Top 10 Harry Potter Characters, 5-1

I'm back from the dead with my top 5 Harry Potter characters! Enjoy and share your own!

BAMF. She don't play.

5. Albus Dumbledore. I always felt safe when Dumbledore was around. He was like everyone's grandpa. But then came Deathly Hallows, and we find out he: a) practiced dark magic with Grindelwald, b) possibly killed his sister, and c) knowingly sentenced Harry to death in order to vanquish Voldemort. Ummmm, ok. So the most perfect and trustworthy wizard we know actually has a dark past? YES! Dumbledore is more fascinating for the guilt and regret that we know burdened him throughout his successful life.

4. Dobby. Dobby is not the most nuanced character, but he is my sentimental choice. Who better espouses Rowling's most cherished values of love and friendship? Dobby is driven by gratitude, loyalty, and love for Harry, risking (and losing) his life for his friends and for the cause. Few sacrificed more for the good fight.

3. Harry Potter. Not much more needs to be said about Harry. I adored little orphan Harry, I understood emo 13-year-old Harry, and I marvelled at heroic Harry. I never questioned Rowling's choices with her protagonist; his occasional arrogance and self-importance seemed normal to me, and were outweighed by innumerable acts of selflessness. I think I realized how much I cared for Harry when I read the final chapters of Deathly Hallows: when Harry walks into the forest, ready to face death with his parents at his side, I devolved into a hideous, weeping troll. I thought he was really gonna die!!!

2. Minerva McGonagall. McGonagall is a bad bitch. Maggie Smith's stern, stiff-upper-lip, Scottish schoolmarm with a heart of gold is exactly the kind of character that appeals to me. But her real bad-ass-itude doesn't show until the wizarding world is in peril. In war, the combatants get most of the glory, but it takes a convicted and steadfast soul to live a moral life and protect children in occupied territory. At the Death Eaters' Hogwarts, McGonagall is the personification of "Keep Calm and Carry On." Minerva ain't no punk.

1. Hermione Granger. To me, Hermione is the heart, soul, and brains of this saga. She began as a bookish scold, a smarty-pants who could make her classmates feel small. But we soon discovered that Hermione is deeply compassionate, clever, and loyal to a fault. Through every adventure the trio embark upon, Hermione saves their asses every. single. time. Think about it: the potions in Philosopher's Stone, the time-turner in Azkaban, and the numerous times she knows a spell the boys don't. She's even their moral compass. I'll admit that I have a weakness for the smart girl; let's call it a Lisa Simpson complex. But Hermione is truly a compelling character, because she's not just the brilliant saving grace of the HP trio, but she's an insecure, brave, arrogant, annoying, and loving woman who kind of saves the whole damn world.

Honorable mentions: Sirius Black, Tom Riddle, Remus Lupin, Luna Lovegood.