Nymphadora Tonks
"Stop being so cheerful, Mad-Eye, he'll think we're not taking this seriously."
-- Tonks, about Harry (OP3)
"Do that one like a pig snout, Tonks."
-- Either Hermione or Ginny, requesting their favorite nose (OP5)
On this page:
Dates & name
Born:
c. 1973 (see Tonks timeline,
below),
Died: May 2,1998 (DH33, YL).
Possible name meanings: Nymphs are spirits of nature in Greek mythology.
They are minor female deities who appear as young, pretty girls, and are the
protectors of springs, mountains, and rivers. (Encyclopedia
Mythica). A nymph is also a stage of metamorphosis
in the insect world.
Other names: She disliked her first name and preferred to be called "Tonks"
but her father called her "Dora."
Family
Ancestry: 'Tonks' is considered a "half-blood" because her father was
a muggle-born wizard.
Mother: Andromeda (Black)
Tonks, who is the sister of Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix
Lestrange.
Father: Ted Tonks, a muggle-born wizard.
Spouse: Married Remus Lupin during the summer
of 1997, before the end of July (DH1, 4).
Child: Ted Remus Lupin, named for her father and husband (DH25).
Appearance
Hair: various colors, changed at will.
Eyes: dark and twinkling.
Distinguishing features: as a Metamorphmagus,
Tonks can assume many different appearances. Her actual appearance is that
of a pretty, young woman with a pale, heart-shaped face.
Disguises: An old woman with "tightly curled gray hair" and a purple hat (OP10), "a tall, tweedy woman with iron-gray hair" (OP24), blond, curly hair (DH8).
Hogwarts
House: Hufflepuff (JKR), 1984-1991.
Skills, etc.
Skills: Concealment and disguise, though she is "dead clumsy." (OP3).
Career: Auror and member of the
second Order
of the Phoenix; a protégé of "Mad-Eye" Moody (DH5).
Part of the Advance Guard that helps Harry in his escape from the Dursley house
(OP3-9, 35).
Interests: Popular music, judging by the 'Weird
Sisters' t-shirt (OP38).
Patronus: Previous one unknown; it changed to "immense
four-legged creature" in 1996 (HBP8, 15, 29).
- Department of Mysteries (seriously injured by Bellatrix and taken to St. Mungo's) (OP36)
- Battle of the Tower (HBP28)
- Battle of the seven Harrys, where she and Ron were attacked by Bellatrix (DH5)
- Battle of Hogwarts, where she was killed by Bellatrix (DH33)
Profile
Tonks is a pretty young woman with a heart-shaped face. Her hair changes color, but is often bubble-gum pink. Her father calls her ‘Dora.’
Nymphadora, or 'Tonks,' as she prefers to be called by friends, is an Auror and a member of the Order of the Phoenix. She was not part of the original Order of the Phoenix as she was too young. Tonks was part of the Advance Guard that helps Harry in his escape from the Dursley house; she carried his trunk slung under her broom. (OP3-9, 35).
Tonks is the daughter of Sirius Black's favorite cousin, Andromeda, who married a Muggle-born wizard, Ted Tonks. Andromeda was removed from the tapestry of the Black family tree as a result of her marriage (so Kreacher does not feel the need to obey her even though she is family) (OP6). That means that Tonks' aunts are Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, whether any of them wants to admit it or not.
While at Hogwarts, Tonks was not made a Prefect (OP9). She said that it was because she lacked certain "necessary qualities," specifically the ability to behave herself. However, she must have been a very capable student in spite of her fondness for mischief, since becoming an Auror requires high marks in many subjects. After leaving Hogwarts in the summer of 1991, Tonks had to undergo an additional three years of training to become an Auror, only qualifying in the summer of 1994.
Tonks is a Metamorphmagus, which means that she can change her appearance at will. She uses this ability in service to the Order, but it also helped her qualify as an Auror ("I got top marks in Concealment and Disguise during Auror training without any study at all, it was great."). However, she is very clumsy and she had more difficulty with Stealth and Tracking.
During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Tonks fired spells down on the Death Eaters in the Death Room, but was hit by a spell and injured severely. She recovered from her wounds after a stay in St. Mungo's. She was sufficiently healed to join Mad-Eye and Lupin on the platform in King's Cross as they met Harry from the train.
However, a few months later when Harry meets her at the Burrow, it is clear that Tonks is extremely unhappy. She has let her hair go a mousy brown, and looks "drawn, even ill." (HBP5). Harry at first supposes that she is distraught over Sirius' death but finds out later (HBP29) that she has fallen in love with Remus Lupin.
During Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, Tonks was stationed there along with Aurors Proudfoot, Savage, and Dawlish to guard the school. She fought in the Battle of the Tower.
During the summer of 1997, Lupin and Tonks were married. He regretted this afterwards because he feared what association with him would do to his wife and her family. When Tonks became pregnant that fall, he was terrified that he had brought doom on Tonks and the unborn child and considered leaving her in the care of her parents. He didn’t leave, and the baby was born healthy some months later. They named him Teddy after her father.
During the Battle of Hogwarts, Tonks followed Lupin to join the battle. Both she and her husband were killed, Tonks struck down by her aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange. Teddy was raised by his grandmother, Andromeda Tonks (BLC).
Tonks Timeline
Compiled and edited by Nathan Zimmermann
Tonks told Harry in August of 1995, that she became an Auror only last year in 1994.
I only qualified a year ago. Nearly failed on Stealth and Tracking. I'm dead clumsy, did you hear me break that plate when we arrived downstairs? (OP3)When that date is taken in conjunction with the additional to the three years of postgraduate work that is the norm for becoming an auror.
“Well you will need to demonstrate the ability to react well to pressure and so forth,” said Professor McGonagall, “perseverance and dedication , because Auror training takes a further three years , not mention very high skills in practical defense…” (OP)It can be inferred she graduated from Hogwarts in June of 1991 one term before Harry's first year. This being the case the resulting timeline is as follows:
1993-94 third year of auror training. Nymphadora completed her third year
of auror training and qualified as an auror in the summer 1994.
1992-93 Nymphadora’s second year of auror training
1991-92: Nymphadora’s First Year of auror training
1990-91: Nymphadora’s seventh and final year at Hogwarts
1989-90: Nymphadora’s sixth year at Hogwarts
1988-89: Nymphadora’s fifth year at Hogwarts.
1987-88: Nymphadora’s fourth year at Hogwarts
1986-87: Nymphadora’s third year at Hogwarts
1985-86: Nymphadora’s second year at Hogwarts
1984-85: Nymphadora’s first year at Hogwarts.
The fact that Nymphadora’s first year at Hogwarts is the 1984-85 school establishes that Tonks would have been born in 1973, because, the age when a student starts at Hogwarts is 11 years of age. She is, therefore, the same age as Charlie Weasley.
Tonks in the Movies
The role of Nymphadora Tonks is played by Natalia Tena (IMDb).
