The Real Reason Voldemort Wasn't The Worst Villain In Harry Potter

Readers and viewers first meet Dolores Umbridge in the series' fifth installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when she takes a job as Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher — though she's actually there to keep an eye on Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and the way he runs Hogwarts on behalf of the corrupt Ministry. Though Umbridge speaks to her students in a sickly sweet, simpering voice to pretend that she's a kind, comforting presence, she quickly reveals her true colors.

Some of Umbridge's worst deeds include belittling centaurs (and any creature that isn't fully human) and partaking in a centaur's attempted murder, humiliating Professor Trelawney (Emma Thompson) and then relishing in Trelawney's pain when she tried to evict her from her home, committing actual child abuse, and, of course, denying that Voldemort had resurfaced — endangering the entire world in doing so.

Since Umbridge is parroting the entirely false narrative that Voldemort has not, in fact, returned by Harry's fifth year — which he definitely has — Harry immediately stands up to her during their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class and bravely tells the truth. As a result, Umbridge sentences him to detention, but her detentions present a much bigger challenge than Harry ever expected. As Harry writes "I will not tell lies" over and over again, Umbridge's special quill carves the sentence into his skin. In fact, thanks to this punishment, Umbridge is the only person aside from Voldemort to mark Harry's skin permanently.

Like all of the rest of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers viewers met, Umbridge only lasts one year, but unfortunately, she resurfaces at the Ministry during Deathly Hallows, where she's rounding up Muggle-born wizards and accusing them of "stealing" magic. Though she ultimately serves time for her crimes, in the end, she still goes down as one of the wizarding world's worst villains.

If you need to relive Umbridge's worst moments, she appears in the fifth and seventh Harry Potter films and books, though we can't imagine why you would want to.