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The Harry Potter universe remains as beloved and relevant as ever, as evidenced by things such as the Royal Ontario Museum’s Fantastic Beasts: The Nature of Beast exhibit or the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy game. With elements like complex characters, a vast fantasy world, and important themes of grief and morality, the series’ storyline was further compelled by its sinister villains.
From Quirrell to Lucius, the series is rich with intriguing villains who posed a threat to Harry and his loved ones. Like any other characters, the most wicked people and the deadliest Death Eaters made mistakes throughout their lifetimes, with some decisions emerging as more questionable than others.
Quirinus Quirrell – Trying To Kill Harry During Quidditch
Although he proved not to be a formidable nor a long-lasting opponent to Harry Potter, Professor Quirrell was the vessel through which the Chosen One first encountered his mortal enemy, Voldemort. While Quirrell proved to be more clever than assumed – using his exaggerated stammer and awkward personality to avoid suspicion – his decision to try and kill Harry during the Quidditch match doesn’t make much sense.
Quirrell also knew better, considering Harry’s importance in Voldemort’s eventual return and the Dark Lord’s constant insistence on killing Harry himself and head-on. Given Quirrell’s small role and dispensable nature, his attempts to try and dispose of his master’s prized kill himself in the series make very little sense.
Gilderoy Lockhart – Exposing His Secrets
His jovial and ridiculous nature are reasons Gilderoy Lockhart is often summarized with memes than being remembered as a villain. However, his actions both before and in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets prove him to be one of the more nefarious characters.
Having gotten away with his terrible and immoral rise of fame for so long, it makes little sense why Lockhart would choose to expose his biggest Obliviate-ing secrets to Harry and Ron, no matter how characteristically overconfident he was feeling at the moment. He could have avoided this circumstance if he ran away, kept his cool, and stayed hidden behind his facade, as he had for years already.
Lucius Malfoy – Sending Tom’s Diary To Hogwarts
Although the Malfoys did plenty of noble things in Harry Potter, Lucius is one of the most prominent villains throughout the series, forever branded as a Death Eater and adding to many of Harry’s misfortunes. Despite being a decent villain, Lucius was too prone to questionable choices, the epitome being his decision to slip Tom Riddle’s diary to Ginny.
Although he had some reasons for doing so, Lucius willingly placing a valuable possession of his Dark Lord into the hands of Draco’s schoolmate makes little sense. He knew of its role with the Chamber, which was supposedly meant to safe keep it for Tom. While The Half-Blood Prince notes that he does get reprimanded for his fatal mistake, such a foolishly miscalculated move seems out of character for the careful and bigoted pureblood.
Peter Pettigrew – Staying With The Weasleys
While not the bravest nor most ruthless villains, Peter Pettigrew was certainly the most resourceful and clever, using his menacing mind to escape capture and earn Voldemort’s favor. Even though his plan to frame Sirius and avoid detection for years was ingenious and effective, his decision to stay with the Weasleys is questionable.
The Weasleys had close ties to the Ministry and much of the Wizarding World, meaning a constant threat of exposure and fear for Pettigrew. Given his nervous and cowardly personality, it’s nonsensical he would choose to stay so close to his crimes rather than flee far away or even live with the rats he communicated with in Albania, something only books fans know about Peter.
Severus Snape – Constantly Bullying Students
Severus Snape’s role in the series has been heavily contested since his character’s revelations in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, with his actions blurring the line between hero and villain. However, from the perspectives of many Harry Potter characters, Snape is undeniably a villain, especially for a lot of his students.
Despite his dark personality and dry wit, Snape has no reason to treat his students as terribly as he does, even from a villain’s standpoint. Not only does his decision to treat his pupils with sheer disrespect further complicate his “redemption,” but it is also completely unnecessary for either of his double agent acts and violates many boundaries for his position of power.
Lord Voldemort – Leaving Kreacher To Die (Only To Escape & Live)
Voldemort is easily one of the series’ most popular characters, being the subject of everything from memes to fanfics to ideas for his own Harry Potter spin-offs that fans want to see. But while he is a worthy and powerful antagonist, he makes a few questionable choices, especially leaving Kreacher alone in the cave where he hid his locket Horcrux.
Although Hermione is right that he likely didn’t think enough of house elves to assume Kreacher could escape, leaving behind a witness seems like a silly oversight for the notorious and sinister wizard. It is also uncharacteristic for the theatric-chasing and torture-loving Tom to leave before seeing another victim die, an odd and crucial decision that leads to his downfall.
Barty Crouch Jr. – Telling Harry Everything
Among the many things that annoy fans after re-watching Goblet of Fire is how the film completely destroys the surprise reveal that Barty Crouch Jr. is indeed alive and impersonating Mad-Eye Moody. In doing so, the film also undermines the weight of Barty’s most questionable decision: willingly revealing his identity to Harry in a moment of reverence for his returned Dark Lord.
Seeing the lengths at which Barty went to keep himself hidden in plain sight, his decision to risk it all just to praise Voldemort and rave about his own loyalty seems ridiculous. Considering Barty was Imperius-ed by his father and lived under an invisibility cloak, he threw his newfound freedom for a fleeting moment of pride.
Dolores Umbridge – Sacking Sybill
Widely regarded as being even more menacing than Lord Voldemort himself, Dolores Umbridge is one of the most fervently hated Harry Potter villains. Her most undeniably questionable decision is when she not only fires Professor Trelawney but also tries to evict her from Hogwarts.
Although not beyond flexing her power and Ministry influence, Dolores is not a stranger to winning over favor from others and rising to higher ranks as proven by her history. As such, a bold move that isolates her from her Hogwarts peers was not the way to try and rule the school, especially since it only leads to her being humbled by Dumbledore.
Bellatrix LeStrange – Having A Relationship With Voldemort
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With the many quotes that prove Bellatrix is the evilest character in Harry Potter, it’s hard to imagine her being maternal or even remotely loving bone in any sense. While this remains undisputed, Bellatrix does surprisingly have a child, as revealed in The Cursed Child, with none other than the master of her dreams – Lord Voldemort.
This decision to have a relationship with Voldemort is undoubtedly the villainess’ most questionable one. Although Bellatrix did prove her unwavering devotion to Voldemort and his cause, she was also very much married. Not to mention, her prejudiced beliefs about pure-bloods should have put off a relationship with the wicked half-blood, even if she was arguably in love with him.
Lord Voldemort – Prioritizing Theatrics
Tom Marvolo Riddle is constantly posited as a terrifying wizard and an overpowered opponent for anyone who crosses the Dark Lord’s path. However, when it comes to Harry Potter, it’s clear that Voldemort prioritizes his theatrics and suspense more than getting to business and just getting rid of the Chosen One.
Whether it be at the graveyard in The Goblet of Fire or his baiting in Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort proves time and again that he relishes in slowly torturing the boy. Since Harry was the one that caused his initial demise, it would make sense for Voldemort to put aside his ego and constantly plot to quickly dispose of his one worthy opponent. Unfortunately for him, this questionable decision of his proves to be fatal for the notorious wizard.
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