The one mentioned in the first book is the evening newsman who reports on the unsual behavior of the country’s owls. The one in the fifth book is Ted Tonks, a muggle-born who married Andromeda Black. He is, of course, Nymphadora Tonks’ father.

I believe that they are one and the same person. Consider the following:

1. '...Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern.' The news reader allowed himself a grin. 'Most mysterious...'

Why would the news reader grin and then say "most mysterious?” It’s kind of like he knows something, right? After all, this was an odd thing that happened and Muggles would usually find this extremely weird.

2. Why would J.K. use the name "Ted" twice? She has a whole wide range of names to choose from. Why Ted? I know this proved inconsequential in the case of Mark Evans, but it’s still fun to speculate. It would be so great if she threw us off with Mark Evans only to have it actually be the case with Ted Tonks. Also, in the first book we're not given a last name for this newsman, but we are for the weather man: Jim McGuffin.

How is this information relevant? Well, if Ted Tonks is indeed the same Ted who works as a news reporter, then it is very important. At the beginning of the fifth book, Harry was listening to the news for a glimpse into the wizarding world. I think there's a lot more about “Harry's lot” in the muggle news and there might be some hidden clues there. I also believe that Ted Tonks is a character we can look foward to meeting in the future books.

8/15/04