50 Fun Facts About Harry Potter Villains

What was Lord Voldemort's birth name?

Rearranged, the letters spell 'I am Lord Voldemort'; translators had to change his middle name to make the anagram work in other languages.

In which book is the 'I am Lord Voldemort' anagram first revealed?

The teenage Riddle preserved in the diary rearranges the letters of his name in the climax of the second book.

Which is the only novel in which Voldemort appears neither in person nor in flashback?

He is only heard there, when Harry passes out under the effect of a Dementor.

Voldemort's wand is made from which wood, chosen for its poisonous sap?

Rowling paired it deliberately against Harry's holly wand, holly being said to repel evil.

Who was Voldemort's mother?

She died within an hour of giving birth in a Muggle orphanage, having sold Slytherin's locket for a pittance.

Through the Gaunts, Voldemort is the last descendant of which Hogwarts founder?

The Gaunts inherited Parseltongue from him and kept it alive through generations of cousin marriages.

The name Voldemort comes from French words meaning what?

Rowling has said the word was invented; vol de mort can also be read as 'theft of death'.

In which year was Tom Riddle born?

His birthday is 31 December; his mother's death left him to grow up alone in an orphanage.

Which Death Eater impersonates Mad-Eye Moody for a whole school year?

He keeps the real Moody locked in a trunk and uses Polyjuice Potion to maintain the disguise.

Who played the Death Eater posing as Moody in the Goblet of Fire film?

The future Doctor Who star's character ends the book with his soul sucked out by a Dementor guarding Cornelius Fudge.

Which actor first played the fully restored Voldemort on screen?

He had his nose removed digitally in post-production and said he read the novel mostly for his own scene.

Who provided the voice and face for Voldemort on the back of Quirrell's head?

Hart also played Quirrell himself; the CG alteration was enough that audiences did not notice one actor in both roles.

The Dark Mark is a skull with what emerging from its mouth?

It is burned onto the left arm and lets Voldemort summon his followers at will.

Who kills Bellatrix at the Battle of Hogwarts?

The duel follows Bellatrix's attempt to kill Ginny, and it is the only time the Weasley matriarch fights in the series.

Bellatrix is named after a star in which constellation?

Like many Blacks she carries a celestial name; hers is also Latin for a female warrior.

Which of Bellatrix's sisters was disowned for marrying a Muggle-born?

She married Ted Tonks, making Bellatrix the aunt of both Nymphadora Tonks and Draco Malfoy.

Bellatrix was jailed for torturing the parents of which Hogwarts student?

Frank and Alice were Aurors; she and three others used the Cruciatus Curse on them until they went insane.

Who played Bellatrix in the films?

She appears in the last four films, from Order of the Phoenix in 2007 onward.

Which Horcrux does Bellatrix unknowingly guard in her Gringotts vault?

The trio break in disguised, with Hermione wearing Bellatrix's face courtesy of a stray hair and Polyjuice Potion.

In the play Cursed Child, what is the name of Bellatrix and Voldemort's daughter?

She poses as Cedric Diggory's cousin and manipulates Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy into stealing a Time-Turner.

Which cousin does Bellatrix kill in the Department of Mysteries?

She blasts him through the veil in the Death Chamber, then taunts Harry when his attempt at the Cruciatus Curse fails.

What was Umbridge's job title under Minister Cornelius Fudge?

She used the post to push anti-werewolf laws that made it nearly impossible for Remus Lupin to find work.

What sentence does Umbridge make Harry carve into his own hand in detention?

Her cursed quill writes in the student's own blood and leaves the words permanently scarred into his skin.

What title does the Ministry give Umbridge to let her evaluate and sack Hogwarts teachers?

Her Educational Decrees even banned teachers from discussing anything but their subject with students.

Who played Umbridge in the films?

Director David Yates and Staunton both cited Margaret Thatcher as an influence on the screen portrayal.

Stephen King called Umbridge the greatest fictional villain since which character?

King made the comparison reviewing Order of the Phoenix, calling her one of the best antagonists he had ever read.

From which thief does Umbridge receive Slytherin's locket as a bribe?

Unknown to her it was a Horcrux, and its dark nature actually amplified her magical abilities.

What fate does Umbridge meet after Voldemort's defeat?

The new Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt saw her tried for her crimes against Muggle-borns.

What was Draco Malfoy's surname in Rowling's earliest drafts?

It was crossed out on her pre-canon class list and replaced with Spinks before Malfoy was added.

Draco became Slytherin Seeker after Lucius donated which broomsticks to the team?

Hermione's remark that Gryffindor's players got in on talent rather than bribery earns her the 'Mudblood' slur.

Into what animal does the fake Moody transform Draco?

He bounces him around the courtyard and drops him down Goyle's trousers before McGonagall intervenes.

What does Draco repair in the Room of Requirement to let Death Eaters into Hogwarts?

Its twin sits in Borgin and Burkes, bypassing every protective enchantment on the castle.

Who was cast as Draco Malfoy in the HBO Harry Potter television series announced in 2025?

Tom Felton, who played him in all eight films, has since taken the role on Broadway in Cursed Child.

In whose cauldron does Lucius plant Tom Riddle's diary?

Lucius knew the diary was enchanted but not that it held a piece of Voldemort's soul, and was punished for losing it.

Lucius accidentally frees Dobby by throwing away what?

Harry had wrapped the diary in it; a gift of clothing ends a house-elf's servitude.

Malfoy Manor is in which English county?

Jason Isaacs, who played Lucius, called him 'a repulsive creature, a racist, a eugenicist, a bully, a terrible father'.

Under what name did Pettigrew live as Ron's pet rat for twelve years?

His Animagus form let him fake his own death and frame Sirius for betraying the Potters.

What does Voldemort give Pettigrew to replace the limb he severed for the rebirth potion?

It later turns on him, strangling him for a moment's hesitation when Harry reminds him of his life debt.

What is the name of Snape's childhood home, where Bellatrix and Narcissa visit him?

It is there that Narcissa binds him with an Unbreakable Vow to protect Draco.

What form does Snape's Patronus take?

It mirrors Lily's; Rowling says he is the only Death Eater capable of producing a full Patronus at all.

Which actor turned down Snape to play General Thade in Planet of the Apes?

Alan Rickman, Rowling's personal choice, took the role and played it in all eight films.

Which werewolf turned Remus Lupin as a child and leads the Snatchers?

He mauls Bill Weasley on the night Dumbledore dies and kills Lavender Brown in the final film.

Which Death Eater kills Remus Lupin at the Battle of Hogwarts?

One of Voldemort's first followers, he also murdered Molly's brothers Gideon and Fabian Prewett; Flitwick finally defeats him.

What subject does Alecto Carrow teach at Hogwarts under Snape's headship?

The compulsory class taught that Muggles are like animals, while her brother Amycus turned Defence into the Dark Arts.

How does Vincent Crabbe die in the Room of Requirement?

The cursed flames he cannot control also destroy Ravenclaw's diadem, one of the Horcruxes.

Former Death Eater Igor Karkaroff is the headmaster of which school?

He is later found dead in a shack with the Dark Mark hovering over it, the sign of a Death Eater killing.

Whom did the teenage Riddle murder to turn his diary into his first Horcrux?

He made it in his fifth year; Harry later destroys it with a basilisk fang.

Which dark wizard is credited with first discovering Horcruxes?

Hermione finds the spell itself in a book called Secrets of the Darkest Art.

The prequel film Crimes of Grindelwald reveals Nagini was once what?

Claudia Kim plays the human Nagini, a Maledictus fated to turn permanently into a snake.

Who kills Voldemort's pet snake, his final Horcrux, during the Battle of Hogwarts?

He beheads her with the Sword of Gryffindor, which presents itself to him from the Sorting Hat.