Contenuti
Intro
Harry Potter is a saga that has that made history in both literature and film and will be remembered for many, many years to come as a classic of fantasy literature and film.The Harry Potter saga is one of the most highly regarded and curated saga ever, and that is also why it has a very large fan base from all over the world who closely follow all characters & everything about it.
The secret to the success of this series is a sublimely written story, with great characters that are impossible to forget. In particular, it is a series that handles moments of drama and tension perfectly, always knows how to deliver surprises, and is full of characters who come from different realities, making Harry Potter a multiethnic and multicultural novel but also a coming-of-age tale, full of valuable values and lessons.
This series of fantasy novels written in the 1990s by J. K. Rowling, a pseudonym for Joanne Rowling, centers on the adventures of young wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The magical world in which the saga is set consists of a parallel society that lives hidden from the rest of the real world, hiding from ordinary people, the so-called “Muggles.” The story arc mainly follows the confrontation between the protagonist and the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, whose plan is to conquer the magical world and gain immortality.
These novels are among the most widely read books ever in many countries since more than 500 million copies have been sold, but the film saga has also been a well-deserved and huge success.
One of the reasons that has made this saga so famous is the huge number of references to different literary universes through which mankind, at all times, has chosen to tell its stories. Rowling, was able to draw brilliantly from a variety of sources and make use of this content in creative and innovative ways. In the Harry Potter books we find so many references to classical and medieval mythology, fairy tales, folktales, as well as Renaissance epics and modern fantasy imagery.
One of the author’s greatest merits is precisely that she has brilliantly reworked the typical motifs and contents of the fantastic and human cultures of Antiquity, creating a new dimension of them, giving birth to a new world that expresses the space that has accompanied our imagination since childhood.
We can therefore safely say that Rowling has given a new physiognomy to the world of fantasy, contributing greatly to the creation of a canon that has become a great resource for writers subsequent to her works.
In this article we will take a brief look at the plot of Harry Potter and focus on its characters, we will then make a brief analysis of the most important characters in the saga.
If you are interested in a video game of the saga you will find all the information in our article : Hogwarts Legacy
A look at the main characters within the plot
The story begins with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, where Harry, an orphan boy following the murder of his parents, at one year old is placed in the care of his Dursley aunt and uncle by Albus Dumbledore, who leaves him on their doorstep. At the Dursley home, Harry is unhappy and lonely, and is forced to endure all kinds of anguish from his cousin, a wicked and arrogant child who is always backed by his parents.
Harry discovers he is a wizard at age 11, when a bearded big man named Rubeus Hagrid shows up at his aunt and uncle’s, who explains to Harry that he is actually a wizard and is the son of wizards Lily and James Potter, who died ten years earlier murdered by Voldemort, a cruel and very powerful wizard. Voldemort is the dark lord of a realm of terror and is the perpetrator of a large number of murders of wizards and Muggles, that is, ordinary people.
On the night Voldemort killed Lily and James Potter, the dark lord tried to kill Harry with a spell as well. A mysterious force, however, protected Harry, turning Voldemort’s magic against himself. The dark magician did not die, but he lost all his powers and disappeared. All that was left of that night is a scar that Harry wears on his forehead that will make him famous and recognizable throughout the wizarding community. Harry in this way becomes aware of his past and his identity and then makes the decision to go to Hogwarts, a major school of magic.
Hagrid before leaving accompanies Harry to Diagon Alley, a mysterious street in London inaccessible to Muggles, where Harry will be able to purchase what he needs for the school year, namely some magical materials. On a magical track, the 9 ¾, Harry meets some of his future schoolmates: Hermione Granger, a smart, know-it-all girl; Ron Weasley, a funny boy who will be his best friend; and his brothers Fred and George Weasley. Shortly thereafter, he will also meet Draco Malfoy, an arrogant and cynical boy who will somehow be his nemesis throughout the school year.
Once they arrive at Hogwarts, an ancient magical castle in the north of England, Harry and all the first-year boys are subjected to the Sorting Hat. In this selection, the hat will be placed on each boy’s head and decide which of the four houses he should be placed in: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin.
Harry, Hermione and Ron all three end up in the Household of Gryffindor. At this point begins the school of magic where Harry and his little friends will have to learn notions of a number of unexpected subjects: Spells, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Potions, Herbology, Astronomy, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Flying on Broomsticks.
One day, after a lesson, the three friends set off on a night tour of the castle, secretly from the professors and guards, and run into Fuffy, a three-headed dog placed to protect a trap door. Having escaped danger they learn from Hagrid that the dog is there to protect a very powerful philosopher’s stone.
Later, the three wizards discover that one of their professors, Snape, has found a way to get past the three-headed dog and thus get close to the philosopher’s stone, probably to steal it. They then decide to try to stop him, and follow him inside the trapdoor where they face a series of trials before reaching the stone.
Harry is the first to reach the end of the path and discovers that Snape is not the one who wants to steal the stone, but another professor, Quirrell, who has been possessed by Voldemort. Harry, before passing out, manages to kill Quirrell and make Voldemort once again a bodiless being. He wakes up a few hours later in the infirmary where he finds the good-natured and intelligent principal of the school, namely the great wizard Dumbledore, who decides to explain to Harry why Voldemort failed to kill him when he was younger. The little wizard has magical protection around him that his mother Lily left him before she was killed. Having unraveled this mystery, Harry immediately realizes that he will have to put much more effort into studying magical subjects if he is to succeed in confronting and defeating the dark lord.
Harry Potter main characters
In this section we will look at the most important characters one by one and examine their physical and character traits as well as the abilities they possess. We decided to divide the characters into three categories: the first category is the protagonists of the series, the second category is the characters at Hogwarts, where we find some students and professors, and the third category is the wizards who pursue evil ends.
This article is based solely on the main Harry Potter saga, so there will be no characters from Rowling’s other series inherent in the wizarding world, such as Fantastic Animals.
The protagonists of the series
Let’s take a look at the three main characters in the series, namely Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.
These 3 characters are the main protagonists of the story; they are young wizards who continuously study so as to improve their magical skills and be able to defeat wizards and evil creatures in order to protect their fellow wizards and other human beings.
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a young English wizard and one of the most famous wizards in the novel, who became famous from an early age for surviving the killing anathema, an unforgiving curse cast by Lord Voldemort in an attempt to kill him in order to prevent the manifestation of a prophecy. Unforgiving curses are three of the worst spells in Dark Magic; in addition to the killing anathema (also called Avada Kedavra), we also find the Cruciatus curse (also called Crucio, which inflicts pain on the victim) and the Imperius curse (also called Imperio, which places the victim under the control of the user).
The failure to kill Harry, caused Voldemort’s first defeat and the end of the First Wizarding War, resulting in the orphan’s transfer to his Dursley uncles in order to protect him. From then on, Harry became known in wizarding world circles as “the boy who survived.” Until he turned 11 years old, Harry was never actually aware of his powers. Following Hagrid’s acquaintance, he discovered that he was a wizard and was admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As happened to his parents before him, he was sorted into the house of Gryffindor by the talking hat. During his time at Hogwarts he formed a strong friendship with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, the other two main characters in the series.
Harry is often described as a tall, thin boy with black hair, green eyes, and wearing a pair of thick, round glasses that have become one of his hallmarks. Some times it is said that she looks very much like her father James, while her eyes are very similar to her mother Lily. The most bizarre and recognizable feature of his appearance is the thunderbolt-shaped scar on his forehead, caused by Voldemort.
Character: From an early age he was abused by his aunt and uncle Vernon and Petunia and picked on by his cousin Dudley, both when he was at home and when he was at school; this complicated childhood caused him to grow up alone and friendless. Although he was lonely and unhappy, he developed a humble and selfless personality, which garners much sympathy at Hogwarts, as he never displays attitudes of superiority or arrogance.
With friends he always shows himself to be loyal and fair, never afraid to put himself in danger when they need help. Sometimes he can become very impulsive and stubborn, not afraid to clash with people stronger and more authoritative than him. He is a charismatic and resourceful boy, and this leads him to be highly regarded even by leading magicians. This is a character strongly guided by his conscience and with a strong awareness of right and wrong things, this allows him to be very lucid and rational in his decisions.
Powers and skills: Harry in the course of his studies in the magic academy generally proves to be a good student in almost all subjects. Subjects that cause him the most problems include divination, and potions. In the former he has very little aptitude, and in the latter the difficulty stems from the mutual dislike between him and Professor Snape. The subject in which he achieves the best results is Defense Against the Dark Arts; in fact, he is able to summon a corporeal Patronus, a difficult feat for even the most talented and experienced mages.
Inside his body is a fragment of Voldemort’s soul, this allows him to be able to speak Serpentine and perceive some of the dark wizard’s emotions and thoughts. Clearly following the destruction of the shard these powers disappear. In addition to magical subjects, Harry also proves to be a very good Quidditch player, this allows him to join the Gryffindor team from the first year, and he is the youngest player to succeed.
Wand, Animals and Magical Objects: Harry’s wand is very unique; it is made of holly wood and has a core that contains a phoenix feather-not just any phoenix, but Fanny, Albus Dumbledore’s phoenix. The wood of the wand was chosen by Rowling because in European tradition holly is the tree that repels evil and is opposed to the yew tree, associated instead with death, which is the wood of which the dark lord’s wand is made.
On the day Harry turns 11, Hagrid gives him a snowy owl who is named Hedwig, his pet is in charge of bringing him mail. Harry as early as the first year also possesses one of the three Deathly Hallows, namely the Invisibility Cloak, which is given to him as a Christmas present by Dumbledore. This object had belonged to his family for generations as descendants of Ignotus Peverell. The Deathly Hallows are three legendary magical objects that, according to legend, were created by Death himself as gifts to the three Peverell brothers.
These include the Elder Wand, the Cloak of Invisibility and the Resurrection Stone. The invisibility cloak has the power to make anyone wearing it completely invisible. Harry and his friends use it many times in the course of their studies. In his third year at Hogwarts, the Weasley twins also give him the Weasley Map, a magical map of the entire Hogwarts school including secret passageways and the people who reside there.
Because he is part of the Gryffindor quidditch team, Harry owns two broomsticks during his time at the Academy of Magic. He initially makes use of a Nimbus 2000, given to him by McGranitt in his first year, and later uses a Firebolt, given to him by Sirius after Nimbus was destroyed in an accident.
Hermione Granger
Hermione Jean Granger is a young witch and the best friend of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, with whom she forms a close-knit trio. This girl is the only daughter of Mrs. and Mr. Granger, a Muggle couple. She learned of her powers only on the day she turned 11, when she received the letter from Albus Dumbledore, principal of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She began attending school when she was already almost 12 years old, and was assigned to the house of Gryffindor.
This witch is very intelligent and has knowledge in any area of magic, Hermione is the mastermind of the trio composed with Harry and Ron, often in fact, the two of them follow the elaborate plans of the girl, who often turns out to be far more knowledgeable than many full-blooded adult wizards. Her skills lead her to be the best in her year and thus she is one of the brightest students at the magic academy.
Hermione has thick brown hair and brown eyes but never pays much attention to her physical appearance except on rare formal occasions. As a child she was not very pretty and was sometimes teased by other children. During her adolescence and subsequent growth, she becomes a particularly beautiful girl and later, after the major events of the plot, she marries Ron Weasley and has two children, Rose and Hugo.
Character: Hermione is an extremely intelligent and very determined young witch; she is able to use spells and prepare potions at a much more advanced level than a normal student her age.
She has a great passion for studying that is rooted in a deep insecurity that she tries to mask in every way, trying to be the best at everything she does. This way of doing things sometimes causes her to project a fictitious and sometimes irritating self-confidence. These traits of his personality have as their origin a probably sad and lonely childhood. After she is rescued by Harry and Ron, she befriends the two, and realizes that her friends and her new home are far more valuable than her school career.
At first he has a real obsession with following the rules, but after some events experienced with his friends, he realizes that sometimes it is okay to break the rules, especially to help someone. Because she was born a Muggleborn, she is sometimes discriminated against, but she admits that she is proud of her origins. She has a strong sense of social justice, this also leads her to found a society to fight against the enslavement of house elves, but this is not very successful among the students. She is regarded by critics as a feminist icon.
Powers and abilities: Although she was born to Muggle parents, Hermione’s magical powers seem innate. Her fixation on study makes her an ever-evolving and constantly improving character; many critics consider her a prime example of how culture brings power.
Her great technique and talent allow her to have very powerful magical powers,often used to save the most difficult situations. Because she is the top student in her year, she is able to use many different spells excellently, is very skilled in nonverbal spells, can invent new spells and use the dark arts.
He can also prepare many potions, even the most complex ones, such as the Polyjuice potion. One of her best skills is the fact that she is an excellent duelist. Her style during each duel is creative and unpredictable, she is able to use non-combat spells with other combat spells in order to get the better of her opponents, she also has excellent reflexes.
Wand, animals and magical objects: Hermione’s wand is made of vine wood and has a dragon heart core. During his early years at Hogwarts, he adopts a cat named Scratchy at the haunted menagerie; this cat has thick red fur, somewhat crooked legs, and a flattened snout.
Because of this cat during the third year he has an argument with Ron, because he is convinced that Hermione’s cat ate his pet mouse, Scabbers. Scratchy is a very intelligent cat who fully understands people and animals; in fact, he can tell when an animal is instead a person who has been transformed.
At the beginning of her junior year, McGranit gives her the Time-Turner in order to allow her to attend more classes. Hermione uses it to move into the past and future, and to try to save many people. Because of the use of this object, a time paradox is created.
Ron Weasley
Ronald Bilius Weasley is a young and powerful full-blooded wizard, thus born to the two wizards Arthur and Molly Weasley whose sixth and last male child he is. Ron is Harry’s first real friend; the two first see each other at Platform 9 ¾ and meet on the express that will take them to Hogwarts.
Over the years, Ron shows himself to be a loyal friend of Harry and is always ready to support him at every opportunity, even if he sometimes shows himself to be a little envious of his friend because he is more famous and talented than him. Ron, like all members of the Weasley family, pays no attention to blood purity and does not discriminate against wizarding people born Muggles.
Because he is the only one of the three friends born and raised in a wizarding family, he knows many things about the magical world unknown to Harry and Hermione. His family is poor but very loving, and is frowned upon by other pureblood families because of the extreme tolerance the Weasleys have always shown toward Muggles.
Ron is a tall, thin boy with the typical red hair of the Weasley family, blue eyes and a face covered in freckles.
Character: Ron is a likable and funny character, although at times he is emotionally immature and insensitive. He has an excellent sense of humor that leads him to be often witty and sarcastic, serves as a comic interlude on many occasions, and makes his friends laugh in many situations. Hermione sometimes gets frustrated by his immaturity, because on some occasions she is unintentionally hurt by his humor. Some of Ron’s qualities serve to emphasize Harry’s characteristics and vice versa.
Harry is an orphan with more gold than he needs, he is famous and well-known, but he does not like being the center of attention. Ron, on the other hand, comes from a large and very loving but poor family; most of his belongings, in fact, are secondhand, so he is often compared to a mere lackey, and this sometimes makes him jealous of Harry. These factors make him a remarkably insecure character, but his inferiority complex is the major thrust that accompanies him in his growth and maturity.
Powers and skills: Ron is initially the least talented of the three in the use of magic, however, he gradually improves his skills until he becomes a very skilled magician. He has great tactical skill that leads him to be an excellent player of Wizards’ Chess. He demonstrates excellent concentration and cold-bloodedness even in high-stress situations, and he can prove to be very courageous. In his later years of study, his skills improve greatly and make him a skilled fighter. He seems to be inclined for defensive magics having great reflective skills, in fact he will become an Auror, that is, a member of the ministry of magic.
Wand, Animals, and Magical Objects: Ron’s first magic wand is ash with a unicorn hair core, like most of his possessions it is second-hand, and belonged to his brother Charlie. This wand is broken by a thrashing willow tree early in his second year at Hogwarts and clumsily repaired by Ron himself.
This wand, due to faulty repair, begins to malfunction throughout the school year, causing unpleasant accidents and spells that sometimes backfire on Ron or have unwanted effects that are often very serious. In the early years, Has as a pet the rat Scabbers, received by his older brother Percy, Ron finds him a dull and useless animal, but he is very annoyed by his apparent death when he appears to have been eaten by Hermione’s cat, shortly afterwards it turns out that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew.
Later, he receives as a gift from Sirius Black, a small owl named Leotordo from his sister Ginny. Before his third year, he receives a new wand made of willow wood and unicorn horsehair heart; this wand is much more suitable for him and allows him to improve greatly in his magic studies. In his final years at Hogwarts, he received as an inheritance from Dumbledore the Deluminator, an object capable of extinguishing any light. After Harry and Hermione abandon it, the boy discovers that the object also has the ability to materialize the possessor wherever he is needed, using this power to return to friends.
Key students and characters at Hogwarts
In this section we take a look at some of the most important people in the Academy of Magic, we have chosen two students and the two professors. These 4 characters are important within the plot; they often deal with young wizards and are often at the center of many important events. Moreover, they are among the most distinctive and appreciated characters by both fans and critics.
Neville Longbottom
He is a full-blooded magician who is the son of Frank and Alice Longbottom; in the original English version, the surname of this family is Longbottom. Neville is a student at Hogwarts, a friend of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and belongs to the house of Gryffindor. In the early years of magic school he is recognizable by the fact that he is rather short, chubby, has a round face and blond hair. Initially he is not a particularly important character, but over the course of the story he has a gradual transformation that leads him to become a more determined and useful character, especially in the final part of the saga.
Character: Initially shy, clumsy, awkward, and with a bad memory, he matures greatly over the course of the story, becoming increasingly confident and decisive. His funny and absent-minded attitude unfortunately led him to be Draco Malfoy’s favorite target early in his first year, who never missed an opportunity to mock him. Thanks to the intervention of Harry and Ron who defend him in some situations, he slowly manages to gain more self-confidence. Over the course of the saga, his maturation becomes very evident, and as the story progresses he becomes more and more serious and committed, until he becomes a character who plays a decisive role in the battle against Voldemort, going so far as to defeat Nagini.
Powers and abilities:Neville has no natural talent for magic, his powers never showed themselves until in an accident, his uncle accidentally knocked him off the balcony and he miraculously saved himself by bouncing on the road. During his early years at Hogwarts he struggles to keep up with the other students, and he is particularly disastrous with potions, often in fact making mistakes causing various accidents. These unconvincing results in Potions lead him to be targeted by the teacher of this subject, namely Severus Snape. Neville even goes so far as to develop a genuine terror of the professor. The only subject in which Neville really seems to have an aptitude is Herbology, which he will become a professor of at the end of the most important events in the story. In his later years at Hogwarts he learned to master various defensive spells and became quite proficient in combat.
Wand, Animals, and Magic Objects: Neville’s initial magic wand is that of his father Frank, but it ends up broken during some confrontations at the Ministry. He then purchases a new cherry wand with unicorn horsehair core, with which he will have some significant progress. Neville has as a pet a toad named Oscar, which was given to him by a relative on his admission to Hogwarts. This animal is used as a comic device numerous times when he attempts to escape to get away from his master. Oscar, during an escape attempt, will succeed in finally escaping by ending up in the Hogwarts lake; both characters will be relieved by this separation.
Ginny Weasley
Guinevere Molly Weasley aka Ginny, is a student witch at Hogwarts and the youngest of Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewett’s children, as well as the only female child. Ginny is a petite but attractive girl with a freckle-covered face, bright brown eyes and long, fiery red hair typical of the Weasley family. Ginny is the younger sister of Ron Weasley and has always been in love with Harry Potter, in her later school years she manages to get engaged to him and later marries him after the most important events in the story. Initially he is a very marginal character, but he took on more and more value as the plot continued, coming to fight against Bellatrix along with Luna and Hermione. He had three children with Harry: James Sirius, Albus Severus and Lily Luna.
Character:A cheerful and lively little girl who does not like to be quiet, she shows early on that she has a crush on Harry that prevents her from speaking in his presence. Because she is the youngest daughter, she is afraid of not being equal to her siblings, resents being protected, and is often very strong. After being possessed by Voldemort, she is able to overcome the trauma and become carefree again, becoming stronger and more confident.
Powers and Skills: Ginny is a very powerful and talented witch, especially in her later years at school. She has a natural talent for the Dark Arts, is a prodigy at flying on broomsticks and is also a very skilled Quidditch player. By studying black magic, he acquires very powerful and dangerous dark powers; in fact, he learns to cast powerful curses and spells, which he usually uses to play pranks on his brothers. At the age of fourteen, he becomes able to summon a Patronus, which takes the form of a horse. The fact that he knows how to summon a patronus at his age is impressive, as it is a very advanced magic that is difficult to master. He also has excellent reflexes and very good combat skills.
Wand, Animals, and Magic Objects: Ginny’s wand is made of yew wood; the core contents seem unknown. Like almost all wizards he purchases this wand in Ollivander’s store before beginning his studies at Hogwarts. Ginny owns a pygmy smurf named Arnold, this animal was purchased by brothers Fred and George Weasley in their store. This little witch for a time is also in possession of Tom Riddle’s diary before Harry Potter destroys it in the Chamber of Secrets, the memory that resided in the diary had begun to slowly drain Ginny’s life.
Albus Dumbledore
Among the most iconic characters at Hogwarts is surely the mythical Dumbledore, a wise and good-hearted elderly wizard. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is an English half-blood wizard, initially a professor of Defense against the Dark Arts, and later of Transfiguration, working his way up to become the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At one time he served the International Confederation of Magicians and became chief sorcerer of the Wizengamot, the supreme court of British magicians.
He is considered the most powerful magician of all time, perhaps second only to the legendary wizard Merlin. Albus Dumbledore also plays a vital role in the first and second Wizarding Wars, in which he succeeds in thwarting the evil Lord Voldemort. To try to defeat the dark lord for good, he founded the Order of the Phoenix and became Harry Potter’s mentor. Dumbledore is described as tall, thin and very old; he has very long silver hair. She wears a tunic, a very long purple cloak and boots with high heels and buckles. Behind crescent-shaped glasses he has bright, sparkling blue eyes and a long, curved nose.
Character: Dumbledore is a benevolent, humble and very wise wizard, a careful planner with a somewhat peculiar sense of humor. He always tries to appear cold and aloof, trying to avoid any emotional displays, but he inevitably becomes attached to Harry, which sometimes even leads him to vary his plans to protect him. Dumbledore is a perfect mentor for the protagonist, convincing him of his potential, and is willing to listen and support him at every opportunity. Dumbledore is a calm and rational man, he knows how to make the best of every situation, he always speaks from the heart but sometimes does not reveal his true intentions, this sometimes makes him appear as manipulative, he usually behaves this way when he has to protect someone.
Powers and abilities: Dumbledore is considered the world’s best living wizard, and is one of the greatest wizards of all time, perhaps only the great Wizard Merlin was more powerful than him. This sorcerer is one of the greatest experts in the magical arts, and is able to hold his own against Lord Voldemort, as well as being able to defeat Grindelwald in a magical duel in one of the greatest duels of all time. Dumbledore is a scholar and also an outstanding researcher; he is famous for discovering the use and properties of dragon’s blood and for being an expert in alchemy.
He has achieved many accolades in the magical world, was named Chief Sorcerer of the Wizengamot, received the highest award of the Order of Merlin, and had one of the most important roles in the International Confederation of Wizards.
Wands, animals and magical objects: In the Harry Potter saga, it is unknown what wands Dumbledore used in his life before his duel with Grindelwald, but we do know that after defeating him he obtained his own, the legendary Elder Wand, one of the three Deathly Hallows. The wand used by Dumbledore is the most powerful wand ever. He lost possession of the Elder Wand only shortly before his death when he was disarmed by Draco Malfoy; it would later be placed in his tomb.
Dumbledore possesses many magical objects, some created by himself such as the Deluminator, which will later be given to Ron. In his office is the Think Tank, a magical bowl that displays and contains people’s memories; it is an object that is passed down to all Hogwarts principals. He comes into possession of the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility, taken from James Potter and returned to his son Harry. Dumbledore has as his pet Fanny, a phoenix loyal to his master, to whom he often entrusts various tasks.
Severus Snape
Severus Snape is certainly one of the most controversial and appreciated characters in the series, first an antagonist and later an antihero, which is why he is beloved by most fans. Snape as a young man is a Death Eater follower of Lord Voldemort, decides to switch sides when the Dark Lord kills Lily Evans, with whom he was madly in love. At Hogwarts he is Professor of Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts and later also becomes Headmaster of the school. He plays a pivotal role in the Second Wizarding War, as he becomes an ally of the Order of the Phoenix while also being an infiltrator in the ranks of the Death Eaters.
Character: Snape is one of the most peculiar characters in the series; he is initially presented as one of Harry’s main antagonists, but this image of an evil character is completely subverted in the finale, where the tremendous personal struggles he has faced become clear. Snape is an anti-hero and is therefore a stern, cold, cynical, and impatient character. He can’t stand Gryffindor students, whom he thinks are haughty, and he often picks on Neville, Hermione, and especially Harry.
He has a very complex relationship with Harry, despises him because of his resemblance to his father James, but secretly wants to protect him at all costs from Voldemort since he is Lily’s son. Dumbledore trusts Snape a great deal and is one of his main trusted men.
Powers and Abilities:Severus Snape is a really powerful and highly skilled wizard; he has a great deal of talent and encyclopedic knowledge in many different areas of magic. He knows and can brew virtually every potion in existence, is extremely fascinated by the Dark Arts, and is an expert in Legilimancy, magic that allows a magician to read another person’s mind about their intentions and thoughts. Along with Dumbledore, he is also one of the greatest experts in Occlumency, a practice used to prevent someone from reading one’s thoughts, thus allowing one to defend oneself against Legilimancy.
He is the only one of the Death Eaters who knows how to use a Patronus, which takes the form of a doe, like Lily Evans’. He learned from Voldemort the ability to fly without needing a broomstick. In addition, he is also skilled in creating spells; in fact, he has created the Sectumsempra, which causes lacerations to the target; the Muffliato, which creates auditory hallucinations similar to a buzzing sound to its target; and the Levicorpus, which allows a person to be lifted up and held suspended upside down in the air.
Wand, Animals and Magical Objects: Severus Snape’s wand is made of birch wood and has a unicorn horsehair core; it appears that the wizard bought this wand when he was 11 years old at Ollivander’s wand store. Severus does not usually use many magical items, but being one of the greatest experts on potions, he is able to create and use all kinds of them.
The antagonists of the series
In this section we see all the most evil characters in the saga, in particular we have chosen three, Voldemort, Bellatrix and Draco Malfoy.
These antagonists are important within the plot, often causing a great deal of trouble for Harry and his friends and usually pursuing evil ends throughout the story.
Lord Voldemort
Lord Voldemort, whose real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, is the main antagonist of the series. At Hogwarts, it is said that one should avoid calling him by name because he brings misfortune, so he is often called “You-Know-Who,” “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” or “the Dark Lord.” Voldemort is an English half-blood wizard who is considered the most powerful and dangerous dark wizard of all time. He is one of the greatest wizards who ever lived, often considered one of the most powerful wizards in history, slightly inferior only to Merlin and Dumbledore. Voldemort pursues ideals of blood purity and superiority of the magical population over Muggles.
When he comes to power in the years before the saga begins, he starts a dark period of repression and fear that ends when he attempts to kill Harry Potter. In fact, the deadly spell cast against him backfires, reducing him to a bodiless shadow for many years and depriving him of most of his powers. When he regains a physical body, his goal is to repossess the magical world and obtain immortality.
His followers include Death Eaters, dark wizards who like him profess the supremacy of wizards over Muggles and the importance of blood purity. All Death Eaters eliminate those who oppose their plans and have a symbol on their left arm depicting a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth, called the black mark.
Tom Riddle as a young man is described as good-looking, with a pale complexion, dark hair and brown eyes. Later, as he continues to divide his soul into various Horcruxes, his appearance changes becoming less and less human. His eyes turn red with a vertical pupil like reptiles, his face becomes even paler, his hair falls out completely leaving him devoid, his lips and nose recede, leaving only two slits as nostrils.
Character: Voldemort is the absolute embodiment of evil; he is cold, sadistic and cruel; he loves to kill people just for fun, usually without torturing them; he is unable to feel any form of empathy, compassion or remorse. He has no regard for other people’s lives and does not understand positive feelings such as love, friendship and sacrifice. His main flaws, which are also the causes of his failures, are his arrogance and vanity.
In fact, the dark lord always refuses to admit his mistakes, often blaming his followers or chance. Rowling explained the main reason for Voldemort’s inability to feel empathy and love toward other people. Practically, Tom Riddle was conceived while his father was under the influence of a powerful love potion; some effects of this potion caused the child to be born without being able to have feelings like normal people.
Powers and abilities: Voldemort even as a young man could use his magical power to move objects, manipulate animals, and make very bad things happen to those who annoyed him. The dark lord is feared to be one of the most powerful wizards of all time, so much so that he can hold his own against Dumbledore, considered the best wizard of his time. Voldemortis also the first to discover the method of flying without the use of a broomstick; he will also teach it to Snape. He seems to be the only dark wizard who has created more than one Horcrux, and as a result of this, he has continually torn apart his soul, undergoing severe physical mutations.
In some speeches he admits to pushing the limits of magic more than any other wizard in existence. Because he is a direct lineal descendant of Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts from which the House of the same name was born, the dark lord is able to speak Slytherin. Another ability of Voldemort is related to the dark arts and is the ability to summon and control the underworld and possess living creatures.
Wand, animals and magical objects: Voldemort’s wand is made of yew wood; the sap of this tree is poisonous and often symbolizes death. The core is made of a feather from Fanny, Dumbledore’s phoenix, from which the feather found in the core of Harry’s wand is also derived; this created an anomalous link between the two wands. He later manages to get his hands on the legendary Elder Wand, which he steals from the grave of its previous owner, Albus Dumbledore.
Voldemort created a total of 7 Horcruxes, bewitched objects that contain part of the creator’s soul. Each of his Horcruxes is associated with a particular murder committed by him and is hidden in places significant to him. Of the 7 Horcruxes he created, 6 were voluntarily created and they are: the diary of Tom Riddle, the locket of Slytherin, the ring of Orvoloson, the diadem of Ravenclaw, the cup of Hufflepuff and Nagini.
Nagini is Voldemort’s snake, follows him everywhere and is used to carry out some murders. Added to these 6 Horcruxes is Harry Potter, who is involuntarily turned into a Horcrux by Voldemort when he tries to kill him. The piece of Voldemort’s soul present in Harry creates a mental and empathic connection between the two, and gives the young man the ability to speak Serpentine.
Bellatrix Lestrange
Bellatrix “Bella” Black is a full-blooded witch and a Death Eater. This witch is one of Lord Voldemort’s most loyal and ruthless followers during the First and Second Wizarding Wars, where in order to help him she commits a great many crimes. Bellatrix is the sister of Narcissa Malfoy and the cousin of Sirius Black, maternal aunt of Draco Malfoy and Nymphadora Tonks. During his youth he entered Hogwarts by inserting himself into the House of Slytherin, as did his entire family. Later, Bellatrix marries Rodolphus Lestrange, a Pureblood wizard, and when Lord Voldemort takes power, both she and her husband become Death Eaters. She is often described as a very beautiful woman with unkempt features due to her long years in Azkaban; she has brown eyes and long curly brown hair.
Character: This witch is extraordinarily gifted and completely without conscience; she is also arrogant, cynical and cruel, completely obsessed with Voldemort and firmly believes his reasoning about blood purity. She has very similar character traits to the dark lord, but she does not just kill her victims, unlike the latter she loves to torture her prey and appreciates every minute of the agony when she is about to kill them. After Voldemort’s first fall, Bellatrix is imprisoned in Azkaban prison along with her husband and brother-in-law Rabastan Lestrange. This period of imprisonment makes her more insane, paranoid, and willing to give her life to follow her questionable ideals.
Powers and skills: Bellatrix is a great expert in dark magic since she was personally trained by Voldemort. She in turn instructed her nephew Draco Malfoy in person, teaching him spells, dark potions, curses and even the art of Occlumency at a rather advanced level. Because she really likes to torture people before killing them, she is a veteran at using the Cruciatus curse, which she uses in so many confrontations. Bellatrix also is a formidable fighter and is the most powerful Death Eater in duels, usually wins magic fights with great ease and can handle knives very well.
Wand, animals and magical objects: Bellatrix’s first wand is made of walnut wood, with a core of dragon heartstrings. Wands with this type of core produce the most spectacular spells and are best suited for the Dark Arts. After this wand is taken from her by Hermione, she uses another wand of unknown wood and core. Bellatrix owns a replica of the Sword of Gryffindor, which she keeps in her vault and which she believes is the real sword, even though hers is not actually the original one.
Draco Malfoy
Draco Lucius Malfoy is one of the main antagonists in the series, Harry Potter’s eternal rival and enemy both at school and ideologically. He is the last son of the noble pureblood Malfoy family, known for its emphasis on blood purity and support for Lord Voldemort. During his last years at Hogwarts he joined the Death Eaters, but became quite disappointed and disgusted with the methods and brutalities carried out by this faction. Draco is a pale young man with a sharp face, straight platinum blond hair and light gray eyes.
Character: Because of the ideology instilled in him by the Malfoy family, especially by his father Lucius, he believes that witches and Muggle-born wizards should be denied magic education since their blood is impure. From the start he is an arrogant, spoiled, racist and classist character, convinced of his superiority to other students. In his early years at Hogwarts, he is a bully who loves to hit other students’ weak spots. Later his true personality is revealed, that of a very insecure boy who has always tried to please first his father and then Voldemort to pursue an ideology imposed by others on him.
Powers and abilities: Draco has been a talented wizard from a young age and possesses impressive magical abilities. Thanks to the teachings of his Aunt Bellatrix, Draco quickly became a skilled wizard from an early age. His best skills include knowledge and great ability to create potions and defense against the dark arts. He also has great skills in the dark arts, transfiguration and occlumency spells. Very gifted in duels and is also very good at flying, which makes him a very gifted Quidditch player.
Wand, animals and magical objects: Draco’s wand is made of hawthorn wood with unicorn tail hair. After disarming Dumbledore he unwittingly becomes the master of the Elder Wand, one of the Deathly Hallows. After being in turn disarmed by Harry he loses possession of both his wand and the Elder Wand, which thus pass to the protagonist. Draco owns an eagle owl that delivers packages to him daily usually containing sweets sent by his mother. Draco possesses the Hand of Glory, a dark artifact, a withered hand that creates a source of illumination for the bearer, in whatever environment it is used. His possessions include a Time-Turner that allows him to travel into the past.
