28 major 'Harry Potter' movie deaths, ranked from least to most heartbreaking

Also known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and You-Know-Who, Lord Voldemort was the most powerful Dark Wizard in the world. He split his soul into seven fragments called Horcruxes that could've allowed him to live forever if they weren't destroyed.

Throughout the series, Voldemort sets out to kill Harry Potter because of a prophecy that predicted Harry would defeat him. He also led a large group of Death Eaters who killed many of the main characters and fought for pureblood-wizard supremacy over Muggles.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2"

Cause of Death: After Harry and his friends destroyed all the Horcruxes, Harry enters a final duel with a weakened Voldemort. Harry's disarming spell had the power to beat the Dark Wizard, in part, because Harry was the true owner of the powerful Elder Wand, which Voldemort was using. When Harry's spell finally hit him, the Dark Lord died.

Sadness Ranking: 1/10

By the time he died, Voldemort's soul had been split so many times that he was hardly human anymore. After many years of murdering anyone in his path to get to Harry, it was a bit of a relief when Harry's spell slowly killed him.

A loyal Death Eater and member of Slytherin House, Bellatrix Lestrange was Sirius and Regulus Black's cousin. She was infatuated with Voldemort and would go to any lengths to please him.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2"

Cause of Death: During the Battle of Hogwarts, Bellatrix tried to murder Ginny Weasley with the Killing Curse. Ginny's mother, Molly Weasley, entered a duel with Bellatrix and killed her with a powerful spell to the chest.

Sadness Ranking: 1/10

Bellatrix murdered Sirius, Dobby, Tonks, and many others just so Voldemort could continue his pursuit for eternal life. She probably would've continued killing wizards and Muggles alike had she not met her end at the Battle of Hogwarts.

Death Eater and Snatcher Scabior was the wizard who found and captured Harry, Hermione, and Ron and brought them to Malfoy Manor to face the Death Eaters in the seventh film.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2"

Cause of Death: Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan were tasked with adding explosives to the bridge during the Battle of Hogwarts. After the protective enchantments around the school were broken, Scabior and an army of Death Eaters chased Neville across the bridge, but Neville cast a spell that lit the explosives and Scabior fell to his death.

Sadness Ranking: 1.5/10

Scabior didn't display any redeeming qualities and he was a prime Death Eater in Voldemort's army.

Professor Quirinus Quirrell was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts during Harry's first year. He was previously a Muggle Studies professor at the school, but he took a year-long sabbatical to travel the world in search of what was left of Voldemort (after Harry first defeated him as a baby).

Eventually, a weak Voldemort attached himself onto Professor Quirrell's body and used him to enter Hogwarts undetected.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

Cause of Death: At the time of his death, Quirrell had Voldemort living on the back of his head. So when he was fighting Harry for the Sorcerer's Stone, Quirrell was burned by Harry's touch and he turned to ash.

Sadness Ranking: 2/10

Fans might feel sorry for Quirrell because Voldemort was taking advantage of him, but at the time of his death, he was trying to kill an 11-year-old student for the Dark Lord.

Nicolas Flamel was the alchemist who created the Sorcerer's Stone, which offered him eternal life.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

Cause of Death: After Professor Quirrell tried to steal the Sorcerer's Stone so that Voldemort could regain his body, Flamel realized how dangerous the stone could be in the wrong hands, so he destroyed it. By destroying the stone, he cut himself off from the Elixir of Life, causing him and his wife to die from old age.

Sadness Ranking: 2/10

Although it is sad to lose a famed wizard, Flamel's death was peaceful and he got to die on his own terms after living a very long and full life.

Known for being one of the most powerful Dark Wizards, Gellert Grindelwald and Dumbledore were close friends as teenagers, and the pair plotted to find all the Deathly Hallows (including the Elder Wand) together. After the mysterious death of Dumbledore's sister, however, they ended their friendship and Grindelwald proceeded to gather a following of Dark Wizards.

Dumbledore defeated him in a legendary duel that resulted in Grindelwald's imprisonment.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1"

Cause of Death: Voldemort realized that the thief who stole the Elder Wand from Gregorovitch was Grindelwald, and therefore he was once an owner of the all-powerful wand. One night, Voldemort appeared in Grindelwald's jail cell to demand where the Elder Wand was located. Grindelwald refused to tell him, so Voldemort murdered him with the Killing Curse.

Sadness Ranking: 3/10

Grindelwald was responsible for a lot of death when he was raising his army of wizards. However, it was noble of Grindelwald to conceal the Elder Wand's location and sacrifice his life to prevent Voldemort from growing even stronger.

Sirius Black's brother, Regulus Black, was a Slytherin at Hogwarts and a Death Eater for much of his adult life. However, he walked away from Voldemort when he realized the kind of destruction he was capable of.

Time of Death: Prior to the start of the series, revealed in "Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows - Part 1"

Cause of Death: Regulus learned that Voldemort was creating Horcruxes and set out to find them. He was killed by Inferi while retrieving Slytherin's locket from the cave, but his house-elf, Kreacher, was able to escape with it.

Sadness Ranking: 3/10

Audiences don't learn much about Regulus, but it's a big blow when they realize the locket that Harry and Dumbledore found (right before Dumbledore's death) isn't the real Horcrux.

In the end, Regulus had been killed while following an honorable pursuit.

Rufus Scrimgeour was briefly appointed as Minister for Magic after Cornelius Fudge's resignation.

Scrimgeour was tasked with fulfilling Dumbledore's will and gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione the items that he left them after his death.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1"

Cause of Death: During Bill and Fleur's wedding, Death Eaters infiltrated the Ministry of Magic, and Voldemort killed Scrimgeour to take control of the government.

Sadness Ranking: 4/10

Scrimgeour wasn't featured heavily in the movies but he appeared to be a strong leader. His death was upsetting for the magical community because it showed how much Voldemort's power had grown.

Sorted into Slytherin House, Gregory Goyle came from a pureblood family with Death Eater ties. He was best friends with Draco Malfoy and Vincent Crabbe, and they terrorized Harry, Ron, and Hermione throughout their time at Hogwarts.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2"

Cause of Death: During the Battle of Hogwarts, Malfoy, Goyle, and fellow Slytherin student Blaise Zabini ambush Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Room of Requirement. Goyle tried to kill Ron by casting a Fiendfyre spell, lighting the room in an uncontrollable blaze. While trying to climb to safety, Goyle fell into the fire and died.

Sadness Ranking: 4/10

Goyle spent all of his Hogwarts years bullying other students and then swiftly sided with Voldemort during the uprising.

But Harry, Ron, and Hermione likely wouldn't have wanted him to die. The trio saved Malfoy and Blaise from the burning room, but they couldn't get to Goyle in time.

Griphook was a goblin who worked at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. He was responsible for taking Harry and Hagrid to the vaults in the first movie, and he played a key role in breaking the trio into Gringotts in the eighth movie.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2"

Cause of Death: Griphook helped Harry, Hermione, and Ron break into Gringotts to steal a Horcrux, and in return, Harry said he would give him the Sword of Gryffindor. Griphook got a hold of the sword early and alerted the other goblins of their presence, betraying their deal. When Voldemort learned about the break-in, he brought several goblins — including Griphook — to Malfoy Manor and killed them.

Sadness Ranking: 4.5/10

Griphook didn't trust wizards, so he deceived Harry. But wizards like Voldemort had been mistreating goblins and other magical creatures for a long time, so his mistrust of Harry is somewhat understandable.

Bathilda Bagshot wrote "A History of Magic," a book used by all Hogwarts students. She lived in Godric's Hollow alongside the Dumbledores and latter the Potters.

Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter took advantage of Bathilda's old age to get intimate information about Dumbledore after his death.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1"

Cause of Death: Voldemort killed her sometime prior to the Battle of Hogwarts, and left her body alone in her home. He sent his snake, Nagini, to reanimate her corpse and lure Harry into her house to attack him.

Sadness Ranking: 5/10

Bagshot was a very old woman who kept to herself and happened to find herself in Voldemort's crosshairs. Although she was able to lead a long and full life, her death was pretty gruesome.

Mykew Gregorovitch was a famous European wandmaker who sold wands to the likes of Viktor Krum.

He was also the owner of the Elder Wand for some time.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1"

Cause of Death: Voldemort learned Gregorovitch had owned the Elder Wand, so he kidnapped him and combed through his memories for the truth of the wand's whereabouts. When Voldemort realized that Gregorovitch had been telling the truth about the wand being stolen by an unknown thief, he murdered him with the Killing Curse.

Sadness Ranking: 5/10

Gregorovitch was another casualty in Voldemort's quest for power. We don't learn much about the wandmaker, but he didn't have much information to offer Voldemort — and he didn't deserve to die.

James Potter was a Gryffindor and best friends with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew at Hogwarts. He married his classmate Lily Evans, and their son Harry was born a little while later.

Time of Death: Prior to the start of the series, revealed in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

Cause of Death: When James and Lily realized that Voldemort was going to try to kill their son, they went into hiding. Peter Pettigrew betrayed his childhood friend by revealing their location. When Voldemort arrived at their home, James told Lily to run and protect Harry before he was murdered by Voldemort's Killing Curse.

Sadness Ranking: 6/10

James' death was caused by Pettigrew's betrayal, which is especially tragic because they had been close friends. Additionally, Harry never got to know his father, and that causes him a lot of distress — especially in his teenage years.

A fellow member of the Gryffindor House, Lavender Brown joined Dumbledore's Army to learn defensive magic in the fifth movie, and she was Ron's overbearing love interest in the sixth.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2"

Cause of Death: During the Battle of Hogwarts, Lavender falls and is attacked and killed by the werewolf Death Eater Fenrir Greyback.

Sadness Ranking: 6/10

Although Lavender annoyed Hermione and some of her other classmates, she was just a teenager caught up in a tragic war, and she didn't deserve to be killed in such a violent manner.

First introduced as the Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Alastor Moody was an Auror and leading member of the Order of the Phoenix.

He was never actually a professor Hogwarts — Barty Crouch Jr. used Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him — but Moody is seen as one of Harry's greatest protectors throughout the second half of the series.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1"

Cause of Death: During the Battle of the Seven Potters, the Order of the Phoenix arrived at Privet Drive on a rescue mission. They disguised six members as Harry using Polyjuice Potion, and then those six plus the real Harry paired up with another member to fly to safe houses.

During the flight, Voldemort showed up and thought the real Harry was flying with Moody, but it was really Mundungus Fletcher. When Mundungus realized what was happening, he Disapparated, and Moody was hit with Voldemort's Killing Curse.

Sadness Ranking: 6.5/10

When Moody was killed, it showed that any character is vulnerable, even the toughest of protectors. His death was the beginning of many more to come and was extra tragic because Mundungus Fletcher betrayed him.

Frank Bryce was the Muggle caretaker of the old Riddle house that Voldemort's family used to live in.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"

Cause of Death: While watching over the Riddle house, Frank happened to overhear Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew plotting their plans to murder Harry. Nagini realized Frank was in the hallway and alerted Voldemort, who killed him.

Sadness Ranking: 7/10

Any innocent death is especially sad, even if the character only had a brief appearance in the movie. Frank lived alone and spent his days caring for the Riddle home — he was just doing his job when he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Charity Burbage was the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts. She encouraged her students to understand that Muggles aren't so different from wizards, and even wrote a famed Op-Ed for the Daily Prophet defending non-pureblood wizards.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1"

Cause of Death: Voldemort kidnapped Charity and held her hostage. During a meeting with Death Eaters, he suspended her body over the table and expressed disgust for her views on Muggles. He murdered her with the Killing Curse and then let his snake eat her body.

Sadness Ranking: 7/10

Charity's death was a gruesome one. She's seen pleading with her fellow professor, Severus Snape, to save her right before Voldemort killed her. She was an innocent witch with idealistic views — nothing justifies her tragic murder.

Colin Creevey was a Gryffindor in the year below Harry who was known for taking photos of his experiences at Hogwarts. In his first year, he was petrified by the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets when he saw it through the lens of his camera.

Throughout the series, Colin is somewhat of a nuisance to Harry.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2"

Cause of Death: Colin was killed by Death Eaters during the Battle of Hogwarts, but his death is not shown on screen.

Sadness Ranking: 7.5/10

Colin was an enthusiastic, 16-year-old Muggle-born who was just excited about his new life as a wizard at Hogwarts. He was an innocent student who never got to lead a full life, making his death especially brutal.

Born a Metamorphmagus (someone with the magical power to change their appearance), Nymphadora Tonks was an Auror for the Ministry of Magic and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

She married Remus Lupin and they had a child together.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2"

Cause of Death: Tonks was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange during the Battle of Hogwarts, however, her death isn't shown on-screen in the movie.

Sadness Ranking: 7.5/10

Tonks was killed alongside her new husband and they both left behind a newborn son, making her death especially tragic. It wasn't shown on-screen during the film, but we see the aftermath of her body lying next to Lupin's in the Great Hall.

The couple had been secretive about their relationship and pregnancy because Lupin was a werewolf. She had her whole life ahead of her as a wife and mother — even more so in a world that would've been more accepting of their relationship after Voldemort's demise — but never had the chance to enjoy it.

Albus Dumbledore devoted his life to Hogwarts, first as a professor and later as the headmaster. He formed the Order of the Phoenix during Voldemort's first uprising and was thought to be one of the only people Voldemort feared.

He formed a special bond with Harry during his time at Hogwarts and helped him figure out how to ultimately defeat Voldemort.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

Cause of Death: Snape murdered Dumbledore in the Astronomy Tower with the Killing Curse. Dumbledore was nearing death already due to a curse from Marvolo Gaunt's ring (a Horcrux), and he knew that Voldemort had tasked Draco Malfoy to kill him Because of this, he worked with Snape to plot his own death so that Voldemort would truly trust Snape and believe his faux allegiance to the Death Eaters.

Sadness Ranking: 7.5/10

Dumbledore was beloved by those at Hogwarts and most of the Wizarding World, and it was devastating for Harry to lose another parental figure after experiencing so much loss throughout his life.

However, Dumbledore was over 100 years old, marking a life well-lived.

Severus Snape was a Slytherin and the Potions professor at Hogwarts. He was in love with Lily Evans and bullied by James Potter during his time at the school, so he was typically cold with Harry.

Throughout his adult life, Snape was working as a double agent as a member of the Order of the Phoenix and one of Voldemort's most trusted Death Eaters.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2"

Cause of Death: Voldemort killed Snape during the Battle of Hogwarts. He believed that Snape was the rightful owner of the Elder Wand and the only way for Voldemort to gain ownership would be to kill him.

Sadness Ranking: 8/10

After Snape's death, we learn his tragic backstory revealing that Snape was working for Dumbledore all along. For his entire life, he harbored a deep love for Lily and when she was murdered by Voldemort, he promised to protect Harry and fight the Dark Lord.

His death would have been even sadder if Harry had known Snape was a good guy all along, but ultimately Snape picked on Harry throughout his time at Hogwarts, likely because of his difficult relationship with Harry's father.

The ghost of a Ravenclaw student from many years ago, Moaning Myrtle could be found haunting the second-floor girls' bathroom at Hogwarts. The students see her as a nuisance, which allowed Harry, Ron, and Hermione to use her bathroom to brew their Polyjuice Potion uninterrupted in the second film.

Time of Death: Prior to the start of the series, revealed in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Cause of Death: In the 1940s, Myrtle was hiding from a bully in the bathroom when Tom Riddle came in to open the Chamber of Secrets. The basilisk emerged and killed Myrtle, leaving her body alone for hours before it was found. Riddle used her death to make his first Horcrux with a diary.

Sadness Ranking: 8/10

Myrtle was an innocent child trying to escape from petty bullies when a giant snake slithered out of the bathroom drain and killed her with one look. No one came to find her after she died. She's left to haunt the place where she was murdered for eternity, and Hogwarts students continue to bully her in the afterlife.

She may be a little annoying and vengeful in the eyes of the trio, but her story is still a tragic one.

Remus Lupin is first introduced as Harry's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in the third film, but Lupin becomes a father figure to Harry.

Lupin was bitten by a werewolf when he was younger causing him to transform each full moon, but he found solace in his childhood friends, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew, who accepted him and helped him during his time at Hogwarts.

In his adult life, Lupin was a leading member of the Order of the Phoenix, and he fell in love with and married fellow member Tonks.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2"

Cause of Death: Lupin died during the Battle of Hogwarts. It's not shown on-screen, but it's implied that the Death Eater Antonin Dolohov killed him in a duel.

Sadness Ranking: 9/10

Although the movies don't dive quite as deep into Lupin's story as the books, he died at a time in his life when he was happiest — he had found love with Tonks and just had a baby. Now that child is an orphan and will never know his parents.

Lupin's tragic and difficult life as a werewolf ended just as things were starting to look up.

Fred Weasley was one of Ron's older brothers and twin to George. He was a Gryffindor and a passionate prankster.

The twins ultimately left Hogwarts early to open a joke shop in Diagon Alley. The pair were inseparable both at school and after, and they became important figures in the fight against Voldemort.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2"

Cause of Death: Fred died in an explosion outside the Room of Requirement during the Battle of Hogwarts, though only the aftermath of his death is shown on-screen in the movie.

Sadness Ranking: 9/10

Although his actual death isn't shown in the movie, the aftermath of his family finding his body in the Great Hall is.

The Weasleys are a tight-knit family, for the most part, and it was clear how devastated his parents and siblings were to lose him. But the reaction of his twin brother, George, as he took in the reality of their permanent separation was truly heartbreaking.

Dobby was a house-elf who used to work for the Malfoy family. He was first introduced using unconventional, and sometimes annoying, methods to try to warn Harry that the Chamber of Secrets was going to be reopened during his second year at Hogwarts.

Harry freed him from his master by tricking Lucius Malfoy into offering him a sock, and after that, the pair formed an unlikely bond.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1"

Cause of Death: Dobby was alerted by Dumbledore's brother that Harry and his friends were trapped in Malfoy Manor. He dropped a chandelier on the Death Eaters, which distracted them enough to Apparate himself and the others away. While Dobby was in the process of Apparating, Bellatrix Lestrange threw her dagger at him, which stabbed him in the chest and killed him.

Sadness Ranking: 9.5/10

Dobby's sweet and sad reaction to realizing his fate makes his death incredibly emotional. His last words are, "Dobby is happy to be with his friend, Harry Potter."

He was an innocent creature who was willing to do anything to help and protect his friends, and Harry couldn't do anything to save him.

Born into the pureblood Black family, Sirius Black was a Gryffindor and best friends with James Potter.

Sirius was Harry's godfather, but he was falsely imprisoned in Azkaban for the supposedly killing Peter Pettigrew when Harry was a baby. He was an unregistered Animagus (a wizard who can transform into an animal), so he escaped Azkaban by transforming himself into a large, black dog.

In an attempt to earn Harry's trust, he revealed the truth about Pettigrew — how he betrayed the Potters, framed Sirius for his murders, and escaped the scene. He was welcomed back into the Order of the Phoenix after his escape from Azkaban, but he had to stay hidden from the rest of the Wizarding World.

Time of Death: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"

Cause of Death: During the battle in the Department of Mysteries, the members of the Order of the Phoenix fought Voldemort and his Death Eaters to protect Harry and his friends. While dueling his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius got blasted by a curse and fell into the veil — a mysterious archway that serves as a portal between the living and the dead. After floating into the veil, it's understood that Sirius is dead.

Sadness ranking: 10/10

Harry's guttural reaction to Sirius' death makes this one especially tragic. Sirius was the closest thing Harry had to family, and they'd even talked about living together one day. But since Sirius was on the run from the law before his untimely death, that never happened.

Harry also blamed himself for Sirius' death because Voldemort had tricked Harry into going to the Department of Mysteries by making him believe that Sirius was in grave danger — which only became true when Sirius arrived there with the Order of the Phoenix to save Harry.

Harry's mother Lily was a talented Gryffindor who fought as a member of the Order of the Phoenix to defeat Voldemort during the First Wizarding War.

As a child, she grew up near Severus Snape, and the two became close friends in their early years at Hogwarts.

Time of Death: Prior to the series, revealed in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

Cause of Death: Lily and James took their newborn son into hiding after a prophecy revealed that a boy born at the same time as Harry would have the power to defeat Voldemort. The couple trusted only Peter Pettigrew with their whereabouts, but he betrayed their loyalty by telling the Dark Lord. Voldemort murdered her with the Killing curse while she was protecting her son.

Sadness ranking: 10/10

Lily's death is especially sad because we find out that her love for Harry is what ultimately saved him that night. She shielded him from the curse, sacrificing herself in the process, and left Harry an orphan who would never know his family.

It's also tragic when we learn of Severus Snape's undying love for Lily and see his devastated reaction to losing her.

The son of Amos Diggory, Cedric was a Hufflepuff who was selected to represent Hogwarts in the Triwizard Tournament. He was known for being a great student who was skilled at Quidditch.

Cedric and Harry ended up winning the Triwizard Tournament together, but it was a trap.

Time of death: "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"

Cause of death: When Cedric and Harry Potter went to grab the Triwizard Cup together, it turned out to be a Portkey that transported them to a graveyard. After they arrived, Voldemort told Peter Pettigrew to "kill the spare" (Cedric) because he only needed Harry.

Sadness ranking: 10/10

Cedric's death is the most tragic in the series because he was innocent and, in his final moments, his value was greatly diminished when he was called a "spare."

It's made even more tragic when Harry brings his lifeless body back to Hogwarts and we witness Amos' heart-wrenching reaction to losing his only son.

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