Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody was a retired Auror widely considered to be one of the best, fighting in the First and Second Wizarding Wars in a number of significant battles, including the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, and the Battle of the Seven Potters, dying protecting Harry Potter in the latter skirmish on 27th July 1997.

Potentially as a consequence of his long career in law enforcement, Moody was considered deeply paranoid and didn't disclose information about himself to anyone, even allies. Despite this, he was brave and tough, with a gruff exterior - and he was also excellent at his job, with reports saying half of the cells in Azkaban were full thanks to his work.

Very little is known about his early life; he was born into the Moody family to Auror parents, and the Moody family has a reputation of producing skilled Aurors.

Moody fought on the side of the Ministry and the original Order of the Phoenix. As the situation grew dire, and the Aurors were authorised to use the Unforgivables, Moody killed many notorious Death Eathers, such as Evan Rosier, but captured targets alive where possible, such as Igor Karkaroff.

After the war, Moody retired from service, having lost his eye and leg, but took Nymphadora Tonks under his wing as his trainee. He also helped give Tonks and her friends more information on R, the Dark Cabal terrorising the wizarding world in the pursuit of immortality.

In 1994, Moody was persuaded to come out of retirement to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. Before he could begin his post, he was ambushed by Barty Crouch Jr. and Peter Pettigrew, acting on Voldemort's orders, and trapped him in his own trunk. Crouch used Polyjuice potion to disguise himself as Moody and took on the tenure as Professor in his stead. Moody was imprisoned for the entire school year under the Imperius Curse.

After the murder of Cedric Diggory and the return of Voldemort, Moody rejoined the Order of the Phoenix, and escorted Harry to and from the train station to ensure his safety.

Moody formed part of the reinforcements during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, arriving just as Harry was about to hand the prophecy over to Lucius Malfoy to protect his friends. Moody was injured during his fight with Antonin Dolohov but recovered. Moody also participated in the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, and after Snape's believed betrayal and murder of Dumbledore, Moody placed further protections on 12 Grimmauld Place.

With the time on the blood wards around Privet Drive wearing thin with Harry's 17th birthday approaching, the Seven Potters plan was created. Six members of the Order of the Phoenix disguised themselves as Harry using Polyjuice potion, paired with another member, and they transported him under darkness. On take-off, the group were ambushed by Death Eaters. Moody was paired with Mundungus Fletcher, and the Death Eaters targeted them immediately, as they believed Harry would be paired with the strongest member of the Guard. Mundungus panicked and Disapparated, and Moody was hit with Voldemort's Killing Curse.

His death was not reported at the time, and his body was retrieved by the Death Eaters. His magical eye was given to Dolores Umbridge to spy on employees in the Ministry. During the infiltration of the Ministry to steal the locket horcrux, Harry also stole the magical eye back, and buried it in the woods in lieu of a proper funeral.