17. Severus Snape
Easily the most beloved evil character in the series. He loved Lily Potter so much he was willing to sacrifice everything to protect her son; but if he hadn’t gone over to the Death Eaters, Snape may not have lost her to begin with.
16. Draco Malfoy
Oh Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret. Generally an insufferable git the entire series, Draco is forced to understand how evil Voldemort really is, and makes a choice not to go down that path. Yay redemption!
15. Rita Skeeter
A hack journalist who outed Hagrid as a giant, Rita Skeeter isn’t really “evil” as much as she is pretty obnoxious. But when Hermione learns her secret and has Rita publish a tell-all in the Quibbler, revenge never tasted sweeter.
14. Cornelius Fudge
Fudge seemed like such a kindly old wizard in the beginning of the series, what with helping Harry and generally being an inoffensive Minister of Magic. But when he refuses to believe Voldemort has returned, we are finally given a glimpse of what a coward he really is.
13. Dementors
They suck out your soul and feed on happiness. They probably don’t send out personalized Christmas cards.
12. Professor Quirrell
Quirinus Quirrell is the epitome of weakness and blind obedience. And really, if your master needs to share the back of your head in order to survive, best get out of that particular fan club.
11. Yaxley
One of the snatchers, and a thoroughly unpleasant person to be around. Also he is the reason Ron got splinched (and thus went through his super emotional phase), and that cannot be forgiven.
10. The Dursleys
Vernon and Petunia were so cruel to Harry for his ENTIRE life, just because Lily and James were magical (and thus more awesome). That type of terrible parenting and general evilness cannot be ignored. Even though Dudley turned it around in the end.
9. Lucius Malfoy
What kind of sadistic creep puts an evil diary belonging to his dead master into the cauldron of an ELEVEN year-old girl? Lucius Malfoy, that’s who. He who’s hair must not be tamed only loved his family, and everyone else just didn’t matter at all. Not a nice guy.
8. Amycus and Alecto Carrow
They tortured Neville and Ginny. And just really really are terrifying to look at.
7. Fenrir Greyback
He bit Remus Lupin and murdered Lavender Brown. Pure evil, we were glad to see him go.
6. Gellert Grindelwald
The second-most famous Dark wizard of all time and the wizard responsible for years of prejudice due to his motto “For the Greater Good”, Grindelwald was NOT a good person. Even though he and Dumbledore were besties, he had a hand in Ariana’s death and then ran, which is a very cowardly thing to do.
5. Peter Pettigrew
Peter Pettigrew had the best of friends, but betrayed them because he was so weak self-conscious about his own personal failings. Peter deserved to be crushed by his own giant silver hand.
4. Barty Crouch Jr.
Even though Barty Crouch Jr. probably had a pretty rough childhood (would you want Mr. Crouch as your father?), his crimes were way beyond just acting out. He participated in the torture of the Longbottoms, kept Mad-Eye Moody in the bottom of a magical trunk, and basically led Cedric to his death. Not a keeper.
3. Bellatrix Lestrange
Legititmately one of the most insane and deeply evil characters in the Harry Potter series, Bellatrix has no redeeming qualities. She tortured Neville’s parents, and she KILLED DOBBY. NEVER FORGET.
But this is always nice to remember.
2. Voldemort
What more can be said about one of the most famous evil characters in the history of fiction? Voldemort was pure evil from the day he was born, and never once showed any hint of goodness. But as the the most evil character in Harry Potter, he sadly falls one short.
1. Dolores Umbridge
As its been said, Voldemort may have been the biggest bad in the Harry Potterseries, but Dolores Umridge was the most human evil - and thus the scariest. She represented everything wrong with people who are put in position of power and abuse it for their own personal gain. Umbridge discriminated against those creatures who were different, and was perfectly content to allow many individuals to suffer if it meant a smoother running system.
