Bertha Jorkins

"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins. She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Harry. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

- Sirius Black

Bertha Jorkins (c. 1953-1958 — 1994) was a Ministry for Magic employee who worked in the Department of Magical Games and Sports before her death.

School years
Bertha Jorkins was a few years ahead of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was a gossipy girl and not very bright, which Sirius noted to not be a very good combination. During her school years she would regularly complain about mistreatment from other students and spread rumours, even once ending up in front of Dumbledore following some incident.

Adult life
After graduating from Hogwarts, Bertha went to work at The Daily Prophet briefly before joining the Ministry of Magic and floated between Departments. She finally ended up in the Department of Magical Games and Sports under the head of Ludo Bagman. Bertha had the misfortune of making a visit to the estate of Barty Crouch Sr. with some papers for him to sign, where she discovered the Crouch family secret that they were keeping their convicted Death Eater son Barty Crouch Jr. trapped in their house under the Imperius Curse and an invisibility cloak when their house-elf Winky was talking to the criminal, of which Bertha heard enough to deduce who was under the cloak. When Bertha confronted Crouch Sr., he had to place a powerful memory charm on her to alter her memory and make her forget what she had found out. So powerful, in fact, that she suffered permanent brain damage, leading to the extreme forgetfulness she had since been known for.

1994
She went on holiday to Albania in 1994, but she did not return when she was supposed to. Her reputation of being forgetful and not very bright made many believe she had lost track of time and was perhaps just lost. The truth of the matter was that one night in a wayside inn, Bertha Jorkins ran into Peter Pettigrew, who the Ministry thought to be dead at the hands of Sirius Black. Although she recognised him, he was able to persuade her to take a stroll with him into the woods, and he was able to overpower Bertha and bring her to his master Lord Voldemort, who was hiding in Albania. Lord Voldemort was able to break through the memory charm placed by Crouch Sr. on her through torture and learned of the imprisonment of his follower Crouch Jr., and also learned valuable information about the Triwizard Tournament which he would use to try to kill Harry Potter. Breaking through the memory charm had left Bertha severely "damaged," by permanently damaging her mind and body beyond repair, and Lord Voldemort murdered her with the Killing Curse, because he had no more use for her. Voldemort used her death to turn his snake Nagini into a Horcrux.

1995
During the duel between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort in the Little Hangleton graveyard, when the spells of the two duellists clashed into a Priori Incantatem, Bertha is one of the many echoes to emerge from the bond. She supported Harry while withholding Voldemort.

Etymology
Her first name, Bertha, means "intelligent" or "shining" -- an ironic first name, as she was gossipy, forgetful and not always wisely cautious about danger. Jorkins may be from Mr. Jorkins, a character in Charles Dickens' David Copperfield and A Christmas Carol.

Behind the scenes

 * Bertha appeared as a plump 16-year-old in one of Albus Dumbledore's Pensieve memories. She complained about being Hexed by a boy whom she teased because she had caught him kissing Florence behind the Hogwarts greenhouses.
 * Even though Bertha had a fairly large behind-the-scenes role in the book, she is never mentioned nor seen in the film, most likely due to time constraints.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Notes and references
Bertha Jorkins Берта Джоркинс Bertha Jorkins