The 7 Best Harry Potter Characters

Canal Cultura POP
Jun 5
10 min read

Updated: Jun 6

After a long time without posting anything about Harry Potter here on the site, we are finally back, this time with a list of the best characters in the Harry Potter universe. To put together this short list, we will be using characters from both the main franchise and the Fantastic Beasts series. This list is based largely on my opinion, evaluating which characters have the most interesting story and personality, so feel free to disagree in the comments.

(The 7 Best Harry Potter Characters)

7. Sirius Black

Opening our list is Harry Potter’s godfather and one of the most wronged wizards of all time, Sirius Black. He was born from the marriage of two cousins, Orion and Walburga Black. The Black family was part of an elite group known as the “Sacred Twenty-Eight,” composed exclusively of pure-blood wizarding families.

The Blacks were extremely prejudiced against Muggle-borns, something young Sirius strongly disagreed with. At Hogwarts, Sirius met the friends who would accompany him throughout his school years: James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin. Together, they formed the Marauders. Sirius was the first member of the Black family not to be sorted into Slytherin, instead joining Gryffindor like his new friends.

As a Marauder, Sirius constantly tormented Severus Snape, whom he hated from the very first moment they met on the Hogwarts Express. Alongside his friends, he bullied Snape both verbally and physically, further fueling the rivalry between them. After Hogwarts, Voldemort began rising to power, with the Potters becoming his main target after a prophecy—overheard by Snape—predicted that Harry, Sirius’s godson, would be the one to defeat him.

James Potter entrusted the location of his hiding place to Pettigrew, believing it would be too obvious to give it to Sirius. However, Pettigrew betrayed them, handing their location to Voldemort, who killed James and Lily but was defeated by baby Harry. Upon realizing the betrayal, Sirius confronted Pettigrew, who cast a powerful curse that killed a dozen Muggles and faked his own death, leaving behind only a severed finger. With Sirius as the only person at the scene, he was imprisoned in Azkaban, becoming one of the most feared wizards in Europe.

Fourteen years later, Sirius escaped Azkaban in his Animagus form—a large black dog. He made his way to Hogwarts, where, with Lupin’s help, he uncovered Pettigrew's disguise as Ron’s pet rat. Though intent on killing Pettigrew, Harry convinced him not to. Sirius was captured by Snape but managed to escape with the help of Harry and Hermione. He remained in hiding but continued assisting Harry, particularly during the events of The Goblet of Fire.

In Order of the Phoenix, Sirius rejoins the Order and, in the climax of the story, heads to the Ministry of Magic to rescue Harry and the members of Dumbledore’s Army. There, he faces his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, who kills him with the Killing Curse, adding yet another trauma to Harry’s life.

Interestingly, early drafts of The Deathly Hallows included Sirius returning during the Battle of Hogwarts, but those scenes were ultimately scrapped.

6. Hermione Granger

Hermione Granger was born to a pair of Muggle dentists, and it’s unknown which ancestor might have passed down magical abilities to her. At age 11, she received her letter to attend Hogwarts, where she met her best friends, Harry and Ron. Hermione quickly became known as the brightest witch in Gryffindor and was essential to Harry’s victories over Voldemort in the first two years.

In Goblet of Fire, Hermione becomes deeply concerned about the poor treatment of house-elves at Hogwarts and creates S.P.E.W. (the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare), although her campaign meets little success.

In her fifth year, she joins Dumbledore’s Army and fights Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. After Dumbledore’s death and Voldemort’s takeover of the Ministry, Hermione, Harry, and Ron set out to find and destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes.

Following the Battle of Hogwarts and Voldemort’s defeat, Hermione begins a relationship with Ron. Having missed her seventh year, she returns to Hogwarts to complete her studies, graduating with top honors before joining the Ministry of Magic—eventually rising to the position of Minister for Magic.

Hermione and Ron have two children: Rose and Hugo Granger-Weasley, giving a happy and well-deserved ending to one of the most important characters in the entire saga.

5. Gellert Grindewald

The most powerful dark wizard of all time—before Voldemort. Gellert Grindelwald was born into a family deeply prejudiced against Muggles and Muggle-borns, growing up with those same supremacist beliefs.

Grindelwald attended the Durmstrang Institute, a school more tolerant of the Dark Arts than most, yet he was expelled for being considered too extreme even by their standards. Despite his expulsion, Grindelwald was a brilliant student, especially fascinated with wizarding history and the Deathly Hallows.

His search for the Hallows led him to Godric's Hollow, where he met and became close friends—and likely lovers—with Albus Dumbledore. Together, they dreamed of uniting the Hallows and ruling over Muggles “for the greater good,” a slogan originally coined by Dumbledore.

Albus’s brother, Aberforth, discovered their plans and confronted them. A heated argument escalated into a duel among the three. When their spells collided, one rebounded and accidentally killed Albus’s younger sister, Ariana.

Now a fugitive, Grindelwald disappeared for years before eventually tracking down the Elder Wand, then in the possession of wandmaker Gregorovitch. After stealing the wand, Grindelwald became nearly unstoppable, amassing an army of devoted followers and committing heinous crimes across Europe.

He infiltrated the Magical Congress of the United States (MACUSA) under the alias Percival Graves in search of Credence Barebone, a powerful Obscurial. Although captured by Newt Scamander, Grindelwald later escaped and fled to Paris, where he reunited with Credence, intending to use him against Dumbledore.

Grindelwald launched a political movement to become Supreme Head of the wizarding world, even managing to be acquitted of his past crimes. It was revealed that he and Dumbledore had made a blood pact preventing them from dueling each other. Once that pact was broken, their inevitable confrontation took place.

In 1945, Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in one of the most legendary duels in wizarding history. Grindelwald was imprisoned in Nurmengard, a prison he himself had built to hold Muggle enemies. He remained there until 1998, when Voldemort killed him while searching for the Elder Wand. Grindelwald was 115 years old.

4. Harry Potter

Harry Potter was born on July 31, 1980, to Lily Evans and James Potter. At just one year old, his parents were murdered by Voldemort, who sought to kill Harry because of a prophecy suggesting the boy would be the one capable of defeating him. When Voldemort cast the Killing Curse at baby Harry, the spell rebounded, destroying Voldemort’s physical form. Harry became the only person to ever survive the Killing Curse.

Hagrid brought Harry to his only living relatives, the Dursleys—Petunia, Vernon, and their son Dudley—who raised him in an environment of neglect and cruelty, telling him that his parents had died in a car crash. On his eleventh birthday, Harry was visited by the half-giant Hagrid, who revealed the truth: Harry was a wizard. He gave him his Hogwarts letter and explained the real circumstances of his parents’ deaths.

Accompanied by Hagrid, Harry visited Diagon Alley to buy his school supplies and, on the train to Hogwarts, met Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who became his closest friends.

During his first years at Hogwarts, Harry thwarted Voldemort twice, preventing him from regaining a body. In his third year, Harry learned he had a living godfather—Sirius Black. In his fourth year, Harry was unwillingly entered into the Triwizard Tournament due to the plotting of Barty Crouch Jr. In the final task, Harry and Cedric Diggory were transported to Little Hangleton, where Voldemort awaited. Wormtail killed Cedric and used Harry’s blood to perform a ritual that restored Voldemort’s body. Harry escaped thanks to Priori Incantatem.

With Voldemort’s return, Dumbledore began preparing Harry for the inevitable final battle. After Dumbledore’s death at Snape’s hands, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went on the run to destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes.

Returning to Hogwarts, they led the fight in the legendary Battle of Hogwarts. Harry discovered that a fragment of Voldemort’s soul lived inside him, making him an accidental Horcrux. Accepting this, Harry willingly sacrificed himself. Voldemort’s Killing Curse destroyed the Horcrux within Harry but left Harry alive—his second time surviving the curse.

Harry revived and faced Voldemort, who was wielding the Elder Wand—unaware that the wand’s loyalty belonged to Harry. When Voldemort cast the Killing Curse, it rebounded, killing him once and for all.

Regarded as the greatest hero in wizarding history, Harry became a highly respected Auror at the Ministry of Magic. He married Ginny Weasley, and together they had three children: James, Lily, and Albus Potter.

3. Severus Snape

Perhaps the most complex character in the entire saga. Severus Snape was a half-blood wizard, born to a Muggle father who was extremely negligent both with him and his mother. Combined with Snape’s introverted personality, this created deep emotional scars.

As a child, Snape met Lily Evans, who would become his best friend and the great love of his life. They both enrolled at Hogwarts, but Snape was sorted into Slytherin while Lily went to Gryffindor. During his time at school, Snape was constantly bullied by James Potter and Sirius Black, which only fueled his bitterness toward them and their friends.

In search of power and protection, Snape became increasingly involved with the Dark Arts and eventually joined Voldemort’s Death Eaters. However, upon discovering that Voldemort intended to kill Lily Evans and her family after hearing the prophecy, Snape begged him to spare her life. When his plea failed and Lily was murdered, Snape switched sides, pledging loyalty to Albus Dumbledore, who agreed to protect Harry in Lily’s memory.

Throughout the years, Snape took on the role of Potions Master at Hogwarts, maintaining his double-agent status. He often mistreated Harry, whom he saw as a constant reminder of James Potter, but deep down, he was protecting him the entire time.

In “The Half-Blood Prince,” Snape makes an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy to protect Draco and, if necessary, finish the mission assigned to him: kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore, knowing he was dying, asked Snape to be the one to end his life in order to spare Draco’s soul and strengthen Snape’s position within Voldemort’s ranks.

Snape ultimately became the headmaster of Hogwarts during Voldemort’s reign, protecting students as much as he could from the Death Eaters who had infiltrated the school. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Snape was killed by Voldemort, who mistakenly believed that killing Snape would make him the master of the Elder Wand.

Before his death, Snape gave Harry his memories, revealing the truth about his past, his love for Lily, and the fact that he had been protecting Harry all along. This revelation transformed Snape from a hated professor into one of the saga’s most tragic heroes.

2. Lord Voldemort

The main antagonist of the saga. Born Tom Marvolo Riddle, he was the son of a witch, Merope Gaunt, and a Muggle, Tom Riddle Sr. His mother used a love potion to seduce his father, but when she stopped using it, he abandoned her. Merope died shortly after giving birth in an orphanage, leaving Tom to grow up without love, affection, or guidance.

From a young age, Tom exhibited signs of cruelty and a thirst for control. When he received his letter from Hogwarts, he quickly became one of the school’s most brilliant students, but also one of the most dangerous. Sorted into Slytherin, he delved deeply into the Dark Arts, learning about Horcruxes and eventually splitting his soul into seven pieces to achieve immortality.

Rejecting his Muggle heritage, Tom adopted the name Lord Voldemort, gathering followers known as Death Eaters. His primary goal was to purify the wizarding world by eliminating Muggle-borns and asserting the dominance of pure-blood wizards.

In his quest for power, Voldemort attempted to kill Harry Potter after hearing the prophecy that a child born at the end of July would have the power to defeat him. This act backfired spectacularly. The killing curse rebounded upon him when he tried to kill the infant Harry, destroying his body and forcing him into a spectral existence.

Years later, Voldemort regained a physical form with the help of his followers. He then waged open war against the wizarding world, culminating in the Battle of Hogwarts. Voldemort was ultimately defeated when Harry revealed that the Elder Wand, Voldemort’s chosen weapon, was never truly his. The killing curse rebounded once again, ending Voldemort’s life permanently.

1. Albus Dumbledore

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the greatest and wisest wizard of all time. Albus was born in 1881 and was the eldest of three siblings: Ariana and Aberforth Dumbledore. Ariana was an Obscurial, which meant she had immense magical power but little control over it. This led her to be attacked by a group of Muggles after accidentally exposing her powers. In retaliation, their father, Percival, attacked the Muggles and was sentenced to Azkaban for the rest of his life, leaving Albus as the head of the family.

Dumbledore started at Hogwarts at the age of 11, being sorted into Gryffindor. He faced some prejudice due to his father’s criminal past. Despite this, Albus became one of the most brilliant students of his generation and later returned to Hogwarts as the Transfiguration professor.

In his youth, Dumbledore met Gellert Grindelwald, another brilliant young wizard whose ideas resonated with Albus, who was developing a growing resentment toward Muggles. Over time, Albus fell in love with Grindelwald, which blinded him to Gellert’s true malicious intentions—though not for long. Aberforth confronted the two, leading Grindelwald to attack him. This sparked a chaotic duel in which a stray curse accidentally killed Ariana.

Devastated and confused, Dumbledore felt powerless, unable to bring himself to confront Gellert immediately. But with the help of Newt Scamander, Albus foiled Grindelwald’s plan to become the Supreme Mugwump and managed to break the blood pact they had made. This allowed Dumbledore, in 1945, to finally defeat Grindelwald in a duel that became known as “The Greatest Duel the Wizarding World Has Ever Seen.”

In 1938, Dumbledore met a young wizard named Tom Riddle at an orphanage and invited him to Hogwarts. While Tom was an extraordinarily talented student, he also displayed a dark nature. Dumbledore quickly saw through his charm and never trusted him. Years later, now calling himself Voldemort, Tom returned to Hogwarts to ask for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Dumbledore refused. Enraged, Voldemort cursed the position, ensuring that no one would ever hold the job for more than a year again.

During the First Wizarding War, Dumbledore founded the Order of the Phoenix, bringing together powerful witches and wizards like Lily and James Potter, the Longbottoms, Sirius Black, Alastor Moody, and many others to fight Voldemort. Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort ever truly feared.

After Voldemort’s fall, Dumbledore orchestrated an incredibly complex plan alongside Severus Snape to guide Harry toward victory over the Dark Lord. Throughout Harry’s years at Hogwarts, Dumbledore played a pivotal role: saving Harry from the Basilisk with Fawkes, helping him save Sirius Black, protecting him from Barty Crouch Jr., and even dueling Voldemort himself to protect Harry.

Dumbledore’s final sacrifice was allowing Snape to kill him—at his own request. This act ensured that Snape would fully gain Voldemort’s trust, allowing the final steps of the plan to proceed.

In the end, Dumbledore’s wisdom prevailed. Voldemort was finally defeated by Harry Potter, and Dumbledore’s legacy was cemented as the only wizard to defeat the two greatest dark wizards in history—Grindelwald and Voldemort. He proved not only to be the most powerful wizard ever but also the wisest, spreading wisdom in every action he took and every word he spoke.