Bertha Jorkins (12 August, 1957 - 7 July, 1994) was a pure-blood witch who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1 September, 1968 to June 1975. She had been a member of Gryffindor House. In her later life, she worked in the Department of Magical Games and Sports before going missing while on holiday in Albania. It was later found out that she had been murdered by Peter Pettigrew on order by Lord Voldemort, who was still in his wraith-like form.
Biography
Early life
Bertha Jorkins was born on 12 August, 1957, in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England into the Jorkins family. Her father was Rufus Jorkins, an employee of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's Investigation Bureau. Her mother, Belinda, stayed at home. She had an older brother, Timothy Jorkins.
Hogwarts years
Bertha Jorkins began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on 1 September, 1968. She was a member of Gryffindor House, and she was a few years ahead of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. 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 an incident. She shared a dormitory with Amelia Bones and Florence Wolpert, and neither of them liked her. She once complained about being Hexed by a boy whom she teased because she had caught him kissing Florence behind the Hogwarts greenhouses.
Career at the Ministry
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 Snr 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 Snr, he had to place a powerful Memory Charm on her to alter her memory and make her forget what she had found out. However, the Memory Charm was so powerful, in fact, that she suffered permanent brain damage, leading to the extreme forgetfulness she had since been known for.
Death
Bertha Jorkins went on holiday to Albania in 1994. One night in a wayside inn, she 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 before his master, Lord Voldemort, who was hiding in Albania. Lord Voldemort was able to break through the memory charm placed by Crouch Snr 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. Pettigrew noted this was a poor move, believing that the Ministry would notice her disappearance and that they could have simply modified her memory to cover their tracks, which Voldemort believed would be an insult to her memory.
Post-mortem
As a result of her demise, Bertha did not return to work when she was supposed to, in July of 1994. Her reputation of being forgetful and not very bright made many believe she had lost track of time and was perhaps just lost, so the truth was never discovered.
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 was one of the echoes to emerge from the bond. She supported Harry while withholding Voldemort. Harry would later report Bertha's fate and temporary return to Dumbledore and Sirius, thus solving the mystery of her disappearance. Three years later, Bertha was ultimately avenged when Harry defeated Voldemort during the latter's last stand.
Personality and Traits
Bertha was a very gossipy and nosy woman, though she was not very bright, which in Sirius Black's opinion, not a very good combination. She was displeased with the mistreatment she received from her schoolmates despite her nosiness being the cause of their motive. Even in adulthood, her intelligence did not improve much, as upon discovering Barty Crouch Jr still alive and hidden from the world, she confronted Crouch Sr instead of leaving to report to the Ministry, thus letting to her being struck with a Memory Charm. This ultimately became her downfall, as upon seeing the still alive Peter Pettigrew, she easily fell into his trap (which Sirius stated was a high possibility due to her poor personality combination) by accepting his proposal to take a stroll instead of reporting him, thus leading to her capture and delivery to Voldemort's clutches.
After being struck by Crouch's intensive Memory Charm, Bertha's short term memory was permanently compromised, leading others to see as a new trait of forgetfulness that nobody questioned about. When Voldemort tortured her extensively to break the Memory Charm, it left her damaged beyond repair, physically and mentally, though Pettigrew believed she was still fit enough to have her memories modified again and sent back to the Ministry to avoid suspicions.
Upon her brief return to the mortal realm, Bertha was supportive of Harry Potter, as she moved to haunt Voldemort in order to give Harry time to escape.
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.