Ranking Every Death in the Harry Potter Series
By Ani Bundel
We go through the list of every character who died in the Harry Potter series and rank them in order of importance and impact.
The Harry Potter series is ostensibly a children’s tale. The marketing had always been aimed at young readers. J.K. Rowling herself has been honored time and again for encouraging children to a love of books.
But though these are children’s stories, it does not make them silly or soft. In fact, I think that’s part of the secret to the series’ appeal. It deals with grown up issues and grown up situations, and expects the child to understand instead of talking down to them. Rowling tackles everything from childhood loneliness to the discovery of trying new things to grief and loss and finally, to taking responsibilities as you grow up. And all along the way she teaches kids an important lesson. “We must all choose between what is right and what is easy.”
In Harry Potter doing what’s right has consequences–including leading to the deaths of characters. J.K. Rowling said killing off characters was the hardest thing for her to do. And yet, with a death toll that actually rivals that of George R.R. Martin (at least when taken in total), she kills off quite a few of them. When counted individually, her deaths actually reach into the hundreds.
We’ve condensed that list down a little bit for our purposes, to cover everyone who died into 50 entries. In terms of ranking deaths, we found that there were three types: Historical, Present Day Minor Characters and Present Day Major Characters.
Now, without further ado, here are all of the deaths in the Harry Potter series, ranked by importance and impact.
Next: The Top Ten Historical Deaths
Historical
50. The Peverells
Let’s start with one of the most ancient sets of characters whose deaths we learn about in the Harry Potter series. The Peverell family was an ancient medieval pure-blood wizarding clan, whose three brothers, Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus, created the Deathly Hallows. They are believed to be the subject of the story in The Tales of Beetle the Bard‘s “The Tale of the Three Brothers.” Though many in the wizarding world think of the Peverells and the Deathly Hallows as a legend, as we learned from Luna’s father, Xenophilius “Xeno” Lovegood, the Hallows were very real, and the tragedy of the Peverells all too true.
As the legend goes, each brother was bequeathed one of the Deathly Hallows. Antioch was the owner of the Elder Wand, Cadmus had the Resurrection Stone and Ignotus was given the Cloak of Invisibility. Antioch was the first to die, slain after his first duel with the Elder Wand after boasting of its powers. Thus began the bloody history of the Elder Wand as generation after generation of wizardkind sought to claim the prize and the power of it. Cadmus committed suicide after bringing back his beloved with the Resurrection Stone. It turned out cheating death did not abate his grief, especially since bringing back the dead does not bring them back fully, and only brings those who have returned pain. It is unclear if the Gaunts were direct descendants of Cadmus or not, or if the stone passed to them through relatives.
Ignotus was the only one of the Peverells to not end tragically. In fact, he used the cloak to keep his existence from the wider world, and in exchange lived a long life, and passed the cloak on through his descendants, the last of which, James Potter, was killed in 1981 when his son was a baby. The cloak was passed to Dumbledore who kept it safe for his son when he came of age.
Next: Number 49: The Immortals
49. The Flamels
The Flamel family is another very old wizarding family. Unlike some wizarding families though, their name is also familiar to Muggles. Listed as having lived the in the 14th century, Nicholas Flamel is found in Muggle history books as a french alchemist who studied immortality and searched for the fabled Philosopher’s Stone. He appears once or twice again in historical accounts of the 17th century, suggesting that in fact these stories of his long life were true. But after the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was adopted in 1692, those extraneous reports were put under spells that called them into doubt, and made many in the Muggle history world assume them to be false, and that Nicholas Flamel had merely been a manuscript scribe of the middle ages.
The truth is a little more complex. Nicholas and his wife, Perenelle Flamel, were indeed French-born wizards who attended the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in the 14th century. He was a dear friend of Albus Dumbledore and a partner with him in both the fight against Grindelwald in the 1940s and then again in the 1970s and 80s, during the fight against Voldemort. Flamel did indeed create and possess the Philosopher’s Stone (known in the US as the Sorcerer’s Stone) from which he derived the Elixir of Life that kept him and his wife living up until the 1990s. Unlike some, he did not use this power to make himself rich and famous, preferring to turn his extra days to devoted study. In 1991, with the threat of Voldemort once again on the rise, he gave up the stone to Dumbledore to keep it safe, accepting that this meant he and his wife would finally pass on, which they did in 1992.
Next: Number 48: Kendra and Ariana
48. Kendra and Ariana Dumbledore
One of the earliest tragedies that our beloved headmaster lived through in his young life was the death of his mother Kendra and his sister, Ariana Dumbledore. Ariana was the youngest of the Dumbledores, Albus was the oldest child, and in the middle, their brother Aberforth. At a very young age she was attacked by a Muggle boy which left her mentally challenged, and unable to control her abilities. In some wizarding families, that might have led them to have her institutionalized, for the safety of the family and others. But with their father Percival imprisoned in Azkaban for taking revenge on the Muggles who hurt his youngest child, her mother Kendra decided to keep Ariana home and safe, moving the family to Godric’s Hollow where they wouldn’t be known.
Unfortunately, there was only so much she could do to keep her growing daughter from attempting to use her uncontrolled powers, especially as she grew older and got stronger. One such incident finally killed Kendra when Ariana caused an explosion at the age of fourteen, leaving her brothers to take care of the family. Sadly, Ariana didn’t outlive her mother long. She was also killed by accident later that year, when Aberforth and Albus had a falling out over his friendship with Gellert Grindelwald and their plans to subdue Muggles and take over the world in the name of wizardry. Albus wanted to do it as revenge for Adriana, but Aberforth was having none of it. In the ensuing three way duel between Albus, Gellert and Aberforth in the Dumbledore home, Ariana was struck and killed by a stray spell. It was never known whose spell killed her (or if she accidentally killed herself in an attempt to stop them), but Aberforth blamed Albus. Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s friendship was severed, in the first step that would lead the two to face each other decades later.
Next: Number 47: The Original Order of the Phoenix Victims
47. Order of the Phoenix Victims, 1981
Finding the photograph of the original members of the Order of the Phoenix in 1980/1981 is one of the first times Harry and his friends realize what they and their families are up against, especially when they look over the image and realize how few of those smiling and waving from inside the frame are with them a generation later. It’s almost shorter to list those in the photo who still live when we see it: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore, Peter Pettigrew, Hagrid, Mad-Eye Moody and the Longbottoms.
But just because it is easier to list off the living does not mean we should not remember the dead. After all, as Dumbldore says, many times life is a choice between doing what is right and doing what is easy. To that end let us role call the fallen from the First Wizarding World War against Voldemort:
- Marlene McKinnon and her entire family. McKinnon was a founding member of the original Order. She and her family were murdered by Death Eaters. Travers was named as one of those responsible.
- Edgar Bones, his mother and father, his wife and children. The family of Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, her brother was a member of the original Order. Edge was by all accounts a very powerful wizard, which is why Voldemort sent Death Eaters not only after him and his family, but also his parents. Harry’s classmate Susan Bones is also related.
- Gideon and Fabian Prewett, older brothers to Molly Weasley. These uncles that Ron and his brothers never knew were original members of the order, killed by Death Eaters towards the end of the war. Death Eater Antonin Dolohov was sent to Azkaban for their deaths.
- Benjy Fenwick, who was murdered so brutally by Death Eaters, Mad-Eye Moody said they only ever found “bits of him.”
- Dorcas Meadowes, a member of the Order murdered by Voldemort personally, it is believed they were taken down by the Dark Wizard in order to find the Potters.
- Dean Thomas’ father, who abandoned his Muggle family to protect them during the First Wizarding War. Dean was raised by Muggles and never knew his father sacrificed himself for their family when he refused to join the Death Eaters cause, turning to the Order instead.
Next: Number 46: Voldemorts Horcrux Victims
46. Voldemort Horcrux Victims
During the period of the 1940s to the 1970s, Tom Riddle, who would become the Dark wizard known as Voldemort, began the process of splitting his soul into seven pieces and embedding six of them into objects known as Horcruxes in order to achieve a disturbing version of immortality. Three of those deaths were performed in order to turn the precious objects of the Hogwarts founders into items into which he could embed parts of his soul, in what is a very disturbing version of fetishizing the school one attends.
The first of these deaths was Hepzibah Smith, a lonely rich old witch, who Tom Riddle groomed and flattered and made her believe he was in love with in order to get his hands on the cup of Helga Hufflepuff. Smith claimed she was a direct descendant from Helga, and she was an avid collector of magical artifacts, so it is not surprising that Riddle targeted her in hopes of getting his hands on the cup. He actually struck gold when she showed him she owned not only the cup but Salazar Slytherin’s locket. Riddle then murdered her, and used her death to make the cup a Horcrux. A short time later, he found a Muggle tramp on the road and did the same in order to turn the locket into a Horcrux. It is assumed the tramp was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time, and did not have any relation to Riddle, or Slytherin. As for the Ravenclaw Diadem, to find it, Riddle charmed The Grey Lady ghost of Hogwarts to reveal where it was in Albania. Upon finding it he murdered a random “peasant,” again, most likely a Muggle who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, in order to turn it into a Horcrux as well. Only the date of Smith’s death is known, in 1946. The other two happened sometime between then and the 1970s.
Next: Number 45: Voldemort's Father
45. Tom Riddle Sr. and his family
Though Smith and the unlucky Muggle represented three of the Horcrux killings, they were by no means the first. In fact, they came after Riddle had already split his soul twice, and was looking to make the split into the holy number of seven. Prior to that, and the choice to use Hogwarts relics for Horcruxes, Riddle was still using items that were precious to him and his family. That leads us to his second Horcrux: the ring that once belonged to his grandfather Marvolo Gaunt.
Marvolo was not the death that made the ring into a Horcrux, though to be fair, that actually would have been more fitting, since it was Marvolo’s cruelty and abuse that ruined his daughter Merope’s looks and made her into the person so desperate for love that she would bewitch Tom Riddle Sr. But these sorts of facts were not the kind of thing that a Muggle-hating young man like Tom Riddle Jr. wanted to know. Instead, he turned that rage and hatred to the Muggle who abandoned his mother when she released him from her spell and he discovered he had been seduced by an ugly desperate witch. Upon retrieving his grandfather’s ring from the Gaunt shack (and with no idea it was actually one of the Deathly Hallows, with the stone set in it the fabled Resurrection Stone) Riddle set off to the main Muggle house, and proceeded to murder the man who fathered him, and the Muggle wife and children he had, using his father’s death to turn that ring into a Horcrux.
Next: Number 44: Tom Riddle's First Victim
44. Moaning Myrtle
Even though Riddle’s killing of his biological father to turn his grandfather’s ring into an object that would house part of his soul was pretty horrific, it still wasn’t the first murder. It should not be lost on viewers and readers that when we see Tom Riddle in Pensieve memories in his final year at Hogwarts, when he is a prefect and already starting to surround himself with sycophantic followers in House Slytherin, he has changed from the Tom Riddle we see in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. That earlier Tom Riddle is handsome and charming. The senior Tom Riddle has become cold and remote and just a little bit inhuman. Why the change? Because in the intervening year of 1943, Riddle had already made his first Horcrux.
The Diary of Tom Riddle, which took over Ginny Weasley and caused such damage at Hogwarts Harry’s second year, was Tom’s “My First Horcrux.” Though when Harry and his friends destroy it with a basilisk’s fang, they believe they are merely freeing Ron’s sister Ginny from an evil spell. The truth is what they are really doing is destroying the earliest and youngest piece of Voldemort’s soul that he split off. So who did Riddle kill as his first victim to experiment with soul splitting? Well, why do you think Moaning Myrtle has been haunting that bathroom all these decades?
Next: Number 43: R.A.B.
43. Regulus Black
In deaths that befall family members of our present day characters, none is more of a mystery of that of “R.A.B.” At the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, after Dumbledore’s sacrifice and Snape’s betrayal, all Harry is left with is a note with those initials, promising that the object in question they are searching to destroy has gone far far away.
Who is R.A.B.? Turns out it’s the younger brother of Harry’s godfather, Sirius, Regulus Black, who died back in 1979. At first this seems a little bit surprising. After all, Regulus, unlike Sirius, was a Slytherin. He was proud of his pure-blood heritage, adored by the Black family, and dabbled enough in Dark Magic to become a Death Eater himself. So why does his death rank so high in the historical section? And why did he hide away the Horcrux that Harry and Dumbledore were seeking, Slytherin’s locket?
It turns out that Regulus wasn’t quite as much of an idiot as Sirius thought. He grew up believing what his family told him about how being a pure-blood Wizard made him practically royalty, and about the evils of Mudbloods and Muggles. But what child hasn’t grown up believing the things their parents tell them? After all, it’s not in the nature of children to question their elders, especially if they are seen as “the good child” in comparison to an older rebellious brother. It wasn’t until he became a Death Eater and saw up close the terrible way Voldemort and his followers behaved that he began to question his choices. Upon learning of the defenses around Slytherin’s locket, and that Kreacher, the house-elf, was used to test them and then left to die, he decided to trade out the locket and leave a dummy one. Unfortunately, in the process of doing so, he was killed. Kreacher managed to obey his master’s final order though, and switched the lockets. Though Regulus’ final act ended up setting Harry back for a bit, it was brave and it was bold, and it deserves more than Sirius’ scorn.
Next: Number 42: Voldemort's Mother
42. Merope Gaunt
Quite possibly one of the most tragic backstory after that of Harry’s own parents is that of Tom Riddle’s mother. Merope Gaunt‘s story is so tragic, it was cut from the movies, lest we sympathize with Voldemort even a little. But in the tragic telling, it also tells about how Dark Magic, Muggle hatred and hiding who you are can have disastrous consequences.
The Gaunt family are a pure-blood family who boast they are direct descendants of the famous Salazar Slytherin, one of the founding members of Hogwarts School of Magic and Witchcraft. They also are believed to be decedents of Cadmus Peverell, though it is not clear if there is a direct line or no. They are a family that took pure-blood mania to such an extreme that they only married cousins. The inbreeding took a toll on their sanity. Once a rich and proud family, by the time the Pure-Blood Directory (referred to as the Sacred Twenty-Eight) was released in the 1930s, they had fallen on very hard times, living in a tiny shack on the property of wealthy muggles, considered crazies by their neighbors, and associating with almost nobody. Merope was born into this terrible situation, the daughter of Marvolo Gaunt, an angry, unhinged and abusive father. She dreamed of escaping by marrying the wealthy and handsome scion of a rich Muggle family, Tom Riddle. Her need was so overwhelming that she fed him Love Potions to make him marry her and take her away from the terrible situation. Sadly, she soon came to believe Riddle really loved her, so she stopped giving him Love Potions, hoping he would truly love her for who she was. It was not to be. The Muggle man was horrified when he came out of his daze, to see himself hitched to a disfigured and inbred witch who was desperate for him to stay with her.
Thrown out of the Riddle home, rejected by her crazed father, alone and pregnant, Merope wound up giving birth in an orphanage to a son she named Tom Riddle Jr. before giving up on life. Her unhappy end was the beginning to one of the most evil men of all time, and that may be the biggest tragedy of all.
Next: Number 41: The Potters
41. James and Lily Potter
If Merope’s death was the beginning of the most evil man of all time, then Lily and James are the opposite end of the spectrum. Their deaths gave birth to “The Boy Who Lived.”
Unlike Merope, whose tragic history was confined to the books, much of James Potter and Lily Evans’ story came to the big screen. Lily was the magically gifted daughter of a Muggle family, excited to be entering Hogwarts and full of love and laughter. James Potter was a pure-blood wizard and the descendant of a direct line to Ignotus Peverell. Unlike the pure-bloods we’ve seen thus far, though, Potter wasn’t part of the “pure-blood mania” and didn’t think twice about falling madly in love with a girl who would be seen by the more snobbish as a “Mudblood.” James was a trickster and a prankster, but underneath he was a good-hearted man, and when Voldemort rose up to try and take over the wizarding world, he and his wife didn’t think twice about bravely joining the Order of the Phoenix.
When Lily became pregnant in 1979, the Potters went into hiding, as Voldemort became convinced that this little family who has defied him three times was the subject of the prophecy that would take him down. But their hiding went tragically wrong, when they chose their Secret Keeper to be Peter Pettigrew.
Everyone knows what happened next, except that is for Harry, who was kept in the dark for years. Voldemort went to their house and Godric’s Hollow. There he killed James, and entered the bedroom to kill Harry. But Lily’s final magic saved her son. The Killing Curse killed her, but when it hit Harry, it bounced back, taking down Voldemort, and accidentally turning Harry into the seventh Horcrux as Voldemort’s now fragile soul split once again.
Next: And now, the Present Day Murders
Present Day: Minor Characters
40. Two Unicorns
I know, after our Historical Deaths, this seems like a kind of bizarre first entry for our Present Day list. But hear me out. The deaths of the two unicorns are an important milestone in the first book. After all, everyone knows that unicorns are the most magical of creatures, pure of heart and soul. For there to be someone at Hogwarts who was willing to go out to the Forbidden Forest and murder not one, but two, and drink their blood? That’s a horrifying situation and the first sign that a terrible something that is deeply evil is going on at this wonderful magical school Harry Potter has found himself attending.
As Firenze says to Harry about their deaths: The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something so pure and defenseless to save yourself, you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips. Who would be so willing to do such a terrible deed, except someone who is already living a partial life, has nothing to lose, and everything to gain? Turns out the answer is a fetus-like Voldemort creature who is eking out an existence in a terrified and sad little professor’s turban.
Next: Number 39: Good Riddance to Death Eaters
39. Gibbon and Other Death Eaters
Over the course of both the books and the movies, Death Eaters die. These minions of Voldemort half the time don’t even get to have names, or if they do, they die in ways that makes it obvious how pathetic and useless they are as followers. It is hard to feel sorry for most of them. After all, many of them commit atrocious crimes in the name of their leader. And many of them enjoy the killing, and the death and the mayhem they cause. Some are true believers who think that death to Mudbloods and Muggles is only right and proper, if not straight-out sport.
One such death eater who does get a name is “Gibbon.” He’s only really seen in the Battle of the Astronomy Tower in the novels. This is the battle that occurs at the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when Draco Malfoy plays traitor and drops the school’s defenses to allow Death Eaters to get in, with the plan to assassinate Dumbledore. Up until this occurrence, it is believed that Hogwarts is impregnable by Death Eaters and Voldemort, so long as Dumbledore is alive and inside the school. Draco disabling the school’s defenses and allow the invasion frightened so many parents that, after the battle, they start pulling their children out of school in droves. It is also a major battle fought by Dumbledore’s Army against the intruders. But sadly, those intruders get their quarry, and in one of the most famous scenes in the either books or novels, Snape kills Dumbledore.
But Dumbledore was not the only one to die. So does Gibbon, quite by accident, and rather carelessly. Apparently he ran upstairs to issue a Dark Mark and let everyone know they were in the school, which brought on the battle, when the Death Eaters might have gotten away with invading if he hadn’t. Then he sauntered downstairs after performing this idiocy and got hit by a stray Killing Curse meant for Lupin, saving one of our hero’s lives. Good work, guy.
Next: Number 38: The Monster in the Chamber
38. Serpent of Slytherin
Deep beneath the bowls of Hogwarts, in tunnels under the school in the Chamber of Secrets, Salazar Slytherin left a piece of his heritage for his descendants to one day find. Known as “The Serpent of Slytherin” this great female Basilisk was left to hatch by the founding father of the institution. Why on earth would one of the four founders put such a ticking time-bomb within the walls of his own institution? Slytherin was a odd fellow. A pure-blood wizard, he didn’t want to allow Muggle-borns with magical abilities to attend his school. Luckily, he was outvoted by the other three founders, who saw that all those with magic being accepted could only strengthen their community. But Slyerthin decided he would one day have his revenge by putting this great creature under the school for his true-born heir to find.
And his true born heir did indeed find the Serpent deep beneath the bowels of the school when he was attending back in the early 1940s. One might say that opening the Chamber of Secrets and allowing the Basilisk out, and discovering that not only could he speak to the creature, but he could command her, was the first step Tom Riddle took in his journey to becoming Voldemort. This confirmed that he was Slytherin’s heir, and that it was his calling to purify not only Hogwarts, but the wizarding world.
When the chamber reopened during Harry’s second year, and he discovered he too could understand snakes, it is a terrible moment, especially when he learns he cannot control the creature, only understand the horror. The difference was that that understanding the creature was all Harry needed. he didn’t need to control the beast to kill it dead in one of his first major defeats of Voldemort and Tom Riddle.
Next: Number 37: The Leader of the Acromantula
37. Aragog
One might feel kind of sorry for Aragog, if one were not so horrified and terrified of spiders that one could look the poor beast in the eye. I have to say, I’m with Ron here. I find spiders to be terrifying and ones that are so large they could easily eat me, doubly so.
But let’s be real. If you look past the horrid hairiness and the too many eyes and the creepy crawlies one gets from a creature with eight legs that has a tendency to scuttle? Hagrid’s pet and friend Aragog the blind Acromantula is actually kind of pitiful. He didn’t have a bad childhood, raised by Hagrid down in the bowels of Hogwarts. But then Tom Riddle framed the poor creature as “Slytherin’s Monster” in order to hide his own involvement with the opening of the Chamber of Secrets while keeping Hogwarts from being shut down. Not only was Aragog banished to the Forbidden Forest to live out his days in an inglorious and miserable setting, but it got Hagrid expelled from the school as well.
Hagrid never gave up on his friend, who went on to have a wife, and thousands upon thousands of children. In Aragog’s last years his name was cleared as Harry Potter revealed the truth about the incidents in the 1940s. And it was just in time, too. Only a few short years later, Harry found himself beside Hagrid as he buried the body of his dear, if terrifying, friend.
Next: Number 36: Hannah's Mother
36. Hannah Abbott’s Mother
Some of the deaths that seem to chill the bones of readers and movie watchers alike are not the major scenes where heroes fall and bad guys kick the bucket. They are the small deaths that happen everyday that start ratcheting up the fear that someone you know and care about could be next. These sort of reports, where students you know disappear overnight as their relatives are found dead, only serve to up the anxiety and dread.
Mrs. Abbott was one of those deaths, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We never get to know Hannah Abbot very well in the books. She’s a bit of a minor character, happens to be Hufflepuff, another face in the crowd. And then one day, in the middle of the Second Wizarding War, a year after Voldemort’s return, she gets pulled out of class, and disappears. Turns out her mother, who was not a brave soul–just a goodhearted witch with a 16 year old Hufflepuff daughter–was found dead in her kitchen, murdered by Death Eaters for the crime of being a good person. Hannah is never seen again in the movies or the books. (Though history says she went on to marry Neville Longbottom.)
Next: Number 35: Death Eater Scum
35. Scabior
Some Death Eaters are minor footnotes, killed off in battles off to the side, sometimes comically so. Others are like Scabior. Scabior, for those who aren’t sure which Death Eater we mean, was the Snatcher we met in the woods when Harry and his friends were camping out in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He and his gang (led by werewolf and high-ranking Death Eater Fenrir Greyback) went around as bounty hunters, snatching up those who were somehow deemed inferior, either by being Muggle-born, or worse, a “blood traitor” (e.g. Muggle married).
Scabior was one of those responsible for the deaths of Ted Tonks (Nymphadora’s muggle father), as well as capturing Dean Thomas. From what we know of him, he was Slytherin during his time at Hogwarts. (He seemed to know the common room quite well.) He also did a stint in Azkaban during the interwar period of the mid-to-late 1980s. His death came at the hands of Neville Longbottom during the Battle of Hogwarts. He was killed when the bridge he was attempting to cross into the castle was made to collapse out from beneath him.
Next: Number 34: Bertha the Unlucky
34. Bertha Jorkins
Poor Bertha Jorkins. It wasn’t easy being a witch in her day, and then she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Described once by Sirius, who was a few years her junior, as a “gossipy but not very bright–a dangerous combination,” she was one of those who could have really wound up on either side of the First or Second Wizarding War. Considering how much she complained about students picking on her, and responding with made-up stories to get revenge, she probably would have done okay as a low level Death Eater on Voldemort’s return. But she was never given the chance. Instead, she wandered over to Barty Crouch’s home on the wrong day and discovered the existence of Barty Crouch Jr., who his father had snuck home years ago. Like a fool, she told Crouch Sr. what she knew. Perhaps she was thinking to blackmail him? She got a powerful memory curse put on her for her troubles, and was never right in the head again.
In fact, she was so not right in the head, that after a terribly timed vacation to Albania, she wound up in the hands of the not-fully-resurrected Voldemort and Wormtail, and found herself being tortured for information–including that of the existence of Barty Crouch Jr., who had been one of Lord Voldemort’s most devout followers, and the upcoming Triwizard Tournament, which he and Pettigrew then infiltrated in order to lure Harry Potter to them. When Voldemort killed Bertha, he used her death to turn Nagini into a Horcrux–perhaps at this point it was out of sheer habit–thereby splitting his soul an eighth time.
But to add insult to injury, despite Jorkins’ rather important function in the Goblet of Fire novel, she barely shows up in either. In the books, she is a memory in Dumbledore’s mind, or a ghost. The movie didn’t even need to cast an actress. Instead, Jorkins was just a prop dummy, seen in half light, twisting and turning in midair.
Next: Number 33: Muggle In the Wrong Place
33. Frank Bryce
More people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Frank Bryce was mostly just an innocent Muggle–the kind who wouldn’t know the wizarding world if it came over and smacked him upside the head. Two small issues condemned him to death at the hands of Voldemort. First off, he had a terrible temper and couldn’t stand people who would slink about. And second, he happened to be the Riddle Family Gardener. Yes, even though it is the mid-90s, this was an estate that still employed a gardener to keep the grounds, to the point that he even had a cottage on the estate.
Now, as we know, the Riddle family was murdered by Voldemort back in the mid 1940s. Bryce was actually a prime suspect at the time, even though he insisted he’d seen a dark haired boy go up to the estate on the night of the murders. He was never charged, but in that way of small villages, always sort of suspected. The Riddle family house passed from owner to owner after the murders. But those who owned it never really stayed there, (can you blame them?) which is why, by the mid 1990s, Voldemort was able to use it as a base camp. Unfortunately, Bryce made the mistake of noticing him doing so, and went up to the House in a temper, planning to give whoever was sneaking around whatfor. Instead, he accidentally overheard Voldemort’s Triwizard Tournament plans. Not that he understood them, but he would have gone to the police anyway, as clearly something was rotten in Denmark. Instead Nagini saw him, and Voldemort called him in. And that was the end of Frank Bryce.
Next: Number 32: The Incident at Gringotts Victims
32. Bogrod, Griphook and other Goblins
The 1998 break-in at Gringott’s bank was one of the more desperate moves undertaken by Harry and his pals, and one of the more deadly for those who were incidentally involved. The goblin who let them in, for instance, Bogrod, plus several other employees of the bank. Perhaps it was foolish for the trio to think they could stage the only successful break-in of the Wizarding Bank in its illustrious history, and not have it cost lives. Bogrod was burned to death by the half-blind dragon that they loosed in order to escape to freedom as the bank’s security measures closed in around them. The dragon also cause parts of the tunnels and the bank to collapse as it escaped, trapping employees and customers alike.
It also led to the the death of Griphook, who was their assistant in the break-in. But Griphook double crossed them, stealing away with the Sword of Gryffindor. (Part of the problem, was that in their haste, they only got Griphook’s word he would get them in–not get them out again, or double-cross them in any way.) He might have done better if he had stayed with the trio–on his own, he was found by Voldemort, who was not so kind as they were about betrayals. Once Griphook was dead, the Sword of Gryffindor took itself back to the Sorting Hat, from whence it was originally drawn.
Next: Number 31: Muggle-borns
31. Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell, Gornuk
The Snatcher gang lead by Fenrir Greyback was known for terrorizing the wizard countryside during the Second Wizarding War. Their mission: go after three kinds of the unpure in the Wizardkind community: the Muggle-born wizards (Mudbloods,) those wizards and witches who married Muggles (Blood traitors,) and those Muggles who had the fortune (or misfortune) to fall in love and marry a wizard or witch, despite having no magical abilities of their own. They also aimed to take down any “lesser beings” who resisted their rule. As Harry noted when he saw the Fountain of Magical creatures statue in the Ministry, the centaur, goblin, and a house-elf were posed to be looking up to their human masters.
In the books, during the Second Wizarding War, we saw examples of these different victims in Ted Tonks, the Muggle (and non-magical) father of Nymphodora; Dirk Cresswell, a Muggle-born wizard; and Gornuk, a Goblin who has once been employed at Gringotts, but fled when the Ministry fell. The movies unfortunately felt this was a little too complicated to communicate in a short time-span. So they did away with Tonks’ dad (sorry Tonks!), as well as Gornuk. Only Cresswell was given an appearance, as he was brought into the Ministry by the gang, and walked by Harry and his friends, who were in disguise. We didn’t see him killed, but the outcome was still the same.
Next: Number 30: The Ice Cream Man
30. Florean Fortescue
Aww, man, Florean Fortescue. The ice cream guy! Fortescue was the owner of Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley, and helped Harry with his homework in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The irony of how popular his Ice Cream shop is at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, and yet he was all but cut from the movies completely. In fact, in the books, he’s even sort of a plot thread left dangling. He was dragged off by Death Eaters. But why? For what? What was so important that a poor ice cream shop owner had to die, other than that evil people hate sweets?
Well, to be honest, Fortescue’s reason for being cut from the movies is the same reason his dramatically discovered fate was sort of left to peter out in the books. Originally, his being dragged off was the beginning of some sort of subplot that would have paid off in later novels. But then Rowling realized that whatever that complex subplot was, it was either too convoluted to live, or so distracting it had to die. Fortescue’s reason for being was scratched, and poof, he was gone. At least we’ll always have his shop to visit at the theme park.
Next: Number 29: Unspeakable Victims
29. Broderick Bode
Another character cut completely from the movies, Broderick Bode was one of those in the Ministry with the sort of job that sounds really interesting, but probably isn’t. He was an “Unspeakable,” which meant he worked in the Department of Mysteries. Very little is known about what they do, but I imagine it’s far more bureaucratic paper shuffling than most would have you believe. An older single man, he was one of those friendly co-workers of Arthur that kept turning up at events because adults have friends and coworkers too.
First at the Quidditch World Cup and then in the hallways of the Ministry, as Harry was taken to his hearing at Courtroom 10, Bode was one of those peripheral people. And that meant he was going to be unlucky when peripheral people started being killed off. His work in the Department of Mysteries meant that when Voldemort wanted a copy of the prophecy about Harry Potter, he was the one put under the Imperius Curse and sent in to attempt to fetch it. Of course, he failed, and the defenses left him incapacitated and in St. Mungos as a long-term patient. He might have just spent his life out there, but unluckily for him, he began to improve, necessitating that the Death Eaters murder him. Poor unlucky Bode.
Next: Number 28: Writing is Dangerous
28. Octavius Pepper and Reporters from the Daily Prophet
One of Rowling’s running plot points and themes of the Harry Potter series was the role of propaganda and the media in today’s society. Her character Rita Skeeter, who takes joy in tearing down The Boy Who Lived with her “poison-pen stories,” is one of the more evil bad guys in the series. (As well as being an unregistered Animagus.) The Daily Prophet is an instrumental tool in keeping the wizarding world ignorant of Voldemort’s return under Cornelius Fudge, as well as discrediting Harry. Though Fudge’s dishonesty was eventually reported, it was this sort of propaganda that made the fall of the Ministry so much easier when the time came.
Octavius Pepper is another character who represents the newspapers and both the evil and the danger inherent in their jobs. When he first disappears, half the people assume that he was in league with the Death Eaters, and that he’s left his job due to needing to go work for Voldemort. In fact, his death was due to Death Eaters–they didn’t like what he was printing about them, including some pro-Muggle treaties by former Hogwarts teachers. The written word turned out to be pretty dangerous for everyone, no matter what side they were on.
Next: Number 28: Professor Burbage
27. Charity Burbage
Poor Charity Burbage. She wasn’t the only professor at Hogwarts to die, but her death was one of the ugliest. The Professor of Muggle Studies was always going to be someone who found herself in danger under a regime run by those who believed that pure-blooded wizards and witches were the only kind worth having. It’s not just that her own personal views came in conflict with the world view that Voldemort and his followers were promoting. The entire subject she taught at Hogwarts did. Why should one even have a Professor of Muggle Studies if Muggles and blood traitors are being killed in the streets? The next thing she knew, her class was canceled and she was out of a job.
But Burbage wasn’t going to take this lying down. She believed wholeheartedly not just in the study of Muggles and their bizarre habits. She also believed that not only could the wizarding world and the Muggle world could live in harmony with each other, but that they could learn from one other. She wrote an impassioned op-ed in The Daily Prophet stating her views, as one does in a society with a free press. The next thing she knew, she was abducted by Voldemort, who killed her as an almost careless afterthought after mocking her beliefs. Then he fed her to Nagini. Horcrux gotta eat, after all.
Next: Number 26: Wands by Gregorovitch
26. Gregorovitch (and those killed to find him)
Though most Harry Potter fans think that wand-making and selling begins and ends with Ollivander, that simply isn’t true. Out on the continent, there is, or was, the famous wand-maker Mykew Gregorovitch. Wands by Gregorovitch is a major competitor to Ollivanders, and where many people turned when Diagon Alley’s resident purveyor of magical wands disappeared. But Gregorovitch’s supremacy in the capitalist race for wand supremacy was short-lived. Though Ollivander was rather snobbish, thinking his own wands were better, the truth is that Gregorovitch was better-educated in wandlore, certainly about a certain, ahem, historical wand passed down through the ages.
Gregorovitch not only believed in the story of the Elder Wand, he knew it was true, because he himself had once been in possession of it. During his time owning the most powerful wand in the world, he mostly spent it experimenting, attempting to duplicate it’s nature. The only thing he duplicated was the foolishness of many previous owner who, after a time, became convinced that letting the world know they possess this great wand was a good idea. (He thought it might up sales or something.) Instead, he found himself robbed of it, by a boy, who grew up to be Gellert Grindelwald.
That same rumor was also what led to his death. When Ollivander, under torture from Voldemort, told him he had heard Gregorovitch owned the Elder Wand, it send Voldemort on the quest to find it, both to defeat Harry Potter and because, as the most powerful Dark Wizard alive, he simply assumed he should own it. He killed several people along the way to track the wand-seller down, and then tortured Gregorovitch until he realized he was telling the truth of it being stolen. Having gotten everything he could, including a good idea of who that “blonde boy who stole it” was, he carelessly killed the wand maker.
Next: Number 25: An Order Survivor
25. Emmeline Vance
Though earlier in our list we went over those who had been in the original Order of the Phoenix and not survived it, there were some who did. Dumbledore, for instance. Hagrid, Lupin, Sirius Black, and of course, who could forget Emmeline Vance?
Yes I know, our movie-only readers just said “Who?” Vance was one of the original members of the Order who survived the final devastating attacks in 1981, and rejoined when Voldemort returned in the mid 90s. Sadly, her second turn with the Order did not end as luckily as her first one. She grew important enough to be part of the “advanced guard” who flew with Harry Potter in 1996 to retrieve him from Number 4 Privet Drive. Sadly, she was all but cut from the movie. The only real image we have of her in the one above, as she stands with Tonks ready to guard Harry on his journey. That’s partly because her death happened later, off screen, a thing that Harry just hears about, when Death Eaters attacked her hiding place near the Muggle Prime Minister’s home at Number 10 Downing Street. The irony is, due to the location of her murder, it was widely reported in Muggle newspapers at the time. Too bad the Muggles didn’t put her in the movies too.
Next: Number 24: The Headmaster of Durmstrang
24. Igor Karkaroff
The Durmstrang Institute is one of the 11 International Wizarding Schools that is recognized and accredited by the International Confederation of Wizards. It is also the one with the darkest reputation. Part of this stems from their most famous graduate, Gellert Grindelwald. But in more recent times, it has been due to its headmaster Igor Karkaroff. Karkaroff became head of Durmstrang in the mid-1980s, after he had done a stint in Azkaban for his time with the Death Eaters during the First Wizarding War. (He was released because he turned traitor and gave up lots of names.) But his reputation and his time with Voldemort followed him, and tainted the school once again with the idea that it was a place where wizards who wanted to learn the Dark Arts would go.
When Voldemort returned, he called all of his original Death Eaters to him by activating the brand they bore on their forearms: the Dark Mark. Knowing that many of these followers who would come to Voldemort’s side were those Karkaroff gave up to save his own skin, he chose instead to run. He went into hiding and managed to survive a whole year on the lam, before Voldemort’s minions caught up with him, killed him, and left the Dark Mark hanging overhead as a warning to anyone else who might betray the Dark Lord.
Next: Number 23: Madame Bones
23. Amelia Bones
Though the events of 1981 changed the course of Harry Potter’s life, one might argue they changed the course of many lives who lived through it. Amelia Bones, for example. She might have grown up to be just another cog in the ministry, a bureaucrat without a mission or purpose, or perhaps she might have married and been a witch housewife. But the events of 1981 did not just change her, they borderline radicalized her. Her brother Edgar was a member of the Order of the Phoenix. For his defiance of Voldemort and his work in bringing down Death Eaters, not only was he killed, but so were his wife and children, and moreover so were their parents. This experience with Voldemort’s justice changed Amelia’s path in life.
She went to work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, where her justice was seen as “tough but fair,” as Harry discovered during his hearing for his use of underage magic. She also had a seat on the Wizengamot. But her carrying on of her brother’s legacy did not escape the notice of Voldemort and his followers when the Dark Lord returned. Madame Bones, as she was known, was murdered by Death Eaters while on holiday in 1996. Harry found out later at Hogwarts when he heard students discussing it, as his classmate Susan Bones was her niece.
Next: Number 22: Grindelwald's Aunt
22. Bathilda Bagshot
Like Newt Scamander, Bathilda Bagshot was an author of great renown, having written textbooks used for decades at Hogwarts. Her A History of Magic is considered to be the defining book of the class that takes its name from the textbook. Though a brilliant author, she was now living out her retirement in Godric’s Hollow, where she had spent a great portion of her life, just down the street from where both the Potters once lived, and also the Dumbledores. (She was in fact the aunt of Gellert Grindelwald who he came to stay with her that fateful summer when he and Albus met and became fast friends.)
For a witch of such intelligence and related to such a famous wizard, her death was rather ignominious. She was carelessly murdered by Voldemort without a thought to who she was, merely because she was a convenient old lady he could use to stash Nagini in. Nagini’s job was to lie in wait for when Harry Potter decided to finally return to the house where it all began, where his parents died to save him. It took almost an entire year–and it almost worked, too. Thankfully, Harry and Hermione realized the trap just before it was sprung and escaped death by snake.
Next: Number 21: Voldemort vs Grindelwald
21. Gellert Grindelwald
The last of our “minor” characters who died during the present day in the Harry Potter series, one would think that Gellert Grindelwald might rank among the major characters killed, considering his historical significance. After all, this was the Wizard who brought about the World Wide Wizarding War while Tom Riddle was still a school boy. This was the Powerful Wizard who was only taken down by Albus Dumbledore, cementing the latter’s reputation as one of the Greatest Wizards of All Time. Forgive the comparison, but considering that the 1940s era is when his war was, it’s hard not to call him “the Hitler of the Wizarding World.”
And yet! Unlike the famous Muggle dictator, Gellert did not embrace death as part of his defeat. Instead, he was sent to Azkaban, where he lived for decade upon decade, rotting away undisturbed while Tom Riddle rose to become Lord Voldemort and then fell, and then rose again.
Which is why, though we hear about him and his reputation, when he is actually killed on screen–by Voldemort, who by that point was chasing the Elder Wand–it is the death of a minor character. Perhaps by that point Grindelwald had no more fear of death. Perhaps he realized that Voldemort had fallen into the same trap he once did, chasing this wand, only to lose it. Perhaps he looked at this silly-looking noseless wonder with only an eighth of a soul left, and pictured how Dumbledore would crush him like a bug. Grindelwald laughed outright in Voldemort’s face, as well he should. It might have been his last laugh, but as we all know, he who laughs last…
Next: Onto the Majors
Present Day: Major Characters
20. Quirinus Quirrell
It might seem a little odd to put a timid little nobody higher on the list than Gellert Grindelwald, but in terms of characters who had a direct impact on Harry’s life, Quirinus Quirrell far outweighs the the man who would have conquered Earth in the name of Wizardkind. Gridelwald was merely a name on a frog card to an 11-year-old Harry, on his way to Hogwarts for the first time. Quirrell was his actual professor, in his first year at Hogwarts, teaching his Defense Against The Dark Arts class. (Ironic that.) Porfessor Quirrell taught the class Harry sat in on a regular basis for an entire school year. He was someone who assigned him homework that he did in the library with Hermione and Ron.
Moreover, though one might argue that Gridelwald attempted to do in Mugglekind, that’s nothing on the first hand reality of someone who is directly trying to murder you. One is theoretical. The other is trying to knock you from your broom in front of the entire school in order to kill you on orders from the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord, it should be noted, who was living in his turban. In terms of bad ideas for wizarding accessories, this takes the cake. And in the end, it also was the cause of Quirrell’s death.
Next: Number 19: A Foolish Father
19. Barty Crouch Sr.
Most people are far more likely to remember Barty Crouch Jr., the snake hissing, polyjuice-drinking Voldemort hysteric in a body that looked rather like he’d stolen it from an absent minded Time Lord than they are Barty Crouch Sr. The Senior Crouch was a mild-mannered man, a middle managing minister, stuck running the rather non-glamorous Department of International Magical Cooperation. He could have been a contender, as the famous quote goes. But his son’s involvement with Voldemort and the show he put on during his trial derailed that for his father.
Barty Crouch’s life post-Wizarding trials was one tragic miscalculation after another. Having lost his promising career in the shadow of sending his son to Azkaban, he decided to give his wife her dying wish, and smuggle him back out again. Perhaps he thought that, with a diminished place in wizard society, he would be able to always focus on keeping his son’s evils under control. Not only did he fail, he failed big. He put Hogwarts in danger, he put Harry’s life in danger, and one could even argue he was indirectly responsible for both the death of Cedric Diggory and the return of Voldemort. And for his pains, his son never loved him or forgave him for sending him to Azkaban in the first place, and when he had the opportunity, killed him.
Next: Number 18: The Minister of Magic
18. Rufus Scrimgeour
Considering the fools that run the ministry, it’s amazing that the governing body of the UK wizarding world runs at all sometimes. Cornelius Fudge may have set up the ease with which Voldemort took over, but it was under Rufus Scrimgeour’s watch that it fell. When Fudge was forced to resign in the face of his lies about Voldemort not having returned, one might see why the wizarding community thought they were upgrading when Rufus Scrimgeour was appointed as his replacement. Scrimageour was an old-school Auror with a fearsome look to him, a long history of being tough on bad guys, and a promise to stand firm in the face of evil.
But like many politicians who run as wartime leaders, when Scrimgeour got into office, his focus was less on the reality of security and more on security theater. After all, the reality of security might not look like he was doing anything. Security theater, on the other hand, would impress most wizards and witches sufficiently that they would “feel” safe. The result was that the ministry was really no more safe under the new minister than it was under the old one. Voldemort took it easily in a coup on August 1st, 1997, and had Scrimgeour tortured and killed when he refused to give up Harry Potter.
Next: Number 17: Sidekicks
17. Vincent Crabbe
When Harry arrived at Hogwarts his first year, all wide eyed wonderment and Muggle-raised ignorance, he immediately found himself two friends and one enemy. That one enemy, Draco Malfoy, also had himself two friends: Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Both sons of former Death Eaters who escaped punishment after Voldemort fell in 1981, neither were exactly the brightest crayons in the box. But where Goyle would have lost a battle of wits to a bag of hair, Crabbe had just enough wits about him to be dangerous to himself and others.
Where Goyle was slow and illiterate, Crabbe was a decent runner, and would on occasion attempt to think for himself with terrible results. Sending a bludger at Harry after a Quidditch game, for instance, during their fifth year was one such incident. (It got Harry banned from Quidditch for a few months.) The other occurred during their seventh year. Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy did not leave Hogwarts with the rest of Slytherin, but instead attempted to take down Harry themselves. If Crabbe and Goyle had done as they were told by Malfoy and not tried to kill Harry on their own, they might have been fine. Instead, Crabbe attempted to use Fiendfyre, but he had no idea how to actually control it. He was burned to death, along with the entire room of requirement, and Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem. Crabbe not only killed himself, but he managed to destroy a Horcrux along the way.
Next: Number 16: Battle of Hogwarts Victims
16. Lavender Brown and the students who died in the Battle of Hogwarts
Now we’re getting to the depressing section: those students who died in the Battle of Hogwarts, fighting Voldemort with their last young breath. A lot of students (and professors too) died in the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998–50 in all, at Harry’s count. It was the last significant battle of the Second Wizarding War, and perhaps it was fitting that it took place in the place Harry called his first real home. But that meant that many students who attended the school fought in his name and died.
Lavender Brown was one such student, and her death was almost a little mean on Rowling’s part if you ask me. Lavender was a bit of a ditz. It’s true she crushed on Ron that way that girls do at that age, and even got to date him for a hot second, without ever really stopping to find out who he was. And yes, Hermione was jealous, and irritated by her, but was killing her off really necessary? Lavander could have gone on to become a perfectly nice person who once dated Hermione’s husband for five seconds, so long ago she barely remembered it. There was no need to have her die so that would never be a threat to them. but then again, many died at the Battle of Hogwarts, and none of their deaths were fair.
Next: Number 15: Dumbledore's Army Soliders
15. Colin Creevey
Another of those students who died in the Battle of Hogwarts was Colin Creevey. Colin was one year behind Harry in the school, but from the same House. Colin represented those who were fans of Harry the legend more than interested in getting to know Harry the person, what with his endless taking of pictures and following Harry around with his camera. At least, that how it was at first. Colin’s hero worship of Harry, plus his experience when the Chamber of Secrets opened (he was one of those who was stunned by the Basilisk), led him to join Dumbledore’s Army when Harry formed it in his fifth year, where he got to see Harry more as a leader, and less as a myth.
It hurt Harry to see soldiers like Colin fall when the war was over. Especially because, unlike someone like Lavender, who was not only a full-blood wizard, and therefore still a student at Hogwarts, as well as being of age, Colin was neither. He had to sneak back into the school to begin with to rejoin Dumbledore’s Army, since he was banned from attending once the pure-blood rules were put into place. And McGonagall tried to save him once more, dismissing him from the castle as underage, and therefore not legally able to participate in the coming Battle of Hogwarts. Creevey refused to leave, fighting outside the castle anyway, and gave his life for the cause.
Next: Number 14: Scabbers
14. Peter Pettigrew
In every group of friends, there’s always the one who feels like they are the fourth wheel. In the world of Misters Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, Peter Pettigrew was that friend. Though it was Sirius Black who spent the time in Azkaban for James and Lily’s death, it was Pettigrew who spent over a decade as a pet rat in a wizard household, unable to ever transform back, and living with having to deny he felt any guilt.
When Pettigrew was exposed for who he really was, and the truth came out to Harry, he had nowhere to go, but back to Voldemort. Even if he had asked for forgiveness, there would never have been any. Pettigrew, driven by his choices, was instrumental in bringing Voldemort back. But always in his heart there was a little bit of doubt and guilt that stayed with him. Harry called him out on it, and we knew it was true. When the time came for him to have to kill Harry on Voldemort’s orders, he hesitated, showing that he was never truly the cold blooded betrayer he pretended to be. Too bad Voldemort’s silver hand was there to jump at the proof and kill Wormtail for that moment of wavering.
Next: Number 13: The Last Horcrux
13. Nagini
One of the ongoing quirks of J.K. Rowling’s wizards is that they all have pets. Harry has Hedwig. Ron has Scabbers. Hermione has Crookshanks. Dumbledore has Fawkes. And Voldemort has Nagini.
Nagini is not mentioned ever during the First Wizarding War, so most theorize that Voldemort found and adopted her when he was in Albania, in his weakened and mostly dead state. Her venom was instrumental in the potions Voldemort used over the course of the 90s to first regain strength and then bring himself back to life. In return, he thanked her by turning her into a Horcrux. He believed this was the seventh splitting of his soul–his final tear, the one he never managed to do prior to his downfall in 1981. In truth, she was his eighth Horcrux, as Harry was that seventh split.
That meant as long as Nagini lived, a little bit of Voldemort would live, and he could once again return. But her death was not brought about by Harry or his two best friends. Instead, that honor was given to the Boy Who Could Have Lived but wound up just a regular guy raised by his grandmother, Neville Longbottom, who slew her with the Sword of Gryffindor.
Next: Number 12: A Free Elf
12. Dobby
When Dobby the elf first hit the big screen in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, my non-book reading friends instantly compared him to another CGI character who seemed to bring more annoyance than enjoyment to the movie they were in: Jar Jar Binks. Now, that’s a little over the top. In time Dobby won over most of those who couldn’t stand this meddling creature who kept getting Harry into trouble despite his good intentions.
Nowadays, when a Dobby statue is put up, fans of all ages leave him socks as tokens to become a free elf. How did Dobby effect this turn around in audience opinion? Well, by having one of the most touching and honorable deaths, which for readers came halfway through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and for the movie going public, at the end of the seventh movie, Deathly Hallows Part 1. Dobby died the same as he lived–as a devoted servant to Harry, giving his life for the young wizard when he took Bellatrix knife just before Potter apparated them out of Voldemort’s clutches. Dobby’s death in Harry’s arms is a tear jerker moment in both mediums, and his funeral a kick in the teeth, as Harry honors the free elf who so freely gave his all to the cause of Wizardkind, even though most wizards would have never treated him half as well as he deserved, or ever spared him a sock.
Next: Number 11: Mad Eye
11. Alastor Moody
There was never a teacher quite as intimidating as Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody. The famous Auror was a major figure in the Order of the Phoenix in both the First and Second Wizarding Wars. His nickname came from the fact that he was known for his magical eye, which he wore over the one he lost fighting the Dark Arts. He also lost his leg, and part of his nose, but that merely served to make him seem all the more fearsome. Unfortunately he was not fearsome enough, as Barty Crouch Jr. was not afraid of him, kidnapping and taking his place over the course of Harry’s fourth year at Hogwarts.
Despite the setback in Harry actually getting to know the real Moody, (as Moody himself noted, it wasn’t like he got around to teaching much during his year at Hogwarts), by the time the Second Wizarding War was well underway, Potter had gained great respect for this old soldier. Moody not only led the team that brought him to Grimmauld Place, he taught Harry much about the original Order, and was instrumental in both the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and the Battle of the Astronomy Tower. When Moody died during the Battle of the Seven Potters, after Mudungus Fletcher abandoned him, it was a reminder of just how powerful the forces were that Harry and his friends were up against.
Next: Number 10: The End of Childhood
10. Hedwig
But most people forget about Moody’s death in the face of the other victim of the Battle of the Seven Potters: Hedwig the Owl, Harry’s faithful flying companion and his first pet, whom he adopted on that very first trip to Diagon Alley. Hedwig was by his side through thick and thin, braving the skies to bring him messages and packages for all the years Harry was at school. She died when a Killing Curse aimed at Harry struck her instead, during that last flight to the Burrow from Number 4 Privet Drive. Worse, Harry then had to destroy the sidecar where her body lay in its cage in order to shake off their pursuers.
Rowling said afterwards that killing off Hedwig was both necessary for the plot and to Harry’s development. After all, with Harry no longer at school, she wasn’t a very practical companion–could you imagine her having to stay quite as they hid in the wood? No, this would never have worked. Hedwig’s death was the death of Harry’s childhood, and his then jettisoning the sidecar was him recognizing that death would come and they all had to keep going. It was a hard lesson that broke many hearts. Even if Hedwig had a jolly old life.
Next: Number 9: Twinless
9. Fred Weasley
Now that we’re in the Top Ten, these deaths get harder and harder. How much did it hurt at the end of Deathly Hallows when Fred Weasley died? George’s twin in troublemaking, his partner in bludger beating on the Quidditch team, and his other half in entreprenuer spirit as they opened Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes together. Fred had it all, even asking out Angelia Johnson to the Yule Ball. And then, in fighting during the Battle of Hogwarts next to his other brother Percy, who came around after years of trying to be the upright and uptight brother, Fred was killed in an explosion, leaving George all alone.
The truth was that there were always too many Weasleys. They were Rowling’s version of wizard Irish Catholics, and with too many red headed children, and not nearly enough money to feed them, we had to figure one or two would not make it to the end of the series. But my money was on those deaths going to Percy, for his uptight foolishness, and to Ron, who I had pegged for death ever since he “sacrificed himself” way back in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorcerer’s) Stone. He did it for the greater good then, and though he lived then, I always figured the adult version would do the same thing at the end of the series, most likely right after he and Hermione hooked up. And Rowling admitted she had at one point planned for something along those lines, before changing her mind and letting him live. In Ron’s place, Fred died instead. May the pranks be silenced for a moment in honor of his passing.
Next: Number 8: Married in Death
8. Tonks & Lupin
These deaths just get harder. Two more victims of the final battle of Hogwarts, the nearly star-crossed couple of Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin. A pair of misfits who had no one in the world who understood them but each other, Remus still tried to fight his feeling for Tonks for years, for fear of his werewolf nature, for fear of the potential werewolf babies they might have, for fear of not being worthy of her. Tonks, for her part, was not having any of that self-loathing nonsense. The Metamorphmagus daughter of Muggle Ted Tonks and pure-blooded wizard Andromeda Black (yes, that makes her Sirius Black’s niece), she was the toughest Hufflepuff you’ll ever meet. She worked as an Auror under Mad-Eye Moody, and was one of the Order’s fiercest fighters.
Tonks and Lupin married in the final year of the Second Wizarding War, giving birth to son, Teddy. Unfortunately, though Lupin’s fear of passing on his werewolf abilities did not come to pass (Teddy inherited his mother’s Metamorphmagus abilities instead), his fear that they might lose each other fighting Voldemort did. Lupin was killed as Tonks arrived at the battle, killed by Death Eater Antonin Dolohov in a duel. Tonks was killed separately by Bellatrix Lestrange (her aunt on the Black side of the family). Their bodies were laid out together in death after the battle, leaving Harry as Teddy’s godfather to help raise him.
Next: Number 7: YOU WILL NEVER TOUCH OUR CHILDREN AGAIN...
7. Bellatrix Lestrange
That’s enough sadness for the moment. Let’s get to one of the more satisfying deaths instead. Bellatrix Lestrange was a mad old thing. She was the oldest of the Black sisters. (The other two were Narcissa, who went on to marry Lucuis Malfoy, and Andromeda, Tonk’s mother.) She and her husband Rodolphus were devoted followers of Voldemort in the First Wizarding War, and were responsible for torturing Neville Longbottom’s parents into insanity after the Dark Lord’s fall.
Though her husband survived Azkaban, and was even part of the Second Wizarding War in the books, Bellatrix was never in love with him, having married for pure-blooded reasons instead. Instead, she was madly in love with Voldemort. One might even say she was sexually obsessed with him. (This is part of the reason she was the one who led the only search for him after his defeat in 1981.) As his most insanely devoted follower, she was the most dangerous and crazed Death Eater one could find themselves facing. Over the course of the battles during the Second Wizarding War, she was responsible for the most deaths that Harry dealt with directly, including that of his godfather Sirius, his faithful house elf Dobby, and the mother of his godson, Tonks. That last death would be Bellatrix’s last, and Molly Weasley stepped up and took the sort of revenge a mother could have when she saw that Bellatrix’s next victim would be her only daughter Ginny. There has never been a more satisfying use of a curse word as when Molly roared “Not my daughter you Bitch!”
Next: Number 6: Into the Veil
6. Sirius Black
Harry Potter never seemed to be able to catch a break when it came to parental figures. His own parents died to protect him, leaving him to grow up with the Dursleys. Every teacher he glommed onto as a substitute parental figure in the early years seemed to leave as soon as they arrived at Hogwarts. (Blame Severus Snape and the curse he put on the Defense Against The Dark Arts professorship.) Then, for one glorious moment, he met his godfather.
Harry idolized Sirius Black when he learned that the man who had spent a decade in Azkaban for the crime Peter Pettigrew committed was his godfather, and the source of presents that spoiled him, like his Firebolt. But Sirius was an impatient man, impulsive, rash. Harry thought it was cool when a dog came to visit him, but Sirius was risking discovery, and Harry’s life along with his own. (As Lupin once noted, it was like Sirius thought Harry was James and they were still able to pal around together like the old days.) In a way, they were like a pair of teenagers together, but what Harry really needed was a father, not a cool older brothers to get in trouble with. That high-risk behavior Sirius practiced finally came back to bite him in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, when his own first cousin, Bellatrix, killed him by shoving him into the Veil. Sirius broke Harry’s heart, leaving him once again alone in the world with no family, at the most vulnerable time in his life.
Even more tragic, when you do the math: Sirius spent more time in Azkaban than he did either with his best friend James or with James’ son. Heartbreaking.
Next: Number 5: Kill The Spare
5. Cedric Diggory
Our top five begins with Harry’s first direct contact with both a reborn Voldemort and Voldemort’s carelessness with the lives of others. This death was even harder because Harry’s relationship with Cedric Diggory was complicated enough to begin with. Though the word was not in common use when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was originally released, the word “frenemy” seems rather appropriate. They were friends, but not close ones, as they were both competing not just in the TriWizard Tournement, but for the same girl.
Well, Harry was competing. Cedric wasn’t really. He had the girl. He had the looks, the confidence, and the backing of the school as their legitimate Tournament competitor. Basically he had everything Harry wanted. And yet, Harry couldn’t hate him. Cedric was too nice, giving him hints on solving the puzzles prior to the challenges. And when the time came for one of them to be crowned Hogwart’s Champion, Cedric was willing to share. And that willingness and commitment to fair play cost the boy his life, as Voldemort carelessly told Wormtail to “Kill the spare.” Cedric’s death was one that Harry took a long time to get over, and showed him how good people were going to be lost in the coming battle.
Next: Number 4: Nagini Kills Snape
4. Professor Snape
The most divisive character in the entire Harry Potter canon, many have trouble squaring Severus Snape’s behavior with his emotional turmoil. He was the worst good guy you could imagine. A fool who drove away the girl he loved by sneering at her that she was a Mudblood, only to spend the rest of his life regretting it. Some think his outright abusive behavior toward Harry cannot possibly be forgiven, even if he was acting out because the son looked like James with Lily’s eyes. After all, Snape was the adult in the position of authority. Some think Snape’s obsession with Lily to the bitter end was creepy and stalker-like.
The thing is, these opinions are not wrong. And yet, Dumbledore used Snape to great effect in the Second Wizarding War. He was the perfect pawn that way, driven to hate Potter for his looks, but easy to convince to protect him in Lily’s memory. And perhaps, after Voldemort decided he was finished with the man who fought all those years to be the Defense Against The Dark Arts professor and had Nagini finish his pathetic ass off, it was weird for him to demand to die looking in Harry’s eyes, the eyes that were so like Lily’s. It was that same love that Lily once had that kept Harry alive, and protected by Snape, all that time.
Next: Number 3: Snape Kills Dumbledore
3. Professor Dumbledore
The line that defined spoiler culture, when Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince hit shelves, and everyone stared in horror as the Head of Hogwarts took his leave of this life at the hands of the teacher who treated Harry so horrifically. Albus Dumbledore was more than the head of Hogwarts by then. He was a mentor, teacher, father figure and the last bastion of safety for Harry, all rolled into one. Seeing Dumbledore so weakened after their search for Slytherin’s locket was bad enough for Harry. Hearing him die above, as Harry could do nothing but helplessly hide below, was one of the worst moments of the kid’s life.
As we all know now (which we did not know for sure then), Dumbledore was fully in control at that moment, ordering Snape to kill him, though to innocent ears it sounded like Dumbledore was pleading for his life. But even so, for the man’s last words to be a plea was a heart-wrenching way for The Greatest Wizard of His Time to go out. His funeral was one of the saddest affairs in the Harry Potter series. In the movies, it was represented with the students raising their wands in tribute. It’s still heartbreaking to watch today.
Next: Number 2: He Who Must Not Be Named
2. Voldemort
The second most important death (first runner up, if you will) in the entire Harry Potter series goes to the man of so many names, and yet people were afraid to say any of them. Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort, ruled by fear, and keeping people from saying his name was part of it. He was a half-blood wizard obsessed with the purity of the race, and ready to expunge and kill all Muggle-borns who “threatened” the race. He did unspeakable things not only to others, but to himself, to try and make himself an immortal. He split his soul into eight parts by the time all was said and done, and yet he was defeated not once, but twice, and by a child.
Yes, Voldemort and his fear of death was taken down twice by love. The first time, he was defeated by Lily’s love for her son, which caused his killing curse to bounce back on him. It split his already fractured soul by accident too, making Harry his seventh Horcrux. But it did not kill him fully, since his Horcruxes kept him alive. But the second time Harry took him down, 17 years later, his Horcruxes has been destroyed. (It should be noted that no character destroys more than one Horcrux: Harry the diary, Ron the locket, Hermione the cup, Dumbledore the ring, Crabbe the diadem, Neville the snake, and finally Voldemort himself killed Harry. It really was a team effort.) Working together, this makeshift family had set Harry up to do the final deed. Voldemort died when, once again, the Killing Curse rebounded, this time from the Elder Wand, which Harry was the rightful owner of.
Though Voldemort died in this mortal plane, his soul, which had become so fractured, could not fully ever die. It still lies in limbo to this day.
Next: Number 1: The Boy Who Lived, Come to Die
1. Harry Potter
The irony of Voldemort not earning the spot on the top of this list is that by his own actions, he made it so that even in Death rankings he would lose to Harry Potter. When he attacked Harry in 1981, desperate to kill the child who would supposedly take him down, he set the prophecy he was trying to avoid into motion. The Killing Curse rebounded, leaving the lightning shaped scar on Harry’s forehead. That scar might have marked Harry as “The Boy Who Lived” and making him the most famous year-old wizard in history. But it was also a link that Harry could exploit with the Dark Lord. He could feel when Voldemort was angry. He could speak Parseltongue. He was almost sorted into Slytherin(!). Why? Because Harry carried a little piece of Voldemort inside him. He was a Horcrux, and that meant in order to kill the wizard once known as Tom Riddle, Harry Potter had to die.
Once Harry realized this–and realized that Dumbledore had known, and had set it up so that Harry would indeed die–it was hard for him to make the choice. But having friends who stood beside him and were willing to sacrifice their own lives for the cause–from Remus to Colin to Fred to Mad Eye to Sirius to his own parents–made him realize how loved he was. And that gave him the bravery and strength to face his own death. (Not to mention he also had the Resurrection Stone that Dumbledore had so helpfully thought to provide.) By refusing to chase the Deathly Hallows, he came into possession of all three. The stone made it so that he could die and then rise again. The Elder Wand made it so this time he killed Voldemort for good, and saved Wizardkind once and for all. The Invisibility Cloak is now a gift to his own children, to be past down through the generations again.
Next: Every Harry Potter Movie Ranked
Disagree with our rankings? Should Harry be on this list at all? Sound off in the comments and let us know which death hurt you the most, or was ultra satisfying.