There are four houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in theHarry Potterbook series. While Slytherin is presented as the evil house in the books, written from Harry’s perspective, Gryffindor is presented as the house of good people. Almost every person introduced as a Gryffindor is a hero in some way.
But there are a few Gryffindors in theHarry Potterseries who have shown evil traits. They may be traitors who are truly villainous. They may be arrogant and immature because most of those introduced are teenagers. But it’s important to remember that not all Gryffindors are pure of heart.
9Cormac McLaggen
Introduced inHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Cormac McLaggen is the pinnacle of the rich, obnoxious teenager. Professor Slughorn takes a liking to McLaggen for his Slug Club, his collection of influential students either by name or by money. He also thinks he should have an inside track to the Gryffindor Quidditch team because of the Slug Club.
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McLaggen often mocks those less well-off than him, like Ron and Ginny. Hermione invites him as her date to a Slug Club meeting to make Ron jealous, but she ends up regretting him describing her attempts to get away from him as an “escape.” McLaggen did fight along the heroes in the Battle of Hogwarts, so he’s not pure evil, but definitely arrogant and just an unpleasant person.
8Romilda Vane
Her last name pretty much says it all. Romilda is persistent in becoming Harry Potter’s girlfriend, by hook or by crook. Like Cormac McLaggen,Romilda Vaneis not introduced until the sixth book. At this point, Harry has become more than a just a boy who was famous for something that happened when he was an infant, and is now famous for his own actions.
She tries to get Harry to spend time with her, mocking his friends in the process. She is willing to use a love potion to get him infatuated with her. That attempt ends with Ron being poisoned on his birthday. She isn’t pure evil, but she is seeking social status and is willing to try some shady things to obtain it.
7Ron Weasley
Ron is one of the heroes, but he isa flawed hero, at best. He is not evil by nature, but he allows his demons to get the better of him throughout the series. He allows his jealousy to rip him and Harry apart after Harry’s name comes out of the Triwizard Cup. He also uses Lavender Brown’s affections for him until he’s tired of her, and then he basically ghosts her.
Then, inHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he allows the influence of the horcrux to corrupt his mind causing him to abandon Harry and Hermione. He eventually returns, destroys the horcrux, fights for the good side, takes Hermione’s feelings into account, and thinks about the house elves safety during the final battle. He overcomes his flaws, but he still falls victim to them at inopportune times.
6Harry Potter
He may be the hero of the entire series, but Harry Potter,played by Daniel Radcliffe, is not without fault. Harry often slacks off in school and cheats off Hermione to get better grades than he deserves. Harry was also arrogant at times, ignoring the advice of older, more experienced wizards and trying to do things on his own, which often resulted in himself or his friends getting hurt.
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During the Wizarding War, he also broke wizarding law. He cast two of the three unforgivable curses, the Imperius Curse and the Cruciatus Curse, against his enemies. While he fought on the good side, he still essentially committed a crime to reach his goal.
5James Potter
James is another Gyffindor who isn’t evil, but his teenage self was incredibly immature. While adult James served in the Order of the Phoenix and fought in the first Wizarding War, teenage James was a bit of a bully along with his best friend, Sirius Black.
As scene inHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, James and Sirius would often pick on fellow student Severus Snape. Snape embodied everything it was to be a Slytherin, and James hated Slytherin. He was Gryffindor through and through, both for good and bad.
4Sirius Black
Sirius came from a proud Slytherin family, but he wanted to rebel against their beliefs, landing him in Gryffindor. He was brave and, mostly, just. But while he embodied the strengths of Gryffindors, he wasn’t above being a bully to those he viewed as beneath him.
He often mocked and bullied Severus Snape in school, alongside James. And, as revealed inHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,Sirius also played the prank on Snape that had the potential to kill him. Sirius also treated the family house elf, Kreacher, poorly, and that led tohis eventual death.
3Percy Weasley
Percy Weasley is what happens when ambition blinds a person to what is right in front of their face. Percy loves rules and regulations, and that, in turn, makes him loyal to a fault to the Ministry of Magic. He is tired of being poor and has goals that involve Ministry prestige. Unfortunately, that leads to himstanding against his own family.
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Percy receives a promotion to work directly with the Minister of Magic after the events ofHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He cuts ties with his family when they side with Dumbledore. When it was revealed that Dumbledore had been right, Percy continued to avoid his family, except when the new minister wanted, under false pretenses, to visit Harry at Percy’s parents' home. Percy’s only saving grace is that when he sees the Ministry has fallen, he rushed to Hogwarts to fight alongside his family, and did everything he could to protect his brother’s body when Fred was killed in battle.
2Albus Dumbledore
It can be argued that Albus Dumbledore isthe greatest wizardin the entireHarry Potterseries. It’s his research and planning that allows Harry Potter to defeat Voldemort. From Harry’s perspective, Dumbledore is a mythical figure who does no wrong. But, from an unbiased perspective, Dumbledore’s Machiavellian tendencies make him look villainous at times.
He leaves Harry Potter with his abusive family. He allows, Snape to bully students in his classes. And he essentially raises Harry like a lamb to slaughter. Harry’s life is to be sacrificed to defeat Voldemort. Dumbledore did a lot of bad things for what he called “the Greater Good.”
1Peter Pettigrew
Peter Pettigrew represents the worst Gryffindor in the entireHarry Potterseries. Wormtail, as he was known among his friends, was thought to be a friend of the Marauders and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, but he was secretly working for Voldemort and committed the ultimate act of betrayal in the series.
Peter informed Voldemort about James, Lily and Harry setting up the events of the series. Peter killed a group of muggles and framed Sirius for it while faking his own death. In a very short period of time, he had led to the death of one friend and the imprisonment of another while costing a third the joy of friendship with these three people. Peter is unforgivable.
