Elizabeth Burke

"Seen and not heard; that's what children should be."

- Elizabeth Burke's portrait

Elizabeth Burke was a witch. She had portraits hung at Hogwarts Castle, depicting her as a dark-dressed witch in a ruff and sporting a very pointed hat. She appears to be a pure-blood witch, seeing as she tells Slytherin students to be "nasty to Mudbloods."

Early life
Elizabeth probably attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Slytherin. She was appointed Headmistress of Hogwarts School at an unknown point. Burke had a portrait painted of herself when she was thirty-five years old.

1991–1992 and 1992–1993 school years
By 1991, Elizabeth's portrait was hung at the Grand Staircase, above the stairs between the archway to the Entrance Hall and the doorway to the first-floor.

During the next school year, Elizabeth's portrait was maintained at the same place at the Grand Staircase.

1995–1996 school year
By 1995 her portrait was no longer hung by the first-floor landing of the Grand Staircase, but two floors below, at the Entrance Dungeon. During this school year, she hid a secret passage to the Main Dungeons. In order to gain passage, one had to give her the password "Slytherins are Supreme", which only she and the Slytherin students knew about. There was another portrait of her, hung near the entrance to the Potions Classroom, hiding a passage to the seventh-floor corridor. Its password was "Facta, non verba".

1996–1997 school year
By the next school year, her portraits no longer hid any secret passageway, nor did they stay on the same walls.

1997
One of her portraits was hung in Malfoy Manor.



Behind the scenes

 * Elizabeth may have died sometime prior to 1991, as many portraits hung at Hogwarts depict deceased individuals. Her clothing seems to indicate that she lived during the sixteenth or seventeenth century.
 * Elizabeth Burke's portrait bears a resemblance to a 1592 portrait of Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury by Rowland Lockey.
 * It is possible she may be related to Caractacus Burke, co-founder of Borgin and Burkes.

Etymology

 * "Elizabeth" is from Ελισαβετ (Elisabet), the Greek form of the Hebrew name אֱלִישֶׁבַע (Elisheva) meaning "my God is an oath" or perhaps "my God is abundance". It has been very popular in England since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century. Famous modern bearers include the British queen Elizabeth II (1926-).

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
 * The Wizarding World of Harry Potter