What Happened to Hermione Granger's Parents? - Harry Potter Explained

Hey everyone! Welcome to another episode of Harry Potter Theory.

Near the beginning of Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows (pt1), the Wizarding World was in turmoil. The imminent threat of Voldemort and the Deatheaters meant that not only witches and wizards were in danger, but muggles too. Knowing that the danger would eventually stretch beyond the confines of the wizarding world, Hermione granger knew that she would have to make a difficult choice. Hermione was a prominent figure in the fight against Voldemort, and this made her a target- and by extension, her family as well. And when things really started to get out of hand, she was struck with the crushing realization that everything going on would effect her parents.

This prompted her to take action, action which was very differently represented by the books and films. Effectively, what Hermione needed to do was erase her parents memories. This would disassociate them from her, and possibly save their lives, as they couldn’t possibly reveal information about someone that they had never met. For dramatic effect, the film really put a lot of focus on this scene, while the book only sort of mentioned it in passing. In the book, Hermione says to Harry:

“I’ve also modified my parents’ memories so that they’re convinced they’re really called Wendell and Monica Wilkins, and that their life’s ambition is to move to Australia, which they have now done. That’s to make it more difficult for Voldemort to track them down and interrogate them about me — or you, because unfortunately, I’ve told them quite a bit about you. ”

Hermione’s actions prompted the new couple, deemed ‘Monica’ and ‘Wendell’ Wilkins, to act on their ambition to move- packing up their belongings and heading straight for Australia. This also happened just in the knick of time, as the home of Hermione’s parents was visited by death eater Corban Yaxley shortly after they had left. Had he been successful in finding them, then I’m sure that the death eaters would have been able to very successfully leverage the lives of Hermione’s parents- so it’s good that she took action when she did.

As we can see from what Hermione says to Harry, she doesn’t seem to mention a particular spell that she used, or indicate that this is an irreversible process. It’s obviously sad, and she doesn’t want to do it, but it doesn’t seem like she’s done something that can’t be undone.

In the film however, it’s really quite a dramatic scene. It’s dark, dull, dreary, and devoid of happiness.

Hermione’s mum calls her for tea, and when Hermione wanders in to her parents living room, she quietly utters the words ‘Obliviate’, pointing her wand at the back of their heads. This immediately begins to strip the room of anything pertaining to Hermione, as her image from the family photos fades away and she is effectively taken out of her parents memories.

This raises a couple of questions:

First of all, did Hermione ever fix her parents memories?

The answer to this question is YES, and it was actually mentioned in the books that she always had every intention of finding them and fixing their memories. After explaining to Harry that she stripped their memories, she follows up with this:

“Assuming I survive our hunt for the Horcruxes, I’ll find Mum and Dad and lift the enchantment. If I don’t — well, I think I’ve cast a good enough charm to keep them safe and happy. Wendell and Monica Wilkins don’t know that they’ve got a daughter, you see.”

JK Rowling also confirmed in a web chat that Hermione did in fact eventually restore her parents memories. She was asked the question: “Was Hermione able to find her parents and undo the memory damage?” to which she responded “Yes, she brought them home straight away.”

Okay, so we know that they got their memories back. Hooray. But this is also where it gets a bit hairy. The undefined spell that Hermione uses in the books is clearly described as something that you can undo, however, in the films she used Obliviate, which is irreversible.

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