Kingsley Shacklebolt: An Underrated Hero
So far, in honor of Black History Month, we’ve written about Lavender Brown, Angelina Johnson, and Dean Thomas. Now I’m going to focus on an underrated hero, Kingsley Shacklebolt. He did plenty in the books, but this didn’t come across in the films. Unfortunately, his role shrunk considerably, which meant that the movies left out several of his achievements.
First of all, he is a highly skilled Auror, capable of performing a Memory Charm discretely.
He was remarkably quick on the uptake, modifying Miss Edgecombe’s memory like that while everyone was looking the other way” (Order of the Phoenix 621).
Plus, he was a fantastic double agent. While he was working at Fudge’s Ministry, he protected the Order any way he could.
Kingsley Shacklebolt’s been a real asset too. He’s in charge of the hunt for Sirius, so he’s been feeding the Ministry information that Sirius is in Tibet” (Order of the Phoenix 95).
His loyalty and fearlessness are further shown when he protects Harry, both during the battle at the Ministry and when he helped Harry leave Privet Drive. During this escape, he fought off several Death Eaters, rode a Thestral, and protected Hermione.
Followed by five, injured two, might’ve killed one,” Kingsley reeled off, “and we saw You-Know-Who as well, he joined the chase halfway through but vanished pretty quickly” (Deathly Hallows 72).
As an adept Auror, he is a strong fighter, able to fight off several Death Eaters at the same time. Additionally, he fought off both Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort.
Yeah, a bunch of Death Eaters cornered him […], but he fought his way out” (Deathly Hallows 390).
Kingsley protected the guests at Bill and Fleur’s wedding when the Ministry fell. Without his warning Patronus, many would have been captured and potentially killed by Voldemort’s new government.
Then the Patronus’s mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
‘The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming’” (Deathly Hallows 159).
His ability to pass off as a Muggle helped him protect the Muggle Prime Minister and get the Dursleys to trust him, an extraordinary ability in itself.
The Dursleys had spotted Kingsley on the news, walking along discreetly behind the Muggle Prime Minister as he visited a hospital. This, and the fact that Kingsley had mastered the knack of dressing like a Muggle, not to mention a certain reassuring something in his slow, deep voice, had caused the Dursleys to take to Kingsley in a way that they had certainly not done with any other wizard” (Deathly Hallows 34).
In the books, his skills and service were recognized, and he became the next Minister of Magic. Under his leadership, corruption and discrimination were removed from the Ministry, making the wizarding world a much better place. Unfortunately, the movie audience never found out what happened to him. These fantastic contributions make him one of the greatest unsung heroes of the series.
