This article covers a character that has been deemed non-canon by either the author or the Harry Potter licensees, and thus should not be taken as a part of the "real" Harry Potter universe.
- "It's like trying to catch smoke... like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands."
- — Bem on trying to catch Sirius Black[src]
Bem[3] (born c. 1979–1980)[1] was a wizard of Nigerian descent[4] who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1991 to 1998.[5] He was Sorted into Gryffindor and was in Harry Potter's year.
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 Hogwarts education
- 1.1.1 Early years
- 1.2 Third year
- 1.1 Hogwarts education
- 2 Physical appearance
- 3 Etymology
- 4 Behind the scenes
- 5 Appearances
- 6 Notes and references
- 7 See also
Biography[]
Hogwarts education[]
Early years[]
Being Nigerian in descent, Bem began his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1991, along with students Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.[1] He was Sorted into the house of Gryffindor, but would not share a dormitory with the other known Gryffindor boys in his year.[5]
Third year[]
Bem chose Care of Magical Creatures and Divination as electives in his third year.[5] Bem explains the meaning after Sybill Trelawney found a grim in Harry's teacup. He is seen again in the Main Hall studying as Seamus told everyone that Sirius Black was sighted at an area close to Hogwarts. He agreed with Seamus that Sirius can get passed the Dementors and believed that he would do it again.
Physical appearance[]
He was a black boy with dark eyes and a round face. He was also slightly overweight with a lisp.[5]
Etymology[]
The name Bem means "peace" in the language of the Tiv, of Nigeria and Cameroon and also means "good" or "well" in Portuguese.[6] "BEM" is also an abbreviation for British Empire Medal, a medal received from British royalty for meritorious civil or military service, which possibly reflects Bem being sorted into Gryffindor.
Behind the scenes[]
- Like the character Nigel Wolpert, Bem is not mentioned in the books, but is credited in the films. Played by Ekow Quartey,[7] the character is listed in the credits for the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as simply "Boy 1". However, on the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD, the closed captions identify the character as "Bem" during the Divination class scene.
- Bem cannot be considered canon, as the books identify in several places that there are only five Gryffindor boys in Harry's year: Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.
- Ekow Quartey appears as a Ravenclaw boy in Dumbledore's Army in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, who is possibly Bem, the same character from the third film. He appears in the credits as "Ravenclaw boy". However, this may be a different character entirely, as this student is not named. It is possible that he is the same character, whose House was changed to correct the mistake of him being Gryffindor prior.
Appearances[]
The Harry Potter Wiki has 8 images related to Bem.
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (First appearance) (Non-canonical appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) (Possible appearance) (Non-canonical appearance)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bem's age can be extrapolated from his presence during the third-year Divination class in the Prisoner of Azkaban film.
- ↑ "World Exclusive Interview with J K Rowling," South West News Service, 8 July 2000 - "Hogwarts just serves Britain and Ireland."
- ↑ Closed captioning on the DVD release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
- ↑ Prisoner of Azkaban script on IMSDb (archived here via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
- ↑ The New Age Baby Name Book by Sue Browder
- ↑ Ekow Quartey - IMDB
See also[]
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