J.K. Rowling created a world we all craved for. We all have secretly waited for an owl to arrive at our doorsteps with an acceptance letter addressed to us from Hogwarts. Harry Potter is not a folk tale or a fable and also not just a set of children books. It is rather, a set of books designed to teach life lessons. Lessons about love and friendship, bravery and courage, wrong and right. Every character has a different story which provides us a spiritual and moral lesson to guide us in our everyday lives.
10. Draco Lucius Malfoy
A boy whose upbringing made him seem evil but was a good kid deep down. True that he was a snob, racist and cruel but that’s because of the way he was bought up. Draco was a scared boy in a man’s body whose actions were all acted upon for somebody else. He was just an unfortunate victim of his own life. He was torn between pleasing his parents, trying to save his own life and also trying to do the right thing. He didn’t kill Dumbledore and was man enough to acknowledge that Harry had saved his life which makes him one of the best characters in the series.
9. Dobby
The free house-elf.
Dobby who introduced us to the love of oddly paired socks. Dobby whose death shattered us so much that we had to close book and cry. He is the best example of a ruthlessly put down little guy making a big difference and standing by what he believed in, even when it was not the norm. The first free house elf is an inspiration indeed. Dobby is a true friend. A brave, loyal and determined character who sidestepped his master and was the bravest elf of all times.
8. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
The Greatest wizard ever.
The only wizard Lord Voldermort feared. Dumbledore stood up for what he believed in and was utterly open-minded. His mind was so broad that he required a pensive to keep his numerous thoughts in so that he could return to them later. Albus Dumbedore with half-moon spectacles whose eyes twinkled of kindness and mischief was as wise as he was bearded, as eccentric as he was powerful and modest in spite of everything. He was considered the most brilliant student to have attended Hogwarts. Like every other people, he made mistakes too but knew to learn from them. He knew the difference between right and wrong and fought for what’s right until the very end. He was never proud or vain and could find something to value in anyone, however apparently insignificant or wretched and was the best loved of all the Headmasters at Hogwarts. He was a lightning bolt of brilliance that could barely be contained in his ancient body and his wisdom and insights are a model for an honest and effective life.
7. Ginerva Molly Weasley
Certainly a worthy match for the Boy who lived.
Athletic and strong, intelligent and caring, funny, warm and compassionate. She was impossibly good at everything: so pretty that even the Slytherins can’t find fault, athletic enough to be a pro Quidditch player, more powerful than her brothers, rebellious and cool, brave enough to be a leader, smart enough to make Hermione shut up, cheeky enough to make Slughorn laugh, kind enough to defend Luna, Nevielle and compassionate enough to understand Harry but most of all, she was that shy girl with a major crush on her brothers friend who bloomed into a strong and independent lady from being a wallflower.
6. Luna Scamander Lovegood
Weird. One of a kind. Intelligent. Brave. Tough. Free.
She taught us that it’s okay to be different and didn’t care about what other’s thought of her. She lost her mother as a kid and was bullied for being different but that didn’t break her down. She knew that they talked behind her back but she was so above that that she didn’t let it bother her. But most of all, she was brave and loyal to her friends and she knew the secret to happiness, Luna knew how good it was to be herself.
5.Ronald Bilius Weasley
Neither a coward, nor a hero yet willing to stand up to the people he loved.
He got tested and challenged, but he proved his worth and grew up from an insecure boy to a loyal and courageous warrior. He was not exactly god-liked as Harry or smart as Hermione yet he overcame his shortcomings with faithfulness and perseverance. He was the average student, middle child and nothing-special boy and he hit some terrible lows but he we can’t blame him can we? He wasjust like you and me- he had relationship problems, jealousy, but also the most loyal heart. He was human, and so he made mistakes but he did not let that ruin his friendship. We all have our own problems but as long as we fix them, we are the true hero.
4. Harry James Potter
The Chosen one. The boy who lived.
Fiercely noble, brave, humble, loving and ordinary. Another average down-to-earth wizard who happened to have an interesting past. A kid plucked from an unfortunate home where he was ignored, abused, treated like less than a household pet, made to believe that his parents were dead from a car crash and thrust into a magical reality where he is supposed to be a savior of everybody’s life. For someone who could have chosen anybody to be friends with, he chose a blood traitor and a mud-blood as his best friends, dug a grave for a house elf and when the time came, he walked towards death for the sake of the wizarding world. In spite of all his accomplishments and popularity, he never bragged. He was modest and knew forgiveness.
Harry Potter is truly someone who is perfect in virtue and detached from any seduction of power or magic. For him, only his friends and other people mattered, not magic, and not power.
3. Sirius Black
A friend we all wish we had.
The man to successfully escape from the prison of Azkaban and a brave, determined, rebellious wizard who never gave into his family’s wishes, who never became a Death Eater, who never gave up what he believed in and managed to stay himself in spite of the hard ships and injustice he faced. He didn’t mind making friends with the meek and the unintelligent and suffered enough for several lifetime all for possessing a zest for life and adventure. While people get away with numerous mistakes in their life, the simple, rare mistakes he committed haunt him for life on scales that were horribly unfair
His innocence could be seen only after his death and even though he was such a happy spirit, he never lived a free man. Everyone including his godson took him as the murderer of his very best friend James and he was disliked and treated as a disgrace by his very own family but he didn’t feel it necessary to prove the world that he was right. He taught us that we do not have to prove the truth and that truth always eventually comes out. He was the most loyal, a gem of a friend.
2. Hermione Jean Granger
The cleverest witch of her age.
Gentle yet strong, ambitious yet lovely, feminine yet powerful, witty yet innocent, super intelligent still humble. We’ve all fallen in love with this character that J.K Rowling had so cleverly framed.
Hermione Granger is a great role model as far as fictional characters go. Strong willed and stated her mind, studious and clever. High intelligence did not bar her from humanity, rather it enhanced her friendship. She did interestingly go a little boy crazy too but she doesn’t fall into the modern day trend of losing character to try and win affection. Girls, especially young girls are often taught that they are as good as their looks and she broke that stereotype. She proved that good looks are not as important as we think it is and showed us that our confidence should not depend on our looks. She was smart, brave, beautiful, determined and stood up for what’s right even when it’s unpopular. She taught us to be proud of what we are and proved that women don’t have to princesses in castles waiting to be rescued by the prince and that women can be everything if we want to; Warriors, fighters and heroes.
1. Severus Tobias Snape
Why Snape?
Why the hook-nosed, ill-tempered, greasy haired Snape? He was mean to kids and no one wanted him. We’ve all had that insatiable urge to “Avada kedavra” him so many times so why Snape of all people?
Because he was the bravest man in the whole series and his unconditional affection to Lily is too much to be ignored. He was arguably the bravest Slytherin ever and rather, the bravest wizard ever. He fooled the most powerful wizard ever. He chose what was right and even though he was universally mistaken for evil, he resisted the human urge to protest his innocence. He was bullied, ignored, hurt and alone and that can be enough of an excuse for anybody to take a wrong turn.
Snape taught us that we always have a choice. A choice to be brave even when we don’t have the courage to. The choice to do the right thing even when we don’t want to. He feared the dark lord but chose to stand up against him and he hated Harry but chose to protect him. Dumbledore trusted Snape with his whole life and that would be enough of a reason for us to trust him too. He’s not just any hero, he’s the most heroic hero of the whole series.
Snape was forced to kill the only man who trusted and believed in him and was chased out of his only home; Hogwarts by the son of the woman he loved unconditionally. He returned to the Deatheaters, even though he secretly hated them and risked being killed by Voldermort. He knew that the elder want wouldn’t work for Voldermort but he kept the secret to himself and despite all the hatred he had for James Potter, he did everything that he could to keep Harry alive. Snape devoted 17 years of his life to make sure that Harry would survive for everything that had to come and in the end, he sacrificed his own life for Harry and all of the wizarding world. Even though he never received love his entire life, he poured all of the love he had into Lily’s memory showing courage far beyond anyone in the whole series which was proved beyond a shadow of a doubt by his doe patronus. It revealed a truly tragic, noble, and self-sacrificing character that we’ll admit we never suspected. We’ve all cried when he said “Look…at…me” to look at Harry’s eyes so the last thing he saw was Lily’s eyes. He was a flawed being like all of us and he’ll always be the greasy, sour-tempered, sarcastic Snape we always knew him to be. Though he isn’t really nice, he’s completely set apart from someone like Voldemort by his ability to love, and it’s his love that redeems him the bravest wizard of all times.
Also see,
Top 10 spells from Harry Potter
Conclusion:
The stories we love the best live in us forever and these characters have stories that will definitely live in our hearts forever. These characters teach us life lessons that we should stick to forever. They teach us that no matter what and no matter how long it takes, the good always wins over the evil. That everybody is important and special no matter how weird they look. That girls can be as just as or even more braver and smarter than boys and that you are never too young or too old to make a change; age does not define maturity.
Little sad, slightly mad and superbly imaginative. Currently doing my Bachelors of Engineering in Software Engineering. Ever since I could read, I’ve wanted to write a book and am still waiting for an inspiration.