The release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone took the world by storm back in 2001, surging in popularity from the off. The film was so popular that a further seven were made, to complete the story. Naturally, the movies were based on books of the same name, written by author J.K. Rowling, and they were just as successful. Considering the first film came out in 2001, and the final one came out in 2011, we really watched our favorite stars grow from kids to adults over that ten year period. A particular fact that everyone assumes to be true is that Harry has to be considered the greatest wizard in the franchise, seeing as how he is the title character. However, this is more than an assumption, it just isn’t true. There are some great candidates to consider for the title of “Greatest Wizard”, and the answer might not be as straight forward as you think…
Who Was Actually The Greatest Wizard In Harry Potter?
Hermione Granger was a third of our favorite trio, who we followed throughout the entire franchise. Harry, Ron and Hermione were seemingly attached at the hip, as they progressed through the school years together, getting into all sorts of trouble (and adventure). We have to consider Hermione as the strongest wizard/witch in the franchise because of her sheer intelligence, knowledge and drive. Not only was she courageous and willing to do anything to help Harry, she is consistently top of the class and the most academic student at Hogwarts. There is no surprise that she ends up being the Minister for Magic, the leading role in the Ministry of Magic. Don’t underrate this witch, she has the smarts to outwit any opponent.
Hermione Granger
Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) – Half-Blood, Dark Wizard
Lord Voldemort, or Tom Riddle as he was born, was the main antagonist of the entire Harry Potter franchise, and was certainly one of the most powerful characters. Voldemort had many special powers, even unique to wizards, including legilimency (the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person’s mind and correctly interpreting one’s findings), flight, occlumency (magic of closing one’s mind against Legilimency), teleportation as well as incredible magic ability. Additionally, Voldemort was also a parseltongue speaker, meaning he could speak to snakes. Voldemort wasn’t feared by the entire wizarding world for no reason, and even resurrected himself to full physical form at the end of Goblet of Fire. He also possessed the most powerful wand in wizard history- the Elder Wand.
Lord Voldemort
Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris, Michael Gambon) – Half-Blood Wizard
Harry Potter’s mentor throughout the series, Dumbledore served as headmaster of the renowned wizarding school. Dumbledore was not only wise, but extremely powerful when it came to magic. He was often considered the greatest wizard of all time, with Harry even quoted saying “Albus Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of all time”. Not only was he selfless, he was courageous and acted in favor of the greater good, even when it came to his untimely death.
Albus Dumbledore
Ronald Weasley (Rupert Grint) – Pure-Blood Wizard
The first pure-blood wizard to make the list, Ronald Weasley was a third of the famous trio (Harry, Ron, Hermione). Ron was always a mighty supporter of Harry in all of the adventures the trio found themselves on. Perhaps quite underrated, Ron showed his true power at times in the franchise. Overcoming the trickery of the locket horcrux springs to mind. It takes unbelievable willpower to defeat the mind-games it displays, but Ron prevails. He also attracts Hermione with his charms- that’s some wizardry.
Another Harry Potter antagonist, Lestrange harbored significant power and was a loyal, devout servant to Voldemort’s cause. She became a Death Eater after leaving Hogwarts and was responsible for the murders of two fan favorites of the franchise, in Sirius Black and Dobby the house elf. Lestrange also successfully escaped Azkaban prison once and was extremely dangerous. Perhaps one of the most dangerous witches of the wizarding world, she was eventually killed by Molly Weasley in the Battle of Hogwarts. Good Riddance.
An unsung hero, Neville is criminally underrated in the franchise. We watched him grow from the dopey little boy in the first film, who had to rely on a ‘rememberall’ to stop forgetting things, to an expert in herbology, to a fully fledged hero with incredible courage. Neville was responsible for defeating one of Voldemort’s strongest horcruxes, Nagini the snake, while publicly humiliating Voldemort by refusing to join his army. He was an integral member of Dumbledore’s army.
Neville Longbottom
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) – Half-Blood Wizard
‘The Boy Who Lived’, Harry Potter is right up there with the greatest wizards of all time. Not only is he the title character, but he consistently shows his power, strength and courage throughout the series. Not only does he single handedly take on Voldemort several times, but he survived two ‘Avada Kedavara’ curses, a spell that instantly kills the recipient. He fought a troll, he fought death-eaters, a basilisk, an army of Voldemort-supporters and Voldemort himself! Harry is certainly a legend in the wizarding world and ended up as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Accompanied by the most loyal of friends, Harry ultimately tracks down all the horcruxes and defeats Lord Voldemort, even showing the humility he possesses by destroying the Elder Wand at the very end.
Harry Potter
Molly Weasley (Julie Walters) – Pure-Blood Witch
Sure, Molly Weasley didn’t get to show off her wizarding powers so much in the films, but she was clearly a powerful wizard. Having just lost her son, she was able to overcome this and defeat powerful witch Bellatrix Lestrange! She may have been subjected to mostly domestic wizardry on screen, but she was instrumental in the Battle of Hogwarts. A legendary witch.
Molly Weasley
Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) – Half-Blood Wizard
Despite being portrayed as a moody, shady character for much of the franchise, Snape was actually working as a double-agent the entire time and was possibly one of the most loyal wizard’s in Dumbledore’s army. Snape was accused of being a supporter of Voldemort and seemed to make life hard for Harry at school, but he was actually one of the biggest heroes of all. Snape had a talent for potions and went successfully undetected by Voldemort as a double-agent. Snape was certainly one of the most powerful wizards in the wizarding world.
