Harry Potter: The Tarot Card That Best Represents Each Main Character

At Hogwarts, students are sorted quickly, but, as the Sorting Hat itself notes, there is plenty of variation within houses, and not everyone can be lumped together. The Harry Potter series follows the destinies of several characters, and like all good tales, the characters’ personalities gain complexity and depth over the course of the movies.

In this magical world, common types of divination like tarot cards are used to understand life and motivation. Generally, tarot cards’ meanings are read as either upright or reversed, but every card contains the potential for good and evil. A look at the Major Arcana of the tarot deck provides insight into the core personalities of the main characters.

13 Albus Dumbledore – The Hermit

Dumbledore, on the surface, is outgoing, but as the series progresses, fans realize that Dumbledore hides nearly everything. He is withdrawn from student life at school and rarely shares his plans with anyone. The Hermit collects insight from separating from others and signifies detachment and self-illumination. It is fitting that Dumbledore was the inventor of the Deluminator, as he carefully chooses who knows what and when, even after his death.  He has great wisdom, but like the reversed aspect of this card, he can be too secretive and lack empathy for others’ day-to-day suffering.

12 Minerva McGonagall – Justice

Like the Justice card, Professor McGonagall is wise and balanced.  Justice is connected with rewards and punishment, and McGonagall was often in the position to discipline the students. She was generally fair, another connection to Justice, and did her best to follow all school regulations and apply them equally to the students, and she was less likely to play favorites than either Dumbledore or Snape. McGonagall’s minor fault (an enthusiasm for quidditch wins and the house cup) lines up with Justice reversed, which denotes personal bias.

11 Neville Longbottom – The Wheel Of Fortune

As the series goes on, Neville’s importance to the story grows, and it becomes clear that Neville could have been in Harry’s position if Voldemort had made a different choice. The Wheel of Fortune is heavily connected to the concept of fate and destiny as well as change.

Neville’s life was linked with the prophecy, and his sad beginnings (growing up without parents, feeling alone), like Harry’s, slowly transform over the course of the books until the Neville who braved the Carrows and killed Nagini replaces the boy who couldn’t remember what his remembrall was reminding him of, a true journey through the Wheel of Fortune.

10 Fred & George Weasley – The Magician

Almost everyone in the series is a magician, but in the tarot meaning, this card applies best to the Weasley twins. Fred and George Weasley are inventors, using their intelligence and creativity to avoid tasks (and teachers).  The Magician deals with having vision and putting plans into action, which the twins do by leaving school early and starting their own business. Not simply a lucky break, this card is connected to the use of skill to make one’s dreams manifest – making one’s own opportunities instead of waiting. However, the reverse of this is a lack of patience, rushing in headfirst, and potential losses, as happens with Fred.

9 Luna Lovegood – The High Priestess

Luna is sometimes oblivious, but she is also clearly connected to some type of clairvoyance, seeming to know outcomes before others.  All of these traits line up with the High Priestess, who symbolizes intuitive consciousness, dreams, and overall mystery. She is often difficult to understand, and Luna’s reasons or intentions are not often spelled out in the story.  Despite this, even when others don’t understand her behavior, she usually makes the right choices – a sign of the good judgment of the High Priestess. Reversed, she can be connected with a lack of common sense or understanding of those around her.

8 Ginny Weasley – The Empress

As the only girl in a large family, Ginny has taken on many of the mothering traits of Molly, and though she is a fierce quidditch player and talented with a Bat-Boogey hex, she ends up in the role of surrogate mother and protector of the younger and weaker students at Hogwarts in her sixth year. The space she creates in the Room of Requirement with Neville and Luna represents safety to the students, and safety is a key concept of the Empress, who watches over those who need help. She also symbolizes security and family, especially to Harry, providing him with a safe haven when he returns from the Horcrux hunt.

7 Bellatrix Lestrange – The Devil

Most cards have a balance of positive and negative meanings, but like Bellatrix, the Devil lacks most redeeming values. The Devil is usually illustrated with chains, a prisoner of ambitions and desires, just as Bellatrix is imprisoned in Azkaban. This bondage can also be to thoughts, and Bellatrix is completely absorbed by Voldemort’s power and beliefs, losing herself in her unquestioning devotion to him. Since she accepts all that he says is truth, Bellatrix joins Voldemort in all his beliefs, her own deal with the devil.

6 Draco Malfoy – The Hanged Man

At the beginning of the series, Draco is firmly aligned with the reversed aspects of this card. He is selfish, stubborn, and holds onto harmful beliefs. The Hanged Man signifies sacrifice, particularly self-sacrifice, and Draco seems the least likely to try to save others.

However, over the course of Voldemort’s return and occupation of Malfoy Manor, Draco’s personality shifts. Given an impossible task, but desperate to save his mother and father, he risks everything to get Deatheaters into Hogwarts. Yet, even with so much at stake, Draco can’t bring himself to kill Dumbledore.  Like the Hanged Man, Draco’s troubles and loss are what lead him to tremendous change and finally the right path.

5 Severus Snape – The Chariot

The Chariot’s subtle nature fits the complexities of Snape’s personality.  Snape silently works as a double agent, and the card represents the struggle between will and action. The chariot must balance between opposing sides and appease them both.  His delicate position over decades has shown that Snape has the ability to compartmentalize conflicting emotions.  In the reverse position, the card illustrates Snape’s short temper (often targeted at Harry), and the loss of his hopes and dreams (though he still tries to do penance to Lily by risking his life for her son).

4 Ron Weasley – The Fool

The Fool card became the Joker in the modern deck of cards (the only Major Arcana to remain) and the meaning is clear – a jester tinged with a lack of sound judgment. Ron’s lines and mannerisms and mishaps (like spitting slugs) are often used as comedic relief in the movies, and Ron is sold short by being portrayed as less intelligent and talented. However, a more positive reading of the card is a person, who though may lack restraint, is willing to make a leap of faith. Ron very rarely understands the full consequences of Harry and Hermione’s various plans, but he trusts them and usually follows them, offering support.

3 Hermione Granger – Strength

This card has tremendous potential, conveying power, courage, and conviction. Hermione stands up against bullies and unfair practices like Umbridge’s policies and the enslavement of House Elves. She is a powerful witch, labeled as “The Brightest of her Age.” When Harry needs her, she is ready with her extended bag, Emma Watson doing an excellent job of being both fierce and prepared.  Strength is also a card that means having the ability to help others solve their problems. When reserved, Strength can become devious cunning and surrender to one’s dark side, such as when Hermione purposely tricks Umbridge in the Forbidden Forest.

2 Voldemort/Tom Riddle – The Tower

When the Tower appears, it is a warning that pride goes before the fall. The Tower represents delusions of grandeur, just as Tom begins his journey as a wizard convinced he is superior to everyone. He accumulates power, just as the Tower represents, and seeks to rule the world from the top of his tower.  The reverse of this card is similarly linked to Voldemort, as it warns that such plans will lead to tyranny and ultimately fail. The Tower is a cyclical card; the dangers that rise and fall with the generations, just as Voldemort does.

1 Harry Potter – Death

In tarot, the Death card does not necessarily mean physical death. Usually, the card is interpreted as a sign of intense change, an end of one chapter of life, and a beginning of a new one. Harry cycles through many changes over the series – leaving behind the muggle world, becoming a wizard, and learning of and accepting his destiny to fight Voldemort. Harry must change his ideas and approaches time and again, letting go of his assumptions to find the truth.  Whenever Harry resists change or gives into depression (such as through much of Order of the Phoenix and The Half-Blood Prince), he is connecting with the reversed meaning of Death – stagnation – which he must break free of before enacting the needed change.