So, I tried to narrow down the list as much as possible…only the biggies are here, so you won’t see Cho Chang or Gilderoy Lockhart on the list. If you feel I’ve left someone out, or if one of those minorish characters is your favorite, then I’ve made an “other” option for you.
I’m just looking for the character you like best…not the best written, or the most heroic, or whatever. Just the character that makes you smile when he or she turns up on the page because you just like reading about them and seeing them in action.
I’d have to go with Snape. I generally like villains but never really liked Voldy–he was just too evil and didn’t have any style. Snape was evil with style…except he wasn’t really evil, which made it even better (the only thing I like better than a villain is a well done anti-hero.)
Second choice is Lucius Malfoy (elegant evil) and third is Sirius in books 3 and 4 (I didn’t like him as much in book 5).
Luna for me. Aside from her very fun personality, I like the fact that the Sorting Hat put her in Ravenclaw. Her openness to unconventional ideas doesn’t mean she’s unintelligent, I like how she looks down upon brainy Hermione as being “closed-minded.”
I always liked it when Mad-Eye showed up. Even though it turned out that most of his character was represented by Barty Crouch, he evidently nailed his polyjuice acting - he was very much the same as himself in the later books.
Dumbledore all the way. He reminds me so very much of the teachers I’ve had in my lifetime who most inspired me. The merry twinkle in the eye, the kind word for one and all, the steadfast belief in giving everybody a chance, his way of talking to the students of all ages as intellectual equals, and his determination to keep the fun in education.
I’m sorry!! If it helps, I did seriously debate that issue when creating the poll–Fred and George do have two distinct personalities, but I’m not sure if it’s all that obvious to casual readers, so I ended up putting them together.
(George is my favorite of the two, btw.)
Don’t know what to think about the fact that no one’s chosen Harry yet–he would have been my second choice after Neville.
Arthur Weasley, and then after him, Molly. It just seems like, of all the characters in the book, those seem to be the two I’d most like to know and be friends with.
I am a casual reader of the books (though I have read them all, and did not notice a difference between Fred and George, probably because I never tried to. Whenever one of them said something, I never thought, “Here is Fred speaking”, but rather “Here is Fred or George speaking.”
Snape. He’s a very well-defined tragic character. Self-sacrifice is always something that gets to me and in a way his sacrifice was greater than Lily’s.
Regulus Black comes in second for a similar reason.
Kreacher and Draco are tied for third. I disliked Draco up until the final book when he made what seemed like a genuine, heartfelt attempt to save either Crabbe or Goyle- I can’t remember which is which. The less evil of the pair who didn’t use fiendfyre.
It’s pretty subtle, but Fred is much more outgoing than George. George is kinder and more sensitive. Fred is always the first to make the joke, George is always the first to do or say something kind or notice that’s someone’s upset.
Examples for Fred:
He’s the one who turned Ron’s teddy into a spider (CoS), and he also once gave Ron an acid pop (PoA).
Fred was the one who wanted to blackmail Ludo Bagman in GoF.
It was Fred’s idea to try to trick the age line in GoF.
Examples for George:
He’s the one to offer to help Harry with his trunk in the first book.
He’s the one who worries about the cost of the schoolbooks and if his parents will be able to afford it in Chamber of Secrets.
He’s the one who goes up to give his Mum a hug after Mr. Weasley’s been attacked in Order of the Phoenix.
