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Dexter Fortescue is a former headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was the successor of the previous headmaster, Limebert. During his time as headmaster, Fortescue held honor and duty above all else. He made sure those who excelled in their studies were recognized, even taking his time to stop and personally commend top students while in passing. In turn, punishment for academic dishonesty and misconduct were considered to be and harshest in the history of the school. Fortescue made sure that the misbehaving students learned their lesson, and as a result, the detention chamber recorded the lowest amount of students in detention during the years Fortescue was headmaster. Another well-known fact about Fortescue was that he was hard of hearing during his life. He carried around an ear trumpet as an aid, and he used it more and more often as he aged.

After his death, Fortescue’s portrait was hung in the Headmaster’s Office. His portrait served to be as outspoken as he was when he was alive. He often sided with portraits who did not approve of the current headmaster. Fortescue was noted by witnesses during Dolores Umbridge’s administration to have a strong moral stance and spoke up about the Ministry of Magic’s corruption.

It would not be Fortescue’s portrait if his ear trumpet did not also make it into the portrait. It’s unknown if the portrait itself is hard of hearing, though Fortescue is known to use his ear trumpet to not only eavesdrop on other headmasters’ portraits, but also on private conversations in the Headmaster’s office. After Voldemort was defeated and the Second Wizarding War ended, Fortescue joined in on the ovation and was said to have been waving his ear trumpet. Today, his legacy lives on in Diagon Alley as his direct descendant, Florean Fortescue, runs the well-loved Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour.