Minor & Major Character in Harry Potter

Name: Patel Kavita B.

Topic: Minor & Major Character in Harry Potter

Roll No. – 08

Semester: IV

Batch: 2011- 12

Submitted to:

Dr. Dilip Barad,

Head of Department of English,

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinji Bhavnagar University,

Bhavnagar.

1)    Harry Potter - The protagonist of the story, who is gradually transformed from timid weakling to powerful hero by the end. Marked on the forehead with a lightning-shaped scar, Harry is marked also by the confrontation between good and bad magic that caused that scar: the standoff between the evil Voldemort and his parents who died to save their son. The story eventually becomes a tale of Harry’s vengeance for their wrongful deaths. As he matures, he shows himself to be caring and shrewd, a loyal friend, and an excellent Quidditch player.

2)    Hermione Granger - initially an annoying goody-two-shoe who studies too much and obeys the school rules too enthusiastically. Hermione eventually becomes friendly with Harry after she learns to value friendship over perfectionism and obedience. She comes from a purely Muggle family, and her character illustrates the social-adjustment problems often faced by new students at Hogwarts.

3)    Ron Weasley - A shy, modest boy who comes from an impoverished wizard family. Ron is Harry’s first friend at Hogwarts, and they become close. He lacks Harry’s gusto and charisma, but his loyalty and help are useful to Harry throughout their adventures. Ron’s mediocrity despite his wizard background reminds us that success at Hogwarts is based solely on talent and hard work, not on family connections. Ron’s willingness to be beaten up by the monstrous chess queen shows how selfless and generous he is.

4)    Hagrid - An unsophisticated giant who works as a groundskeeper at Hogwarts. Rubeus Hagrid is a well-meaning creature with more kindness than brains. He cares deeply for Harry, as evidenced by the tears he sheds upon having to leave the infant Harry with the Dursleys. His fondness for animals is endearing, even if it gets him into trouble (as when he tries raising a dragon at home). Hagrid symbolizes the importance of generosity and human warmth in a world menaced by conniving villains.

5)    Albus Dumbledore - The kind, wise head of Hogwarts. Though he is a famous wizard, Dumbledore is as humble and adorable as his name suggests. While other school officials, such as Professor McGonagall, are obsessed with the rules, Dumbledore respects them (as his warnings against entering the Forbidden Forest remind us) but does not exaggerate their importance. He appears to have an almost superhuman level of wisdom, knowledge, and personal understanding, and it seems that he may have set up the whole quest for the Sorcerer’s Stone so that Harry could prove himself.

6)    Voldemort - A great wizard had gone bad. When he killed Harry’s parents, Voldemort gave Harry a lightning-shaped scar. Voldemort has thus shaped Harry’s life so that Harry’s ultimate destruction of him appears as a kind of vengeance. Voldemort, whose name in French means either “flight of death” or “theft of death,” is associated both with high-flying magic and with deceit throughout the story. He is determined to escape death by finding the Sorcerer’s Stone. Voldemort’s weak point is that he cannot understand love, and thus cannot touch Harry’s body, which still bears the traces of Harry’s mother’s love for her son.

7)    Draco Malfoy - An arrogant student and Harry’s nemesis. Malfoy, whose name translates roughly to “dragon of bad faith,” is a rich snob from a long line of wizards who feels entitled to the Hogwarts experience. He makes fun of the poorer Ron Weasley and advises Harry to choose his friends more carefully. As the story progresses, Malfoy becomes more and more inimical to Harry and his friends, and there is a hint that he may grow up to become another Voldemort.

8)    Neville Longbottom - A timid Hogwarts classmate of Harry’s. Neville is friendly and loyal, but like Ron, he lacks Harry’s charisma. Like Hermione, he is initially too obedient, and when the time comes to go after the Sorcerer’s Stone, he fears punishment and threatens to report his friends to the teachers.

9)    Professor McGonagall - The head of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts and a high-ranking woman in the wizard world. Minerva McGonagall is fair but extremely stern and severe in her punishments. Her devotion to the letter of the law is impressive but a bit cold, and we constantly feel that she could never become a warm and wise figure like Dumbledore. Rowling named her after a notoriously bad nineteenth-century Scottish poet named William McGonagall who was nevertheless highly confident of his own talents.

10)                      Professor Snape - A professor of Potions at Hogwarts. Severus Snape dislikes Harry and appears to be an evil man for most of the story. His name associates him not only with unfair snap judgments of others but also with his violent intentions to snap the bones of his enemies. Snape’s grudge against Harry, which is nevertheless far from a murderous ill will, helps us remember the difference between forgivable vices and unforgivable evil intentions.

11)                      Professor Quirrell - a stuttering and seemingly harmless man and a professor of Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. Quirrell appears as nervous and squirrelly as his name suggests for most of the story. It is he, for example, who nearly faints when announcing the news that a troll is loose in the school. It turns out later, however, that Quirrell has faked his withdrawing meekness and is actually a cold-blooded conniver.

12)                      Vernon Dursley - Harry’s rich uncle, with whom Harry lives for ten miserable years. Dursley symbolizes the Muggle world at its most silly and mediocre. It is through Mr. Dursley’s jaded Muggle eyes that we first glimpse wizards, and his closed-mindedness toward the colorful cloaks and literate cats that he meets emphasizes how different the human and wizard worlds are.

13)                      Petunia Dursley - Mr. Dursley’s wife. Petunia is an overly doting mother to her spoiled son, Dudley, and a prison-keeper to Harry. She is haughty and excessively concerned with what the neighbors think of her family. She is somewhat humanized for us when we discover that she was always jealous of the magical gifts of her sister, Lily, Harry’s witch mother. Perhaps her malevolence toward Harry springs from an earlier resentment of her sister.

14)                      Dudley Dursley - Harry’s cousin, a spoiled, fat bully. Annoying and loud, Dudley manipulates parental love to get what he wants—his outrageous desires for multiple television sets foreshadow the important scenes involving the Mirror of Erised and the wrongful desire for eternal life that motivates Voldemort. Dudley’s tormenting of Harry foreshadows Malfoy’s later bullying tendencies at Hogwarts, though he is less gifted than Malfoy

15)                      Tom Riddle - Tom’s past and appearance resemble Harry's. Tom, who grew up to become Voldemort, is the last remaining descendent of Salazar Slytherin. Through his old diary he enchants Ginny Weasley to perform his dark tasks.

16)                      Ginny Weasley - Ron’s younger sister. Ginny is a shy red-haired girl with an enormous crush on Harry. She finds Tom Riddle's diary. The magic diary manipulates her into opening the Chamber of Secrets and releasing the basilisk.

17)                      Percy Weasley - Ron’s brother. Percy is a perfect who is in charge of a group of younger students. He is annoying, nagging, and pompous, but has good intentions.

18)                      Fred Weasley -  One of Ron's older brothers, Fred is a beater for the Gryffindor House Quidditch team. Fred and his twin brother George are troublemakers. Fred has a louder sense of humor than George, but they are almost identical and usually inseparable.

19)                      George Weasley - One of Ron's older brothers, George is a beater for the Gryffindor House Quidditch team. He and his twin brother Fred are troublemakers. George is subtler and more tongue-in-cheek than his twin. Together, the Weasley twins are an infamous, amusing, and charming pair.

20)                      Molly Weasley - Ron’s mother. Molly is very maternal and protective, but also quite strict.

21)                      Arthur Weasley - Ron’s father, who works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office within the Ministry of Magic. He Muggle artifacts, and has a buoyant, childlike enthusiasm...

22)                      Gilderoy Lockhart - The teacher of the class called "Defense Against the Dark Arts." Lockhart is the author of many magical books, and the five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award. An incompetent, astonishingly vain man, Lockhart offers much of the comic relief in this story.

23)                      Professor Sprout - The Herbology teacher who is in the process of growing Mandrakes to save the petrified victims.

24)                      Argus Filch - The Hogwarts caretaker, who is grouchy and adores nothing but his cat.

25)                      Cornelius Fudge - The Minister of Magic, who visits to apologetically remove Hagrid.

26)                      Colin Creevey - A first year boy who follows Harry around, taking his photographs and embarrassing him tremendously; the first person to be petrified.

27)                      Goyle - One of Draco Malfoy's unintelligent, lumbering cronies; Harry uses Polyjuice potion to transform himself into Goyle.

28)                      Crabbe -  The other of Draco Malfoy's unintelligent, lumbering cronies; Ron uses Polyjuice potion to transform into him.

29)                      Millicent Bulstrode - A belligerent Slytherin girl who has to duel with Hermione during the dueling club meeting. Hermione tries to transform into her, but becomes her cat instead.

30)                      Justin Finch-Fletchley - A Muggle-born boy in Hufflepuff House who is petrified.

31)                      Ernie Macmillan - Justin’s friend, who suspects Harry to be responsible for the suspicious occurrences at Hogwarts.

32)                      Remus Lupin  -  Lupin is the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, and he is very competent and likeable. He teaches Harry how to defend himself against Dementors, but he is forced to leave Hogwarts at the end of the year on account of his being a werewolf. He is one of the creators of the Marauder's Map.

33)                      Sirius Black - Once James Potter's best friend, now an escaped convict from the wizard prison Azkaban, Black is suspected to be the cause of twelve Muggle deaths as well as the indirect cause of the deaths of Harry's parents. He is a threat on the frontier of this story, one of the premier good wizards turned bad, although in the end he is revealed to be innocent in addition to being Harry's godfather. Also, Black is able to transform himself at will into Padfoot, a large black dog that Harry mistakes for the Grim. One of the creators of the Marauder's Map.

34)                      Peter Pettigrew - The fourth in the group of friends that included James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, Pettigrew betrayed Lily and James turning their whereabouts over the Voldemort, then blowing up a dozen Muggle, framing Black and turning himself into a rat so that he could escape. Another of the creators of the Marauder's Map. Disguised as Scabbers, he has lived many years as Ron's pet rat.

35)                      Sibyll Trelawney - The Divination Professor; an insect-like, rather dramatic woman who loves predicting deaths but is not at all accurate in her predictions.

36)                      Lucius Malfoy - Draco Malfoy's father, a mean, powerful man whose name and money his son, Draco, uses to get his way.

37)                      Aunt Marge -  Vernon Dursley's visiting sister; a loud, beefy, nasty-tempered Muggle woman who adores attack dogs and enjoys insulting Harry and his late parents.

38)                      Lily Potter -  Harry's mother who sacrificed herself to save Harry from Voldemort; Harry can hear her screams when Dementors are near.

39)                      James Potter -  Harry's father, also killed by Voldemort; his animagi stag becomes the shape of Harry's patronus. One of the creators of the Marauder's Map.

40)                      Cornelius Fudge - The rather eccentrically dressed Minister of Magic, very involved in the protection of Harry and Hogwarts against Sirius Black.

41)                      Cedric Diggory - The handsome Hufflepuff seeker; catches the Snitch when Harry falls from his broom.

42)                      Cho Chang - The pretty fourth-year Ravenclaw seeker; Harry beats her to the Snitch.

43)                      Penelope Clearwater - A Ravenclaw prefect and Percy's girlfriend.

44)                      Madam Rosmerta - The barmaid at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade.

45)                      Luna Lovegood - A student and outcast at Hogwarts. Luna’s father owns the Quibbler, a Wizard tabloid. She is often mocked at school but doesn’t seem to mind.

46)                      Bellatrix Lestrange - Sirius’s cousin and a Death Eater. Bellatrix is responsible for torturing Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom into insanity. She is loyal only to Voldemort.

47)                      Mad-Eye Moody - A retired Auror who once taught Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. Moody is a member of the Order and loyal to Dumbledore.

48)                      Horace Slughorn - The newly recruited Professor of Potions at Hogwarts. Slughorn is obsessed with making the acquaintance of potentially powerful and influential young wizards. He hosts weekly parties in his room, inviting only select students known as the “Slug Club.” Posesses an important memory of Voldemort, having been the first person to tell Voldemort what a Horcrux is.

49)                      Fleur Delacour - A beautiful young woman recently graduated from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic (located presumably in France). Fleur is loyal to Harry, who once saved her younger sister. She marries Bill Weasley.

50)                      Elphias Doge - A member of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore’s oldest friend. He writes Dumbledore’s obituary for the Daily Prophet.

51)                      Rita Skeeter - The notoriously aggressive and deceitful tabloid journalist who tormented Harry and his friends two years earlier during the Triwizard Tournament. Skeeter has recently published a tell-all biography of Dumbledore.

52)                      Bathilda Bagshot - A senile old woman who knew Dumbledore’s mother, Kendra, and who started many of the rumors about Dumbledore’s family. She is Rita Skeeter’s source for much of the biography.

53)                      Ollivander - A famous English wand maker, who made both Voldemort’s and Harry’s wands.

54)                      Gregorovitch - a famous European wand maker and Ollivander’s only serious competition.

55)                      Gellert Grindelwald - A powerful Dark wizard, second only to Lord Voldemort in his destructiveness. Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in a famous duel in 1945. Grindelwald is a prisoner in Nurmengard.

56)                      Kendra Dumbledore - Dumbledore’s mother, who died during his final year as a student at Hogwarts. Kendra is rumored to have been a terrifying and controlling woman who shunned contact with other wizards out of shame about her imprisoned husband and Squib daughter.

57)                      Ariana Dumbledore - Dumbledore’s younger sister, who died soon after their mother. Ariana was kept out of sight of the world, and is rumored to have been a Squib—a person born to wizard parents who has no magical abilities.

58)                      Aberforth Dumbledore - Dumbledore’s younger brother. Less intellectually accomplished than Dumbledore, he is rumored to have broken Dumbledore’s nose at Ariana’s funeral and been estranged from Dumbledore since.

59)                      Regulus Arcturus Black - Sirius’s younger brother, who was a Death Eater during Voldemort’s previous reign, and who died young.

60)                      Xenophilius Lovegood - Luna’s father, who shares her interest in unusual plants, animals, and objects, but who is priggish and pompous in a way Luna is not. Xenophilius wears an unusual triangular symbol resembling an eye.

61)                      Runcorn - A powerful member of the Ministry of Magic under Voldemort, and a Death Eater.

62)                      Mafalda Hopkirk - A low-level functionary at the Ministry of Magic.

63)                      Narcissa Malfoy - Lucius’s wife, the mother of Draco, and sister of Bellatrix.

64)                      Amycus and Alecto Carrow - Brother and sister Death Eaters who enforce discipline at Hogwarts, torturing students and teaching them to torture each other.

65)                      Dolores Umbridge - Formerly (and briefly) the head of Hogwarts, and now a senior member of the Ministry of Magic. Umbridge is thoroughly evil, delighting in punishing others and using rules and regulations to persecute people, though she is apparently not one of Voldemort’s Death Eaters. She is in charge of finding and punishing Mud bloods for the Ministry.

      Creature:

66)                      Dobby -  The Malfoy house-elf. Dobby tries to get Harry out of Hogwarts to keep him away from the danger that lurks there. he almost kills Harry by trying to save his life so many times.

67)                      Hedwig -  Harry's pet owl.

68)                      Aragog - A giant spider raised in captivity by Hagrid.

69)                      Fang - Hagrid’s large but friendly dog.

70)                      Mrs. Norris -  Filch's beloved cat.

71)                      Buckbeak -  One of Hagrid's beloved hippogriffs, Buckbeak attacks Malfoy and is sentenced to death, only to be saved by Harry and Hermione when they turn time back.

72)                      Scabbers -  Ron's aging rat; the animal form of Peter Pettigrew.

73)                      Crookshanks - Hermione’s aggressive ginger cat.

74)                      Padfoot - Sirius Black's animagi name, when he is a large black dog.

75)                      Prongs -  James Potter's animagi name, when he is a stag.

76)                      Moony - Remus Lupin's werewolf name.

77)                      Wormtail -  Peter Pettigrew's animagi name, when he is a rat.

78)                      Dobby - Formerly the Malfoy House-Elf, and freed by Harry at the end of Book II. Dobby has grown increasingly loyal to Harry. He helps Harry and the D.A. discover the Room of Requirement. Even though he has been freed, Dobby is still prone to self-punishment and often hurts himself when he feels he has not served his master well.

79)                      Kreacher - The Black House-Elf. Kreacher is loyal only to Bellatrix Lestrange and defies the Order to serve her. Kreacher lies and tells Harry that Sirius is at the Ministry when he is actually in the attic. Kreacher is inadvertently responsible for Sirius’s death.

80)                      Griphook - A goblin who worked at Gringotts bank. Griphook is resentful of wizards in general, but sees Voldemort’s regime as particularly bad for goblin freedom and autonomy.

81)                      Fenrir Greyback - A werewolf who serves Lord Voldemort.

     Ghost:

82)                      Moaning Myrtle - A ghost who haunts the girls' toilet. Myrtle was killed by the Chamber of Secrets basilisk fifty years earlier.

83)                      Peeves - A poltergeist that causes harmless trouble at Hogwarts.

84)                      Nearly-Headless Nick - The friendly Gryffindor ghost whose Deathday party Ron, Harry, and Hermione attend.

85)                      The Gray Lady - The ghost of Ravenclaw Tower. In life, she was Helena Ravenclaw, daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of Ravenclaw House