TheHarry Potterbooks and movies explore various themes, fromthe negative effects of prejudice and discriminationto the power of love and friendship. The series also highlights the choices that its characters are faced with and the catastrophic consequences of the poor decisions they sometimes make.
Although some characters appear beyond redemption, there are plenty of witches and wizards who end up doing the right thing despite their earlier transgressions. The bestHarry Potterredemption arcs show that it’s never too late to turn over a new leaf, as long as there’s a genuine desire to change.
7Draco Malfoy
Draco Refuses to Confirm Harry’s Identity to Bellatrix
Draco Malfoy is undoubtedly a horrible person, but there seem to be lines that even he will not cross. He doesn’t have what it takes to finish off Dumbledore during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, and, for as much asDraco hates Harry, he decides not to confirm his nemesis' identity when Harry and his friends are delivered to Malfoy Manor.
Whether or not this really redeems Malfoy is debatable, but there can be no disputing the fact that his decision not to summon the Dark Lord had a huge impact on the story. The same could also be said for his mother Narcissa, whose concern for her son leads to her lying to Lord Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest whenthe latter asks her if Harry is finally dead.
6Dudley Dursley
Dudley Shows Concern for Harry’s Safety and Wellbeing
There were quite a fewbook storylines that never made it into theHarry Pottermovies, one of which being Dudley Dursley’s redemption. After seeing the deleted scene outside of Number 4 Privet Drive, it’s easy to understand why it never made the final cut, with the moment proving to be fairly awkward when compared with its book counterpart.
Whether a few momentary shows of compassion really make up for a lifetime of physical and emotional abuse is debatable, but it does at least show that Dudley is not all bad. That it tookHarry saving his life from Dementorsto trigger this change is regrettable, but given how Harry was treated by Petunia and Vernon, it’s perhaps not surprising that Dudley was the way he was.
5Rufus Scrimgeour
Scrimgeour Dies to Protect Harry and His Friends
Rufus Scrimgeour is a pragmatic man who wants what’s best for the Wizarding World. Unfortunately, his understanding of the situation is somewhat lacking, which results in him butting heads with Harry and his friends on several occasions. Readers are encouraged to dislike theMinister for Magicfor this reason, although he’s far from a terrible person.
When Voldemort takes over the ministry,his supporters torture Scrimgeourin the hopes of learning the whereabouts of Harry and his friends. However, despite the minister knowing exactly where to find the trio, he takes the secret with him to the grave. Whether he realized Harry’s importance at the last or was simply doing what he thought was right remains a mystery.
4Horace Slughorn
Slughorn Owns His Past Mistakes and Overcomes His Cowardice
When series fans are first introduced to Horace Slughorn, he’s not really painted in the best of lights. He’s shown to be a massive coward, is happy to take advantage of people when they’re at their lowest, and gives preferential treatment to certain students for seemingly selfish reasons. Worse still, it’s Slughorn’s irresponsibleness that helps to give rise to one ofthe greatest dark wizards of all time.
Fast forward tothe Battle of Hogwarts, though, and Horace Slughorn is like a completely different person. Granted, he’s still (quite rightly) afraid, but rather than turn tail and run, he decides to stand and fight in an attempt to finally atone for the mistake that he made all those years ago. Had he not arrived with reinforcements when he did, countless more people would have died. He even duels with Voldemort moments before the latter’s death.
3Severus Snape
Snape Has Nothing Left to Lose After the Loss of Lily
Throughout the course of the series, J. K. Rowling did everything in her power to make readers hate Snape, with the greasy-haired potions master belittling Harry at every opportunity he gets and thenkilling Dumbledore at the end ofHarry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince. This undoubtedly makes his eventual redemption a lot more powerful, although there’s more to Snape’s character arc than first meets the eye.
That Snape was once a terrible person is not up for debate.He was happy for Voldemort to murder James and Harryjust as long as he spared Lily, and shows no real remorse for having caused the former’s death. It was only after the Dark Lord went back on his word that Snape agreed to switch sides, which arguably cheapens his eventual sacrifice quite a bit. With Lily gone, he had nothing left to lose, as evidenced by his sad existence.
2Regulus Black
Regulas Gave His Life so that Voldemort May One Day Meet His Match
Not a lot of people realize it, but one of the greatestHarry Potterredemption arcs actually takes place decadesbefore the events of the books and movies, culminating in a small cave etched into the side of the Cliffs of Moher. Unlike Snape’s, Regulus Black’s decision to turn against his former master comes from a place of righteousness rather than pain, fear, or anger, which arguably makes it a whole lot more meaningful.
That he was able to recognize that what he was doing was wrong and was then willing to lay down his life to bring an end to the Dark Lord’s reign of terror shows that Regulas was not only a good person, but also a courageous one. Perhaps the biggest tragedy of his death is that Sirius never got to learn the truth about his brother; instead dying with the mistaken belief that he was the onlymember of the Black familywho wasn’t rotten to the core.
1Kreacher
Kreacher Rewrites Centuries of Negative Programming
As most series fans will already know, House Elves play a fairly important role throughout theHarry Potterbooks. Unfortunately, however, high CGI costs led to a lot of the scenes and storylines involving the creatures being cut from the movies. The Crouch family’s House Elf Winky doesn’t appear at all, and many of thestory beats involving Kreacherand Dobby were also scrapped or scaled back dramatically.
As a result of this, movie viewers end up missing out on what is arguablythe bestHarry Potterredemption arc. Granted, they do still see Kreacher soften a little during part one ofDeathly Hallows, but in the book version, the change is a lot more pronounced. Funnily enough, all it really takes for Kreacher to change his ways is for people to treat him with a little respect; something that Sirius seemed incapable of doing.
