J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World is full of brave heroes who are willing to sacrifice everything for what’s right. But for every selfless and noble hero, there’s a cruel, brutal and terrifying villain. From Lord Voldemort and Gellert Grindelwald to villains like Bellatrix Lestrange, the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts movies/books have given us some of the most memorable villains of all-time, but who is the best of the best?

More – Collector Thoughts: Top 10 Wizarding World Character Wands

For the latest post on The Blog That Must Not Be Named, I’m delving back into J.K. Rowling’s wondrous world of characters, and ranking my ten favourite Wizarding World villains from worst to best. Given the fact that I have a blog devoted to the Wizarding World and personally love the darker side of this universe, I’m sure you can imagine how difficult I found it to rank my top ten dark witched/wizards. I have, however, managed to get the job done and you can check out my full ranking below:

10. Quirinus Quirrell

P-p-p-poor, stuttering Professor Quirrell doesn’t get a great deal of attention in these kinds of rankings, but here at The Blog That Must Not Be Named, we certainly won’t neglect the dark wizard who tricked the great Albus Dumbledore and literally shared a head with Lord Voldemort.

9. Barty Crouch Jr.

Seriously, how could I not include the dark wizard who used Polyjuice Potion to steal Alastor Moody’s identity and set-up the horrific murder of Cedric Diggory? Without Barty Crouch Jr., there’s a very good chance that Lord Voldemort would have never returned to his full and terrifying strength.

8. Lucius Malfoy

Coming from a long line of dark and elitist wizards, Lucious Malfoy is cruel, cold and brutal. Any of his actions in the Harry Potter series would land him a spot on this list, but he appears here solely for the fact that he mistreated our favourite house elf, Dobby.

7. Peter Pettigrew

Peter Pettigrew aka. Scabbers aka. Wormtail doesn’t land on this list because he’s a traitor or a liar. Don’t get me wrong, he’s both of those things and more, but it’s Pettigrew’s lack of bravery and his utter cowardice that makes him one of my favourite Harry Potter antagonists.

6. Draco Malfoy

Harry’s nemesis (at least at school) went from being an annoying, stuck-up nuisance, who almost ruined some of Harry’s best days at Hogwarts, to an undeniable villain when he agreed to murder Albus Dumbledore and join Lord Voldemort’s cause.

5. Nagini

To the casual Harry Potter fan, Nagini might seem like little more than Voldemort’s terrifying pet, but every Potterhead will agree that it wouldn’t be wise to underestimate a character that eats humans for dinner and struck the blow/bite that killed Severus Snape.

4. Gellert Grindelwald

Thanks to his charm, sophistication and his ability to manipulate even the best wizards, Gellert Grindelwald is one of the most intriguing and entertaining villains on this list. It’s especially exciting to think that we’ve only scratched the surface of what the Fantastic Beasts villain is truly capable of.

3. Bellatrix Lestrange

Do I really need to explain why the witch who tortured Neville’s parents, murdered Dobby and took Sirius away from Harry deserves a spot on this list?

2. Umbridge

To this day, there isn’t a single fictional antagonist that we here at The Blog That Must Not Be Named detest more than the insufferably cruel and annoying Delores Umbridge.

1. Voldemort

Voldemort landing at the top of this list might not be too surprising, but it’s pretty hard to beat the most powerful and feared dark wizard to ever walk the earth. Between the murder of Harry’s parents and his war against both the wizarding and non0wizarding worlds, Voldemort is undoubtedly the most terrifying and intriguing villain in the Harry Potter series.

Well, there you have it. My full and honest ranking of the Wizarding World‘s most horrific and terrifying dark witches/wizards. Since this is the internet and everyone has different opinions, I imagine your list looks very different to mine. If that’s the case, try not to freak out too much and let me know how you’d rank your favourite Harry Potter villains in the comments section below!

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