Across eight films, the wizarding world has seen some of the most sinister of figures found within the fantasy genre. Not every one was clearly marked as being evil. There was an extra layer of believability applied to humanize them. They appeared in a world full of magic, but some were capable of living off the screen as well.
Behind a smiling face or colorful quirkiness is an antagonist out to secure their own safety and personal gain. But a truly vile villain with no redeeming qualities can work wonders too. One of the frequent creatures seen in the film’s universe might be even more threatening than Voldemort. Fans can figure out what makes the Dark Lord tick, but something not human is another story altogether.
13. Nagini
There were a lot of snakes in the movies. For fans with ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), Nagini probably won’t be making their list of character favorites. At the beck and call of Voldemort and being one of his Horcruxes, Nagini’s presence is first seen in the opening of Goblet of Fire where she attacks a fed-up landlord. What was made instantly clear from that moment on, is that Nagini was certainly not the friendly boa Harry let loose from the zoo in the first film, although there was a theory floating around in cyberspace saying the opposite.
Keen-eyed viewers might realize the design of Nagini seen in Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince is different to what appeared in the final two installments. And that was on purpose. The real snake that was used to create Nagini was getting up there in age. A Reticulated Python named Ticky got the role, with a few previous onscreen credits. A new one was decided to be brought in and that’s the one seen in the redesign. As for Ticky, although his species can live up to thirty years, he sadly passed away from cancer in 2015.
12. Peter Pettigrew
Pettigrew is seen for the first time in human form in Prisoner of Azkaban (played by Timothy Spall), but we have been watching him in plain sight for the previous two years as he is disguised as Ron’s pet rat, Scabbers. It's creepy enough for Ron to realize that he's been carrying around a Death Eater for years, but it is also revealed that Pettigrew is responsible for telling Voldemort of Lily and James Potter's whereabouts, leading to their deaths, not Sirius Black (Gary Oldman). The only shame with Pettigrew in the films is the lack of payoff with his death. In the first part of Deathly Hallows, he’s quickly dispatched although his ultimate fate is not focused on. Which is very different in the books. Despite that and Pettigrew’s cowardly interactions with Harry and the boy’s allies, he is not someone to mess with. The Killing Curse by his own wand was what killed Cedric Diggory.
11. Severus Snape
Although he was not the traitor and Death Eater his shadiness hinted at, Snape was one of the best foes of Harry for a single reason. He hated the boy and yet did all he could to protect him in order to keep a piece of Lily Potter alive. Nothing gets more complicated than that. Having Alan Rickman play the role with a sense of menace helped audiences unfamiliar with the books be on edge whenever he arrived on screen. No one was going to know his motives unless he specifically allowed the information to be known. He was never going to kill Harry but up until the moment we learn as to why ("always"), audiences were never sure and that sums up the dubious nature of Snape perfectly.
10. Lucius Malfoy
Actor Jason Isaacs knows how to sneer his lines of dialogue. His favorite cane and the dead straight strands of blonde hair showcase his pampered lifestyle. His loyalties lie with whoever he believes will come out on top and his Death Eater status reveals itself as Lucius's downfall as Voldemort gains more and more power. By the finale, Isaacs looks haggard and utterly exhausted in the role of the head Malfoy. He was never a truly evil individual but his shifting moral compass didn’t do him favors.
9. The Dursleys
The aunt, uncle, and cousin to Harry are truly the most unpleasant of Muggles. Petunia and Vernon in particular are horrible to their nephew, and it seems less that they’re afraid of his magic and more out of spite. They confine Harry on multiple fronts, from keeping him away from the mail sent by Hogwarts to moving onto a nearly inhabitable rocky island so Harry won’t learn his true origins. Each time he’s had to return to their house, something always comes up to show how much the Dursleys don’t care for Harry. When it comes time for them to part ways with their nephew, they do so quietly. Maybe Harry's cousin Dudley can’t be blamed too much for his feelings and actions against Harry, just look at the role models he has in his parents. As for Vernon’s sister, Marjorie, she only popped in once but after she revealed her disparaging comments on the Potters, a simple bit of inflation magic solved that!
8. Gilderoy Lockhart
Played by Kenneth Branagh, Lockhart could be seen as the precursor to Dolores Umbridge. Both were magical characters that hid behind their friendly facades, only to expose pure selfishness underneath. Lockhart was the first of slips of reality being placed within the magical worlds, not even here was safe from celebrities looking for surface-level success. He went so far as to prepare to claim credit for discovering the Chamber of Secrets by obliterating the minds of Harry and Ron. But a big thanks should go to the Weasley with a broken wand for saving their lives.
7. Basilisk
The great and terrible serpent that lived within the mysterious Chamber. An indirect sighting of the beast would leave the unlucky victim petrified, a frozen state, but if you make direct eye contact with the monster, it's instant death. Perhaps what really sold the danger of this creature, was the dedication behind the scenes. A full-size animatronic was built to limit the amount of CGI needed. Not only was it a massive thing in itself, with a set of jaws three feet deep and a body reaching 30 feet in length, but it could also “slither” up to its costars.
6. Professor Quirrell
There would be other villains revealed in plot twists further into the franchise, but the first one might remain the best. The awkwardness of Quirrell and his stunted speech pattern are never used to ridicule him. For most of Sorcerer's Stone, those character ticks are applied to create a likable character but once Professor Quirrell reveals his true intentions, those mannerisms still are intact. Yet he still has a danger to him and holding Voldemort within him adds to it. In another aspect, Professor Quirrell was the perfect first villain for Harry to come against. Being so young and inexperienced, there was no way Harry could have dueled someone else. The revelation that a simple touch from Harry could disintegrate Quirrell thanks to his late mother’s protection, opened the door for many other revelations the future films would dive into.
5. Bellatrix Lestrange
A cackling Helena Bonham Carter is a pleasure for any film franchise. There’s a twisted, youthful giddiness to Bellatrix, and it's a marvel to witness. Plenty of positive reception has celebrated the casting for the Harry Potter characters. Carter as Lestrange is just another of those terrific choices made, but she was not the first for the role. The late actress Helen McCrory secured it originally but left after getting pregnant. Carter was brought on and McCrory gave her own stamp in the series by being brought in as Draco’s mother, Narcissa. In an interview with EW, Carter described what she gave to the character. “I think I probably made her a bit more insane and unhinged than she was meant to be. I wanted to be conspicuous. So the rotten teeth were my idea because she had been in prison so long. I wanted her to be quite savage."
4. Lord Voldemort
With his penchant for screaming out inaudible sounds, the Dark Lord was so deadly and sure of his invincibility, he walked around barefoot when he regained human form. A billowing black robe and slits for a nose solidified his villainous appearance. Actor Ralph Fiennes delivered again and again for his performance as the ultimate foe of the franchise. There was a lot of build-up to him, starting with the fear of characters not wanting to even utter his name as if something as small as that would resurrect him. With so much power, Fiennes needed to fit the vicious role, and although he got his duel with Harry in the finale of the films, it was the duel between himself and Dumbledore in Order of the Phoenix that helped cement the danger he posed. If someone as legendary as the Hogwarts headmaster with his wand skills found his equal, what could that mean for everyone else?
3. Draco Malfoy
Voldemort may be considered Harry’s polar opposite, the two seen as moralistic yin and yang, but what about Draco? Unlike Voldemort and many of the other villains in the film series, Draco (Tom Felton) and Harry have drifted through each other’s lives in school since their first year at Hogwarts. Before Harry even knew there was a bigger threat around him, Draco proved to be his foil. Spoiled with parents and a position among the upper-class in the wizarding world, Draco had what Harry never did. But the young Malfoy was corrupted by his family.
He wasn’t evil, but he tried, again and again, to get back at the Boy Who Lived even when it was something as petty as telling McGonagall that the trio were out of bed after hours. If Deathly Hallows was the finale to Harry's conflict with Voldemort, Half-Blood Prince brought the arc between Harry and Draco to a climax with a violent clash in a Hogwarts bathroom. Afflicted with gashes by the Sectumsempra curse, Draco nearly died by Harry's wand. He survived and along with his family, eventually made their escape from Voldemort.
2. Dolores Umbridge
Black is the Death Eaters color. Pink is the armor of Umbridge, with a too realistic hatefulness hiding beneath her hyper-femininity. Someone absolutely evil is safely left to fiction. Dolores Umbridge is the kind of evil that can surface in reality. Played by Imelda Staunton with a constant smirk or giggle, this short woman would stare up at you with the coldest of looks. She’s introduced in Order of the Phoenix, the film that showed even more of the murky side of politics in the wizarding world.
You don’t have to be in cohorts with the Dark Lord to hold your own dark inhibitions. Maybe the most fascinating aspect to Umbridge is her theme song that follows when she begins to enact the various restrictions in Hogwarts as the new headmistress. It’s incredibly pleasing to the ear but it makes something as innocent as doing your chores into a nefarious action. There is no better description of Umbridge than a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
1. Dementors
Absolutely no motivations except a hunger for a soul is what drives these cloaked monstrosities. Nothing is scarier than that, except their faceless appearance with a gaping hole to use against their victims. Although plenty of Harry’s foes have had distinct and colorful personalities, the Dementors lack anything close to human. Used as the guards of Azkaban, hints of their approach are especially unsettling, from the darkness and clouds that collect overheard, to the frost that tints windows and the chilly air that fills up their destination. Perhaps if there’s any good that could come from surviving an encounter with one, it’s the chocolate you have to eat. The spell that protects one from these creatures is the patronus, one of the most important spells used in the franchise.