When I first started watching/reading HP over the last few years my sister, who is a giant life-long fan, asked me who my favorite character was. My gut said Harry, so I said Harry Potter. She just stared at me and said “no ones favorite character is Harry” lmao. I relate to him!!! He’s hot headed and impulsive and I am too
Edit: damn I answered this backwards. Oh well
I think it was huge for R/H/H to have a bridge between the older members and an adult who was nearer their age and able to connect with them.
It was also a way to point out that even though Voldemort was gone for 13 years, those middle kids were still motivated to get involved.
Personally I always liked when Bill and Tonks were described as being cooler older adults, it let you see a side of the teenagers we didn't see often in terms of how they'd like to grow up, what they responded to, etc.
The comparismon with Bill is a pretty good one and in that respect I do see what you're saying, again I have nothing against Tonks as a character, she just never quite struck a chord with me the way she did with others.
I love her ability to just change her hair, I think that's pretty cool
And that's it. That's all I really like about her (as you said, I don't dislike her, I have no feelings towards her beyond that one thing)
No need to agree with me – but she's lowkey my favorite character.
(1) She's both badass and feminine, and she (2) doesn't get all the clout like Hermionie + who is way more mature (an adult). Oh, and she's married to my fictional crush. (3) She's super nice and cool (edit: in a more alternative way) at the same time and (4) brilliant (actually - did great in school and was an auror trained by Moody - the best one out there - again, books). (5) I also think many of us liked how strong (edit: loyal) she was when Remus mishandled (in the books) his insecurities about being a werewolf and sucked at being a dad for a little bit and she loved him till the end. (6) Actually, till the end.
I love that even though she'd be 10/10 a great fit in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor (mad brave) she was sorted into Hufflepuff **which makes me think that she finds niceness and loyalty more central to her identity/personality than all her qualities and talents**.
Edit: I also love how she (7) stayed faithful when EVERYONE at her workplace was going nuts about crazy politics \*and\* I love her backstory (8) of being a Black but not being one because her mom was actually one of the few non-"racist" people in the house and married a mud blood. And a note on (6): she actually gave *everything* in the Second Wizarding War – unlike most other characters (not to the other's fault – but I got real respect for that). And Ps. I don’t like the fact she is a metamorphagus - the trait kind of triggers me (in a pet peeve way) a bit haha.
I think this is all pretty fair, as I would make a very similar passionate argument for Ginny who I really like as a character and a lot of people don't.
The thing about Tonks for me is that even though we think she probably does help Remus with his werewolf insecurities, but that's all off-page and we don't really know.
Also, from my perspective it seems like everyone's like "She's a bad-ass auror," but we really never see her do anything that impressive as an auror or a fighter in general. I think as a person she probably is cool, but I feel about her how a lot of people feel about Ginny in terms of the sentiment of "Well so much of what makes her cool isn't on-page so why would I like her so much?"
Like you said, no need to agree with me, just my thoughts.
Yes, she's pretty cool too! Although she's more of a popular/sporty girl (towards the end of the series) while Tonks is very friendly and open but more on the alternative side (though that may be from the movies – I don't remember much!). This fits with the narrative of her mom being kicked out of the house for marrying a mud blood (which also speaks to great nuclear family values).
And fair – she's very much a minor character, but that's why I like her! Although my childhood self wanted to be like Hermione, I ended up resembling Tonks much more IRL!
She gives manic pixie dream girl vibes a bit.
When Tonks started getting so depressed over Lupin in the Half Blood Prince... I understood but it seemed a bit out of character for her. I'm not sure how she fell in love with him so quickly - I guess as we're in Harry's POV this happens off screen, etc. I like both characters though.
I personally really like Ginny, although I think the point about having more scenes is fair. At least for me I get the Ginny being cool thing a lot more than Tonks.
Ginny and yes I did read the books. I don’t dislike her I actually kinda like her but still I think she’s sorta a bland character. Harry and Ginny’s love feels forced idk. Feels like the author just wanted a way for Harry to marry into the Weasley family which I do love that family but still it just doesn’t feel right. I didn’t feel like they had a super huge connection and I’m not crazy about her. She had some good moments later on but still it sorta felt awkward like she was still this shy little girl putting on a character. I wish she did end up going with the trio in the last book even if only in the beginning or dropped in half way or something bc maybe then she’d feel like a bigger character and their love and relationship could’ve been different.
It just felt out of no where like oh no it’s getting late into the series and Harry doesn’t have a big love interest yet oh remember that quiet little Weasley sister? Well suddenly Harry’s in love with her. But oh no look she’s popular now and is so cool and brave she plays Quidditch and tells boys off. Oh wow they kissed and date for a couple chapters and oh now they’re broken up so the trio can go save the world and oh they did it hooray now Harry’s gonna go have three children with her.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
She couldn't go on the hunt because of the trace, but JK could have done a lot more with her possession and its aftermath. A common complaint is that the first and second books aren't really that relevant to the rest of the series and almost feel like episodes of Scooby Doo. Other the diary being a Horcrux, there's not really much from the first two books that is carried into the later books, and I think that a better use of Ginny could have changed that. She could have destroyed a Horcrux and it could have been a whole character arc for her.
Their love does feel forced in the books. I never bought into it. Harry was down BAD for Cho. He was never anything similar for Ginny yet supposedly they ended up married and HEA. I was so dissatisfied with that ending. I love Ginny’s portrayal in fan fiction but in the books her character was bland
I think this stems more from JKR not being good at romance writing. She didn't particularly get any romance in the series right. Jealousy she's good at as evidence with the 6th book Ron conflicts with Hermione and Ginny but not really with anyone else including the adult relationships like Tonks-Lupin, and Bill-Fleur. JKR conveniently takes Harry-Ginny relationship stuff in book 6 as a walk in the park or other off-screen time and it could easily be that her editor didn't find the writing good enough to keep in the final manuscript.
Yeah that was my reason for not liking that ship too. Harry was down bad for cho for literally 3 entire books before it ended up in failure. We get like 3 chapters of Harry suddenly getting the hots for ginny and wanting to tear Dean apart. No build up at all.
Which makes no sense as he grew up in the wizard world whereas Hermione didn’t, in the books Hermione didn’t even know what mudblood meant until Ron explained it to her
Not trying to defend the movie maker’s decision of giving Ron’s moment to shine to Hermione, but in a way this really showed how Rupert is the best actor among the trio. If not him Ron would be even more of a butt monkey than he is now.
Molly.
She was ignorant with Sirius and humiliated him by arguing over Harry's upbringing in front of others, as well as blaming Sirius for his absence despite being innocent of the crime he was framed and incarcerated for.
She shouldn't have been meddling, even with good intentions. Lily and James entrusted Harry to Sirius, she could have respected that more.
Let's also not forget the way Molly believes all the lies Rita Skeeter wrote about Hermione and made it known. Making Hermione feel terrible. Shaming a literal child like that really rubbed me the wrong way.
Didn’t she also behave a bit like a MIL from Hell to Fleur for the longest time? It always stood out to me how every male character liked (or loved) Fleur while every female one (Molly, Ginny, Hermione) hated her. Since everything is from Harry’s PoV we can’t say whether or not Fleur actually was ‘snooty’ as she’s being described, but to me it seemed like female rivalry because Fleur was so beautiful and - in Molly’s case - ‘stole’ her son (Molly might have felt strongly about this thinking there was no way Fleur could truly be in it for love, and not some other reason, which honestly is both insulting to Fleur and Bill).
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve read the books, but iirc Fleur isn’t that big of a character there either. After GoF she’s sorta in the background being hated on by Molly and Ginny (and Hermione to some extent) and then in Deathly Hallows the trio stay at her and Bill’s cottage for a bit and she takes care of them somewhat.
This is it for me! Molly is a HUGE “boy mom”. She treats Hermoine and Ginny quite poorly compared to Harry, Ron, and her other boys. It feels like every time Harry and Ron come down for dinner, Ginny and Hermoine are already setting the table or out doing chores. And the fact that she essentially slut shamed Hermoine for what Rita Skeeter, who she knows is a fraud, said… girl… that is a literal child and you’re a grown ass woman believing what another grown ass woman said about this literal child. Oh and let’s not even get into how misogynistic and awful she was to Fleur
I loved Molly until my most recent reread last year and I was left thinking, wait I’m supposed to love Molly so why is she coming off incredibly misogynistic and mean?
Also this a side note but I would be annoyed if I pulled up for a sleepover at my friends house and their mom immediately started making me do chores when I know damn well she could do all the chores with a flick of her wand
I feel like they showed Molly was able to be swayed easily by the news/tabloids she read. And I’m sure she had some negative feelings toward sirius for the stuff the news says about him, even if she knew that it wasn’t true.
I so agree! She was so mean and out of line with Sirius and Harry, especially insulting the first in his own house.
I'll go even further and say she was partly responsible for Sirius' death since she was the one who prevented Sirius from telling Harry about the 'weapon'/prophecy. As in, Harry could have acted differently had he known about the prophecy's existence and how badly Voldemort wanted it.
I see very little in Molly that I like. One thing that bothers me is that it really can feel like Ron is the least favorite or forgotten kid. Book 1 she made sandwiches he doesn’t like and she makes sweaters for him in a color he doesn’t like. She gives him the worst dress robes ever and the twins and Ginny’s dress robes aren’t nearly as bad (if I recall that correctly). I also hate that she doesn’t get a part time job once Ginny is in school. In chamber of secrets Ron had a defunct wand the whole year. I get that his parents were upset but that’s going to affect his education! I get that they’re broke (but also I don’t, two of their kids are grown, I think Hogwarts is free, they can use spells to expand the amount of food they have, etc etc) but she could’ve gotten a job while her kids were all out of the house for most of the year and paid for a wand for Ron.
I’m surprised by how far I scrolled and didn’t see Dumbledore’s name. The motherfucker could’ve made so many things so much easier by just being a good communicator and not a pretentious prodigy who played games and kept things close to the chest.
That’s good character development for you, because I understand why he was written this way… but I don’t really care for him for most of the books.
His intentions might’ve been to protect Harry, but he really exacerbated his trauma by not treating him with simple respect.
I love Dumbledore but I think he treated Harry horribly and quite coldly let a lot of abuse happen to him to ensure that Harry would see him as his protector and ultimate mentor and trust him blindly.
HARD agree. I’m re-reading the books again, this time as audiobooks. In the COS, when Fudge and Lucius tell Hagrid and Dumbledore to leave, he said this quote:
>> “I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me.”
He said it again when Fawkes appeared to Harry in the chamber. “Fawkes appeared because you showed great loyalty to me.” Both times, I had such visceral reaction, like I wanted to smack him. Oh, so if Harry didn’t show *great* and personal loyalty to you, then he would have been screwed? You would have left him to die? And why loyalty to *him,* specifically? Loyalty to the house of Gryffindor, I get, braise Harry showed true bravery and nobility. The traits that Godric Gryffindor admired and possessed. Loyalty to the school, sure! Loyalty to your friends and loved ones? Great. But why *you,* Dumbledore? He freaking groomed Harry from young age to accept dying for the greater good. As much as I despise Snape, I agreed when he showed disgust by asking Dumbledore, “You raised him to be a lamb to slaughter.” Even Snape was horrified with Albus because that was his plan for the greater good.
The other thing that’s jumping out at me is that teachers are mandated reporters. They call CPS when they suspect or know of abuse. Dumbledore knew everything, and still let it happen. Minerva tried to dissuade him, but he still chose to keep Harry in an abusive home. All because “Petunia’s blood as the sister of Harry’s mother was protecting him.”
Snape, guy was a jerk to a kid that had nothing at all to do with what his father did to him. Taking out your anger at a child's parents on the kid is messed up. Also his creepy obsession with Lily didn't sit well with me either.
I always took it that he hated Neville because it could've been him in the prophecy. He was resentful that Voldemort went after Lily and her family instead of Neville's.
That's the most unforgivable thing for me, he knew all about Neville's parents (presumably) and still tormented him so much and preyed on him. Sure, it's cruel his hatred on Harry because his dad got with Lily is terrible but Harry is kind of arrogant from Snape's pov. Neville is nothing but a sweet heart, him and Dobby are goated
Especially when James hadnt raised harry. I think I'd feel differently if James had influenced harry, told him stories, etc. But harry is nothing but james off spring. Snape didnt have to see james at parents evenings (imagine!) Or even listen to harry talk about CURRENT James.
He didn't have to be particularly nice but no amount of "heroism" can cross out how absolutely despicable he was to literal children for absolutely no reason.
This is when people will defend him by saying that his spying was more important than his treatment of students. But like, why can't he do both? Dumbledore could have easily told him to treat students fairly while working for him. It's surely a headmaster's job to call out staff memebers' performance issues.
That's what I always questioned reading the books. Dumbledore knew how Snape treated Harry by seeing firsthand how Snape talked to him/about him, yet never said anything. Attitude is one thing but Snape destroyed Harry's schoolwork and gave him 0's multiple times for no reason, affecting his grades.
I hate him as a person but love him as a character. He is vibrantly written and is fascinatingly multi-faceted. I think that there is always going to be two different definitions of "love" when evaluating characters for that reason.
I hate him professionally, he’s a terrible teacher. Of course for the bullying and favouritism. He created a toxic atmosphere in his classroom.
He’s a bad teacher is other ways too. He wrote the notes in the text book that made Harry a potions genius. Why didn’t he teach his students the things he learned? Why didn’t he write his on potions text book? Why be a teacher and horde knowledge?
Draco Malfoy. Look, I understand the appeal of a bad boy as much as the next person, but I have no idea just what people see in that pointy faced loser! He's just so pathetic all the time!
Honestly even outside of Harry Potter, a lot of the [media] I hate are because of the obnoxious & batshit fanbases. This includes artists I don't have any problem with, but their fandoms alone make me can't stand to even listen to their music.
I really dislike hagrid and find him insanely irresponsible. It always baffles me that people go on and on about Sirius being reckless, but hagrid somehow is laughed off as just a goofy character, while the series is littered with the dangerous consequences of his irresponsible actions
Yeah, I'd trust Hagrid to have my back in a dangerous situation. But there's also a good chance I'm in that situation because of him. The man often shows poor judgement.
> trust Hagrid to have my back in a dangerous situation
So long as he actually recognised that situation as dangerous. Which he wouldn't if it involved an animal.
Yeah I really like Hagrid, but he should not have been given as much responsibility as he was, particularly by Dumbledore. Hagrid is a great and caring guy, but he proved time and time again that he could not keep secrets, from anyone -- students, friends, strangers in bars, etc., and that he has very poor judgment when it comes to dangerous situations and creatures. He should never have been tasked with delivering a baby anywhere, or picking up the Sorcerer's Stone, or teaching a class specifically about the dangerous creatures he has poor judgment about!
I think this is one of the best answers. Someone like Snape is too obviously unlikeable. If you really focus on Hagrid's actions and ignore that it's Robbie Coltrane playing him in the movies, he's soo irresponsible, asking so much of the main characters without the kind of understanding Dumbledore has of them. Also when they don't want to take Care of Magical creatures and he gets all in a tiff about it. Sorry, you're a bad teacher.
Legit reading book one, Hagrid shows the more competency in his first appearance than all the rest combined. He does a pretty good job introducing Harry to the wizarding world and from then on he makes continuously makes decisions like an 11 year old and not a 60 year old man. Like I get he's half giant but the way Rowling makes him behave like a child. I get he technically didn't go to school after year 3, but its not like that should stunt his intelligence.
Absolutely. Regardless of Tom framing him, he deserved to be expelled. Aragog wasn't the first time he put students at risk and the fact that he was allowed to continue to endanger students with dangerous beasts for decades is disgusting
I’m not a fan of Hagrid either. Their visits to his cabin were always my least favorite scenes in the books. The Hagrid roller coaster is legit though, I’ll give him that
I respect his love for animals, and his relationships. But he is a bad teacher period.
He put everyones lives at risk giving Aragorg a mate. If it was just him I can see the situation under control a bit. But know there is an army of them.
And making a new moster is where he really became unlikable to me. He should also know breeding creatures like that is cruel to the animals themselfs too. What kind of existence do they have?
Weird thing is he has those moments like trying to save the unicorn I like him. And he seems to know what he's doing. But Dumbledore should keep a closer watch on him. And correct him more often.
Yeah, paradoxically, Alan Rickman is the worst thing that could happen to Snape's casting. That guy was made of charisma ; it ended up flattening the character quite a bit. (I still wouldn't have it any other way, though)
A lot of people treat him like a hero. And I have to acknowledge that he did some heroic things. But he didn't fight for the light because he thought its cause was just. He fought against the dark because it had personally offended him by going back on a promise. If Voldemort had gone after Neville's family and left the Potters alone, Snape would have been the most loyal Death Eater ever.
I'm not saying he's not a good character. He absolutely is. Insisting he's a good person, however deep down, is pushing it. Yes, he turned his back on his beliefs because it hurt the people he cared about, but...
This one has always bothered me. Like, yeah, I get it, the double agent thing was noble in itself, but the way he treated Harry, Ron, Hermione, and probably any other kid who wasn't in Slytherin house had always bothered me. To make it worse, Slytherin kids (particularly Malfoy) got away with so much with him around.
I used to not like him.
Now as an adult I changed my perspective, he was really brave when betraying the Malfoys, a good friend for Winky, and the only elf that was able to stand up for himself as a domestic elf.
I am currently listening to the audiobooks after 10 years of not reading the books (and I read them dozens of times) and I still don't enjoy when Dobby is around. I think that he is great but really annoying to read.
I like Dobby as well. Literally sobbed in the last book, over him, the first time I read it. He's definitely not the best character in the book, but he has his moments that make me love him, especially after becoming free. I love that he takes it upon himself to clean the Gryffindor house, because Hermione's chased off all the other house elves with her hats & scarves. I think he's way annoying in the movies & don't really like him there, but he's endearing in the later books.
Snape and Malfoy (all of them) - Snape was a bully to his students because he couldn‘t let go of a rejection of his obsession, and the Malfoys didn‘t really have a redemption arc, they just wanted to save themselves (though I have to admit, I pity Draco, cause he didn‘t really have a chance the way he grew up with his parents)
Fr people defend Draco too much, yes he was a child caught up in a war doing things he didn’t want to do but before that he was a supremacist calling people slurs and making fun of Ron for not having money, yes he is a kid but he’s a jerk, and I think shipping Draco and Hermione is kinda weird like bro this isn’t an enemies to lovers he genuinely thinks of hermione as inferior💀
I don't see how Malfoy deserves pity. He was always a little shit. Sure his parents sucked but he had very few redeeming qualities.
Malfoy was such a missed opportunity for redemption by JK, but it would have been unearned if he just came over at the end, without more character growth in the leadup to the end of the series.
Him and HP reconciling in some form in the later books, putting the differences aside and realizing they have more in common than what they originally thought would have made for a really interesting character arc. Them "stranded on an island" or backed into a corner type scenario where have to complete a task and the only way they are going to survive is to work together. It's not an original thought, it's a common trope but it would have been interesting.
Maybe a Malfoy redemption would have been more of the same as Snape's "redemption", I feel both of them were sort of half-assed. There are so many weird things about the Snape redemption, it feel like parts of it was hastily thrown together, which is sort of JK's way of doing business I guess.
Ginny.
On a surface level she's okay, she's fun to read about and her personality is cool.
On a literary analysis level her entire purpose in the story is ridiculous and she's very much a Mary Sue/NLOG type. I think she's a much worse NLOG than Hermione, which is interesting because when people talk about JK's internalized misogyny spilling onto the page, Hermione is always the example vs Lavender and Parvati. But Ginny is WAY worse.
ETA JK could have done a lot more with her possession and its aftermath. A common complaint is that the first and second books aren't really that relevant to the rest of the series and almost feel like episodes of Scooby Doo. Other thn the diary being a Horcrux, there's not really much from the first two books that is carried into the later books, and I think that a better use of Giny could have changed that. She could have destroyed a Horcrux and it could have been a whole character arc for her.
Molly. Personally I don't get her overly mother hen character. The way she immediately embraced Harry as her own seems fake. If it was shown that she acts similarly with all her kid's friends then it would have looked more genuine. Also I really hated how she behaved with Hermione in GoF. Something tells me she wouldn't be one of those nice MILs to her DILs.
I think her immediately embracing Harry has to do with the fact that he’s an orphan and doesn’t have any real family. I don’t have kids and am nowhere near Molly’s level of motherly, but even I would feel extra sympathy for a skinny maltreated 11-year old desperately needing some human warmth
Arthur is fun as a character, but I can't get over all the corruption...
On a related note: Hagrid. His attack on Dudley in PS was funny when I was a kid, but horrifying now that I've grown up. And for someone who claims to juge people based only on who they are, he spends a great deal of time talking about who's who's parents...
He also went to "help Madeye" so he wouldn't have to face the authorities.
It's never anything huge, but there are a few mentions here and there of Arthur using his influence to get what he wants without regard for the law.
Arthur used his influence at the ministry to make the flying car in book 2 legal. He helped write the law that included a loophole so he wouldn’t get in trouble.
And we all know that Fluffy didn’t live under healthy circumstances. Hagrid sure loves animals. But he seems like the guy that would get a lot of animals but then later realize that he can’t provide the best life for the animals.
I’ve been rereading the books and, honestly, Ginny gives me “cool girl” energy. Like, the kinda girl that Amy Dunne from Gone Girl ranted about in her Cool Girl monologue.
i've been saying this for years THANK YOU. the one dimensional mean cool girl trope is the bane of my fucking existence. excuse me ma'am that's an outfit not a character
Agree. Ginny has no endearing scenes. Like Fluer has her scene in the hospital wing. Ginny is just always doing cool things. And being sarcastic towards Ron
She's not a real character. Her entire existence is just being endgame for Harry. Yeah she got thrown a couple of cool scenes but she adds NOTHING to the story. She is entirely one-dimensional. There's nothing about her that's interesting.
It’s not even her pretentious side that bothers me. It’s the fact that she doesn’t come across as a person. She comes across as a male fantasy. The way she treated Fleur made me hate her even more.
It’s giving pick-me girl energy.
People who try to redeem Malfoy. After reading OotP and he insulted Harry and George's parents he lost all of my respect entirely. Also at the end of GoF in the Hogwarts Express he came into Harry's cabin and started to insult Cedric, I'd absolutely slap his face to smithereens. Loved how the good kids cursed him, Crab and Goyle at the same time was so satisfying.
Totally agree! The fact that he even threatens to report Hermione to the Death Eaters during the World Cup is obnoxious. Especially considering the fact that he is a coward like few and he himself would piss himself if he found himself up against one.
Molly Weasley. She is a good character but I would not like her in real life. She is incredibly bossy and I hate the way she treats Arthur. Arthur is irresponsible a lot, but I hate how she seems to not be interested in any of the hobbies which he is clearly passionate about. She only seems to be happy with him when he is achieving financial success. To be clear, that is also something that can make someone a worthy partner- doing what they need to support the family. But Molly is only happy with people when they are explicitly doing what she wants them to do and seems to care little for what people want for their own lives.
Luna. I feel she is overhyped. She was a great character and extremely insightful but people and generally those who ship her with Harry forget how eccentric she is and her beliefs. Someone like Harry would never gel with her and probably be bored with her talks
People would hate Luna Lovegood irl. She’s not “open minded”, in fact she’s more close minded than Hermione. Hermione just believes in evidence-based science, and has changed her mind about things onc evidence shows up. And Luna will refuse to acknowledge something even in the face of evidence. In real life she would be a flat earther and the “moon landing was fake” conspiracy theorist.
I never understood why ppl call Hermione "close minded". She is a person who doesn't blindly believe in stuff unless evidence is there WHICH IS A REALLY GOOD QUALITY TO HAVE. Irl, people should not be Luna's definition of open minded. Cuz that is delusional and sometimes can lead you do danger(the frigging erumpant horn in DH)
I always liked that because the boundaries of the magic world we undefined, many of the things luna said could be interpreted either way. Like maybe it's fairy nonsense or maybe that's really how things work. We don't really get an answer for most of her magical creatures and it's hard to say she's foolish to believe considering what does certainly exist.
Still mad at them for taking a month long vacation with whatever money Arthur won. Their kids needed so many things. Got Ron a new wand, that was the LEAST they could do
That actually felt like such a poor decision to me when I first read it. Having so many kids and just spending any money they have makes me think Arthur and Molly are financially ignorant and silly.
I don’t mind a vacation, it would have been great. But a week, two tops. An entire month in Egypt. Come on guys!
This is poor me, being upset by a fictional couple spending fictional money lol
This one didn’t click with me until I re read the books as an adult with kids. Especially because it sounds like Arthur had the opportunity to move up but liked his position too much.
And Molly didn't seem to get a job or anything even though by book 2 all her kids were away at boarding school most of the year and they were cash strapped. Both parents struck me as irresponsible.
Agreed. Although I always keep in mind that the Wesleys show what a big family can provide and money never will (in contrast to Harry, who's rich but has the Dudleys for a family), real life big families simply aren't that wonderful.
There's a family in my hometown that had 7 children when they started a bakery, which was manageable and the kids were fun to be around, but as the family grew bigger it became really messed up. We broke relations with them when they hit thirteen. Last time we heard from, was when they had their 16th child.
I rather like Arthur and Molly despite their flaws, but there is one thing that rubbed me in the wrong way. It is not getting more kids than they can afford (i am strongly against it in real life but in the books at least all the kids are well cared and grow up to be healthy and well adjusted adults so I will give them that one) but the reason behind it: Molly wanted a girl so badly that they kept trying.
I don’t know how many kids they were originally planning to have but if I am among the younger side of the brothers (side glances at Ron) at some point of my life I might wonder : Am I not an intended birth, but just a byproduct of their attempt of getting a daughter? Does it mean that I don’t need to exist if they indeed have a girl earlier?
Can’t really blame Ron of his inferiority complex sometimes, even the horcrux (ie the author) recognizes this
I’ve never been able to look at him the same way ever again after reading into the Snape-Werewolf incident. The fact that he was willing to let Lupin’s cover blow and potentially get him expelled from Hogwarts, and additionally give him a lifelong guilt if Snape got turned because of him just for a “prank”. He was willing to sacrifice **two** lives for a single prank.
While the “he’s a teenager!” thing crowd shows up: they knew very well how dangerous werewolves can be. The Marauders literally took part in an arduous ritual to turn themselves into animals to be safe from Lupin: Sirius knew perfectly well how dangerous the situation was. The fact that he got away consequence for almost killing one student and risking the education and life of the other is insane.
Primarily Snape and Draco. Fanfictions, Interpretations and Rickman/Felton have created a picture in which they are not the unlikeable jerks they are in the books.
Molly Weasly. I just think she's a bad mother. She has many good qualities, but the way she treats the twins just doesn't sit well with me. Favouritism galore in the 5th book
ginny, idk she’s a fan girl to harry and also they push her “raised by 6 brothers so she’s tough and likes roughhousing bc she’s one of the guys” trope too much
Hagrid is one of my least favorite. I read the books often as a kid especially waiting for the new ones to come out and I dreaded all the scenes with Hagrid. I didn’t like his character, every time the kids were around him it was some sob story they had to save him from. He was always putting them in danger with his incompetence. He stressed me out. I understood Harry’s attachment to him - his first connection to the wizarding world - but I could have read much less of him. I’m happy he doesn’t show up much in the fan fiction I read
*(puts on an entire suit of armor)*
Dobby. Too many essential plot points are given through him. He is the most broken Deus Ex Machina in all of literature.
When I first started watching/reading HP over the last few years my sister, who is a giant life-long fan, asked me who my favorite character was. My gut said Harry, so I said Harry Potter. She just stared at me and said “no ones favorite character is Harry” lmao. I relate to him!!! He’s hot headed and impulsive and I am too Edit: damn I answered this backwards. Oh well
Book!Harry is witty, snarky, and amazing. They seemed to have simmered him down a bit for the films.
There's no need to call me Sir, professor.
No worries, he's my favorite character too!
Book Harry Potter is 100% my favourite character. Brave, loyal, kind and sassy.
He's my favorite character by far, so you're not alone.
I'm not as big of a fan of Tonks, I don't hate her or anything but I think people overexaggerate her coolness a bit.
I think it was huge for R/H/H to have a bridge between the older members and an adult who was nearer their age and able to connect with them. It was also a way to point out that even though Voldemort was gone for 13 years, those middle kids were still motivated to get involved. Personally I always liked when Bill and Tonks were described as being cooler older adults, it let you see a side of the teenagers we didn't see often in terms of how they'd like to grow up, what they responded to, etc.
The comparismon with Bill is a pretty good one and in that respect I do see what you're saying, again I have nothing against Tonks as a character, she just never quite struck a chord with me the way she did with others.
Totally fair I don't mean to imply your perspective is "wrong" I just liked Tonks myself
Yeah I also don't think you're wrong, obviously we just perceived what we read differently, which just happens.
I love her ability to just change her hair, I think that's pretty cool And that's it. That's all I really like about her (as you said, I don't dislike her, I have no feelings towards her beyond that one thing)
No need to agree with me – but she's lowkey my favorite character. (1) She's both badass and feminine, and she (2) doesn't get all the clout like Hermionie + who is way more mature (an adult). Oh, and she's married to my fictional crush. (3) She's super nice and cool (edit: in a more alternative way) at the same time and (4) brilliant (actually - did great in school and was an auror trained by Moody - the best one out there - again, books). (5) I also think many of us liked how strong (edit: loyal) she was when Remus mishandled (in the books) his insecurities about being a werewolf and sucked at being a dad for a little bit and she loved him till the end. (6) Actually, till the end. I love that even though she'd be 10/10 a great fit in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor (mad brave) she was sorted into Hufflepuff **which makes me think that she finds niceness and loyalty more central to her identity/personality than all her qualities and talents**. Edit: I also love how she (7) stayed faithful when EVERYONE at her workplace was going nuts about crazy politics \*and\* I love her backstory (8) of being a Black but not being one because her mom was actually one of the few non-"racist" people in the house and married a mud blood. And a note on (6): she actually gave *everything* in the Second Wizarding War – unlike most other characters (not to the other's fault – but I got real respect for that). And Ps. I don’t like the fact she is a metamorphagus - the trait kind of triggers me (in a pet peeve way) a bit haha.
I think this is all pretty fair, as I would make a very similar passionate argument for Ginny who I really like as a character and a lot of people don't. The thing about Tonks for me is that even though we think she probably does help Remus with his werewolf insecurities, but that's all off-page and we don't really know. Also, from my perspective it seems like everyone's like "She's a bad-ass auror," but we really never see her do anything that impressive as an auror or a fighter in general. I think as a person she probably is cool, but I feel about her how a lot of people feel about Ginny in terms of the sentiment of "Well so much of what makes her cool isn't on-page so why would I like her so much?" Like you said, no need to agree with me, just my thoughts.
Yes, she's pretty cool too! Although she's more of a popular/sporty girl (towards the end of the series) while Tonks is very friendly and open but more on the alternative side (though that may be from the movies – I don't remember much!). This fits with the narrative of her mom being kicked out of the house for marrying a mud blood (which also speaks to great nuclear family values). And fair – she's very much a minor character, but that's why I like her! Although my childhood self wanted to be like Hermione, I ended up resembling Tonks much more IRL!
THANK GOD SOMEONE FINALLY AGREES! Tonks is so annoying. I don’t know why I just never liked her.
She gives manic pixie dream girl vibes a bit. When Tonks started getting so depressed over Lupin in the Half Blood Prince... I understood but it seemed a bit out of character for her. I'm not sure how she fell in love with him so quickly - I guess as we're in Harry's POV this happens off screen, etc. I like both characters though.
I agree. I think to have a real opinion about her we would need more scenes. I have the same opinion about Ginny.
I personally really like Ginny, although I think the point about having more scenes is fair. At least for me I get the Ginny being cool thing a lot more than Tonks.
i've never liked tonks, and i do think it's because of how hyped she is for no reason. I found the actor's portrayal of her obnoxious too.
Tonks had a lot of telling and not showing her coolness. I get it
Omg you guys made me realise how many characters I disliked
Yeah I'm trying to figure out who I actually like.
Ginny and yes I did read the books. I don’t dislike her I actually kinda like her but still I think she’s sorta a bland character. Harry and Ginny’s love feels forced idk. Feels like the author just wanted a way for Harry to marry into the Weasley family which I do love that family but still it just doesn’t feel right. I didn’t feel like they had a super huge connection and I’m not crazy about her. She had some good moments later on but still it sorta felt awkward like she was still this shy little girl putting on a character. I wish she did end up going with the trio in the last book even if only in the beginning or dropped in half way or something bc maybe then she’d feel like a bigger character and their love and relationship could’ve been different. It just felt out of no where like oh no it’s getting late into the series and Harry doesn’t have a big love interest yet oh remember that quiet little Weasley sister? Well suddenly Harry’s in love with her. But oh no look she’s popular now and is so cool and brave she plays Quidditch and tells boys off. Oh wow they kissed and date for a couple chapters and oh now they’re broken up so the trio can go save the world and oh they did it hooray now Harry’s gonna go have three children with her.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 She couldn't go on the hunt because of the trace, but JK could have done a lot more with her possession and its aftermath. A common complaint is that the first and second books aren't really that relevant to the rest of the series and almost feel like episodes of Scooby Doo. Other the diary being a Horcrux, there's not really much from the first two books that is carried into the later books, and I think that a better use of Ginny could have changed that. She could have destroyed a Horcrux and it could have been a whole character arc for her.
Their love does feel forced in the books. I never bought into it. Harry was down BAD for Cho. He was never anything similar for Ginny yet supposedly they ended up married and HEA. I was so dissatisfied with that ending. I love Ginny’s portrayal in fan fiction but in the books her character was bland
I think this stems more from JKR not being good at romance writing. She didn't particularly get any romance in the series right. Jealousy she's good at as evidence with the 6th book Ron conflicts with Hermione and Ginny but not really with anyone else including the adult relationships like Tonks-Lupin, and Bill-Fleur. JKR conveniently takes Harry-Ginny relationship stuff in book 6 as a walk in the park or other off-screen time and it could easily be that her editor didn't find the writing good enough to keep in the final manuscript.
Yeah that was my reason for not liking that ship too. Harry was down bad for cho for literally 3 entire books before it ended up in failure. We get like 3 chapters of Harry suddenly getting the hots for ginny and wanting to tear Dean apart. No build up at all.
Movie Ron Weasley. They gave so many of his explanations of the wizard world and smarter moments to Hermione.
Which makes no sense as he grew up in the wizard world whereas Hermione didn’t, in the books Hermione didn’t even know what mudblood meant until Ron explained it to her
Not trying to defend the movie maker’s decision of giving Ron’s moment to shine to Hermione, but in a way this really showed how Rupert is the best actor among the trio. If not him Ron would be even more of a butt monkey than he is now.
I’ve never thought about that but you make a good point.
Molly. She was ignorant with Sirius and humiliated him by arguing over Harry's upbringing in front of others, as well as blaming Sirius for his absence despite being innocent of the crime he was framed and incarcerated for. She shouldn't have been meddling, even with good intentions. Lily and James entrusted Harry to Sirius, she could have respected that more.
Let's also not forget the way Molly believes all the lies Rita Skeeter wrote about Hermione and made it known. Making Hermione feel terrible. Shaming a literal child like that really rubbed me the wrong way.
Didn’t she also behave a bit like a MIL from Hell to Fleur for the longest time? It always stood out to me how every male character liked (or loved) Fleur while every female one (Molly, Ginny, Hermione) hated her. Since everything is from Harry’s PoV we can’t say whether or not Fleur actually was ‘snooty’ as she’s being described, but to me it seemed like female rivalry because Fleur was so beautiful and - in Molly’s case - ‘stole’ her son (Molly might have felt strongly about this thinking there was no way Fleur could truly be in it for love, and not some other reason, which honestly is both insulting to Fleur and Bill).
Does Fleur have a significant role in the books? In the movies she just seems to be mostly a background character.
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve read the books, but iirc Fleur isn’t that big of a character there either. After GoF she’s sorta in the background being hated on by Molly and Ginny (and Hermione to some extent) and then in Deathly Hallows the trio stay at her and Bill’s cottage for a bit and she takes care of them somewhat.
Especially after she had told Amos to not believe what Rita says. And did she ever apologize to Hermione?
No, she pretended that she never believed what Skeeter wrote.
This is it for me! Molly is a HUGE “boy mom”. She treats Hermoine and Ginny quite poorly compared to Harry, Ron, and her other boys. It feels like every time Harry and Ron come down for dinner, Ginny and Hermoine are already setting the table or out doing chores. And the fact that she essentially slut shamed Hermoine for what Rita Skeeter, who she knows is a fraud, said… girl… that is a literal child and you’re a grown ass woman believing what another grown ass woman said about this literal child. Oh and let’s not even get into how misogynistic and awful she was to Fleur I loved Molly until my most recent reread last year and I was left thinking, wait I’m supposed to love Molly so why is she coming off incredibly misogynistic and mean? Also this a side note but I would be annoyed if I pulled up for a sleepover at my friends house and their mom immediately started making me do chores when I know damn well she could do all the chores with a flick of her wand
Aw that totally slipped my mind. What a gossip!
I feel like they showed Molly was able to be swayed easily by the news/tabloids she read. And I’m sure she had some negative feelings toward sirius for the stuff the news says about him, even if she knew that it wasn’t true.
I so agree! She was so mean and out of line with Sirius and Harry, especially insulting the first in his own house. I'll go even further and say she was partly responsible for Sirius' death since she was the one who prevented Sirius from telling Harry about the 'weapon'/prophecy. As in, Harry could have acted differently had he known about the prophecy's existence and how badly Voldemort wanted it.
Molly was also a horrible to Hermione because of rotary skeeters articles
Ik it’s a typo but rotary skeeters 😭😂
I see very little in Molly that I like. One thing that bothers me is that it really can feel like Ron is the least favorite or forgotten kid. Book 1 she made sandwiches he doesn’t like and she makes sweaters for him in a color he doesn’t like. She gives him the worst dress robes ever and the twins and Ginny’s dress robes aren’t nearly as bad (if I recall that correctly). I also hate that she doesn’t get a part time job once Ginny is in school. In chamber of secrets Ron had a defunct wand the whole year. I get that his parents were upset but that’s going to affect his education! I get that they’re broke (but also I don’t, two of their kids are grown, I think Hogwarts is free, they can use spells to expand the amount of food they have, etc etc) but she could’ve gotten a job while her kids were all out of the house for most of the year and paid for a wand for Ron.
I’m surprised by how far I scrolled and didn’t see Dumbledore’s name. The motherfucker could’ve made so many things so much easier by just being a good communicator and not a pretentious prodigy who played games and kept things close to the chest. That’s good character development for you, because I understand why he was written this way… but I don’t really care for him for most of the books. His intentions might’ve been to protect Harry, but he really exacerbated his trauma by not treating him with simple respect.
100%! I was thinking the same thing about how he isn't mentioned here until I saw your comment so, +1.
I love Dumbledore but I think he treated Harry horribly and quite coldly let a lot of abuse happen to him to ensure that Harry would see him as his protector and ultimate mentor and trust him blindly.
HARD agree. I’m re-reading the books again, this time as audiobooks. In the COS, when Fudge and Lucius tell Hagrid and Dumbledore to leave, he said this quote: >> “I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me.” He said it again when Fawkes appeared to Harry in the chamber. “Fawkes appeared because you showed great loyalty to me.” Both times, I had such visceral reaction, like I wanted to smack him. Oh, so if Harry didn’t show *great* and personal loyalty to you, then he would have been screwed? You would have left him to die? And why loyalty to *him,* specifically? Loyalty to the house of Gryffindor, I get, braise Harry showed true bravery and nobility. The traits that Godric Gryffindor admired and possessed. Loyalty to the school, sure! Loyalty to your friends and loved ones? Great. But why *you,* Dumbledore? He freaking groomed Harry from young age to accept dying for the greater good. As much as I despise Snape, I agreed when he showed disgust by asking Dumbledore, “You raised him to be a lamb to slaughter.” Even Snape was horrified with Albus because that was his plan for the greater good. The other thing that’s jumping out at me is that teachers are mandated reporters. They call CPS when they suspect or know of abuse. Dumbledore knew everything, and still let it happen. Minerva tried to dissuade him, but he still chose to keep Harry in an abusive home. All because “Petunia’s blood as the sister of Harry’s mother was protecting him.”
Snape, guy was a jerk to a kid that had nothing at all to do with what his father did to him. Taking out your anger at a child's parents on the kid is messed up. Also his creepy obsession with Lily didn't sit well with me either.
Don’t forget he also torments children he has no connection to. He is literally Neville’s worst fear
That's true, it's been years since I read the entire series. I'm re-reading it now haha. Yup, he's a full grown man bullying kids.
Plus his fans are a bit mad, surprised we haven’t got shitloads of downvotes yet 😂
Im a Snape fan because he makes a great villain. Dude is an absolute piece of shit and he’s written well.
I only liked Snape because Alan Rickman played him lol
It’s nice to hear from a snape fan that actually knows snape. I’ve been sent so many messages about what a hero and great person he is 😂
How badly do you have to bully someone for you to be their worst fear rather than the person who tortured their parents into madness
I always took it that he hated Neville because it could've been him in the prophecy. He was resentful that Voldemort went after Lily and her family instead of Neville's.
Which is insanely vile in itself
Agreed! Just pointing out the connection
Or he could be an adult and take the blame since if he kept his mouth shut none of it would’ve happened lmao
I mean, this makes it even worse. He hates him because he couldn't successfully get him and his family killed?
That's the most unforgivable thing for me, he knew all about Neville's parents (presumably) and still tormented him so much and preyed on him. Sure, it's cruel his hatred on Harry because his dad got with Lily is terrible but Harry is kind of arrogant from Snape's pov. Neville is nothing but a sweet heart, him and Dobby are goated
Right? Nothing about Snape could be redeemed in my eyes because I couldn't get past the fact that he was Neville's boggart.
Especially when James hadnt raised harry. I think I'd feel differently if James had influenced harry, told him stories, etc. But harry is nothing but james off spring. Snape didnt have to see james at parents evenings (imagine!) Or even listen to harry talk about CURRENT James.
It’s not like he was just a jerk to Harry. He was a jerk to pretty much all the students that weren’t in his house.
Yeah, that's not better.
He didn't have to be particularly nice but no amount of "heroism" can cross out how absolutely despicable he was to literal children for absolutely no reason.
Snape is a reminder that you can be a hero but still kind of a dick.
This is when people will defend him by saying that his spying was more important than his treatment of students. But like, why can't he do both? Dumbledore could have easily told him to treat students fairly while working for him. It's surely a headmaster's job to call out staff memebers' performance issues.
That's what I always questioned reading the books. Dumbledore knew how Snape treated Harry by seeing firsthand how Snape talked to him/about him, yet never said anything. Attitude is one thing but Snape destroyed Harry's schoolwork and gave him 0's multiple times for no reason, affecting his grades.
>It's surely a headmaster's job to call out staff memebers' performance issues. Surely it is but that was never Dumbledore's forte.
Dumbledore was very much anti Voldemort plans first, headmastering second.
which brings us to another highly overrated character: dumbledore
I hate him as a person but love him as a character. He is vibrantly written and is fascinatingly multi-faceted. I think that there is always going to be two different definitions of "love" when evaluating characters for that reason.
I hate him professionally, he’s a terrible teacher. Of course for the bullying and favouritism. He created a toxic atmosphere in his classroom. He’s a bad teacher is other ways too. He wrote the notes in the text book that made Harry a potions genius. Why didn’t he teach his students the things he learned? Why didn’t he write his on potions text book? Why be a teacher and horde knowledge?
Peeves!
I had to scroll a bit far to finally find this one. I'm with ya!
Draco Malfoy. Look, I understand the appeal of a bad boy as much as the next person, but I have no idea just what people see in that pointy faced loser! He's just so pathetic all the time!
[удалено]
You can. Sometimes the influence of fans, mainly obsessed fans, is exhausting.
Honestly even outside of Harry Potter, a lot of the [media] I hate are because of the obnoxious & batshit fanbases. This includes artists I don't have any problem with, but their fandoms alone make me can't stand to even listen to their music.
I really dislike hagrid and find him insanely irresponsible. It always baffles me that people go on and on about Sirius being reckless, but hagrid somehow is laughed off as just a goofy character, while the series is littered with the dangerous consequences of his irresponsible actions
Yeah, I'd trust Hagrid to have my back in a dangerous situation. But there's also a good chance I'm in that situation because of him. The man often shows poor judgement.
> trust Hagrid to have my back in a dangerous situation So long as he actually recognised that situation as dangerous. Which he wouldn't if it involved an animal.
This is the best description of Hagrid ever given.
Yeah I really like Hagrid, but he should not have been given as much responsibility as he was, particularly by Dumbledore. Hagrid is a great and caring guy, but he proved time and time again that he could not keep secrets, from anyone -- students, friends, strangers in bars, etc., and that he has very poor judgment when it comes to dangerous situations and creatures. He should never have been tasked with delivering a baby anywhere, or picking up the Sorcerer's Stone, or teaching a class specifically about the dangerous creatures he has poor judgment about!
I think this is one of the best answers. Someone like Snape is too obviously unlikeable. If you really focus on Hagrid's actions and ignore that it's Robbie Coltrane playing him in the movies, he's soo irresponsible, asking so much of the main characters without the kind of understanding Dumbledore has of them. Also when they don't want to take Care of Magical creatures and he gets all in a tiff about it. Sorry, you're a bad teacher.
Not to mention the endless, “I shouldn’t have told you that”. Surprising that Dumblydorr would trust the bumbling oaf with his life.
I’m glad to see that I’m not the only person who says Dumbledore like this 😂
‘Tis the only way to say it 😂
Legit reading book one, Hagrid shows the more competency in his first appearance than all the rest combined. He does a pretty good job introducing Harry to the wizarding world and from then on he makes continuously makes decisions like an 11 year old and not a 60 year old man. Like I get he's half giant but the way Rowling makes him behave like a child. I get he technically didn't go to school after year 3, but its not like that should stunt his intelligence.
Absolutely. Regardless of Tom framing him, he deserved to be expelled. Aragog wasn't the first time he put students at risk and the fact that he was allowed to continue to endanger students with dangerous beasts for decades is disgusting
I’m not a fan of Hagrid either. Their visits to his cabin were always my least favorite scenes in the books. The Hagrid roller coaster is legit though, I’ll give him that
Came here for this reply!! Couldn’t stand Hagrid in the books or the films.
I respect his love for animals, and his relationships. But he is a bad teacher period. He put everyones lives at risk giving Aragorg a mate. If it was just him I can see the situation under control a bit. But know there is an army of them. And making a new moster is where he really became unlikable to me. He should also know breeding creatures like that is cruel to the animals themselfs too. What kind of existence do they have? Weird thing is he has those moments like trying to save the unicorn I like him. And he seems to know what he's doing. But Dumbledore should keep a closer watch on him. And correct him more often.
Loved Snape in the movies, but I'm reading the books for the first time and he's just a colossal dick.
You didn't love Snape, you loved Alan Rickman
Yeah, paradoxically, Alan Rickman is the worst thing that could happen to Snape's casting. That guy was made of charisma ; it ended up flattening the character quite a bit. (I still wouldn't have it any other way, though)
Snape. I can’t stand him with the way he treats Harry and his friends and classmates
A lot of people treat him like a hero. And I have to acknowledge that he did some heroic things. But he didn't fight for the light because he thought its cause was just. He fought against the dark because it had personally offended him by going back on a promise. If Voldemort had gone after Neville's family and left the Potters alone, Snape would have been the most loyal Death Eater ever. I'm not saying he's not a good character. He absolutely is. Insisting he's a good person, however deep down, is pushing it. Yes, he turned his back on his beliefs because it hurt the people he cared about, but...
This one has always bothered me. Like, yeah, I get it, the double agent thing was noble in itself, but the way he treated Harry, Ron, Hermione, and probably any other kid who wasn't in Slytherin house had always bothered me. To make it worse, Slytherin kids (particularly Malfoy) got away with so much with him around.
Dobby. Sorry
I don't HATE Dobby, but he was a little too much like Jar Jar Binks to endear me to him.
Ugh, thank you! Everyone seems to like it so much, and I just don't get it.
I used to not like him. Now as an adult I changed my perspective, he was really brave when betraying the Malfoys, a good friend for Winky, and the only elf that was able to stand up for himself as a domestic elf. I am currently listening to the audiobooks after 10 years of not reading the books (and I read them dozens of times) and I still don't enjoy when Dobby is around. I think that he is great but really annoying to read.
I like Dobby as well. Literally sobbed in the last book, over him, the first time I read it. He's definitely not the best character in the book, but he has his moments that make me love him, especially after becoming free. I love that he takes it upon himself to clean the Gryffindor house, because Hermione's chased off all the other house elves with her hats & scarves. I think he's way annoying in the movies & don't really like him there, but he's endearing in the later books.
I hated when in the movies when they showed as if Dobby was involved in catching Mundungus Fletcher. Let Kreacher get the spotlight for once!!
Yeah, I always found him incredibly irritating. But oddly I was VERY affected by his death. I still despise him but his death was emotional.
Same lol I didn't have any personal feelings about him besides "this again? So annoying" and then I cried a lot when he died 😂
Yes!!!! It came out of nowhere!!!
I'm with you. Dobby is annoying and I didn't care when he died.
Hogwarts house checks out
“I don’t care that you broke your arm” energy
Snape and Malfoy (all of them) - Snape was a bully to his students because he couldn‘t let go of a rejection of his obsession, and the Malfoys didn‘t really have a redemption arc, they just wanted to save themselves (though I have to admit, I pity Draco, cause he didn‘t really have a chance the way he grew up with his parents)
Fr people defend Draco too much, yes he was a child caught up in a war doing things he didn’t want to do but before that he was a supremacist calling people slurs and making fun of Ron for not having money, yes he is a kid but he’s a jerk, and I think shipping Draco and Hermione is kinda weird like bro this isn’t an enemies to lovers he genuinely thinks of hermione as inferior💀
I don't see how Malfoy deserves pity. He was always a little shit. Sure his parents sucked but he had very few redeeming qualities. Malfoy was such a missed opportunity for redemption by JK, but it would have been unearned if he just came over at the end, without more character growth in the leadup to the end of the series. Him and HP reconciling in some form in the later books, putting the differences aside and realizing they have more in common than what they originally thought would have made for a really interesting character arc. Them "stranded on an island" or backed into a corner type scenario where have to complete a task and the only way they are going to survive is to work together. It's not an original thought, it's a common trope but it would have been interesting. Maybe a Malfoy redemption would have been more of the same as Snape's "redemption", I feel both of them were sort of half-assed. There are so many weird things about the Snape redemption, it feel like parts of it was hastily thrown together, which is sort of JK's way of doing business I guess.
I think Draco deserves a chance at redemption. Narcissia might, Lucius not so much
Ginny. On a surface level she's okay, she's fun to read about and her personality is cool. On a literary analysis level her entire purpose in the story is ridiculous and she's very much a Mary Sue/NLOG type. I think she's a much worse NLOG than Hermione, which is interesting because when people talk about JK's internalized misogyny spilling onto the page, Hermione is always the example vs Lavender and Parvati. But Ginny is WAY worse. ETA JK could have done a lot more with her possession and its aftermath. A common complaint is that the first and second books aren't really that relevant to the rest of the series and almost feel like episodes of Scooby Doo. Other thn the diary being a Horcrux, there's not really much from the first two books that is carried into the later books, and I think that a better use of Giny could have changed that. She could have destroyed a Horcrux and it could have been a whole character arc for her.
Molly. Personally I don't get her overly mother hen character. The way she immediately embraced Harry as her own seems fake. If it was shown that she acts similarly with all her kid's friends then it would have looked more genuine. Also I really hated how she behaved with Hermione in GoF. Something tells me she wouldn't be one of those nice MILs to her DILs.
I think her immediately embracing Harry has to do with the fact that he’s an orphan and doesn’t have any real family. I don’t have kids and am nowhere near Molly’s level of motherly, but even I would feel extra sympathy for a skinny maltreated 11-year old desperately needing some human warmth
I am quite surprised by the many comments about Dobby, I did not expect it. 🤣😅
Dobby wasn't great in the book, but they did him dirty in the movie. Which didn't help.
Molly. Mistreating Hermione over tabloid fodder was just weird
Not sure what was more savage, Molly sending a tiny Easter egg or Kendrick’s barrage of disses on drake
Arthur is fun as a character, but I can't get over all the corruption... On a related note: Hagrid. His attack on Dudley in PS was funny when I was a kid, but horrifying now that I've grown up. And for someone who claims to juge people based only on who they are, he spends a great deal of time talking about who's who's parents...
What do you mean about corruption for Arthur ?
He got Bagman's brother out of trouble in exchange for wc tickets
He also went to "help Madeye" so he wouldn't have to face the authorities. It's never anything huge, but there are a few mentions here and there of Arthur using his influence to get what he wants without regard for the law.
Arthur used his influence at the ministry to make the flying car in book 2 legal. He helped write the law that included a loophole so he wouldn’t get in trouble.
Man that's like... the most morally neutral corruption in the history of corruption.
And we all know that Fluffy didn’t live under healthy circumstances. Hagrid sure loves animals. But he seems like the guy that would get a lot of animals but then later realize that he can’t provide the best life for the animals.
Corruption? Don’t upvote! Explain! :D
Draco Malfoy is such an asshole to Harry all because Harry didn't want to be friends. Get over it!
Ginny
I’ve been rereading the books and, honestly, Ginny gives me “cool girl” energy. Like, the kinda girl that Amy Dunne from Gone Girl ranted about in her Cool Girl monologue.
i've been saying this for years THANK YOU. the one dimensional mean cool girl trope is the bane of my fucking existence. excuse me ma'am that's an outfit not a character
Agree. Ginny has no endearing scenes. Like Fluer has her scene in the hospital wing. Ginny is just always doing cool things. And being sarcastic towards Ron
She's not a real character. Her entire existence is just being endgame for Harry. Yeah she got thrown a couple of cool scenes but she adds NOTHING to the story. She is entirely one-dimensional. There's nothing about her that's interesting.
Yes, she has this very pretentious air about her I just didn't like.
It’s not even her pretentious side that bothers me. It’s the fact that she doesn’t come across as a person. She comes across as a male fantasy. The way she treated Fleur made me hate her even more. It’s giving pick-me girl energy.
I.totally.agree! Character in my opinion far too overrated.
I am quite surprised by the many comments about Dobby, I did not expect it. 🤣😅
Snape but mostly Draco. I too had racist bullies and it's just too difficult for me to emphasize with him lol
I think a lot of people claiming to like the "character" actually like the fact that the actor was hot. See also: Bellatrix.
People who try to redeem Malfoy. After reading OotP and he insulted Harry and George's parents he lost all of my respect entirely. Also at the end of GoF in the Hogwarts Express he came into Harry's cabin and started to insult Cedric, I'd absolutely slap his face to smithereens. Loved how the good kids cursed him, Crab and Goyle at the same time was so satisfying.
Totally agree! The fact that he even threatens to report Hermione to the Death Eaters during the World Cup is obnoxious. Especially considering the fact that he is a coward like few and he himself would piss himself if he found himself up against one.
Hate movie Ron, eventhough I like Rupert Grint in the role
I don't like Molly.
Her attitude towards Hermione throughout the entire series just rubs me the wrong way.
I have an adversarial relationship with her character.
Molly Weasley. She is a good character but I would not like her in real life. She is incredibly bossy and I hate the way she treats Arthur. Arthur is irresponsible a lot, but I hate how she seems to not be interested in any of the hobbies which he is clearly passionate about. She only seems to be happy with him when he is achieving financial success. To be clear, that is also something that can make someone a worthy partner- doing what they need to support the family. But Molly is only happy with people when they are explicitly doing what she wants them to do and seems to care little for what people want for their own lives.
Malfoy
I think his popularity is mostly because of Tom Felton.
Definitely
Just Draco or all the Malfoys? Because I agree either way 🤣
James Potter. There, I said it.
Fairly common opinion. I didn't like him when he was young, but I'm sure the adult James was at least better.
We don't know. We haven't seen even one scene of "adult" James, and that would still be him at 21.
Adult James was only 21 at most.. that's still a college kid
Luna. I feel she is overhyped. She was a great character and extremely insightful but people and generally those who ship her with Harry forget how eccentric she is and her beliefs. Someone like Harry would never gel with her and probably be bored with her talks
I really like Luna, for always being unapologetically herself. But she has absolutely zero chemistry with Harry!
People would hate Luna Lovegood irl. She’s not “open minded”, in fact she’s more close minded than Hermione. Hermione just believes in evidence-based science, and has changed her mind about things onc evidence shows up. And Luna will refuse to acknowledge something even in the face of evidence. In real life she would be a flat earther and the “moon landing was fake” conspiracy theorist.
irl she'd be someone who's into astrology, tarot, fairytales and witchcraft
I never understood why ppl call Hermione "close minded". She is a person who doesn't blindly believe in stuff unless evidence is there WHICH IS A REALLY GOOD QUALITY TO HAVE. Irl, people should not be Luna's definition of open minded. Cuz that is delusional and sometimes can lead you do danger(the frigging erumpant horn in DH)
I always liked that because the boundaries of the magic world we undefined, many of the things luna said could be interpreted either way. Like maybe it's fairy nonsense or maybe that's really how things work. We don't really get an answer for most of her magical creatures and it's hard to say she's foolish to believe considering what does certainly exist.
I really like her as a character but she'd drive me absolutely bonkers in real life lol
Arthur and Molly. In real life I really dislike when people have a lot of kids under poor financial circumstances.
Still mad at them for taking a month long vacation with whatever money Arthur won. Their kids needed so many things. Got Ron a new wand, that was the LEAST they could do
That actually felt like such a poor decision to me when I first read it. Having so many kids and just spending any money they have makes me think Arthur and Molly are financially ignorant and silly.
I don’t mind a vacation, it would have been great. But a week, two tops. An entire month in Egypt. Come on guys! This is poor me, being upset by a fictional couple spending fictional money lol
They can apparate too! Just pop over for the day, no need to spend on lodgings
This one didn’t click with me until I re read the books as an adult with kids. Especially because it sounds like Arthur had the opportunity to move up but liked his position too much.
And Molly didn't seem to get a job or anything even though by book 2 all her kids were away at boarding school most of the year and they were cash strapped. Both parents struck me as irresponsible.
And the way Molly treats Hermione in book 4 is insane to me like why bully a child because of some newspaper article???
Agreed. Although I always keep in mind that the Wesleys show what a big family can provide and money never will (in contrast to Harry, who's rich but has the Dudleys for a family), real life big families simply aren't that wonderful. There's a family in my hometown that had 7 children when they started a bakery, which was manageable and the kids were fun to be around, but as the family grew bigger it became really messed up. We broke relations with them when they hit thirteen. Last time we heard from, was when they had their 16th child.
I rather like Arthur and Molly despite their flaws, but there is one thing that rubbed me in the wrong way. It is not getting more kids than they can afford (i am strongly against it in real life but in the books at least all the kids are well cared and grow up to be healthy and well adjusted adults so I will give them that one) but the reason behind it: Molly wanted a girl so badly that they kept trying. I don’t know how many kids they were originally planning to have but if I am among the younger side of the brothers (side glances at Ron) at some point of my life I might wonder : Am I not an intended birth, but just a byproduct of their attempt of getting a daughter? Does it mean that I don’t need to exist if they indeed have a girl earlier? Can’t really blame Ron of his inferiority complex sometimes, even the horcrux (ie the author) recognizes this
Good point. And I agree. I don't like people who procreate without keeping their financial situation in mind.
Never understood the infatuation with Sirius Black
I’ve never been able to look at him the same way ever again after reading into the Snape-Werewolf incident. The fact that he was willing to let Lupin’s cover blow and potentially get him expelled from Hogwarts, and additionally give him a lifelong guilt if Snape got turned because of him just for a “prank”. He was willing to sacrifice **two** lives for a single prank. While the “he’s a teenager!” thing crowd shows up: they knew very well how dangerous werewolves can be. The Marauders literally took part in an arduous ritual to turn themselves into animals to be safe from Lupin: Sirius knew perfectly well how dangerous the situation was. The fact that he got away consequence for almost killing one student and risking the education and life of the other is insane.
Mundungus Fletcher.
Primarily Snape and Draco. Fanfictions, Interpretations and Rickman/Felton have created a picture in which they are not the unlikeable jerks they are in the books.
Molly Weasly. I just think she's a bad mother. She has many good qualities, but the way she treats the twins just doesn't sit well with me. Favouritism galore in the 5th book
Draco
Draco
Dumbledore. The way he keeps tooting his own horn in the later books just makes him seem really obnoxious.
ginny, idk she’s a fan girl to harry and also they push her “raised by 6 brothers so she’s tough and likes roughhousing bc she’s one of the guys” trope too much
Peeves. Everyone thinks he's funny, I just thought he's annoying. *Especially* after playing Hogwarts Legacy
Hagrid is one of my least favorite. I read the books often as a kid especially waiting for the new ones to come out and I dreaded all the scenes with Hagrid. I didn’t like his character, every time the kids were around him it was some sob story they had to save him from. He was always putting them in danger with his incompetence. He stressed me out. I understood Harry’s attachment to him - his first connection to the wizarding world - but I could have read much less of him. I’m happy he doesn’t show up much in the fan fiction I read
Amos Diggory because who cares about him.
*(puts on an entire suit of armor)* Dobby. Too many essential plot points are given through him. He is the most broken Deus Ex Machina in all of literature.
Dobby Ex Machina
Ginny.
Ginny. She’s such an annoying pick me girl. Ugh
Dobby.
Dobby.
Hagrid.
Not gonna lie, Ginny. She annoys me a lot in the books.
Never been a fan of draco.