The Women of Harry Potter

As a booknerd, I'm expected to have answers to questions frequently asked - one's favorite book, one's favorite authors, one's favorite characters and so on. The last one doesn't get asked often, thus I don't always get a chance to share insight into why particular characters in certain novels stand out to me. There's Scout Finch, Huckleberry Finn, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, Jonas, the Baudelaire children, just to name a few. One story in particular holds a wealth of favorite characters - especially a high number of female characters, and that is Harry Potter.



To rephrase the question - who are my favorite characters in Harry Potter aside from Severus Snape?

This is a question with two interpretations - the tea aspect ("Most likely to invite over for tea") and the character aspect ("Probably not coming to tea but love as a character"). After all, there are very likable characters that no one in their right minds would invite over tea; and at the same time, likable people that you wouldn't mind associating with.

For my favorite female character, I cannot pick just one. Four come to mind - three that I could comfortably invite over for tea, and one that I would never dare invite over, but fortunately she is no longer with the living. They are, in no apparent order of preference, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, Nymphadora ("Don't call me that!") Tonks, Molly Weasley, and Bellatrix Lestrange. By now you can guess the last is the one that can consider herself un-invited for tea - that is, if she were still living. Unfortunately I cannot invite Tonks over either as she was killed by the last.

Why these five? (and why Bellatrix?)

First, there's Hermione Granger.

She's my favorite of the Golden Trio (yes, even beating Harry) because frankly, without her, the boys wouldn't have gotten as far as they did. She's the brains of the group - but at the same time, knows how to be a friend - and a family member. As a Muggleborn, she stands up for what's right (coughSPEWcough) and doesn't take a 'good enough' answer for granted. It does not hurt to add that Emma Watson played her brilliantly in the film versions and only boosted my confidence in the character herself.

Next, there's Minerva McGonagall, formerly the Transfiguration professor, currently Headmistress at Hogwarts.

Of all the professors at Hogwarts, she's my favorite (aside from Professor Snape, that is). As a professor, she's more than capable and acts as the right-hand woman for Dumbledore. It's obvious she cares about her students but wouldn't hesitate to assign detention to them should they step out of line. She holds herself up  to those of the likes of Dolores Umbridge and the Carrow siblings while protecting the students under her wing - not only the Gryffindors but all the students. Minerva is not the type of person that you should cross paths with and be able to get away with it. For that, I admire her, both as a person and as a character.

Representing the small margin of young adults in the Potterverse, Nympha- ahem - Tonks as she prefers to call herself, even after marriage to Remus Lupin - is one that many might not consider their favorite.

Yet it is nice to see a fresh twentysomething face representing the 'lost' generation between the youngsters and the 'adults'. Like the Weasley twins, her appearances bring a smile in the form of wisecracks and stating-the-obvious statements in addition to moments of clumsiness that I can relate to.

Then we have Molly Weasley, the matriarch of the Weasley clan.

If there is a character whose wrath should be feared above the others - even You-Know-Who or Dolores Umbridge - that would be Mrs. Weasley. She considers herself the mother of the team - her own brood of ginger-haired Weasleys as well as those stragglers that find their way into the Burrow such as Harry and Hermione and everyone in the Order. She's the type who would put her own life on the line for the safety of others as portrayed brilliantly at the end of Deathly Hallows when she faced off Bellatrix Lestrange with the infamous "Not my daughter, you bitch!" line.

Which leads us to Bellatrix Lestrange.

Now, Bellatrix may not be likable as a person, but as a character, I find her highly interesting yet we do not know much of her backstory aside from being in Azkaban for torturing the Longbottoms and serving as You-Know-Who's right-hand woman. (It is interesting to note a parallelism between her and McGonagall who is in a similar position with Dumbledore). While I may not support her priorities, I find her mulitlayered personality appealing when it comes to reading about her antics.

 I do feel there is more to her than meets the eye - i.e. why she went mad in Azkaban - her relationship with her cousin Sirius and the rest of the 'blood traitors' of the Black family tree - the sisterhood between her and Narcissa - she had to have a reason for the things she has done. Yet I still see something 'good' under the layers of craziness. Of course, my liking for the character has been heightened by the impeccable performance by Helena Bonham Carter.

All five are strong women who would fight to the death (sometimes literally) for their causes - and for their loved ones (evHAen Bellatrix had a true love - and that was You-Know-Who - and she would take on the fights for him if allowed).

For that, I admire them.



Interested? Read my other posts on the Harry Potter books:
Life Lessons We Learned from HARRY POTTER
The World of HARRY POTTER: ASL Deconstruction Series Book Edition
HARRY POTTER Signs: Behind the Creative Process



Photo Source: Warner Brothers