Harry Potter just celebrated the 25th anniversary of its first installment this year. Even after a quarter of a century, the series remains just as relevant and popular in the world of entertainment and pop culture as ever, with millions of Potterheads still finding solace in the Wizarding World.
Part of what made Harry Potter so popular was the reliability of its characters, despite their magical powers, the characters had many aspects that readers could relate to, and the series thrived on reminding fans that even the noblest of characters can make mistakes, such as these highlighted by Redditors.
Everyone's Attitude About the Elves
Harry Potter is laced with political undertones and questions about morality. The series is full of complex characters with redeeming and vilifying moments, but one point where even the best characters – seem to fail is their treatment of house elves. While Reddit debates mention that house-elves do not work the same way as humans, that still does not excuse the dismissive or downright atrocious way most people treated the elves, besides Hermione.
Reddit pibbbmister frowned upon the "way Harry and Ron and literally like everyone were so dismissive of Hermione and her campaign to free the [elves] that worked under the castle." Given that the entire series revolves around defeating a Dark Lord and his ideals of supremacy, seeing this hierarchy followed by all the "good" characters was especially disappointing.
Lupin's Decision
In the final book, Lupin offers to Harry, Hermione, and Ron on their quest to finish Dumbledore’s secret task. While fans regard Remus as one of the best characters in Harry Potter, this moment turned his tortured, kind, and level-headed persona into someone very selfish, rash, and unlikable. Not only was Lupin willing to abandon his newly-wed wife, but he also gave no care to his son. Luckily, Harry calls him out on his terrible behavior.
Redditor Edward_Lupin acknowledged that while “it is perfectly in character to let his anxieties and insecurities run away with him, but it's definitely not his finest moment.” Since Lupin is one of the paternal figures in Harry's life, and the most level-headed of the Marauders, his rash and insensitive decision felt all the more hurtful and wrong.
Misguided Dobby
Despite evolving into one of the most adored characters in Harry Potter, Dobby’s debut in Chamber of Secrets posits him as a very frustrating creature, especially given what he did to Harry. Not only did he constantly sabotage Harry’s chances of going home to Hogwarts, but he made Harry feel alone and forgotten over the summer.
A Reddit despised these actions: “I get why he was doing it and his thought process, his heart was in the right place, but damn. Isolating people does nothing good. (As we see in OotP).” While he may have been well-intentioned, Dobby added to Harry’s misery over another summer with the Dursleys, doing more harm than good as a character who is supposed to be one of Harry's best allies.
Cedric's Indifference
The heartthrob of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Cedric Diggory, goes on to become a good ally to Harry. He is an irable student, intelligent, brave, and personable, someone who was worthy of winning the Triwizard Tournament. However, Cedric is also a guilty bystander, especially during the start of Harry’s fourth year. While Harry faced constant taunts and insults for competing, Cedric stood by and did nothing for far too long.
Reddit Unicorn_queen_6349 hated "how he acted when everybody was harassing Harry in GoF... If Cedric had said something, people would have most likely listened." As a character who gets idolized for his potential and untimely death, much more was expected from Cedric in those scenes making his failure to live up to them all the more disappointing.
Xenophilius' Betrayal
Luna Lovegood’s father exhibited the same kind, quirky, and genuine nature as his beloved daughter when the trio met him in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He also plays the critical role of teaching them about the Hallows, illuminating the trio’s understanding of Dumbledore’s past and current quest against Voldemort, right before ratting them out to the Death Eaters.
Redditor AnnaKayMay noted: “I don't even know if I would be strong enough not to do what he did if my daughter was kidnapped. But it still was such a sucker punch for me.” Especially given how Xenophilius' previous warm and comionate introduction clashed so greatly with his betrayal of Luna's dear friends.
The Slug Club
Horace Slughorn is one of the nicest Slytherin characters, and Hogwarts’ better professors. Yet his methods of teaching are interwoven with apparent favoritism and personal gain. This is epitomized in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Rewarding good students is one thing, but creating an exclusive, elitist group that excludes others is a gross misuse of teaching authority, not to mention his tendency to keep tabs on the alums for future advantage.
Reddit clawdren101 accurately acknowledged that “Slughorn and the Slug Club, He cared more about “collecting” people than he did anything else... he also clearly felt teaching was secondary.” With already few good Slytherin mentors in Harry's life, this favoritism aspect of his hit harder than if he had simply been a terrible, but equal-treatment professor.
Molly Believing Rita
Within the Harry Potter fandom, there are Order of the Phoenix, or her initial treatment of Fleur before the wedding. But her most unflattering moments were her pettiness towards Hermione after she reads what Rita Skeeter wrote about her and Harry in the Goblet of Fire.
Reddit minkadoodle thought it was "awful the way she treated her, giving her a tiny Easter egg was so vindictive, way more insulting than just not sending her one at all." This biased mistreatment of Hermione felt even worse since Molly is supposed to be a maternal figure in the series, but she never even tries to hear her out or believe her.
Dismissing the Dursleys
Despite there being a genuine due cause for Harry being dropped off at the Dursleys, living with the Dursleys proved to be detrimental to Harry’s emotional growth. Being constantly subjected to neglect and verbal abuse, Harry suffered greatly throughout his childhood, and no magical adult came to check up on him. Not even Dumbledore, McGonagall, or Hagrid knew what he would go through.
Redditor caywriter absolutely hated “no one checking on Harry, after knowing the Dursley’s suck. And no one saying anything to them until the END of 5th year!” While a lot of the adult figures in Harry Potter get excused for things, subjecting Harry to years of the Dursleys and never offering any emotional seems too big to ignore.
Fred and George's Antics
Fred and George maybe two of the more adored Weasleys, but there are many unpopular opinions about the duo and they are notorious for being cruel and taking their pranks too far. While their bullying of Ron (i.e. when he became Prefect) can be chalked up to sibling behavior, a solid example of their jokes crossing the line is when they locked Montague in a Vanishing Cabinet in Order of the Phoenix.
One Redditor commented that the instant is an example of how the “Weasley twins' pranks sometimes veered into bullying. If they were Slytherins, they would've been portrayed in a negative light.” Montague could have suffered a much worse fate if he hadn't escaped, and his surviving their attack doesn't diminish the cruelty of twins otherwise seen as heroes.
Hagrid's Oversight
Although one of the kindest characters and one of Harry’s better role models, Hagrid still has his moments of sheer ignorance. A Reddit summed it up well: “Hagrid consistently asking some of the only students who actually respect him, to continuously shirk rules and responsibilities to help him with problems that would get any other member of the faculty fired.”
His constant ranting to the Golden Trio, despite them being young students in no position of authority, and almost always expecting them to help with his tricky situations was incredibly unfair. Not to mention inappropriate, given the number of times his ranting and favor-asking put the three into unfortunate circumstances, something he never realizes or appreciates.
