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Marcus Belby is a Ravenclaw student who attended Hogwarts a year ahead of Harry Potter. He was made famous because of his invitation to the Slug Club and all the ensuing parties throughout the school year from 1996 to 1997. He was included because his uncle, Damocles, created the Wolfsbane Potion.
Marcus Belby Quick Facts
| Full Name | Marcus Belby |
| Birth Date | Between 1978 and 1979 |
| Birth Place | Great Britain |
| Notable Family Members | Damocles Belby, his uncle |
| Age When Series Starts | 11 (though he does not appear in the books until his 5th year) |
| Zodiac Sign | Unknown |
| Siblings | None |
| Most Memorable Moment | Being part of the Slug Club |
| Magical Heritage | Pure blood or Half-Blood |
| Hogwarts House | Ravenclaw |
| Wand | Unknown |
| Patronus | Unknown |
| Actors Who Played | Robert Knox |
| Last Updated | 7/26/23 |
Marcus Belby Early Life
Marcus Belby was born to a wizarding family of the same name in Great Britain. He was the nephew of a famous potioneer, Damocles. Damocles created the wolfsbane potion, which helped relieve all the effects of lycanthropy.
He began attending Hogwarts at 11 when he was sorted into Ravenclaw. He was one year ahead of Harry Potter, and at some point before his final year at school, he did not have much contact with his famous uncle due to a falling out between his father and his uncle.
Marcus Belby and the Slug Club
When Marcus Belby boarded the Hogwarts Express for his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, he received an invitation to have a quick bite to eat with Professor Slughorn, the new potions master. Once he arrived at the train cart, he gave strained smiles to some of the others present, including Neville and Harry Potter.
Professor Slughorn always had his special Slug Club, a group of students he believed were unique and with whom he wanted to curate relationships after Hogwarts. In all cases, these students were people with famous relatives or who were known for something famous themselves.
Most of the Slug Club alum were in good positions in the Ministry or were otherwise famous. Marcus Belby was invited because of his famous uncle, who created the Wolfsbane potion, which helped alleviate symptoms for those suffering from lycanthropy.
Slughorn offered Marcus some of his cold pheasant, which Marcus was no doubt duty-bound to accept. With a mouthful of cold pheasant, Slughorn began to toss a series of questions his way, prompting a quick response and a quick choke.
Thankfully magic was there to clear the pipes. After his near-death experience, Marcus answered questions about his father and uncle and how he did not see much of his uncle since a falling out between his uncle and father.
Belby was not much interested in food after the pheasant (and who could blame him), nor was Slughorn much interested in him once Slughorn realized there would be no quick relationship built with Damocles through Marcus.
Despite his initial disappointment, Slughorn continued to invite Belby to other Slug Club dinner parties. During the evening, Marcus focused exclusively on his ice cream, reinforcing the distance between Slughorn and Belby with each answer.
At the Christmas party, Belby was sent to the bathrooms to hand out towels to guests. No doubt his ice cream answers dropped him even lower in the Slug Club rankings.
Other than Slug Club attendance, nothing is known about Marcus or what he did after graduation. He was not named at the Battle of Hogwarts, but I have a feeling that with an uncle who fought for non-wizarding rights so hard by creating the Wolfsbane potion, his family would have stood their ground against Voldemort.
Marcus Belby Quotes
Slughorn, speaking to all the future Slug Club members, including Marcus:
Horace Slughorn: “I was just telling young Marcus here that I had the pleasure of teaching his Uncle Damocles. He was an outstanding wizard, outstanding, and his Order of Merlin was most well-deserved. Do you see much of your uncle, Marcus?”
Marcus Belby: “Not… not much of him, no.”
Horace Slughorn: “Well, of course, I daresay he’s busy. I doubt he invented the Wolfsbane Potion without considerable hard work!”
Marcus Belby: “I suppose… Er… he and my dad don’t get on very well, you see, so I don’t really know much about…”
Horace Slughorn making a dig at Marcus and his hefty appetite during a Slug Club meeting:
Ginny Weasley: “I’m sorry, I’m not usually late.”
Horace Slughorn: “No matter, just in time for dessert — that is if Belby’s left you any!”
Marcus Belby Trivia and Fun Facts
In the films, the character was portrayed as a generously proportioned young youth with an insatiable appetite. His character is always stuffing his mouth in a way that would make even Ron Weasley blush.
As such, whenever he is engaging with Professor Slughorn, which admittedly doesn’t happen much after Slughorn realizes he won’t be able to use Belby to befriend his uncle, the television character is unable to express himself because he’s always eating and his mouth is always full of food.
By comparison, in the books, the character is small and skinny, and very shy. For that reason, he hesitates to share any information with Slughorn simply because he’s intimidated, and he’s certainly never portrayed as eating, an honor but seems to exclusively rest with Ron Weasley’s character.
I have to assume JK Rowling was wronged by Ginger at some point, and she took it out on Ron Weasley’s character.
The actor who played Marcus was stabbed to death defending his younger brother outside a local bar. The perpetrator had stabbed several other people years prior and served prison time for slashing youth’s faces and was convicted within a few months of the attack and given a life sentence for killing Robert Knox, severely wounding another, causing spinal damage to another, and stabbing several other people on the night in question.
At the world premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, cast members wore white ribbons to honor him.
Marcus Belby Appearances in Books
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Marcus Belby Appearances in Films
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
FAQs
Answer: Belby is in Ravenclaw. He was sorted into the house when he was 11 and remained an excellent student as no doubt, all Ravenclaw students are.
Answer: Marcus Belby is a character who only appeared in Harry Potter’s sixth year, as part of the Slug Club attendees who were known for having famous relatives. He was played by British actor Robert Knox.
Answer: It is presumed that Marcus Belby was allowed to stay in the Slug Club. Slughorn did not throw out any of the students he had originally invited, even Neville who seemed to believe he was invited by mistake just by being friends with Ginny and Harry.
However, Slughorn did not favor him with treats, attention, or rewarding jobs at parties after their first encounter.