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The books about the young wizard Harry Potter shocked and captured the attention of the whole world. Fans of history include not only children, but also adults who love to argue about the actions and characters of some of the heroes of the franchise.
After all, the world in Harry Potter is not divided into black and white, and therefore the characters of the Potter are ambiguous and multifaceted.
We will analyze 10 heroes of the franchise and see why they are the main subjects of controversy among fans.
10 Sirius Black
James Potter’s best friend and Harry’s godfather. In his youth, Sirius was a very gifted wizard, he studied well, but this did not stop him from being a bully and an adventurer who violated all sorts of school rules.
Black is described as a cheerful guy who is able to support in difficult times, protect his friends and defend the honor of his name. He is brave and principled: he leaves the family because he does not support the dark views of his mother in relation to half-blooded wizards.
Sirius easily makes the reader fall in love with him until the story reveals Black as a grown man stuck in his 20s. He is impulsive and vengeful, still has not forgotten the school quarrels, feels his own uselessness, from this climbs on the rampage and becomes stubborn.
On the outside, Black is a confident and intelligent wizard, but on the inside, he’s still the same young boy who was mistakenly imprisoned in the most terrible prison for wizards. Black’s actions and words become a frequent subject of discussion between fans of the books.
9. Remus Lupin
The reader is introduced to Remus as a defense against the dark arts professor. Remus positions himself as a wise and intelligent wizard, his lessons are interesting, he interacts with students, jokes, tells stories and in every possible way disposes to himself.
By the final parts, the reader’s attitude towards Remus ceases to be so unambiguous. Harry once calls Lupine a coward, as he cannot, despite his mature years, accept his essence and the nascent family. So even such a hero, seemingly understood by the reader, turns out to be a complex personality with his own fears and complexes.
8. Xenophilius Lovegood
Among the Potter fans are those who do not share Lovegood’s decision to betray Harry Potter in the last book. If initially Rowling presents Lovegood as an eccentric newspaper editor, then in The Deathly Hallows Xenophilius is shown as a desperate and twitchy man who had his beloved and only daughter kidnapped.
No one expected betrayal by Lovegood, but it happened. And now the act of Xenophilius in the circles of Potter fans is philosophical: what would they do if they were in Lovegood’s place? Does the end justify the means? That is, is the salvation of the daughter justified by the betrayal of the only chance for a positive outcome of the second magical war?
7. Neville Dolgopops
Neville for readers is an awkward overweight boy who is afraid of Professor Snape and cannot stand up for himself for most of the story. It would seem that the attitude towards the hero is unambiguous – it is a pity for him, because he is an orphan and constantly gets into small scrapes.
But how surprised everyone reading the book for the first time will be when Neville is the character who will lead the war within the walls of the school with dark magicians and who will destroy one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes.
6. Draco Malfoy
Hermione told Malfoy that he was “a vile disgusting dirty cockroach”, and all the readers nodded in agreement. Draco is an unpleasant character: he is spoiled for money and power, humiliates the weak, loves to sneak and fight dishonestly.
This character is truly annoying and does not cause sympathy until the task of killing Albus Dumbledore falls on the boy’s shoulders.
In The Half-Blood Prince, there is a scene in which Malfoy cries in the ladies’ room. After that, the attitude towards the character of many readers changed. Draco revealed himself as a desperate schoolboy who took on a heavy burden to save the lives of his family members.
He’s cold and angry because he was raised that way, but he’s a great example of character maturation. And if at the beginning of the story Malfoy is a narcissistic egoist, then broken by a task from Voldemort, he becomes a thinking and analyzing teenager.
In the end, Malfoy saves the life of his school enemy Harry Potter and after that it is difficult to treat the Slytherin prince unambiguously.
5. Peter Pettigrew
Peter is described as an inconspicuous boy who followed Potter, Black and Lupin everywhere. Growing up, Peter joins Voldemort out of fear of the wizard and betrays the Potters. It is because of Pettigrew’s betrayal that Harry remains an orphan.
In the process of development of the story, Peter is still the same cowardly servant, doing the will of his master, and the opinion about such a character is sharply negative.
But in the last part, the reader understands that in St. Petersburg there is still a place for a sense of gratitude and justice. He spares Harry and Ron, for which the Silver Hand, a gift from Voldemort, kills Pettigrew.
4. Percy Weasley
Percy Weasley was head boy of the Gryffindor faculty, then head boy of the school, he studied well and was in good standing with the teachers. Percy prophesied a successful future, which, of his own, he achieved, however, breaking all ties with his family.
Percy believes the newspaper rumors about Harry Potter, tries to turn Ron against his best friend, and ends up being rude to his parents and leaving the family, completely immersing himself in the work of an assistant in the Ministry of Magic.
Since then, it is not customary to talk about Percy in the circle of the Weasley family: the brothers coldly declare that they no longer have a brother, Molly cries incessantly at first. Percy evokes negative emotions, but once you dig deeper, the reader will understand that Percy was only reaching for his dream.
He was blinded by the desire to become significant, to achieve a goal and escape from poverty. It’s hard to blame him for this, but among fans of the franchise, most readers consider Percy to be an unpleasant character in the story.
3. James Potter
Father of Harry Potter and best friend of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. A good student, a loving husband and father, as well as an arrogant and self-confident upstart who did not shy away from mocking the white crows of the school. Specifically, Severus Snape.
James Potter is either loved or hated. Most often, James is hated by those who are very into the history of the Half-Blood Prince, and Potter is loved by those history fans who understand that James was just a stupid child. After all, having matured, Potter was ashamed of his actions and with age he ceased to complicate Snape’s life.
2. Severus Snape
An unfair and evil teacher, who more than once brought his students to tears with his decisions. A character that Harry Potter hated throughout his school life and suspected of supporting Voldemort’s views.
The reader agrees with Harry’s opinion about the unpleasant personality of the teacher, but the negative image of Snape crumbles to dust in the last chapters of the Deathly Hallows. After all, it turns out that Severus was a spy for Dumbledore, and therefore joined the circles of the Death Eaters. And even Dumbledore he killed at the request of Albus himself, and not on his own initiative.
Many readers have forgiven Snape’s negative actions after learning about his difficult life as a double agent. Other Potter fans still rank Snape among the negative characters of history for his negative attitude towards the students of Gryffindor.
1. Albus Dumbledore
The headmaster of Hogwarts is placed at the top of our list because he is by far the most mysterious character in history. So mysterious that in the sixth book we mourn the death of the professor, and only in the seventh we realize that we did not know the real Albus Dumbledore.
Good-natured, wise and fair – Dumbledore was loved by all the positive characters of history, and the negative ones were hated, despised and feared.
For six books, the reader is confident in the bright image of the director, until the seventh part reveals new details of Albus’s life. The reader will learn that in his youth, Dumbledore supported the views of Grindelwald, the magician who unleashed the first magical war. The reader then wonders, how did Dumbledore really feel about Harry Potter? Did he love him or did he raise him only in order to kill him at the right moment?
Who is Albus Dumbledore? Fair genius or cruel manipulator? Everyone has their own answer to this question.