Harry Potter: 5 Ways Voldemort Is The Evilest Character (& 5 It’s Umbridge)

Harry Potter is a franchise filled with bad guys and villains. As much as fans hated Lord Voldemort, they seemed to despise Dolores Umbridge even more. Throughout the franchise, Voldemort attempts to kill Harry various times in different ways. He builds an army of Death Eaters to help take over the wizarding world. Even his appearance is more physically uncomfortable than the pink pantsuit Umbridge wears. There is nothing about Voldemort that makes people believe he is anything but evil.

Umbridge, for the most part, is a painful fixture during Harry’s fifth year. Before and after that year, Umbridge doesn’t play much of a role that directly affects the main characters. Still, her actions speak volumes. She harms students and teachers alike. Umbridge makes Hogwarts a terrifying and sad place for all those who had loved the school.

10 Voldemort: Obsession With Harry

After Voldemort learned of the prophecy that predicted his demise, the Dark Lord tried to eliminate his most significant threat. But, things did not go according to plan. Instead of killing Harry, the spell rebounded, and that began Voldemort’s obsession with defeating Harry at all costs.

His power and determination made him dangerous, as Voldemort was willing to go to extreme lengths to ensure his survival and defeat his underage arch rival.

9 Umbridge: Discrimination And Prejudice

Umbridge held plenty of prejudice toward Muggle-borns and “half-breeds.” She was ruthless and played an active role in tormenting Muggle-borns during Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Umbridge claimed that Muggle-borns did not have any magic of their own and had stolen it from another wizard.

She was ruthless against Firenze and Hagrid. She was bigoted even in ways that Voldemort wasn’t, as despite his obvious anti-muggle prejudice, Voldemort’s army included werewolves and other disregarded magical people and beings.

8 Voldemort: Killed Numerous People

Not much is known about Umbridge’s body count, but that isn’t the case for Lord Voldemort. Voldemort had killed numerous people out of anger, because he wanted to get them out of the way, or to make Horcruxes.

He killed his family after realizing that his paternal family were muggles. Voldemort was responsible for the deaths of James, Lily, Snape, and many others. He was not afraid to kill others if it meant getting what he wanted.

7 Umbridge: Tortures Students

“I must not tell lies.” That may be the most well-remembered line from Umbridge. However, Harry wasn’t meant to write lines on parchment.

Instead, Umbridge had Harry and numerous others use Blood Quills during detention. The Blood Quill would have the line become engraved into the student’s skin and harm them as they wrote. Umbridge created the Inquisitorial Squad to spy on students. She is also willing to use an unforgivable curse on Harry. She treats the children under her care abhorrently.

6 Voldemort: Planned A Pure-Blood Supremacy Future

More so than anything, Voldemort was interested in power. Even as a Half-blood wizard himself, Voldemort still wished to create a world where Pure-blood was superior to others. His influence had started in the Ministry and continued to work its way into Hogwarts.

Voldemort used his own prejudices and the bigotry of many in the wizarding community as a weapon against innocent people.

5 Umbridge: Lied About Voldemort’s Return

The Ministry desperately wanted to hide Voldemort’s return. Fudge was terrified at the prospect of Voldemort’s resurrection and denied it for a year until he couldn’t help but finally face up to the truth.

Still, Umbridge was the Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor and later Headmistress at Hogwarts for that whole year. Umbridge used her influence over the students to deny Voldemort’s return at every turn.

4 Voldemort: Horcruxes

Voldemort went further than anyone else by creating seven Horcruxes. He killed several people, split his soul, and then hid it away in objects to ensure his immortality. Voldemort was terrified of death, so instead of trying to live a long life naturally, Voldemort decided to create Horcruxes.

Horcruxes both preserve fragments of a soul while essentially destroying the soul itself, which is one of the darkest things that any wizard can do to themselves or others.

3 Umbridge: Taking Over Hogwarts

When Umbridge taught Defense Against The Dark Arts, she did so by not teaching the students any real defense. They did not use their wands, and no one really learned anything. When she sat in on lessons from other teachers, Umbridge was as annoying as possible, interrupting the different professors at various points in their classes.

While in charge of Hogwarts, Umbridge created many Decrees, all of which made everyone’s lives more difficult.

2 Voldemort: Can’t Understand Love

Voldemort was born because his mother used a love potion on his father. Having been born from a love potion, Tom Riddle grew up without the ability to feel love. He grew to fear death and desire power, and those seemed to be the only quasi-human emotions that he felt.

However, “the power he knows not” is the ability to love. Lily saved Harry because of her love for him. Harry sacrificed himself because of his love for everyone else. Voldemort could never understand the way people love and how it affects their choices.

1 Umbridge: She Makes A Bigger Impression

Although Voldemort does not appear much throughout the books or movies, he is a terrifying background presence. Harry, Ron, and Hermione know he is scheming and building an army. They know his plans and how determined he is to achieve victory. Voldemort is the franchise’s Big Bad. Yet, fans have claimed they hated Umbridge far more.

This is quite interesting, especially considering Umbridge is far less included in the overall series. But Umbridge’s actions every time she appears are vile, cruel, and entirely intentional. She is a chilling character who never failed to make a horrifying impression on those around her.

About The Author

Lindsay Press
(274 Articles Published)

Lindsay Press is a freelance writer. As a graduate of SUNY Purchase College with a degree in Screenwriting and Playwriting, Lindsay has loved television shows and movies since childhood. In addition, she loves to create stories and enjoys dystopian futures, teen drama, and fantasy worlds.

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