will tell you about Zachary Smith, who first appeared in this interesting story in the fifth part, entitled "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (the film was shot in 2006-2007).
Who is Zachariah?
This man was a student at the Hogwarts School of Magic, whom the magic hat enrolled in Hufflepuff. Penelope founded this faculty many years ago. Smith is a fellow student of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Subsequently, Zachariah Smith became a member of the OD. But we will talk about this below.
Zachariah Smith entered the school of witchcraft in the same year as Harry. During his studies, he lived with Justin Finch-Fletchi, Ernie Macmillan and Wayne Hopkins. In the fifth year of his training, he became the captain of the faculty team for one of the most interesting magical broom games - Quidditch. Before that, he was a hunter in a team.
Dumbledore's squad
In the fifth book, Zachariah Smith of Harry Potter joins Dumbledore’s squad. But, apparently, he didn’t go there entirely at will. At first, Zachariah Smith accidentally overheard a conversation between Ernie Macmillan, Anna Abbot, and Hermione Granger. He learned that an unusual meeting with Harry Potter would take place in Hogsmeade. Curious Zachariah Smith (he wanted to know more about the death of Serdik Diggory) also asked for this meeting.
However, at the meeting, as soon as the conversation turned to Cedric, Harry Potter immediately stated that those who came to hear about the murder of the dark sorcerer Voldemort could leave the meeting. Harry also said that they gathered in a tavern in order to begin to study dark forces on their own. And the reason for this meeting is Dolores Umbridge. It was she who was appointed the new teacher for protection against dark magic. And her course does not provide for the use of magic by students, as the minister is afraid of the creation of the army by Dumbledore.
In the end, Hermione, of course, regretted her hasty decision to invite Smith to a secret meeting held in Boar's Head. He spoke skeptically all the time and treated everyone with great disdain, and especially to the student Potter. Zachariah did not stop his attacks and statements until the Weasley twins (George and Fred) frightened him with a strange sharp object of clearly magical orientation. In general, we can say that he was not happy with the very idea of ​​creating a detachment for protection from dark magic. However, when the students present at the meeting began to put themselves on the magic list proposed by Hermione, Zakharia Smith considered that it would be inconvenient to refuse, since the wardens of his faculty had also joined the newly created detachment. And for this reason, he also signed the document.
Zechariah at OD meetings
Even in the classroom, Zachariah Smith (actor Nick Schirm) continues to make malicious remarks and criticize Harry. For example, he was the only one who laughed at Potter’s decision to begin training with the simplest Expelliarmus disarmament spell. Harry Potter had to be reminded that when he met Voldemort, this spell, which was still in his first year, saved his life in a duel with a dark wizard.
But as soon as the Daily Prophet newspaper published an announcement that ten followers of Voldemort had escaped from Azkaban, Zachariah Smith changed his attitude towards classes and began to work much better. In the book "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (the film does not convey all the nuances), the character of Zachariah is shown much better than in the movie.
Sixth year of study at Hogwarts
Before the start of the sixth course, The Daily Prophet wrote a lot about Harry. In their articles, journalists often wrote that certain events involving Harry and other students occurred in the magical ministry. Out of curiosity, the annoying Zachariah Smith began to pester Ginny Weasley with questions. But she did not want to give him any information. Zachariah tried to get at least some information and was so tired of Ginny that she sent a bastard evil eye to the annoying interlocutor. And from that moment on, Zachariah Smith harbored a grudge against the whole Gryffindor and Ginny herself.
This resentment was especially noticeable when Zakharia became a commentator on Quidditch matches (a magical broomstick game). For example, during a game between the warring Slytherin and Gryffindor, Zachariah Smith was so fed up with the audience and players with his comments and vicious questions that Ginny Weasley bumped into the commentator’s booth. Ginny explained her act by saying that she "could not slow down." Zachariah Smith remained safe and sound, only his reputation was noticeably damaged. From under the wreckage of the cabin he crawled out under the friendly laughter of his students.
In the same year, Smith wanted to call Granger Hermione when she was invited by Professor Slughorn to a merry Christmas party. However, a little later she changed her mind and invited Cormack McLagen.
After the tragic death of Director Dumbledore at the hands of his teacher, Professor Severus Snape, Zakharia Smith was taken by his father from the magic school, explaining his act by the fact that a very dangerous time had come.
Hogwarts Final Battle
Much says about Zachariah. See his behavior before the battle at Hogwarts between the Death Eaters and Harry Potter's allies. He was the only member of the OD who left the castle. At the same time, he was in such a hurry that, pushing all the students on the way, he provoked a rather unflattering comment from Ronald Weasley.
Who handed the magic coins to Draco Malfoy?
There is a version that the flight of Zachariah Smith from the castle was caused not by fear of the battle itself, but by real panic. There is a version that it was Zachariah Smith who gave Malfoy an enchanted coin to Hermione so that he could implement his plan to kill Dumbledore. For example, if we assume that Draco received one coin from Umbridge, who took it from Marietta and the other from Zachariah, then Malfoy’s behavior becomes clear. In addition, Smith's quarrel with Ginny could completely push him away from all the Gryffindors.
We hope you enjoyed our article on Zechariah Smith's student, who was enrolled in Hufflepuff. This faculty, according to Rowling, accepted in their ranks those applicants who could not go to other faculties. That is, they were not distinguished by any special courage, or cunning, or intelligence.
Interestingly, Zachariah Smith was mentioned in the last three books about Harry Potter, but in the sixth film and the first part of the seventh he was not.