Harry's father. James and his wife, Lily, died when Harry was one year old, trying to protect Harry from Voldemort. Harry admires his father and takes pride any time someone says that Harry looks like James, but this begins to change when Harry decides to enter Snape's memory in the Pensieve. There, Harry sees fifteen-year-old James torture Snape for no reason, show off for girls, and sees that Lily appeared to hate James. Sirius and Lupin explain to Harry that James was good at everything and embarrassingly full of himself, but he became less arrogant in his late teens. James and Lily were active members of the Order of the Phoenix.
James Potter Quotes in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix quotes below are all either spoken by James Potter or refer to James Potter. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Scholastic edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix published in 2004.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Quotes
He could abandon the plan and simply learn to live with the memory of what his father had done on a summer's day more than twenty years ago...
And then he remembered Sirius in the fire upstairs in the Gryffindor common room... "You're less like your father than I thought...The risk would've been what made it fun for James..."
But did he want to be like his father anymore?
Related Characters:
Sirius Black (speaker), Harry Potter, Professor Severus Snape, James Potter
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix LitChart as a printable PDF.
James Potter Character Timeline in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The timeline below shows where the character James Potter appears in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter Five
...things, but Mrs. Weasley thinks Harry is too young. She points out that Harry isn't James and tells Sirius that he can't treat Harry like James. Mr. Weasley and Lupin quietly...
(full context)
Chapter Nine
...Tonks and Sirius say that they weren't made prefects, but Lupin was. They say that James Potter wasn't a prefect either, which lifts Harry's spirits. He looks around and walks over...
(full context)
...when he sees Alice and Frank Longbottom, Neville's parents. Moody points out Lupin, Hagrid, Sirius, James, Lily, and Wormtail. Harry tries to smile but excuses himself, feeling upset by the picture...
(full context)
Chapter Fourteen
...keep Sirius out of Azkaban, which makes Sirius say that Harry isn't as much like James as he thought. He makes an excuse to leave and then his head disappears.
(full context)
Chapter Twenty-Eight
...and sees that he's taking his Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. Harry also finds James, Sirius, Lupin, and Wormtail. James and Sirius are extremely handsome.
(full context)
...of the exam and releases the students. Harry tries to keep himself between Snape and James's friends as they all walk onto the grounds. Snape remains engrossed in the sheet of...
(full context)
Lily appears and shouts at Sirius and James to leave Snape alone. James begins messing up his hair to impress her. She calls...
(full context)
Chapter Twenty-Nine
...on what he saw in the Pensieve. Hagrid and Sirius have always told Harry that James was wonderful, but he can't imagine ever tormenting someone like James tormented Snape. He's also...
(full context)
...after vouching for him. Harry thinks of Sirius saying that he's not as much like James as Sirius thought, and wonders if he even wants to be like his father. As...
(full context)
...what he saw in the Pensieve. Sirius and Lupin explain that Snape was jealous of James, but James was an arrogant jerk at age fifteen. Lupin admits that he never told...
(full context)
Chapter Thirty-One
...saves in the Quidditch match and ruffles his hair, which makes Harry grin—it's exactly what James did. Finally, Hermione tells Ron about Grawp. Ron is incredulous, and insists they have to...
(full context)