History HateSink / HarryPotter

* For the early part of the series, Severus Snape largely acts as a cruel, bitter, and absurdly unfair {{Jerkass}}. Even as the series progresses and his backstory and HiddenDepths are revealed, he never truly stops being a petty and spiteful bully towards Harry and one of his major antagonists in his school life. This changes somewhat in Book 5 when Umbridge quickly turns out to be far worse than him, and then there's Book 7, when we find out [[spoiler:just how much of a ([[AntiHero morally grey]]) hero he was all along despite remaining a cruel, bitter and absurdly unfair SadistTeacher]].
** Book 3 features Snape at his most detestable. With very little of the DeadpanSnarker on display, he sadistically tortures Neville openly in class, insults another teacher publicly in front of his students, and in the end [[spoiler: gleefully looks forward to feeding a man to Dementors even when he was willing to come quietly and requested a fair hearing. When it's clear that he won't listen to reason, the trio resort to knocking him unconscious. After the climax, he gets in one last act of spite by outing Lupin as a werewolf (which he had already tried, more subtly, at least once earlier in the year)]].

** Book 3 features Snape at his most detestable. With very little of the DeadpanSnarker on display, sadistically torturing Neville openly in class, insulting another teacher publicly in front of his students, and in the end [[spoiler: gleefully looking forward to feeding a man to Dementors even when he was willing to come quietly and requested a fair hearing. When it's clear that he won't listen to reason, the trio resort to knocking him unconscious. After the climax, he gets in one last act of spite by outing Lupin as a werewolf (which he had already tried, more subtly, at least once earlier in the year)]].

* [[CorruptBureaucrat Cornelius]] [[ObstructiveZealot Fudge]] is first presented as something of a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, but by the end of Book 4 and throughout Book 5, he shows his true colours: that of a corrupt, cowardly, greedy, xenophobic moron who puts the entire world in danger by ignoring Voldemort's return. To do this, he launches a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore ([[UngratefulBastard despite the latter always gave him helpful advice during his years in office]]) and puts the former through a KangarooCourt where he acts incredibly smug and refuses to let Harry state his case. He also puts too much importance on so-called blood purity, having held back Arthur Weasley to low-paying positions within the Ministry because of Arthur's like of and fascination toward Muggles, considering Arthur to lack proper wizarding pride, while continuing to associate with Lucius Malfoy, a former Death Eater. [[EntitledBastard Eventually when the truth about Voldemort's return is revealed, he wants Harry to help him despite everything he did]], leaving Harry and Dumbledore disgusted.

* [[ObstructiveZealot Cornelius Fudge]] is first presented as something of a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, but by the end of Book 4 and throughout Book 5, he shows his true colours: that of a corrupt, cowardly, greedy, xenophobic moron who puts the entire world in danger by ignoring Voldemort's return. To do this, he launches a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore ([[UngratefulBastard despite the latter always gave him helpful advice during his years in office]]) and puts the former through a KangarooCourt where he acts incredibly smug and refuses to let Harry state his case. He also puts too much importance on so-called blood purity, having held back Arthur Weasley to low-paying positions within the Ministry because of Arthur's like of and fascination toward Muggles, considering Arthur to lack proper wizarding pride, while continuing to associate with Lucius Malfoy, a former Death Eater. [[EntitledBastard Eventually when the truth about Voldemort's return is revealed, he wants Harry to help him despite everything he did]], leaving Harry and Dumbledore disgusted.

* [[SadistTeacher Dolores]] [[BoomerangBigot Jane]] [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Umbridge]]. Full-stop. She uses her position at Hogwarts to undermine Harry and Dumbledore for daring to tell the truth about Voldemort's return, and outright tortures Harry by forcing him to magically carve the words "I must not tell lies" into his own hand. She hides all of her horrible traits under a [[SugaryMalice sugary-sweet mask]], lacking even the LoveToHate charisma of Voldemort. In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'', Umbridge demonstrates the consequences of giving power to a bigot, promoting hatred towards Muggle-borns, depriving students of the capacity to learn self-defense, and [[FantasticRacism disrespecting the inhabitants of the Forbidden Forest]]. In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'', she graduates from "mere" petty cruelty to outright assisting with genocide, charging Muggle-borns with "stealing magic". Whether she is an undercover Death Eater or merely an opportunist jumping at the chance to [[{{Sadist}} cause pain to a large number of people]] is never confirmed. Creator/StephenKing described her as "the most despicable person since Franchise/HannibalLecter", and this comes from the man who created [[Literature/{{Misery}} Annie Wilkes]], [[Literature/{{It}} Pennywise]] and [[Literature/TheStand Randall Flagg]].

* ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'': Mary Lou Barebone is an odious Bible-thumping [[FantasticRacism wizard-hater]] who [[AbusiveParents beats her foster children]] and spreads slanderous anti-wizard propaganda around New York, all the while hiding behind an infuriatingly preening mask of [[KnightTemplar arrogant righteousness.]] If that wasn't bad enough, she's also directly responsible for [[spoiler: getting Tina Goldstein fired when she used magic to try to defend [[TheUnfavorite Credence]] from Mary's violent abuse.]] She's such a horrible mother and so fanatically anti-magic that she makes the ''[[MuggleFosterParents Dursleys]]'' look positively sanctified in comparison. [[spoiler:It is impossible to feel even the slightest bit of sympathy for her when [[TheDogBitesBack Credence lashes out with his powers]] and she dies wearing an expression of [[KickTheSonOfABitch obviously horrific agony]].]]

* [[ObstructiveZealot Cornelius Fudge]] is first presented as something of a ReasonableAuthority Figure, but by the end of Book 4 and throughout Book 5, he shows his true colours: that of a corrupt, cowardly, greedy, xenophobic moron who puts the entire world in danger by ignoring Voldemort's return. To do this, he launches a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore ([[UngratefulBastard despite the latter always gave him helpful advice during his years in office]]) and puts the former through a KangorooCourt where he acts incredibly smug and refuses to let Harry state his case. He also puts too much importance on so-called blood purity, having held back Arthur Weasley to low-paying positions within the Ministry because of Arthur's like of and fascination toward Muggles, considering Arthur to lack proper wizarding pride, while continuing to associate with Lucius Malfoy, a former Death Eater. [[EntitledBastard Eventually when the truth about Voldemort's return is revealed, he wants Harry to help him despite everything he did]], leaving Harry and Dumbledore disgusted.

* [[ObstructiveZealot Cornelius Fudge]] is first presented as something of a ReasonableAuthority Figure, but by the end of Book 4 and throughout Book 5, he shows his true colours: that of a corrupt, cowardly, greedy, xenophobic moron who puts the entire world in danger by ignoring Voldemort's return. To do this, he launches a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore ([[UngratefulBastard despite the latter always gave him helpful advice during his years in office) and puts the former through a KangorooCourt where he acts incredibly smug and refuses to let Harry state his case. He also puts too much importance on so-called blood purity, having held back Arthur Weasley to low-paying positions within the Ministry because of Arthur's like of and fascination toward Muggles, considering Arthur to lack proper wizarding pride, while continuing to associate with Lucius Malfoy, a former Death Eater. [[EntitledBastard Eventually when the truth about Voldemort's return is revealed, he wants Harry to help him despite everything he did]], leaving Harry and Dumbledore disgusted.

* The Dursleys are your archetypal [[Creator/RoaldDahl Dahlian]] abusive family to Harry; although Dudley has a HeelFaceTurn after Harry saves his life from the Dementors, and Aunt Petunia at least has something of a HeelRealization and is ultimately revealed to have somewhat sympathetic reasons for her hatred of the magical world, having been envious of her sister Lily's powers for her whole life, Uncle Vernon is never given any sort of redemptive moment towards Harry. Unlike Petunia, he has no motive for his hatred of magic other than his general disdain for anyone who isn't like him, and he is a vulgar, short-tempered, and petty-minded {{jerkass}} even at the best of times, not to mention encompassing everything [[AuthorTract Rowling herself]] thinks is wrong with British society. He outright encourages Dudley's rude behavior and bullying of Harry, and when he hears that Dementors have been sent after Harry in Little Whinging, his first instinct is to [[MoralEventHorizon kick Harry out of his house]] [[DirtyCoward to save himself, his wife, and his son]], which would most certainly spell a death sentence to the teenage Harry, even [[UngratefulBastard after Harry had saved his son's life]].

* [[SadistTeacher Dolores]] [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Umbridge]] is Senior Undersecretary to Cornelius Fudge when he is at his most irrational. She uses her position at Hogwarts to undermine Harry and Dumbledore for daring to tell the truth about Voldemort's return, and outright tortures Harry by forcing him to magically carve the words "I must not tell lies" into his own hand. She hides all of her horrible traits under a [[SugaryMalice sugary-sweet mask]], lacking even the LoveToHate charisma of Voldemort. In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'', Umbridge demonstrates the consequences of giving power to a bigot, promoting hatred towards Muggle-borns, depriving students of the capacity to learn self-defense, and [[FantasticRacism disrespecting the inhabitants of the Forbidden Forest]]. In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'', she graduates from "mere" petty cruelty to outright assisting with genocide, charging Muggle-borns with "stealing magic". Whether she is a secret Death Eater or merely an opportunist jumping at the chance to [[{{Sadist}} cause pain to a large number of people]] is never confirmed. Creator/StephenKing described her as "the most despicable person since Franchise/HannibalLecter", and this comes from the man who created [[Literature/{{Misery}} Annie Wilkes]], [[Literature/{{It}} Pennywise]] and [[Literature/TheStand Randall Flagg]].

* [[ImmoralJournalist Rita Skeeter]] is a smug, obnoxious [[{{Paparazzi}} paparazzi]] journalist for the ''Daily Prophet'' who has no respect for anyone's privacy, and spends the vast majority of her time writing blatantly false and defamatory articles that just serve to make Harry and Hermione's lives more difficult. Her writings about Harry convince Minister Fudge that Harry is crazy and shouldn't be believed about Voldemort, so she's more responsible for Voldemort's damage than one might think. She even manages to be just as scummy in the ''[[Literature/{{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}} Deathly Hallows]]'' despite not personally appearing. There, she writes a tell-all book about Albus Dumbledore's life and darkest secrets, despite the fact that [[spoiler:[[SpeakIllOfTheDead he was just recently murdered]]]]. She is, notably, the only person in the entire franchise that Dumbledore (including his younger self in ''Film/FantasticBeasts'') treats with outright contempt instead of his usual condescending rudeness he uses on people he doesn’t like. She also makes the detestable, homophobic implication in ''Deathly Hallows'' that Dumbledore has [[AllGaysArePedophiles an "unnatural" interest in Harry]].
* [[SadistTeacher Dolores]] [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Umbridge]] is Senior Undersecretary to Cornelius Fudge when he is at his most irrational. She uses her position at Hogwarts to undermine Harry and Dumbledore for daring to tell the truth about Voldemort's return, and outright tortures Harry by forcing him to magically carve the words "I must not tell lies" into his own hand. She hides all of her horrible traits under a [[SugaryMalice sugary-sweet mask]], lacking even the LoveToHate charisma of Voldemort. In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'', Umbridge demonstrates the consequences of giving power to a bigot, promoting hatred towards Muggle-borns, depriving students of the capacity to learn self-defense, and [[FantasticRacism disrespecting the inhabitants of the Forbidden Forest]]. In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'', she graduates from "mere" petty cruelty to outright assisting with genocide, charging Muggle-borns with "stealing magic". Whether she is a secret Death Eater or merely an opportunist jumping at the chance to [[{{Sadist}} cause pain to a large number of people]] is never confirmed. Stephen King described her as "the most despicable person since [[Literature/SilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]]", and this comes from the man who created [[Literature/{{Misery}} Annie Wilkes]], [[Literature/{{It}} Pennywise]] and [[Literature/TheStand Randall Flagg]].
* Zacharias Smith never does anything evil, but stands out as a particularly obnoxious and annoying character. He joins Dumbledore’s Army, only to complain about everything Harry tries to teach them. He later becomes an incredibly biased Quidditch commentator in the sixth book and makes one final appearance in the seventh book, abandoning Hogwarts before the final battle starts and pushing first years out of his way whilst deserting.

* Pansy Parkinson is portrayed as a one-dimensional AlphaBitch who's rude, insulting, [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain prejudiced]] (topping off the series' usual FantasticRacism with some actual racism towards Angelina Johnson), and cruel with no improvement throughout the series; she's also the only Hogwarts student who wants to [[spoiler:sell out Harry to Voldemort in exchange for safety]]. On top of that, she's [[StupidEvil dumb]] and [[EvilMakesYouUgly ugly]]. Rowling herself [[http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2007/1224-pottercast-anelli.html describes]] her as "...every girl who ever teased me at school ... I loathe her." and she isn't particularly subtle about it.
* Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, manages to be an even bigger {{Jerkass}} and FantasticRacist than his son. He openly insults the Grangers for being Muggles and the Weasleys for being poor, harshly berates his son for his poor grades, glowers at the 14-year-old Hermione for being a Muggle-born, and, in his most loathsome act not directly connected to being a Death Eater, [[spoiler:has the 11-year old Ginny brainwashed to open the Chamber of Secrets]], [[WouldHurtAChild which could have killed several children]] and did result in said children being petrified, intending to take advantage of the situation to have Dumbledore sacked and Arthur Weasley's life ruined, all to settle a [[EvilIsPetty petty grudge]] with Arthur and rid himself of an incriminating dark artifact. This was {{Enforced|Trope}} by Lucius's actor Creator/JasonIsaacs with regard to his film incarnation, as he stated his intent was to make Lucius so hateable as to make Draco more sympathetic by comparison. If anything, the film version of Lucius is [[AdaptationalJerkass even worse]], stepping up from emotionally abusing Draco to hitting him with a cane, and attempting to [[DisproportionateRetribution outright murder Harry]] for foiling his plans in ''Chamber of Secrets''. Like with Draco, this gets subverted in the later books, as his love for his wife and son is presented as a genuine redeeming quality, but WordOfGod states that Lucius ultimately learns nothing from Voldemort's defeat and remains a bitter Muggle-hater in his old age.

* Draco Malfoy is introduced as a {{Jerkass}} FantasticRacist rich kid who thinks he is better than others because he was born in a rich family. As the story progresses he only shows more jerkassery as he openly declares that he wishes to know who the Slytherin's heir is so he could help him kill Muggle-borns, deliberately fake the severity of the injury Buckbeak inflicted on him so Hagrid would be sacked (it doesn't work, but Buckbeak almost gets killed for it), and so on. This is finally subverted in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]''. [[spoiler:Although Draco makes several attempts on Dumbledore's life which almost get two other people killed, he's ultimately shown to be pitiable and is arguably at his most sympathetic as he clearly doesn't want to be a member of the Death Eaters but knows Voldemort will kill him and his family if he fails.]]
* [[BumblingHenchmenDuo Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle]], Draco's two handymen, are essentially Malfoy minus even the ''microscopic'' redeeming qualities that Draco himself possessed, or any motive for their actions beyond being obnoxious, brutish bullies. Having the same personality as Draco but being even dumber, uglier, and crueler, no one was remotely sorry when [[spoiler:Crabbe (Goyle in the movie) [[UndignifiedDeath got himself killed in an unbelievably stupid way]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard by his own misdirected spell]] in an attempt to kill Harry, Hermione, and Ron, making him the only person in the series dumb enough to [[EpicFail die in the Room of Requirement]]]].

* Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, manages to be an even bigger {{Jerkass}} and FantasticRacist than his son. He openly insults the Grangers for being Muggles and the Weasleys for being poor, harshly berates his son for his poor grades, glowers at the 14-year-old Hermione for being a Muggle-born, and, in his most loathsome act not directly connected to being a Death Eater, [[spoiler:has the 11-year old Ginny brainwashed to open the Chamber of Secrets]], [[WouldHurtAChild which could have killed several children]] and did result in said children being petrified, intending to take advantage of the situation to have Dumbledore sacked and Arthur Weasley's life ruined, all to settle a [[EvilIsPetty petty grudge]] with Arthur and rid himself of an incriminating dark artifact. This was {{Enforced|Trope}} by Lucius's actor Creator/JasonIsaacs with regard to his film incarnation, as he stated his intent was to make Lucius so hateable as to make Draco more sympathetic by comparison. If anything, the film version of Lucius is [[AdaptationalJerkass even worse]], stepping up from emotionally abusing Draco to hitting him with a cane, and attempting to [[DisproportionateRetribution outright murder Harry]] for foiling his plans in ''Chamber of Secrets''. Like with Draco, this gets subverted in the later books, as his love for his wife and son is presented as a genuine redeeming quality, but WordOfGod states that Lucius ultimately learns nothing from Voldemort's defeat and remains a bitter Muggle-hater is his old age.

* Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, manages to be an even bigger {{Jerkass}} and FantasticRacist than his son. He openly insults the Grangers for being Muggles and the Weasleys for being poor, harshly berates his son for his poor grades, glowers at the 14-year-old Hermione for being a Muggle-born, and, in his most loathsome act not directly connected to being a Death Eater, [[spoiler:has the 11-year old Ginny brainwashed to open the Chamber of Secrets]], [[WouldHurtAChild which could have killed several children]] and did result in said children being petrified, intending to take advantage of the situation to have Dumbledore sacked and Arthur Weasley's life ruined, all to settle a [[EvilIsPetty petty grudge]] with Arthur and rid himself of an incriminating dark artifact. This was {{Enforced|Trope}} by Lucius's actor Creator/JasonIsaacs with regard to his film incarnation, as his stated his intent was to make Lucius so hateable as to make Draco more sympathetic by comparison. If anything, the film version of Lucius is [[AdaptationalJerkass even worse]], stepping up from emotionally abusing Draco to hitting him with a cane, and attempting to [[DisproportionateRetribution outright murder Harry]] for foiling his plans in ''Chamber of Secrets''. Like with Draco, this gets subverted in the later books, as his love for his wife and son is presented as a genuine redeeming quality, but WordOfGod states that Lucius ultimately learns nothing from Voldemort's defeat and remains a bitter Muggle-hater is his old age.

* Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, manages to be an even bigger {{Jerkass}} and FantasticRacist than his son. He openly insults the Grangers for being Muggles and the Weasleys for being poor, harshly berates his son for his poor grades, glowers at the 14-year-old Hermione for being a Muggle-born, and, in his most loathsome act not directly connected to being a Death Eater, has the 11-year old Ginny brainwashed to open the Chamber of Secrets, [[WouldHurtAChild which could have killed several children]] and did result in said children being petrified, intending to take advantage of the situation to have Dumbledore sacked and Arthur Weasley's life ruined, all to settle a [[EvilIsPetty petty grudge]] with Arthur and rid himself of an incriminating dark artifact. This was {{Enforced|Trope}} by Lucius's actor Creator/JasonIsaacs with regard to his film incarnation, as his stated his intent was to make Lucius so hateable as to make Draco more sympathetic by comparison. If anything, the film version of Lucius is [[AdaptationalJerkass even worse]], stepping up from emotionally abusing Draco to hitting him with a cane, and attempting to [[DisproportionateRetribution outright murder Harry]] for foiling his plans in ''Chamber of Secrets''. Like with Draco, this gets subverted in the later books, as his love for his wife and son is presented as a genuine redeeming quality, but WordOfGod states that Lucius ultimately learns nothing from Voldemort's defeat and remains a bitter Muggle-hater is his old age.

** When Draco starts to become a JerkassWoobie, Hufflepuff student Zacharias Smith picks up slack by taking up some of Draco’s worst traits and having none of his redeeming features. Zacharias joins Dumbledore’s Army, only to complain about everything Harry tries to teach them. He later becomes an incredibly biased Quidditch commentator in the sixth book and makes one final appearance in the seventh book, abandoning Hogwarts before the final battle starts and pushing first years out of his way whilst deserting.

* [[BumblingHenchmenDuo Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle]], Draco's two handymen, are essentially Malfoy minus even the ''microscopic'' redeeming qualities that Draco himself possessed, or any motive for their actions beyond being obnoxious, brutish bullies. Having the same personality as Draco but being even [[InsufferableImbecile dumber]], uglier, and crueler, no one was remotely sorry when [[spoiler:Crabbe (Goyle in the movie) [[UndignifiedDeath got himself killed in an unbelievably stupid way]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard by his own misdirected spell]] in an attempt to kill Harry, Hermione, and Ron, making him the only person in the series dumb enough to [[EpicFail die in the Room of Requirement]]]].

* [[{{Slimeball}} Peter "Wormtail Pettigrew]] is a former classmate-turned-nemesis of the Marauders having betrayed the Potter family to Lord Voldemort when his life was threatened. Initially presumed dead at Sirius Black's hands, Wormtail actually framed Black as Voldemort's informant before faking his own death, killing innocent people and removing a finger in the process before transforming into [[YouDirtyRat Ron Weasley's pet rat, Scabbers]]. When confronted by Lupin and Black, Wormtail [[NeverMyFault blames Voldemort's threats]] for his treachery, before begging for his life. After escaping the encounter, Wormtail serves Lord Voldemort out of self-interest, eventually culminating in an attempt to kill Harry Potter despite the latter saving his life.

* The Dursleys are a classic abusive family to Harry in the vein of a Creator/RoaldDahl book. Although Dudley has a HeelFaceTurn after Harry saves his life from the Dementors, and Aunt Petunia at least has something of a HeelRealization and is ultimately revealed to have somewhat sympathetic reasons for her hatred of the magical world, having been envious of her sister Lily's powers for her whole life, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Marge remain two exceptionally reprehensible characters whose only purpose is to bully Harry just for existing.
** Uncle Vernon is the only main Dursley who is never given any sort of redemptive moment towards Harry. Unlike Petunia, he has no motive for his hatred of magic other than his general disdain for anyone who isn't like him, and he is a vulgar, short-tempered, and petty-minded {{jerkass}} even at the best of times, not to mention encompassing everything [[AuthorTract Rowling herself]] thinks is wrong with British society. He outright encourages Dudley's rude behavior and bullying of Harry, and when he hears that Dementors have been sent after Harry in Little Whinging, his first instinct is to [[MoralEventHorizon kick Harry out of his house]] [[DirtyCoward to save himself, his wife, and his son]], which would most certainly spell a death sentence to the teenage Harry, even [[UngratefulBastard after Harry had saved his son's life]].
** Marge Dursley, Vernon's sister, is only in one chapter of ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]'', but it only took that one to make her hands-down the worst among the bunch. She [[TheAlcoholic downs brandy after brandy like the industry's going belly-up]] ([[{{Hypocrite}} while simultaneously slinging false accusations at Harry's parents of having been the same]]), cares more about her dogs than most people (which given how callously she has the runt of a litter drowned is very little as well), has classist notions that put her brother to shame, shows unabashed joy at the thought of Harry receiving corporal punishment, and ''even Dudley'' has to be bribed to tolerate her presence. Ultimately, she gets a very satisfying comeuppance from Harry, who fortunately isn't even punished for inflating her.

* [[BumblingHenchmenDuo Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle]], Draco's two handymen, are essentially Malfoy minus even the ''microscopic'' redeeming qualities that Draco himself possessed, or any motive for their actions beyond being obnoxious, brutish bullies. Having the same personality as Draco but being even [[InsufferableImbecile dumber]], uglier, and crueler, no one was remotely sorry when [[spoiler:Crabbe (Goyle in the movie) got himself killed in an unbelievably stupid way [[HoistByHisOwnPetard by his own misdirected spell]] in an attempt to kill Harry, Hermione, and Ron, making him the only person in the series dumb enough to [[EpicFail die in the Room of Requirement]]]].
* Pansy Parkinson is portrayed as a one-dimensional AlphaBitch who's rude, insulting, [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain prejudiced]] (topping off the series' usual FantasticRacism with some actual racism towards Angelina Johnson), and cruel with no improvement throughout the series; she's also the only Hogwarts student who wants to [[spoiler:sell out Harry to Voldemort in exchange for safety]]. On top of that, she's [[StupidEvil dumb]] and [[EvilMakesYouUgly ugly]]. The author [[http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2007/1224-pottercast-anelli.html describes]] her as "...every girl who ever teased me at school ... I loathe her." and isn't particularly subtle about it.

* [[{{Slimeball}} Peter Pettigrew]], also known as Wormtail, is a former classmate-turned-nemesis of the Marauders having betrayed the Potter family to Lord Voldemort when his life was threatened. Initially presumed dead at Sirius Black's hands, Wormtail actually framed Black as Voldemort's informant before faking his own death, killing innocent people and removing a finger in the process before transforming into [[YouDirtyRat Ron Weasley's pet rat, Scabbers]]. When confronted by Lupin and Black, Wormtail [[NeverMyFault blames Voldemort's threats]] for his treachery, before begging for his life. After escaping the encounter, Wormtail serves Lord Voldemort out of self-interest, eventually culminating in an attempt to kill Harry Potter despite the latter saving his life.
* [[ImmoralJournalist Rita Skeeter]] is a smug, obnoxious [[{{Paparazzi}} paparazzi]] journalist for the ''Daily Prophet'', who has no respect for anyone's privacy, and spends the vast majority of her time writing blatantly false and slanderous articles that just serve to make Harry and Hermione's lives more difficult. Her writings about Harry convince Minister Fudge that Harry is crazy and shouldn't be believed about Voldemort, so she's more responsible for Voldemort's damage than one might think. She even manages to be just as scummy in the ''[[Literature/{{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}} Deathly Hallows]]'' despite not personally appearing. There, she writes a tell-all book about Albus Dumbledore's life and darkest secrets, despite the fact that [[spoiler:[[SpeakIllOfTheDead he was just recently murdered]]]]. She is, notably, the only person in the entire franchise that Dumbledore (including his younger self in ''Film/FantasticBeasts'') treats with outright contempt instead of his usual condescending rudeness he uses on people he doesn’t like. She also makes the detestable, homophobic implication in ''Deathly Hallows'' that Dumbledore is a [[AllGaysArePedophiles pedophile]] with an "unnatural" interest in Harry.
* [[SadistTeacher Dolores]] [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Umbridge]] is Senior Undersecretary to Cornelius Fudge when he is at his most irrational. She uses her position at Hogwarts to undermine Harry and Dumbledore for daring to tell the truth about Voldemort's return, and outright tortures Harry by forcing him to magically carve the words "I must not tell lies" into his own hand. She hides all of her horrible traits under a [[SugaryMalice sugary-sweet mask]], lacking even the LoveToHate charisma of Voldemort. In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'', Umbridge demonstrates the consequences of giving power to a bigot, promoting hatred towards Muggle-borns, depriving students of the capacity to learn self-defense, and [[FantasticRacism disrespecting the inhabitants of the Forbidden Forest]]. In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'', she graduates from "mere" petty cruelty to outright assisting with genocide, charging Muggle-borns with "stealing magic". Whether she is a secret Death Eater or merely an opportunist jumping at the chance to [[{{Sadist}} cause pain to a large number of people]] is never confirmed. Stephen King described her as "the most despicable person since Hannibal Lecter", and this comes from the man who created [[Literature/{{Misery}} Annie Wilkes]], [[Literature/{{It}} Pennywise]] and [[Literature/TheStand Randall Flagg]].

* Rita Skeeter is a smug, obnoxious [[{{Paparazzi}} paparazzi]] journalist for the ''Daily Prophet'', who has no respect for anyone's privacy, and spends the vast majority of her time writing blatantly false and slanderous articles that just serve to make Harry and Hermione's lives more difficult. Her writings about Harry convince Minister Fudge that Harry is crazy and shouldn't be believed about Voldemort, so she's more responsible for Voldemort's damage than one might think. She even manages to be just as scummy in the ''[[Literature/{{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}} Deathly Hallows]]'' despite not personally appearing. There, she writes a tell-all book about Albus Dumbledore's life and darkest secrets, despite the fact that [[spoiler:[[SpeakIllOfTheDead he was just recently murdered]]]]. She is, notably, the only person in the entire franchise that Dumbledore (including his younger self in ''Film/FantasticBeasts'') treats with outright contempt instead of his usual condescending rudeness he uses on people he doesn’t like. She also makes the detestable, homophobic implication in ''Deathly Hallows'' that Dumbledore is a [[AllGaysArePedophiles pedophile]] with an "unnatural" interest in Harry.