Percy Ignatius Weasley was not the easiest wizard to get along with. He was an incredibly ambitious, somewhat pompous young man, who had great admiration for authority. Even when said authority didn’t deserve his admiration.
Incredibly dedicated to rising above his family’s modest station in life, Percy was equally motivated by recognition and status. These interests are likely what led to him becoming a prefect and Head Boy while at school and, later, an employee at the British Ministry of Magic.
Despite his great ambitions in life, however, Percy was somewhat forgettable amidst all the chaos and vibrancy that filled the Weasley home. As the third son of Arthur and Molly Weasley, Percy was very much a middle child—younger than both Bill and Charlie, and older than Fred, George, Ron and Ginny.
And while it makes sense that his role within the Weasley clan may have contributed to Percy feeling a little “left out” among his fellow family members, it certainly doesn’t explain why he fell out with them completely.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the events that led to Percy Weasley cutting off his entire family and explore if he ever truly HATED them.
Percy’s Early Life with the Weasleys
From a young age, Percy was noticeably different from the majority of his immediate family members.
Unlike his parents, who were entirely focused on raising a loving and supportive brood of witches and wizards, Percy wanted respect. He wanted power. And he really wanted to matter.
While attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, this seemed to manifest in his pursuit of academic achievements. Percy received high grades, became a prefect, and eventually Head Boy.
With the exception of his two elder brothers, both of whom were also prefects while at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Percy had very little in common with his siblings. Or even his parents, for that matter. From the jovial antics of Fred and George to his father’s obsession with Muggle artefacts, there wasn’t much overlap between Percy’s interests and those of his family members.
When taken into consideration individually, these dissimilarities seem to be of little importance. However, over time, each of these differences added up, and then blew up.
The Breaking Point Between Percy and His Family
A Job at the Ministry
After many years of diverging interests, Percy truly began to fall out with his family when he accepted a job at the Ministry of Magic as Barty Crouch Senior’s personal assistant. Working in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, he was determined to rise above the menial job his father had held for years within the Ministry.
A Poisonous Promotion
Percy quickly moved up the career ladder at the Ministry, after working there for only a short amount of time. In fact, he became the junior assistant to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, so quickly that Arthur Weasley was suspicious of the promotion.
After suggesting that Percy only received the position as a ploy by the government to keep an eye on the Weasleys, he was furious. This accusation deeply hurt Percy’s pride and made him extremely resentful of Harry Potter and his affiliation with the Weasley family.
Denouncing His Family
Percy’s new role and Arthur’s speculation of the promotion occurred around the same time that Harry and Dumbledore declared that Voldemort was back. The Ministry of Magic said this was absolutely not true. All of the Weasleys believed Harry and Dumbledore. All, except Percy.
So furious was Percy with his father for suggesting that he had not received his promotion on account of his own merit, he chose to stick by the Minister, rather than his family. The Minister steadfastly refused to believe Voldemort’s return to be true. Therefore, Percy steadfastly refused to believe Voldemort’s return to be true.
Percy took the disagreement even further, publicly declaring that he did not believe that Voldemort was back and condemning his family for their continued support of Dumbledore, Harry and the Order of the Phoenix. Even when it became clear that Voldemort had indeed returned, Percy refused to apologize to his family or acknowledge that they had been right.
Did Percy Weasley Truly HATE His Family?
While Percy Weasley’s pride took a terrible hit when his family didn’t believe he’d earned his Ministry position, it doesn’t seem likely that he actually HATED them.
He was proud and stubborn, with not a whole lot in common with his family. But underneath it all, there was love.
This is made evident by the fact that the estrangement between Percy and his family only lasted a few years. He and the rest of the Weasley clan officially reconciled in 1998 during the Battle of Hogwarts, where he fought alongside each of them, before the tragic loss his younger brother, Fred.
After making amends with his family and defeating Voldemort, Percy returned to the Ministry as a high-ranking official. He got married to a woman named Audrey, and they had two daughters named Molly and Lucy.
Naming one of his daughters after his mother shows that Percy had let go of his past grievances. It also indicates that there were no more hard feelings between him and the rest of the Weasley family later in life.
