Walden Macnair is a recurring antagonist in the Harry Potter series. He debuted as the secondary antagonist of The Prisoner of Azkaban as Buckbeak's Executioner, but near the end of The Goblet of Fire, he is revealed to be one of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters. He later returns as a supporting antagonist in The Order of the Phoenix and a minor antagonist in The Deathly Hallows.
He is portrayed by Peter Best in The Goblet of Fire (also played briefly by Ashley Artus) and The Order of the Phoenix, and allegedly by Granville Saxton in The Deathly Hallows - Part 1 and 2 respectively.
Biography
Walden Macnair served Lord Voldemort during the First Wizarding War. In the aftermath, he didn't search for his Master, but instead joined the Ministry of Magic as executionner, pretending he was put under the Imperius Curse, and not a true follower of Voldemort. Twelve years after his Master's defeat, he was charged to put the Hippogriff Buckbeak's to death for hurting Draco Malfoy. After Voldemort's return, he returned to the Death Eaters, and rejoins Voldemort in the graveyard. The next year, he is sent with a few Mangemorts in the moutains to negociate with the Giants, and manages to rally them to Voldemort, sharing his bloodlust with their chief. Later, he disguised himself to infiltrate St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries and eliminate Boderick Bode, a disturbing witness. At the end of the year, he participate sto the battle of the the Department of Mysteries, where he is captured and sentenced to Azkaban. Macnair then escapes the prison, probablly when the Dementors joins Voldemort. He then participates in the Battle of Hogwarts, where he is defeated by Hagrid and probably sentenced again to Azkaban.
Trivia
- Macnair (The Executioner) has been released as a LEGO minifigure, in the 2019 set Hagrid's Hut: Buckbeak's Rescue.
- Macnair is Hagrid's conterpart : while Hagrid is a very nice person who loves take care of creatures, Macnair is a sinister individual who is charged to kill them, and takes pleasure in doing it. Also, both are send to negotiate with the Giants, and they fight each other in the Final Battle
- In the films, it is never specified that the Executionner and Macnair are the same person
- Macnair appears in the mobile game Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, where we learn he survived during the Battle of Hogwarts and was still alive in the 2020s
