The wizarding world of Harry Potter is famous for its enchanting characters who are known for their lovable and entertaining performance in the film series. But, not every character in the film franchise is loved by people worldwide. Some characters in the series are not able to make their place in the hearts of the Potterheads and are considered the worst among other characters. They are specifically disliked for their roles and actions in the Harry Potter series. So, in this article, we will talk about some of the worst characters of the film franchise, who have earned their spot in this particular list.
Dolores Umbridge
The first character who has earned its spot in the list of worst Harry Potter characters is Dolores Umbridge. She was a half-blood witch who was 100% evil and also served as the Ministry of Magic’s Senior Undersecretary. However, after Harry Potter’s trial for the Order of the Phoenix, she went on to become the worst professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Later in the film series, she was more hated when she became the High Inquisitor of the magical school and imposed strict rules on the students as well as teachers. Also, she sent to dementors after Harry to attack him and gave students Veritaserum, a truth-telling serum that was against Hogwarts’ rules.
Albus Dumbledore
At the beginning of the film series, many Potterheads had sympathy for the old and kind Albus Dumbledore. But as soon as the sins of the half-blood wizard came to light, he became one of the disliked characters of the film franchise. The Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry put Harry Potter in dangerous situations many times and also took advantage of his link to Lord Voldemort. He stated in the film series, that he did it to save the wizarding world from the dark lord but this doesn’t make his actions less wrong. Also, due to Albus Dumbledore’s actions, the school of Hogwarts was attacked many times, jeopardising students’ lives. While Dumbledore’s actions were ethically ambiguous, he intended to defeat Voldemort and protect Harry.
Lord Voldemort
The Harry Potter film series’s main villain was Lord Voldemort; before becoming the Dark Lord, he was known as Tom Riddle. He was a half-blood wizard whose main objective was to free the magical school of Hogwarts from Mudbloods or Muggle-born students. He was one of the most powerful villains in the film franchise, whose powers were only matched by Albus Dumbledore. However, though he was mighty, he is one of the worst characters in the Harry Potter film series because he cared only for himself. Also, he was the reason for several people’s death. Further, he had an obsession with killing Harry because when he was a baby, he accidentally stopped Voldemort from killing him.
Petunia Evans Dursley
Petunia Dursley was among the most prominent non-magical characters in the Harry Potter film series. She was the older sister of Lily Evans, Harry Potter’s mother, and was married to a muggle man named Vernon Dursley. When Petunia was young, she became resentful of her sister for being a witch and broke all of her ties with her. However, when Harry’s parents were murdered by Voldemort, she became his legal guardian. When Harry stays with Petunia and her family, she mistreats him and makes him sleep in a cupboard under the staircase. Also, she intimidated him and made him do all the house chores.
Fenrir Greyback
The werewolf bounty hunter was the leader of the pack of werewolves whose main mission in the film series was to infect people with lycanthropy. His motive behind this was to create his army so that he could take over the wizarding world and become more powerful. In the film franchise, he was the one who infected Remus Lupin when his father Lyall degraded the community of werewolves by saying that they deserve death. Greyback was one of the worst characters because his favorite targets were kids and he killed some students mercilessly during the Battle of Hogwarts.
Peter Pettigrew
Peter Pettigrew was also known as Scabbers and Wormtail in the Harry Potter film series. He was a wizard who became friends with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin when he was a student at Hogwarts. Initially, in the film series, he portrayed that he was Harry Potter’s well-wisher but when Sirius Black escaped from the prison of Azkaban, it was revealed that he was a disloyal coward who had accepted his defeat to Voldemort and had actually helped him in killing Harry’s parents. Before all of this, Pettigrew lived in his rat Animagus for 12 years as Ron Weasley’s pet. Also, he did spells to make Voldemort strong and cut off his own hand.
Vernon Dursley
The next member of the Dursley family who is considered one of the worst is Vernon Dursley. He was the husband of Petunia Evans Dursley and through this relationship, he was Harry Potter’s uncle. After Lily Evans and James Potter were killed by Lord Voldemort in their own house, Vernon and his wife took Harry in and became his legal guardian. However, he treated him with cruelty while on the other hand, he pampered and spoiled his own child. Also, when Harry Potter received a letter to join the magical school of Hogwarts, he got very angry because he hated anything related to magic.
Rita Skeeter
The witch and journalist who enjoyed writing poison-pen stories made her 1st appearance in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Since her first appearance as The Daily Prophet’s correspondent, she was one of the most hated characters in the film series. Throughout the series, you can see her constantly looking for gossip, making her stories and articles exaggerated. In Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, Hermione threatens her to expose her unregistered Animagus status if she doesn’t do an honest interview with Harry. It has been revealed that Skeeter wrote just for publicity, and most of it was just a lie.
Cornelius Fudge
Another character from the Harry Potter film series who is often considered the worst is Cornelius Fudge. He was a wizard who served as the Minister of Magic for most part of the film series but he wasn’t liked for his actions. The character of this clumsy politician made the fans feel frustrated because most of the time, he completely ignored the signs of Lord Voldemort’s return. His refusal to face the truth of the Dark Lord’s return caused a lot of problems for all the people in the later part of the film series. Cornelius Fudge neglected his position and this made him one of the worst characters in the Harry Potter film series.
Bellatrix Lestrange
Bellatrix Lestrange is another Harry Potter character who is considered one of the worst. She was a pure-blood witch who was also a Death Eater. She was Lord Voldemort’s closest follower and did not care about people’s lives because she actually enjoyed hurting people. In the film series, she murdered her beloved cousin Sirius Black and due to this, she was hated by most of the Potterheads. During a Ministry of Magic fight, she took the life of Sirius and seemed to enjoy killing him without any feeling of guilt or remorse.
Percy Weasley
The child of Molly and Arthur Weasley was a pure-blood wizard and was most famously known as Ron Weasley’s sibling. He was a not-so-likable character and primarily focused on following rules and thought very highly of himself, which ultimately resulted in getting him a prefect badge at the magical school of Hogwarts. In addition to this, Percy also worked at the Ministry of Magic, and during his time there, he kept saying that the return of Lord Voldemort was a big lie due to which he became one of the characters of the film series. Later, when Dark Lord’s return was confirmed, he wasn’t ashamed at all and did not apologize for his previous behaviour.
Gilderoy Lockhart
During Harry Potter’s second year in Hogwarts, the half-blood wizard was a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who was also a fraud all along the film series. When he was in the wizarding world of Hogwarts, it seemed in the beginning that he was very skilled but in reality, he was just very full of himself. He tried to impress and persuade many young witches but with his huge ego, he always irritated the boy students. Further, when it was revealed that the heroic acts of Lockhart were not true, he tried to vanish the memory of Harry and Ron by doing a dangerous charm. But this backfired on him and hit him instead. Due to all these reasons, Lockhart is disliked by Potterheads around the world.
Lucius Malfoy
The irredeemably selfish character of Lucius Malfoy is one of the worst in the Harry Potter film series. He was a pure-blood wizard who later became known as the father of Draco Malfoy. Also, he was a Death Eater and became Lord Voldemort’s second-in-command. The character of Lucius Malfoy often received criticism because he had a superiority complex and thought that pure-blood wizards were more strong than half-blood wizards. Further, he used to take advantage of situations by always choosing the side that had more power between the Ministry of Magic and Lord Voldemort.
Cormac McLaggen
The wizard was known in the Harry Potter film series being a part of the McLaggen family who had a good reputation in the Ministry of Magic. Though he was one year older than Harry, Ron, and Weasley but he acted way less mature than all three. He was disliked by the Harry Potter film series fans because he had a self-centered, arrogant, and egoistic attitude. The wizard was a part of Horace Slughorn’s Slug Club and against Ron Weasley, he tried to become the open Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Also, he thought that Hermione Granger was in love with him due to which he made many unreasonable advances towards her.
Lavender Brown
The pure-blood witch joined the magical school of Hogwarts in the same year as Harry Potter and was known as a fellow Gryffindor who liked to gossip around. Initially, she was a likable character but in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, she began dating Ron Weasley which brought down her popularity. Also, she constantly bothered her boyfriend and ignored Hermione Granger because she was jealous of her. Brown’s character was unbearable for most of the Potterheads and they always preferred Hermione over her. When the relationship between Brown and Ron ended, fans of the series took a deep sigh.
Mundungus Fletcher
The half-blood wizard was a member of the Order of the Phoenix but his intentions were bad and cruel to a greater extent. Fletcher was a criminal who was involved in many illegal activities and due to this, he had a disreputable reputation. Even when serious things were happening in the film series such as Sirius Black’s death, he was only focused and concerned about stealing and making money for his own good. Also, he never wanted to explicitly help Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger and only joined the Order because he owed a favour to Albus Dumbledore. Fletcher’s character is considered one of the worst because he left Alaster Moody alone during the Battle of the Seven Potters, which caused the Auror to die. After Moody’s death, he showed no remorse which made his character more annoying.
Cho Chang
The character of Cho Chang in the Harry Potter film franchise got the fans on their nerves. She was a witch who was also a beautiful and talented Quidditch player as well as Harry’s semi-official girlfriend. She was one year older than Harry Potter and was never popular amongst the fans. But when she appeared in the Order of Phoenix and transitioned her sweet attitude into constant crying and jealousy, she began to annoy the Potterheads more. Though she was Harry Potter’s first love, but she dated Cedric Diggory. After his death, her character became annoying and kept on whining for most of the part.
Vincent Crabbe
In the Harry Potter film franchise, Vincent Crabbe was a pure-blood wizard who came from the line of Dark Wizards. He was the son of a Death Eater who used to bully the students of Hogwarts in a mean way. Also, he was Draco Malfoy’s follower and used to join him in his teasing and insults towards anyone who wasn’t a Slytherin like him. Later, in the Battle of Hogwarts, he stands up against the whole wizarding world along with Malfoy and Goyle and this makes him more annoying. Further, he had intentions to seriously kill Ron, Hermione, and Harry which makes him an utter failure.
Argus Filch
He was the caretaker of Hogwarts as well as a Squib and was not considered fit to be around students because of his dangerous and sadistic punishments. In the film series, he did not like anybody except Mrs Norris and was always on the go to find ways to punish children for every small reason. Also, he was completely loyal to Dolores Umbridge and this showed that he did not care about the students of Hogwarts. His main goal was to punish and teach children lessons by giving punishments rather than looking after their well-being. His unkind behavior and mean temperament made him one of the worst characters in the Harry Potter film series.
Kreacher
The house-elf was the servant of the House of Black and throughout the film series, he lived an oppressed life. He was treated badly and in an unkind way and still, he did not want to be set free and live a liberated life. Kreacher fully supported the racist beliefs of the Black family and turned against Sirius Black because he was against those ideas. Also, he called the entire Order and Hermione mudbloods whenever he got the chance because he wanted to hurt their feelings. Due to his troublesome nature, Kreacher was not liked by the lovers of the Harry Potter film series.
Barty Crouch Jr.
In the Harry Potter film franchise, Barty Crouch Jr. was a wizard whose full name was Bartemius Crouch Jr. He was the son of Bartemius Crouch Sr., and in his teenage years, he became the devoted follower of Lord Voldemort because he wanted to be a Dark Wizard and a Death Eater. He was one of the evil characters in the film series who continuously showed his brutality. Later, when he escaped the prison of Azkaban and disguised himself as Alaster Moody at Hogwarts, it showed how deeply evil he was. Many times, he used Unforgivable Curses and persuaded Harry towards Lord Voldemort. In the film series, he tricked everyone into believing that he was a good character, but in reality, he was secretly causing harm. Also, he left his mother reeling in prison while he roamed around freely and killed his own father for helping the Dark Lord.
Gregory Goyle
Gregory Goyle was another follower or supporter of Draco Malfoy and joined Hogwarts in the same year as Harry Potter. He was the friend of Vincent Crabbe and Malfoy and belonged to the Slytherin House. Though he was the son of a Death Eater, it was not clear in the film franchise if he was one. He used to bully and insult other students at Hogwarts along with his friends. Also, he threatened them by doing something dangerous if they did not follow whatever he or his friends told them to do. Further, he lacked magical abilities and intelligence which made him the worst character.
