All 96 Deaths In The "Harry Potter" Books, Ranked By Sadness
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In honor of the fact that I thought of writing this, here are all the deaths in the Harry Potter books ranked from least sad to most sad.
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I am including people who die before the books begin, and I am not including the destruction of the horcruxes themselves as deaths.
My apologies if I miss someone! Feel free to scream at me in the comments if I do.
Also, for characters I don't have images/GIFs for, I've used a picture of comedian Richard Ayoade holding a DVD of White Chicks.
96.Marvolo Gaunt
Marvolo Gaunt was a nightmare of a human being. I feel nothing but happiness about his death.
95.Voldemort
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Yay to Voldemort dying, and how he dies, because Voldemort is the worst.
94.Ignotus Peverell
Assuming the Deathly Hallows story is true, which I will continue to do this whole list, The Cloak-of-Invisibility Peverell brother walks out of life arm-in-arm with death, chilling. That's not sad.
93.Bellatrix Lestrange
Screw you, Bellatrix!
92.Nagini
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Bleh. Die!
91.Scabior
Scabior is a Snatcher who sucks a whole lot.
90.Morfin Gaunt
Such a huge meanie, but bad shit happened to him.
89.All the other Snatchers who die during the Battle of Hogwarts
I may not know who you are, but I do not enjoy you.
88.All the other Death Eaters who die during the Battle of Hogwarts
You're worse than the Snatchers.
87.The various Death Eaters Voldemort kills when he's angry about the Gringotts break-in
Death Eaters suck, but these deaths aren't super memorable.
86.Gibbon
A Death Eater I don't care enough about to be anything but casually pleased about his death.
85.Evan Rosier
See above.
84.Wilkes
See above above.
83.The Basilisk / Serpent of Slytherin
The Basilisk was just living its life, but, also, it's great that the Basilisk dies.
82.Antioch Peverell
The Elder-Wand Peverell brother. Of course he's killed.
81.Armando Dippet
Dippet was Hogwarts Headmaster before Dumbledore. He dies really old, so, that's cool.
80.Antioch Peverell's enemy
A guy Antioch Peverell kills using the elder Elder Wand.
79.Thomas Riddle
Voldemort's grandfather. I have basically no connection to him.
78.Mary Riddle
Voldemort's grandmother. I have basically no connection to her.
77.Gellert Grindelwald
He was an ass but we knew a fair amount about him, and he was close with Dumbledore at one point, so there's some weight to his death.
76.The Bloody Baron
The Bloody Baron murders Helena Ravenclaw, and then stabs himself when he realizes what he'd done. Holy crap, that's a lot.
75.Merope Riddle
Voldemort's mother was a very, very bad person who had a truly horrible life, and her death leaves her son an orphan.
74.Cuthbert Binns
We meet Binns when he's already a ghost, so I'm basically not sad at all about his death.
73.Tom Riddle Sr.
Voldemort's father. A jerk who was super wronged.
72.The Gringotts guards and goblins Voldemort kills when he's angry about the Gringotts break-in
I don't know them, but that's not fun.
71.Bilius, Ron's uncle
Rest in peace, Bilius. That's all.
70.Perenelle Flamel
Nicolas Flamel's wife. Her death ranks a touch less sad than her husband's because I think there's less in the books about her.
69.Nicolas Flamel
It was definitely time for Flamel to go, but still, his passing is somewhat sad.
68.Hagrid's chickens
Now we're getting into the animal section. These are the chickens a possessed Ginny strangles to death – Jesus Christ – because their crows would kill the Basilisk.
67.The spider "Moody" (Barty Crouch Jr.) kills in class
The last few minutes of that spider's life were very bad.
66.Binky, Lavender's rabbit
No!!! A rabbit!!! Binky was a stranger to us, but still, Binky!!!
65.The two Unicorns Quirrell kills
The unicorns didn't ask for this.
64.Hagrid's Flobberworms
Aww, the flobberworms.
63.The unnamed people Voldemort kills to make horcruxes
Sorry that you die.
62.Karkus
A giant who dies really super violently.
61.Benjy Fenwick
An original Order of the Phoenix member, killed by Death Eaters.
60.Dorcas Meadowes
An original Order of the Phoenix member, killed by Voldemort.
59.Edgar Bones (and some of his family)
An original Order of the Phoenix member and some of his family, all killed by Death Eaters.
58.Marlene McKinnon (and her family)
An original Order of the Phoenix member and her family, all killed by Death Eaters.
57.Quirinus Quirrell
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Quirrell sucked a fair amount, but he dies brutally.
56.Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, aka Nearly Headless Nick
He was killed for a mistake he made, and now he has to be a ghost with a barely attached head. Obviously that's not good, but, to us, he's always dead and hanging out, so we don't grieve him.
55.Hagrid's father
I'm so sorry for your loss a long time ago, Hagrid.
54.The goblin Voldemort kills when he's angry about the Gringotts break-in
He was the messenger, telling Voldemort about the Gringotts break-in.
53.The mother and children who live in Gregorovitch's old house
They weren't part of any of this! Let them be, Voldemort.
52.Dean Thomas's father
I didn't remember that Dean's dad had died, but it turns out he did! He died after abandoning his family to protect them from Death Eaters. Oof!
51.Octavius Pepper
A person who disappears and is probably killed by Death Eaters.
50.The 12 muggles Peter Pettigrew kills
Rest in peace, 12 innocent muggles.
49.Kendra Dumbledore
Dumbledore's mom. She is accidentally killed by her daughter, Ariana. That's bonkers tragic. These books are sad.
48.Percival Dumbledore
Dumbledore's dad. He did a morally complicated thing, but he was a good person.
47.All of the unidentified good people who die in the Battle of Hogwarts
It's sad y'all don't make it.
46.Mrs. Abbott, Hannah Abbott's mother
It's so awful when parents of minors die.
45.Emmeline Vance
A good person and good witch who Death Eaters murder.
44.Mykew Gregorovitch
The wandmaker who had the Elder Wand at one point and is killed by Voldemort.
43.Hepzibah Smith
She was sweet, and Voldemort kills her.
42.Helena Ravenclaw
She is murdered in such a scary, non-magical, in-real-life-this-happens-to-women way.
41.Broderick Bode
He's the Ministry employee in St. Mungo's who dies via Devil's Snare because he knew too much about Voldemort's prophecy plan.
40.Mrs. Crouch
She shouldn't have basically broken her evil son out of Azkaban, but she was dying and loved him a lot.
39.Bertha Jorkins
An innocent person who suffered brain damage due to a memory charm and is ultimately tortured and murdered by Voldemort.
38.Bogrod
A goblin who burns to death under the imperious curse during Harry, Hermione, and Ron's Gringotts break-in. Jesus Christ. These are children's books.
37.Florean Fortescue
The guy who ran the ice cream place in Diagon Alley. He was nice to Harry. Florean, sorry you are kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by Voldemort.
36.Igor Karkaroff
I love saying, "Igor Karakoff," but I don't, like, think about his death ever. Good on him for not becoming a Death Eater again after Voldemort came back, though, I guess. The bar for praise is low.
35.Fabian Prewett
One of Molly's brothers killed in the First Wizarding War.
34.Gideon Prewett
Molly's other brother killed in the First Wizarding War, ranked higher than the previous brother simply for the fact that the name "Gideon" is more fun to me than "Fabian."
33.Dirk Cresswell
Dick Cresswell was of those people who didn't do anything wrong and shouldn't be murdered.
32.Gornuk
A goblin who didn't do anything wrong and shouldn't be murdered.
31.Myrtle Elizabeth Warren, aka Moaning Myrtle
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Moaning Myrtle's death was sad, but she's dead the whole time, so, you know, that's that.
30.Vincent Crabbe
I know Crabbe's death probably ranks sadder than you'd expect, but he dies so horribly, and he was a child we spent books growing up with.
29.Peter Pettigrew
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Pettigrew was one of the greatest monsters in Harry Potter, but he knew Harry's parents very well, and his death is very affecting.
28.Cadmus Peverell's fiancé
The fiancé of the Resurrection-Stone Peverell brother, who dies unexpectedly.
27.Cadmus Peverell
The Resurrection-Stone Peverell brother, who kills himself to be with his dead fiancé.
26.Bathilda Bagshot
No one's corpse should be inhabited by a snake. I know that's not how Bathilda Bagshot dies, but I'm counting it as part of her death because that's lousy.
25.Amelia Bones
The Wizengamot member who presided over Harry's hearing and voted to clear him of all charges. Sad to see her murdered.
24.Regulus Black
For some reason this one really gets to me.
23.Rufus Scrimgeour
Scrimgeour wasn't the best Minister of Magic you could ask for, but he tried, and he dies because he refuses to talk to Voldemort about Harry while being tortured.
22.Frank Bryce
Frank Bryce was the muggle gardener Voldemort kills at the beginning of Goblet of Fire.
21.Pandora Lovegood
Luna's mom, who dies in front of her daughter.
20.Ted Tonks
Tonks's dad!
19.Barty Crouch Sr.
He made some bad choices, but he shouldn't be killed by his own son (who he made bad choices to help).
18.Montgomery
Montgomery was a 5-year-old little child who dies because Fenrir Greyback attacked him, due to his mom's refusal to help the Death Eaters.
17.Severus Snape
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Look, I will fight until the end of time on the side of "Snape was not a hero — he was a dick," but we knew him intimately, and he did some good in his life, so there's a whole lot in his passing.
16.Aragog
I hate spiders, but Hagrid loved Aragog a lot.
15.James Potter
It's tremendously upsetting that he dies, but we do spend the whole series knowing that he's dead.
14.Lily Potter
See above, except a bit sadder.
13.Charity Burbage
All she wanted to do was teach about muggles.
12.Ariana Dumbledore
Ariana should have had a much happier life than the one she was given.
11.Lavender Brown
Lavender didn't deserve the shitty treatment she got.
10.Nymphadora Tonks
The only reason Tonks doesn't rank even later is that we didn't spend tons of time with her in the books.
9.Cedric Diggory
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Poor kid. He didn't stand a chance.
8.Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody
If Moody had died in the Battle of Hogwarts, I feel like it would've been less sad — still very sad, but not #8. But him dying early on in Deathly Hallows gives his death such an isolated force of sad.
7.Remus Lupin
I love Remus so much. I love him. I love him.
6.Albus Dumbledore
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And with his passing, the Harry Potter books officially leave comfort and safety behind.
5.Sirius Black
Sirius has to die for Harry's arc, but that doesn't make it any less crushing. Also, now as an adult, Sirius might be my favorite Harry Potter character, so his death really hit me in a way I didn't totally expect last time I read Order of the Phoenix.
4.Fred Weasley
FREEEEEEEDDDDD.
3.Colin Creevey
Colin Creevey's death is the saddest death that you don't see coming. It's so freaking sad that he dies, holy shit.
2.Dobby
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THESE BOOKS ARE FOR CHILDREN.
1.Hedwig
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Fucking devastating.
