15 underappreciated ladies of Harry Potter

Madam Rosmerta

It takes a lot of guff to run a pub. Madam Rosmerta, the barmaid at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, arguably puts up with quite a lot. As one of the only named service workers in the Potter-verse, her role is important, even though it’s very secondary. Anyone who’s worked in customer service — especially a bar, restaurant, or café — can sympathize with the kinds of issues Rosmerta must have to withstand. Running a pub that’s often infiltrated by students must be particularly difficult, though she seems to take everything in good cheer.

Rosmerta is, because of her position in wizarding society, a listener of gossip. Rosmerta filters everything through the lens of being the Three Broomsticks’ barmaid. For example, when Sirius Black breaks out of prison, she talks about how he was in school, always making her laugh alongside Harry’s father James. Everything is colored by her experiences with these people in her pub, which gives her a very different perspective of people. Inebriation breeds honesty, after all.

When Draco Malfoy puts Madam Rosmerta under the Imperius curse in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, her personality change is noticeable to Harry. He doesn’t figure out what’s happening until it’s too late, but the fact that Draco chooses Rosmerta to help him smuggle artifacts into the castle is telling. As a barmaid, Rosmerta exists in the background. Very few people would label any of her actions as “out of the ordinary.” Service workers often perform tasks that would seem odd anywhere outside of the context of their jobs.

An entire book written from the perspective of Madam Rosmerta would be a fascinating read. Her perspective on people, the wizarding world, and the war must be especially interesting.