Harry Potter Top Ten List Part 6

With about 5 days to go, let’s get to the top five!  You can reference the rest of the list using the tags at the bottom for ‘harry potter.’

# 5 Least Favourite Character: Cho Chang

Cho Chang, I feel bad hating her, but much like Dean Thomas, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I also didn’t care for how they changed her in the movie.  In the book, she is not the one that betrays Dumbledore’s Army to Umbridge, but her friend.

In many ways, Cho was the girl Harry could never have, and ultimately wouldn’t be happy with.  I wonder if this wasn’t a commentary by JK Rowling about men going after things they think they want, and then realising that it isn’t what they thought it would be, perhaps I’m reading too much into it.

Cho is just a faceless character.  There is no meat to her, no drive to her, she’s 2-dimensional, at best.  Her purpose in the books were practically non-existent. She was just there to distract Harry?  And at that she was mediocre.  I could have done with less or no Cho Chang in the entire series.

# 5 Favourite Character: Remus Lupin

Who can’t look at David Thewlis and feel sympathy for Remus Lupin?  He is the perfect guy to garner sad looks and pity, and that is a lot of what Remus does.  But more than anything, he is the first real father-figure that Harry has, and one that knew Harry’s father well, to the very end.  Remus watches over Harry throughout Prisoner of Azkaban and supports him through the fifth book onwards, to his own death.

And it is Harry who, in some ways, makes Remus realise that he is being selfish when he wants to leave his child, making the kid the same as Harry.  Who knew that JK Rowling would end up making Teddy Lupin the same, an orphan almost as soon as he’s born?  I can’t say that I’m looking forward to seeing that this week, but I understand the importance of it.

Remus embodied the good that could be found for Harry, and he gave him hope and believed in him when most were looking at him as some sort of freak.  There are few people like Remus in the world, and for that, I give him my #5 slot on this list.