Harry Potter: 10 Most Evil Gryffindors Of The Whole Series

Gryffindors are the golden children of the Harry Potter universe. They are the heroes of the story, the characters the audience spends the most time with, and they are the ones that always win against all odds. But despite their seemingly peerlessness, the members of Gryffindor house are not exempt from having some serious flaws of their own. Although these less than flattering traits may not be as apparent or overtly evil as say, those Lord Voldemort and the Slytherins posses, upon closer look, it’s clear that even the house of the lion is only made up of human beings.

Here are the ten most evil Gryffindors of the Harry Potter Series.

10 Peter Pettigrew

Too obvious? Perhaps. But what kind of an evil Gryffindor list would this be if Peter wasn’t mentioned? Arguably, Peter Pettigrew might be the most evil character of the whole entire series, full stop, let alone percy, the most evil Gryffindor. A coward by nature, Peter betrayed his friends, arranged for Lily and James’s death, cost Sirius his freedom, lived life as a rat for 12 years, cost Sirius his freedom again, and helped Lord Voldemort rise again. If it wasn’t for Peter, Voldemort would have remained a shade for the rest of his days, sparing the Wizarding World a second war. Although Peter is not “the dark lord” himself, he drives home the point that evil would be nothing without its supporters, and more than earns himself a place on this list.

9 Albus Dumbledore

If Peter Pettigrew is the most obvious choice for a list of the most evil Gryffindors, Dumbledore is the best disguised one. Although for most of the series Harry looks to him as a beacon of solidity and safety, the events of the story are told from Harry’s perspective, making him an unreliable narrator. It becomes clear to fans engaging with the series that Dumbledore’s evils range from the grand, for example, leaving Harry with his neglectful, if not abusive, relatives for 11 years,  grooming him, essentially, to die for the seven that followed, and allowing Snape to hideously bully the children under his tutelage, to the mundane, rescinding a hard earned House Cup victory from Slytherin House in Sorcerer’s Stone. Dumbledore’s history is riddled with problematic perspectives on wizard-muggle relationships, and though he evolves from those, it seems he is never able to shed all of his biases. His greatest fault is how often he is convinced he is absolutely right and the lengths he will go to achieve his ends, a sentiment that is eerily shared by Voldemort.

8 Percy Weasley

Percy represents a much more typical evil in the magical world of Harry Potter. Ashamed of his background and poverty-ridden parents, the allure of importance and status draws him to behave in unforgivable ways. Even as a student at Hogwarts, he is pompous and self-important, which are attributes that only amplify after he graduates and receives a role in the Ministry of Magic. When the ministry refuses to acknowledge Lord Voldemort’s second rise, Percy is faced with looking to the truth or toeing the party line and elects to bends slavishly to authority, alienating his family and cutting ties with them in the process.

In being an unquestioning servant to a self-serving minister and government, Percy commits his own kinds of evil, earning him a spot as an evil Gryffindor.

7 Cormac McLaggen

There’s no two ways about it, Cormac McLaggen is a mansplainer. Aside from his status as a Gryffindor and his participation in the final battle, there’s not much redeeming about Cormac. In this case, two rights don’t make up for all the wrongs. Cormac is arrogant, selfish, and has no perception about the personhood of the people around him. Among other bad behavior, Hermione overhears him talking disparagingly about Ron and Ginny, presumably about their lack of wealth, Cormac tries to force his Quidditch opinions on Harry, though he has no experience or know how, and when he escorts Hermione to a dinner, he ignores her desire for personal space and continues to be aggressive. Quick to anger, overly confident with no cause, and defensive and whiny when questioned, Cormac is banal evil at its finest.

6 Romilda Vane

Romilda can be seen as the female equivalent of Cormac’s banal evil, characterized by Gryffindor traits. Seduced by the possibility Harry could be “The Chosen One” in year 6 as well as his fame otherwise, Romilda spent a good deal of her screen time in the series trying to win Harry over… in all the wrong ways. From cliquishly implying that Harry would do better to sit with her and her attractive friends than his own, to actually trying to slip him a love potion unaware, several times, Romilda takes boldness to excess. Vane is a fitting last name for her, because she is precisely vain. Vain, jealous, and inconsiderate of any desires but her own to dangerous extremes.

5 Ron Weasley

Although Ron is a technical hero, he is often not so heroic. Beset by constant insecurity and continual jealousy of Harry, Ron’s demons get the better of him on several occasions. In Year 4, when the entirety of the school turns on Harry, when Harry could not possibly have needed a friend more, Ron abandons him, leaving him to struggle with  both social stress and imminent death without his best friend. This foreshadows his behavior in Year 7, when much higher stakes are at play, and he leaves Harry and Hermione in anger to find and destroy horocruxes on their own–the fate of the world literally at stake. Ron also has his own narrow points of view about the world, although he sneers at Slytherins for being bigoted, his own world view is colored by perceptions he doesn’t question, such as being superior to house elves.

Although Ron always repents, he never quit conquers his feelings of being second best; his childish selfishness and narrow perspectives never fully leave him for most of the series.

4 James Potter

James does grow up, but unfortunately, spends the majority of his life in his most unpleasant form, a bully. While Severus Snape undoubtedly was reprehensible as a child himself, James came from a place of wealth, privilege, and popularity, and did not stop to consider the circumstances of his adversaries when he publicly humiliated them. James’s bullying was not responsible for the actions Snape committed either, but it can still be as equally reprehensible. Often bullies do not bully only one person, and it seems likely that this attitude followed James around in his life in general.

3 Sirius Black

Sirius and James go hand in hand. Although Sirius didn’t actually commit the crimes he was accused of, he certainly proves himself quick to anger, prone to rashness, and possessing a not insignificant amount of arrogance. Even when he assumes the role of godfather, Sirius cannot seem to keep Harry from becoming James in his mind, making the relationship a bit unhealthy for them both. Although it is not through fault of his own, there’s a darkness that lurks in Sirius both before and after Azkaban.

2 The Weasley Twins

There’s no way to be master pranksters, like the Weasleys, who, yes, count as one character, are without some amount of evil, at least a serious penchant for chaos, which is often not far afield. Though the twins themselves don’t mean serious harm, they have no way of knowing how their prank products are going to be used and by whom. In fact later in the series, their Peruvian Instant Darkness powder ends up in Malfoy’s hands for nefarious purposes. It’s all fun and games…until someone gets hurt.

1 Harry Potter

Although Harry is the hero, he is not flawless. In his quest to destroy evil, he is the one who comes closest to touching it. The sorting hat knew he would do well in Slytherin, and that remains true throughout the entire series. Harry falls prey to the evils of arrogance, anger, jealousy, recklessness, and narrow-mindedness, as well as always feels that everything centers around him before anyone else. Despite the guidance and advice of many qualified people, Harry always looks to himself first.

On several occasions, even heroic Harry lets pride come before the fall, tarring him with the same brush he fights against.

About The Author

Rotem Rusak
(78 Articles Published)

Fangirl extraordinaire. Lover of all things pop culture, including Marvel, Hannibal, Harry Potter, and more.

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