The Definitive Ranking of Harry Potter Characters

Introduction

Ranking the Harry Potter characters was no easy task, but one that was actually pretty fun to do. With a writing as compelling and well-written as J.K. Rowling's incomparable Harry Potter, it's easier to do than it is with most. Obviously, like with any well-written piece of literature, conflicts and disagreements are sure to arise, and I welcome discussion and debate, as this list is little more than my opinion.

I wanted this to be a little more organized and unbiased than it would be if I simply rated them as my favorites, so I devised a system. Feel free to play along. It actually surprised me a little how high (or low) people ended up. For those of you that would like to play along, or just know what's coming, here's a list of the people included in the list and the criteria on which they were judged. I chose 44 characters, each of which were given a rating of 1-10 on each of 12 categories. The ratings were then added up and sorted, lowest to highest.

Characters involved (in no particular order):

Harry Potter

Hermione Granger

Ron Weasley

Arthur Weasley

Molly Weasley

Percy Weasley

Bill Weasley

Fleur DeLacour

Fred/George Weasley

Ginny Weasley

Neville Longbottom

Luna Lovegood

Rubeus Hagrid

Albus Dumbledore

Severus Snape

Remus Lupin

Alastor Moody

Sirius Black

Dobby

Draco Malfoy

Narcissa Malfoy

Horace Slughorn

Nymphadora Tonks

Minerva McGonnagal

Cornelius Fudge

Seamus Finnegan

Dean Thomas

Gilderoy Lockhart

Gregory Goyle/Vincent Crabbe

James Potter

Lily Potter

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Viktor Krum

Lavender Brown

Padma/Parvati Patil

Kreacher

Griphook

Sybill Trewlaney

Filius Flitwick

Petunia Dursley

Dudley Dursley

Cho Chang

Cedric Diggory

Argus Filch

You'll notice this list is all but devoid of villains. That's because the good villains, I thought, deserved their own list because they should not and cannot be graded on the same criteria as the good characters. The exceptions are Crabbe and Goyle, because they're too stupid and useless to be considered villains, and Petunia, Dudley, and Draco, because they showed quite a bit of growth and I would argue that they weren't villains by the end of the series.

Here are the criteria I judged them on:

1. Growth: Did the character change for the better throughout the course of the series?

2. Intelligence: Is the character considered smart? Do they make wise decisions and contribute to the story in a positive way?

3. Plot importance: Would the story be drastically different if this character was removed? How many significant plot points is the character directly involved in?

4. Character importance: Is this character important to other people? Does this character help other characters grow as people? How many significant relationships does this character have?

5. Humor: Does the character, purposely or accidentally, contribute to the humor of the series? Does this character lighten the dark tone of some of the series' story lines?

6.Strength: Is this character capable of withstanding the trials that are thrown at them?

7. Bravery: Does the character put themselves in dangerous or adverse circumstances to save others? Does the character stand up for themselves and for others? Is the character consistently standing up for the cause of right?

8. Relatability: Does the character's story line mirror a significant struggle in the lives of real people? Can you sympathize with the character on a personal level?

9. Power: Does the character's wizard abilities (or other comparable skills) show in their everyday lives? Is the character able to defend him/herself and others? Is the character in control of the skills he/she has?

10. Back story: Do we know all of the relevant information about this character? Do we know why they behave the way they do? Do we know anything about the character's past?

11. Ambition: Does the character have goals? Are the character's goals motivated by their own ambitions or by those of others? Does the character strive to make those goals a reality?

12. Compassion: Is the character kind to other characters? Does the character have an ability to empathize with and comfort others?

Each was graded on a scale of 1-10 and given a total possible score of 120. So make your list if you want, and then take a look at mine! I'd love to hear your feedback, whether you play along or not. As I go through my list, I'll give you a brief summary of my opinion on the character  as well as my total score for each character.

** If you are playing along, I broke ties based on score in character importance, then by plot importance, and then strength.