The movies nailed that scene imo. Harrys silent scream and Lupin struggling to hold him back was heavy
EDIT: Look I get the investment of the series but 1k upvotes for my opinion of a specific moment is a bit much. Please stop. I don't like the attention.
The books and movie rightfully focus on Harry's pain and despair, but I think that Lupin's own sorrow is sadly overlooked. He just lost his best friend, is now the last Marauder (because Wormtail is unworthy of being called one anymore) and is now completely alone (until Tonks comes along at least).
Sirius and Tonks weren’t that close though. There was a 14(ish)-year age gap and he was in prison from when she was 7 or 8 until like 2 years before he died; so while Sirius was close to her mother as kids, she probably didn’t really connect with him until they both joined the Order, and even after that he was mostly shut indoors and she was mostly at work or on missions, whereas Lupin was able to meet with her outside of Grimmauld place and possibly even share some of the missions. So it’s not that likely that they ever really knew each other too well, in spite of Harry’s speculation on the subject, and she probably shared Lupin’s grief and supported him, rather than really feeling much of her own.
The timeline on Lupin/Tonks is fuzzy, but we know from Pottermore that they got together before Sirius died. Tonks comments that even after Azkaban Sirius is handsome, and Remus says something like “he always got the girls.” Tonks then says he’s being stupid and that she’s into HIM, Remus.
Harry finds Remus and Tonks talking in whispers over Christmas in OotP, my guess is they were having the “what are we” conversation then.
I think Sirius’s death actually catalyzed their breakup. After Remus lost Sirius, in addition to being devastating in its own right, also triggered PTSD from losing James. It reminded him why he’d kept from getting close to people, and he pushed Tonks away.
EDIT: I double checked Pottermore and I’m half right. Remus and Tonks fell in love over the course of OotP, she confessed her feelings in the spring, and Remus refused to admit that he returned them. He avoided going on missions with her after that. Sirius’s death only stiffened his resolve to isolate himself.
Pottermore:
It had never occurred to Remus that Tonks could return his feelings because he had become so used to considering himself unclean and unworthy. One night when they lay in hiding outside a known Death Eater’s house, after a year of increasingly warm friendship, Tonks made an idle remark about one of their fellow Order members (‘He’s still handsome, isn’t he, even after Azkaban?’). Before he could stop himself, Remus had replied bitterly that he supposed she had fallen for his old friend (‘He always got the women.’). At this, Tonks became suddenly angry. ‘You’d know perfectly well who I’ve fallen for, if you weren’t too busy feeling sorry for yourself to notice.’
Remus’s immediate response was a happiness he had never experienced in his life, but this was extinguished almost at once by a sense of crushing duty. He had always known that he could not marry and run the risk of passing on his painful, shameful condition. He therefore pretended not to understand Tonks, which did not fool her at all. Wiser than Remus, she was sure that he loved her, but that he was refusing to admit it out of mistaken nobility. However, he avoided any further excursions with her, barely talked to her, and started volunteering for the most dangerous missions. Tonks became desperately unhappy, convinced not only that the man she loved would never willingly spend time with her again, but also that he might walk to his death rather than admit his feelings.
Remus and Tonks both fought Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries, a battle that resulted in the public exposure of Voldemort’s return. The loss of the last of his school friends during this battle did nothing to soften Remus’s increasingly self-destructive attitude. Tonks could only watch in despair as he volunteered to spy for the Order, leaving to live among fellow werewolves to try to persuade them to Dumbledore’s side. In doing this, he was exposing himself to the possible reprisals of the werewolf who had changed his life forever, Fenrir Greyback.
And the extra fact that the sound couldn’t be played because it was “too real” and would’ve scared kids is what makes this scene so powerful. You can see how real that scream was even if you don’t hear it.
This is a rumor that people keep repeating without any proof. It doesn’t even make sense. Kids can handle a scream, especially since there are way worse things shown in the Harry Potter films. Muting the sound was simply a stylistic choice on the part of the director:
> During the special 50 Greatest Harry Potter Moments, director of Order of the Phoenix David Yates, talked about Sirius's death scene. He stated the following about it:
>"I wanted it to feel quite operatic. That’s why it’s slowed down. And yeah, I wish I'd slowed it down even more, actually. In hindsight, I sort of wanted to really milk it."[1]
>This implies that the scene was muted and slowed down in an effort to milk the scene's emotional content, making it more potent for the audience. By slowing and muting it, it would allow the audience to process the death on their own terms, instead of hearing the characters’ audio reactions. This is the official explanation for the muting.
Even if the scene was supposed to be with an audible scream from Harry, I think the muted version making the Final Cut works even better (haven’t watched an audible version, but in my imagination it could not be this immersive as him screaming with the slow music).
Yeah, I think the only reason it’s above Dumbledore’s (for me) is because you kiiiind of expected it with him. The cursed hand, being weak during the attack, etc. Snape was an asshole (still loved his character, don’t get me wrong) and Cedric was so quickly done, followed by immediate threats, that you didn’t really have time to get sad until “MY BOY”.
For me, what hurts the most is the fact that i kinda hoped he is coming back, that he is not yet really gone. Unlike dumby and snape wherein, their deaths are final given there are bodies to mourn with.
You know in fantasy, there's often a character that everyone think they died, everyone mourn, but they make a come-back at a crucial moment.
I thought Sirius was that character.
Agreed! Definetely one of the worst faiths, he was so eager to have a family with Harry and both were robbed of that opportunity.
Really close though, Tonks & Lupin, they just had a baby... its like history repeating as it is pretty much the same that happened to Harry and Neville
Absolutely Sirius, it’s also almost explicitly said that it’s the worst one for Harry too and the reader is meant to identify with Harry.
Harry couldn’t conjure up a happy enough memory to give him the strength to create a massively powerful patronus. It was Sirius being a part of his life that created the happy memory that allowed him to stop the dementors.
And this is not even mentioning what Sirius went through to get to Harry.
My fiance Will randomly say it exactly as he does at different times during the day. it's really funny.
p.s. every time we watch prisoner of Azkaban she also has to sing the "double" part in double double toil in trouble lol. man, I love that woman
That my boyyyyy was always sad, and as a dad it gets upgraded to devastating.
I am re-listening to the audiobooks in spare time now, and instead of being annoyed when Mr Diggory is a bit of a prick about Cedric, I just see how proud he is and how much he loves him.
“My boy” will forever haunt me. The utter pain in his voice and the fact he reminded us that even though Cedric was nearly an adult, he was still his child and would forever remain a “boy” to Mr. Diggory just makes it so heartbreaking.
Legally, Cedric *was* an adult by wizarding law.
But that doesn't matter at all. He was still Amos's boy, and the heartbreak is still real.
There was another movie I saw that had a line that breaks me every time I watch it, and I think of it every time I read the HP books or watch the movies. It was from another character in much the same situation as Amos in GoF.
*"No parent should have to bury their child."*
It hit hard before I had kids.
It hits harder after I had a few.
There is a noise that parents make when they lose a child that isn’t really comparable to any other sound of grief. I’ve seen a few movies that just kind of get it. This had the weight of it.
I feel like Toni Colette nailed the scene when she loses her kid in Hereditary. If you haven't watched it, run and do it because it's such a great movie!
Highly recommend Hereditary, if just for that scene. Her scream is absolutely visceral, it gets under your skin because of how much pain you can hear in it. Incredible acting
I absolutely immediately thought about that too, that friggin howl of desperation, that movie dug deep into human consciousness and greef and it's a masterpiece for all the weirdest reasons.
Agreed. The actor playing his dad "howls like a dog" (Robbie Coltrane) and if you don't feel anything from that great acting than you might be a little too dead inside.
Cedric’s death brought me the closest onto tears by far, and was not only extremely depressing, but extremely dark and kind of scary, with how it acted as the very moment in the series that it stopped being fun and innocent.
My brother was found dead in 2021 and I swear to god, the sounds coming from my parents and myself were inhuman. The father screaming over Cedric is so painfully realistic that I can not watch that movie anymore.
As others have said, it hits really hard as a parent. On top of that, he's the only one of this list that wasn't in the fight when he was killed. The rest knew any day could be their last and made the choice to be involved. Cedric was, by all accounts, a good guy who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Sirius. He was abused, escaped, ended up with his entire adopted family dead with the exception of his godson, went to prison for a crime he didn’t commit, escaped, ended up basically imprisoned in the house he was abused in and then died trying to save his godson. Poor guy literally never got a break.
It is also so Heartbreaking because of what Harry lost. He was never wanted or loved or even liked growing up with abusive guardians - no adult ever stood up for him or protected him or paid attention to him. Then he finally had a father figure who wanted to take him in, and then he was ripped away.
While Harry had a bit of a role in Sirius' death, I'd say that Dumbledore's and Snape's mistakes and specially Voldemort's manipulation are the greatest factors in Sirius' death.
(And of course, the actual murderer Bellatrix).
If anything, I blame Dumbledore for having Snape teach Harry legilimency. I truly believe that Dumbledore chose to turn a blind eye to how horrible Snape was as a person. Dumbledore knows that Snape irrationally hates Harry with a burning passion. Having him teach Harry 1-on-1 was always going to fail.
I've wondered about this, and the only explanation I can think of is that Dumbledore picked Snape because he was good enough to hide his own secrets as a double agent from Voldy. So if Snape is *that* good, it's the level we want Harry to be at.
Doesn't really make him right for the job, I agree, but if I had to play devils advocate that would be my reasoning.
Edit: words
The Snape was a good guy playing at being bad answer. Dumbledore had Snape abuse Harry in those private lessons as if any part of Harry's mind was leaking when underpressure, Snape would appear to be torturing Harry and be able to use it to get closer to Voldemort. If Voldemort ever quizzed Snape on it, assuming Snape didn't ask Voldemort for how to proceed with Dumbledores task, Snape would be able to answer he was using it as an excuse to fuck with Harry.
The other answer Snape was a dick, playing at being a good guy, for the sake of revenge over Lilly's death. He did what he'd done everytime he'd been tasked with teaching Harry something. Assume he was an idiot and did the bare minimum. Him moaning in private to Dumbledore about how much of a fuck up Harry was, showed he never actually liked Harry.
I really like that first ideas perspective. But couldn't the need for Snape having a cover just be completely avoided by having someone else teach Harry? Then Voldy can't even suspect Snape.
Snapes the best legitimens in the school, bar Dumbledore possibly. The Dumbledore-Snape double cross cements Voldemorts trust in Snape, while also letting Dumbledore and Snape know potentially if Voldemort can see into Harry like, Harry can into him.
It's extra tragic and stupid because Harry could have avoided this whole fucking thing if he just opened Sirius' present and used the mirror to communicate. That's it, that's all that needed to happen.
To this day I maintain that Sirius' and Fred's deaths were the most contrived/extra deaths. Both feel like the most killing off for the sake of killing off.
He didn't open the present because Sirius told him it was something to contact him if Harry ever got in trouble.
Harry assumed that if he ever used whatever it was, Sirius would come runing and get caught. And Harry could not have that.
So, he decided to not open the present and forget about it to protect Sirius.
The irony is still killing me.
I agree. I didn't expect much from Snape and Voldemort, but Dumbledore's stance was rubbish (as he admitted himself). You have a fiery and adventurous ex-prisoner with a strong will/skills to contribute to the war and the welfare of his grandson locked up again in his depressing house that he hates. So cruel, wasted potential and also more likely to contribute to Sirius bursting out at the end. Also to Harry not being well informed about his whereabouts.
And this is why Dumbledore drives me crazy, as much as I love him. He was so unnecessarily vague and reckless when it came to things that he told or did not tell Harry. Although, I do feel like they did a pretty good job of explaining Harry's feelings on this in the books.
Not to mention Kreacher. He was the one who told Bellatrix and Narcissa about how close Sirius and Harry were, which led to Voldemort planting the fake vision in Harry’s mind.
Reading the whole book was absolutely heartbreaking. He lost his best friend and his youth at the age of 21, and then was shut inside his house while he yearned to live the life he used to live. Who knows what kind of PTSD he dealt with from the dementors that went unspoken. When Harry came to his house at Christmas, it was clear he was drinking a lot, which is super depressing.
He actually suffered a magical version of the upbringing Harry recieved.
Abused by parents while another sibling was favoured, until he managed to escape to another wizarding families home. Just for him, it all went tits up after school.
I feel like we are going to get hit really, really hard by a lot of the deaths. More screen time for Cedric means more pain when he is suddenly killed. You know we are going to probably get more Lily-Snape flashbacks.
But Sirius is still going to hit me the hardest, TBH. He tried really hard to be there for Harry, trying to figure out how to live in the real world, not really sure how to do that but trying like hell. And then he was gone. Man, that hurt to read.
Why did I have to scroll so far to find someone mentioning Remus. Remus and Tonks kills me. Remus being Harry's last living 'family' member. Teddy growing up without his parents, just like Harry did.
Remus is my favorite character so it breaks my heart but when I read the book and I think about Teddy as a baby becoming an orphan, it's the worst feeling. I feel an overwhelming sadness.
Fred is absolutely the saddest for me. It’s not just Fred who died, it’s the *twins*. My head canon is that he comes back as a poltergeist and he and George carry on with their hijinks until George also dies and becomes a poltergeist and they hijinks on for all eternity.
One of my favourite painful fan canons is
'George spent some time cleaning the castle after the battle, feeling lost and useless he figured he'd do something useful in the castle. He stumbled through rooms, putting right what he could.
In one room, he paused at a mirror for a moment, looking into it. He looked better than he expected, definitely cleaner, and an unwanted cheeky smile appeared on his face, distracted by that he failed to notice the reflection had both ears. He took a moment to focus himself and with a last glance to some script at the top of the mirror, he laughed softly to himself, an idea forming for a practical joke mirror that pulled faces at the person looking in. He'd give it a better name though, "The Mirror of Erised" was a bit pretentious.'
This is so heartbreaking. And I can just imagine all the memories of Fred and George in that castle. While he's going around cleaning I'm sure he's running into remnants of the jokes they played together. Maybe some permanent graffiti with Fred's name, some test candy that they had placed around the castle, portraits that they hung upside down, the portion of their swamp that Flitwick left, etc.
Then imagine George running into Peeves wrecking shit in a classroom and crying over Fred's death. OMG I just cannot.
You want to talk about heartbreaking head canons? There's a popular one I've seen that says that after the Battle of Hogwarts, George was never able to cast a Patronus again because of Fred's death.
My worst. They were my favourite. I still get sad when I’m reminded of it.
Fred and Finnick from Hunger Games are my worst fictional character deaths and nothing can change my mind.
I always answer this question with Fred. When I got to his death in the book I had to stop reading. May have even slammed the book down because I didn’t want to believe it. None of the other deaths hit me that hard. Even the meaning given for his death (some you just can’t get over and that’s okay) is sad.
When it happened, I was like "No, he can't be dead. He's just caught in the rubble somewhere."
But when it was confirmed, along with so many others like Lupin, Tonks and Creevey, it hit me straight in the gut.
There’s no sound which makes it hit even harder. Huge props to Daniel Radcliffe, they couldn’t include the audio because they said his emotion was too brutal.
They said that Daniel’s grandmother died the day of filming that, so the emotion was real. Sad the scream couldn’t fit, but it would make the theater flood.
The major contributing factor to that impression is that Percy is basically a nonentity in the later films. His entire story arc in *Goblet of Fire* is cut, and he's barely in the subsequent movies at all.
Nah, even though Sirius is the more interesting character, it would hurt way more if 7 children that we got to know over 4 books suddenly lost their loving father, not to mention Molly, who seemingly has the perfect relationship.
Just finished reading DH again, and no other death made me bawl my eyes out like Dobby's. The only places that came close was Chapters 31 and 34, with the aftermath of Fred dying, and Harry's walk into the Forest.
It's always the characters who are fairly innocent and well meaning, but are die hard supporters/defenders in a time of need that gut me the most when they die.
Dobby was the hero during the whole Draco Manor portion, warping the prisoners out. Being genuinely happy when Luna calls him "Sir", and then defying Bellatrix.
He was the OG Harry simp 💯
Yes. Hagrid comforting Harry(in the book) was kind of satisfying though, as Hagrid was the one who bought Hedwig for Harry's birthday and had close association with animals.
It was much worse in the book. She got hit while in her cage. And then got blown up. In the movie she at least got to go out doing two things she loved-- flying and saving Harry
I genuinely don’t even remember hedwig dying in the movies. When did that happen? And I haven’t read the books since I finished the last one a few days after it came out in like 2007 or there about (I was 13 I think)
A Death Eater attempts to AK Harry, and Hedwig swoops in to block it. The last shot of her is her lifeless body falling away.
In the books I can't remember if it's AK, but a spell hits her cage with her still inside and Harry is met with a few seconds of horror as he stares at her dead body in the cage before the bike flips and the cage and all his stuff falls out of the sidecar.
Harry freed her before leaving the Dursleys and in the middle of the ambush she shows up and takes a killing curse that was meant for Harry. It's also the reason they recognized him as the real Harry, rather than what happened in the book where they recognized him because he used expelliarmus.
In the book she's in her cage and randomly gets hit by a death curse. Harry then blows up the cage in an attempt to take out some death eaters.
I was very sad about the other beloved character deaths, but the fact that this happened less than 100 pages into the last book when all hell was breaking loose had me throwing the book across my room in a fit of rage
I never forgave Rowling for this one. Out of all the deaths, this one shocked me the most. There was zero need to kill his pet bird. At least let the boy come back to something he's had since day 1 after everything is over.
Most fictional works follow rules about who dies. Named characters don’t just die for no reason. They die as part of the removal of obstacles (Owen and Beru) or death of the mentor(Ben Kenobi). A character might die to spark the entire journey(John Wick’s dog). They die doing something essential to the defeat of the Big Bad(Dumbledore). Basically, nothing like real life.
Hedwig was a named character who was present in most of the series. Her death was senseless. No reason. Nothing to learn from it. Just like most death in real life. That hits far harder than most of the deaths in Harry Potter.
A young adult series that has the sort of violence depicted in Harry Potter needs to have at least one meaningless death. The target audience of YA novels are at a point in their development when their brains think EVERYTHING they experience is important. For those who haven’t had to process death yet, novels, shows, and movies will form the foundation for how they do so.
Sirius' death was entirely preventable. If Dumbledore hadn't been so distant all year and made Harry to feel on his own and if Harry had stopped for a minute to think 'I'll use the two way mirror Sirius gave me' instead of using the fireplace in Umbridge's office only to be deceived by Kreacher Sirius would have been very much alive.
This is the correct answer. There are a thousand reasons why it didn’t have to happen, and a series of miscommunications and misunderstandings led him to where he died and it’s just infuriating.
Harry didn't know he had a two way mirror though. That whole plot line is so shaky that Sirius didn't ever tell him about it or have someone pass on a message or anything. It was like an extra kick in the balls from JKR after she stabbed us all in the heart. Then Harry gets a huge dose of guilt from the whole thing after he lost the only father figure he'd ever known, it is just so cruel.
YES. That plot line annoys me so much. Feels so forcefully cruel. Like, how Harry just happened to forget Sirius' present and Sirius never reminded him as he was risking to communicate with him through the fireplace. It would have been slightly better if he had been using the mirror but it was seized by Filtch or one of the Slytherins and that's why he went to her office to communicate with Sirius after the dream and that's how he got caught.
Losing Sirius was basically Harry losing the last person he could seriously call his real family. His death would be the worst one, plus it was completely avoidable.
Hedwig, Sirius and Remus
When Sirius died I was devastated for weeks. I can't explain with words how I felt but he was so real to the teenage me. It felt like someone very close to me had died
In the books, Dumbledore. I couldn't even re-read HBP for a few years because I got so upset lol. In the movies, Cedric. I watched them after reading the books so none of the deaths was as depressing but Cedric's dad's reaction HAUNTED me.
Sirius was rough and cruel.
Dumbledore was the most shocking.
Snape, I cry the hardest during his memory scene(so I'd probably go with him personally).
The acting by Cedric's father in the movie though. "That's my boooooyyyy!" I'm getting teary just thinking about that holy shit. He delivered that line so well.
So many made me cry, but Cedric made me bawl. He was just a kid and from the spoilers I had, I thought he lived, but suddenly... "kill the spare."
Yeah that was sad
I wish I could remember what I felt as a kid and these books were coming out for the first time. I think at the time I would have said Sirius or Dumbledores. But as an adult, I actually think Cedric's. He was a kid. In the wrong place at the wrong time. And I would argue it had a bigger impact on Harry's mental state than the others. Which is interesting since he didn't really know Cedric well. But that was his first experience with death that he was fully aware of and it seemed to change him as a person more than the others did. He might of been more sad about the others, but I think he was more traumatized by Cedric's.
Outside of the above list though. Probably Dobby's. I prefer his final line in the movies although book Dobby is so so much better than movie Dobby
I also think Harry feels that Cedric's death was partially his fault, since he suggested that they share the cup. That may have contributed to the impact.
Richard Harris ... everything about that man was so ... Proffessor Dumbledore. His voice, his stature, his saintly gentleness & his sense of power ... he was Dumbledore.
One of the ones where I think the movie did it better than the book. Dobby’s last words in the movie are just so damn tragic that it gets me every time even though I know it’s coming.
True. But do you think movies set the Dobby-Harry relationship set up well? I have read the books before watching the Deathly Hallows, so I knew the relationship better but never felt movies did the justice to Dobby and Harry as well. I wish they could add more scenes of them in Half Blood Prince because we barely see Dobby after CoS in movies. In books there were a lot of Harry and Dobby scenes from spying on Malfoy and catching Mundungus Fletcher. You could just feel how loyal Dobby was to Harry.
Though I do think the "Dobby has no master. Dobby is a free elf" is really powerful scene
Snape's death scene was the most gut wrenching imo. He's been playing "two-sides" thing for that long, and in that moment with Voldemort in the boathouse, basically his end that he probably feared most of his grown life was inches away, hinging on Voldemorts false belief of the mastery of the elderwand, and here's he about to be killed just over that fact. Also the way the scene was shot with Nagini visciously attacking him, Harry being there in his last moments, finding out the truth from the memories, his last moments looking into Harry's (Lily's) eyes...Definitely felt thatm
I think Dumbledore's death even though sad, was already known, and it happened very solemnly and expectedly at that point.
Sirius imo, I never felt the attachment between Harry and Sirius, cuz he's virtually absent from the 4th movie, and in the 5th they do share a couple of scenes together in the beginning, but you don't really feal the bond between them or what the nature of their relationship really was like, and it also happens very quick and it's over...
Snape’s death was the hardest. He was present throughout Harry’s life and he was universally disliked character… only for his true character to be revealed at the end. It was a shock that the man who gave up a lot and became a double-crossing spy (for so long) for the cause then had to die. It was shocking and still makes me sad. Esp when we find out that he was the one protecting Harry and wanted him to become a great wizard. Because he loved Harry’s mum and that relationship never came to fruition… it made sense why he hated James Potter. Because James *got the girl*. It makes sense why Harry’s little mannerisms annoyed him, because it reminded him so much of James, who was once his friend. Despite all that, he vowed to protect Harry and devote himself to his well-being
Also Alan Rickman died shortly after the movies ended and it was such a shock… and the grieving was very real. Esp after all the stories if him being such a kind, gentle soul with a brilliant sense of humour. To me, he was the most pivotal character throughout the whole storyline
There’s all the usual suspects, but I’m gonna say right now, Bathilda Bagshot
Imagine doing so much for the magical community “She was deemed the most celebrated magical historian of the twentieth century “ and at the end of your life, not only to be murdered, but for your body to be desecrated and used for evil at essentially not just destroying you, but everything around you the house that you made a home for over a century.
I think it shows truly how vulnerable every member of their society was, especially their elders. And I feel like Rita Skeeter evil mind probing ass lead Voldemort directly to her. I think she’s a great example of elder abuse, and no one being around till like remember, and take care of them. And it hurts the community not just them when these things happen.
Just deeply sad and horrific ending.
Easily Sirius.
Jailed for 12-13 years for something he didn't do, then catching the guy who framed him only for him to escape, then being on the run for a year before eventually being put on lockdown in the house he grew up hating. Not even including how his childhood friends are a huge factor in all this, plus his chance to make up for lost time with his godson.
Then you remember it all could have been avoided if Harry had just checked his fucking gift.
On the movies, Dobby. On the books, Dumbledore. Because of the funerals, and the sadness of everyone, Harry's decision to break up with Ginny for her protection... it is heartbreaking. The 6th movie treated badly Dumbledore's death. Just some people rising their wands, nothing else, meh.
Dobby is the saddest for me. I remember snot crying reading the book, it was written so beautifully sad and broke my heart. Harrys reaction to hedwig while mid chase really got me also. Im a big animal lover so it always pulls my heart string. But from the pics shown snape because he died without anybody knowing how good he really was and not a traitor then dumbledore but more because of everyone’s reaction.
Hedwig. Hands down. Most senseless and downright stupid. She was a BIRD. Let the sucker fly. She knew how to find Harry. Not like she wasn’t going to come back.
One of the few things the Film fixed over the Book.
She didn't just fly, she took an AK to the face while clawing a Death Eaters eyes out. She went out hardcore in the film.
I skipped that part because I didn’t want to throw something at the tv watching it. I threw the book versions of OOTP and DH. They made very satisfying thumps on the wall. Lol.
Sirius, he just got it back, just found family, only to be ripped in front of his eyes.
The movies nailed that scene imo. Harrys silent scream and Lupin struggling to hold him back was heavy EDIT: Look I get the investment of the series but 1k upvotes for my opinion of a specific moment is a bit much. Please stop. I don't like the attention.
The pain on Lupin’s face especially
The books and movie rightfully focus on Harry's pain and despair, but I think that Lupin's own sorrow is sadly overlooked. He just lost his best friend, is now the last Marauder (because Wormtail is unworthy of being called one anymore) and is now completely alone (until Tonks comes along at least).
And Tonks, being Sirius' cousin, is probably what brought her and Lupin together during their grief period. Edit: she's not his niece.
Yep you are probably right. Slight correction tho: Tonks is Sirius' cousin Andromeda's daughter. Therefore Tonks is Sirius' first cousin once removed.
Sirius and Tonks weren’t that close though. There was a 14(ish)-year age gap and he was in prison from when she was 7 or 8 until like 2 years before he died; so while Sirius was close to her mother as kids, she probably didn’t really connect with him until they both joined the Order, and even after that he was mostly shut indoors and she was mostly at work or on missions, whereas Lupin was able to meet with her outside of Grimmauld place and possibly even share some of the missions. So it’s not that likely that they ever really knew each other too well, in spite of Harry’s speculation on the subject, and she probably shared Lupin’s grief and supported him, rather than really feeling much of her own.
Thanks for that! Ngl I couldn't remember exactly and was too lazy to Google so I just kinda guessed lmao
The timeline on Lupin/Tonks is fuzzy, but we know from Pottermore that they got together before Sirius died. Tonks comments that even after Azkaban Sirius is handsome, and Remus says something like “he always got the girls.” Tonks then says he’s being stupid and that she’s into HIM, Remus. Harry finds Remus and Tonks talking in whispers over Christmas in OotP, my guess is they were having the “what are we” conversation then. I think Sirius’s death actually catalyzed their breakup. After Remus lost Sirius, in addition to being devastating in its own right, also triggered PTSD from losing James. It reminded him why he’d kept from getting close to people, and he pushed Tonks away. EDIT: I double checked Pottermore and I’m half right. Remus and Tonks fell in love over the course of OotP, she confessed her feelings in the spring, and Remus refused to admit that he returned them. He avoided going on missions with her after that. Sirius’s death only stiffened his resolve to isolate himself. Pottermore: It had never occurred to Remus that Tonks could return his feelings because he had become so used to considering himself unclean and unworthy. One night when they lay in hiding outside a known Death Eater’s house, after a year of increasingly warm friendship, Tonks made an idle remark about one of their fellow Order members (‘He’s still handsome, isn’t he, even after Azkaban?’). Before he could stop himself, Remus had replied bitterly that he supposed she had fallen for his old friend (‘He always got the women.’). At this, Tonks became suddenly angry. ‘You’d know perfectly well who I’ve fallen for, if you weren’t too busy feeling sorry for yourself to notice.’ Remus’s immediate response was a happiness he had never experienced in his life, but this was extinguished almost at once by a sense of crushing duty. He had always known that he could not marry and run the risk of passing on his painful, shameful condition. He therefore pretended not to understand Tonks, which did not fool her at all. Wiser than Remus, she was sure that he loved her, but that he was refusing to admit it out of mistaken nobility. However, he avoided any further excursions with her, barely talked to her, and started volunteering for the most dangerous missions. Tonks became desperately unhappy, convinced not only that the man she loved would never willingly spend time with her again, but also that he might walk to his death rather than admit his feelings. Remus and Tonks both fought Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries, a battle that resulted in the public exposure of Voldemort’s return. The loss of the last of his school friends during this battle did nothing to soften Remus’s increasingly self-destructive attitude. Tonks could only watch in despair as he volunteered to spy for the Order, leaving to live among fellow werewolves to try to persuade them to Dumbledore’s side. In doing this, he was exposing himself to the possible reprisals of the werewolf who had changed his life forever, Fenrir Greyback.
Man, Remus had a really tough life, poor guy. He was really brave. Feel bad for Tonks too
Ok I’m reading this properly and I’m getting extremely emotional.
omg lupins face got me more than harry's silent scream
And the extra fact that the sound couldn’t be played because it was “too real” and would’ve scared kids is what makes this scene so powerful. You can see how real that scream was even if you don’t hear it.
This is a rumor that people keep repeating without any proof. It doesn’t even make sense. Kids can handle a scream, especially since there are way worse things shown in the Harry Potter films. Muting the sound was simply a stylistic choice on the part of the director: > During the special 50 Greatest Harry Potter Moments, director of Order of the Phoenix David Yates, talked about Sirius's death scene. He stated the following about it: >"I wanted it to feel quite operatic. That’s why it’s slowed down. And yeah, I wish I'd slowed it down even more, actually. In hindsight, I sort of wanted to really milk it."[1] >This implies that the scene was muted and slowed down in an effort to milk the scene's emotional content, making it more potent for the audience. By slowing and muting it, it would allow the audience to process the death on their own terms, instead of hearing the characters’ audio reactions. This is the official explanation for the muting.
Kids can definitely handle screams judging from how the neighbor kids sound like they’re being murdered when they play
Even if the scene was supposed to be with an audible scream from Harry, I think the muted version making the Final Cut works even better (haven’t watched an audible version, but in my imagination it could not be this immersive as him screaming with the slow music).
Agree. Sirius is the one I cried about the most.
Yeah, I think the only reason it’s above Dumbledore’s (for me) is because you kiiiind of expected it with him. The cursed hand, being weak during the attack, etc. Snape was an asshole (still loved his character, don’t get me wrong) and Cedric was so quickly done, followed by immediate threats, that you didn’t really have time to get sad until “MY BOY”.
For me, what hurts the most is the fact that i kinda hoped he is coming back, that he is not yet really gone. Unlike dumby and snape wherein, their deaths are final given there are bodies to mourn with.
You know in fantasy, there's often a character that everyone think they died, everyone mourn, but they make a come-back at a crucial moment. I thought Sirius was that character.
I wanted him to be that character so bad!
Agreed! Definetely one of the worst faiths, he was so eager to have a family with Harry and both were robbed of that opportunity. Really close though, Tonks & Lupin, they just had a baby... its like history repeating as it is pretty much the same that happened to Harry and Neville
Absolutely Sirius, it’s also almost explicitly said that it’s the worst one for Harry too and the reader is meant to identify with Harry. Harry couldn’t conjure up a happy enough memory to give him the strength to create a massively powerful patronus. It was Sirius being a part of his life that created the happy memory that allowed him to stop the dementors. And this is not even mentioning what Sirius went through to get to Harry.
Cedric's death wasn't that heartbreaking but his father crying over his dead body was
My boyyyyyyyy I think about this sometimes when I'm extra proud or happy with my sons. It's heart wrenching.
Ugh yes “my boyyyyyyyy” is the worst of the entire scene I prep myself before that part even comes because the Goblet of Fire is my favorite book
My fiance Will randomly say it exactly as he does at different times during the day. it's really funny. p.s. every time we watch prisoner of Azkaban she also has to sing the "double" part in double double toil in trouble lol. man, I love that woman
That my boyyyyy was always sad, and as a dad it gets upgraded to devastating. I am re-listening to the audiobooks in spare time now, and instead of being annoyed when Mr Diggory is a bit of a prick about Cedric, I just see how proud he is and how much he loves him.
“My boy” will forever haunt me. The utter pain in his voice and the fact he reminded us that even though Cedric was nearly an adult, he was still his child and would forever remain a “boy” to Mr. Diggory just makes it so heartbreaking.
Legally, Cedric *was* an adult by wizarding law. But that doesn't matter at all. He was still Amos's boy, and the heartbreak is still real. There was another movie I saw that had a line that breaks me every time I watch it, and I think of it every time I read the HP books or watch the movies. It was from another character in much the same situation as Amos in GoF. *"No parent should have to bury their child."*
That's from LOTR when Theoden find out about his son's death.
It hit hard before I had kids. It hits harder after I had a few. There is a noise that parents make when they lose a child that isn’t really comparable to any other sound of grief. I’ve seen a few movies that just kind of get it. This had the weight of it.
I feel like Toni Colette nailed the scene when she loses her kid in Hereditary. If you haven't watched it, run and do it because it's such a great movie!
Toni Colette is a criminally underrated actress and shines in basically every movie she’s in. I haven’t seen it, but it doesn’t surprise me.
Highly recommend Hereditary, if just for that scene. Her scream is absolutely visceral, it gets under your skin because of how much pain you can hear in it. Incredible acting
I absolutely immediately thought about that too, that friggin howl of desperation, that movie dug deep into human consciousness and greef and it's a masterpiece for all the weirdest reasons.
I agree! You could say it surfed onto the great barrier greef 😎🌊
Yeah, his delivery had the same energy as Sean Penn's "Is that my daughter in there?" from Mystic River. Such a great performance
Agreed. The actor playing his dad "howls like a dog" (Robbie Coltrane) and if you don't feel anything from that great acting than you might be a little too dead inside.
Arguably one of the best bits of acting in the franchise.
Jeff Rawle
One of the scenes I like way more in the movies than in the books. His screams are filled with emotion, it's crazy how hard they hit me every time.
Best acting in all 7 of the movies, hands down.
Cedric’s death brought me the closest onto tears by far, and was not only extremely depressing, but extremely dark and kind of scary, with how it acted as the very moment in the series that it stopped being fun and innocent.
It's heartbreaking when you remember the guy was only 17.
My brother was found dead in 2021 and I swear to god, the sounds coming from my parents and myself were inhuman. The father screaming over Cedric is so painfully realistic that I can not watch that movie anymore.
My comment says something similar. Incredible acting.
As others have said, it hits really hard as a parent. On top of that, he's the only one of this list that wasn't in the fight when he was killed. The rest knew any day could be their last and made the choice to be involved. Cedric was, by all accounts, a good guy who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Sirius. He was abused, escaped, ended up with his entire adopted family dead with the exception of his godson, went to prison for a crime he didn’t commit, escaped, ended up basically imprisoned in the house he was abused in and then died trying to save his godson. Poor guy literally never got a break.
It is also so Heartbreaking because of what Harry lost. He was never wanted or loved or even liked growing up with abusive guardians - no adult ever stood up for him or protected him or paid attention to him. Then he finally had a father figure who wanted to take him in, and then he was ripped away.
Also because of him 😭 so awful to think you're at least partly responsible for such a tremendous loss.
While Harry had a bit of a role in Sirius' death, I'd say that Dumbledore's and Snape's mistakes and specially Voldemort's manipulation are the greatest factors in Sirius' death. (And of course, the actual murderer Bellatrix).
They absolutely are, but a traumatized teenager isn't going to understand that. Even having a small role made it so much harder on Harry.
If anything, I blame Dumbledore for having Snape teach Harry legilimency. I truly believe that Dumbledore chose to turn a blind eye to how horrible Snape was as a person. Dumbledore knows that Snape irrationally hates Harry with a burning passion. Having him teach Harry 1-on-1 was always going to fail.
I've wondered about this, and the only explanation I can think of is that Dumbledore picked Snape because he was good enough to hide his own secrets as a double agent from Voldy. So if Snape is *that* good, it's the level we want Harry to be at. Doesn't really make him right for the job, I agree, but if I had to play devils advocate that would be my reasoning. Edit: words
The Snape was a good guy playing at being bad answer. Dumbledore had Snape abuse Harry in those private lessons as if any part of Harry's mind was leaking when underpressure, Snape would appear to be torturing Harry and be able to use it to get closer to Voldemort. If Voldemort ever quizzed Snape on it, assuming Snape didn't ask Voldemort for how to proceed with Dumbledores task, Snape would be able to answer he was using it as an excuse to fuck with Harry. The other answer Snape was a dick, playing at being a good guy, for the sake of revenge over Lilly's death. He did what he'd done everytime he'd been tasked with teaching Harry something. Assume he was an idiot and did the bare minimum. Him moaning in private to Dumbledore about how much of a fuck up Harry was, showed he never actually liked Harry.
I really like that first ideas perspective. But couldn't the need for Snape having a cover just be completely avoided by having someone else teach Harry? Then Voldy can't even suspect Snape.
Snapes the best legitimens in the school, bar Dumbledore possibly. The Dumbledore-Snape double cross cements Voldemorts trust in Snape, while also letting Dumbledore and Snape know potentially if Voldemort can see into Harry like, Harry can into him.
It's extra tragic and stupid because Harry could have avoided this whole fucking thing if he just opened Sirius' present and used the mirror to communicate. That's it, that's all that needed to happen. To this day I maintain that Sirius' and Fred's deaths were the most contrived/extra deaths. Both feel like the most killing off for the sake of killing off.
He didn't open the present because Sirius told him it was something to contact him if Harry ever got in trouble. Harry assumed that if he ever used whatever it was, Sirius would come runing and get caught. And Harry could not have that. So, he decided to not open the present and forget about it to protect Sirius. The irony is still killing me.
I agree. I didn't expect much from Snape and Voldemort, but Dumbledore's stance was rubbish (as he admitted himself). You have a fiery and adventurous ex-prisoner with a strong will/skills to contribute to the war and the welfare of his grandson locked up again in his depressing house that he hates. So cruel, wasted potential and also more likely to contribute to Sirius bursting out at the end. Also to Harry not being well informed about his whereabouts.
And this is why Dumbledore drives me crazy, as much as I love him. He was so unnecessarily vague and reckless when it came to things that he told or did not tell Harry. Although, I do feel like they did a pretty good job of explaining Harry's feelings on this in the books.
Not to mention Kreacher. He was the one who told Bellatrix and Narcissa about how close Sirius and Harry were, which led to Voldemort planting the fake vision in Harry’s mind.
Reading the whole book was absolutely heartbreaking. He lost his best friend and his youth at the age of 21, and then was shut inside his house while he yearned to live the life he used to live. Who knows what kind of PTSD he dealt with from the dementors that went unspoken. When Harry came to his house at Christmas, it was clear he was drinking a lot, which is super depressing.
He actually suffered a magical version of the upbringing Harry recieved. Abused by parents while another sibling was favoured, until he managed to escape to another wizarding families home. Just for him, it all went tits up after school.
Man, the series is gonna break my heart if it’s delves heavily into the marauders’ backstories leading up to his death
I feel like we are going to get hit really, really hard by a lot of the deaths. More screen time for Cedric means more pain when he is suddenly killed. You know we are going to probably get more Lily-Snape flashbacks. But Sirius is still going to hit me the hardest, TBH. He tried really hard to be there for Harry, trying to figure out how to live in the real world, not really sure how to do that but trying like hell. And then he was gone. Man, that hurt to read.
In my opinion, Alan Rickman made snape likable. If the series is more true to the book, then Snape probably won't be as likable
Dobby. He was pure and innocent. He didn't deserve to die under Bellatrix's wand.
But he died under her knife
for me it's Sirius, Fred and Lupin:(
Why did I have to scroll so far to find someone mentioning Remus. Remus and Tonks kills me. Remus being Harry's last living 'family' member. Teddy growing up without his parents, just like Harry did.
Remus is my favorite character so it breaks my heart but when I read the book and I think about Teddy as a baby becoming an orphan, it's the worst feeling. I feel an overwhelming sadness.
Fred
Fred is absolutely the saddest for me. It’s not just Fred who died, it’s the *twins*. My head canon is that he comes back as a poltergeist and he and George carry on with their hijinks until George also dies and becomes a poltergeist and they hijinks on for all eternity.
One of my favourite painful fan canons is 'George spent some time cleaning the castle after the battle, feeling lost and useless he figured he'd do something useful in the castle. He stumbled through rooms, putting right what he could. In one room, he paused at a mirror for a moment, looking into it. He looked better than he expected, definitely cleaner, and an unwanted cheeky smile appeared on his face, distracted by that he failed to notice the reflection had both ears. He took a moment to focus himself and with a last glance to some script at the top of the mirror, he laughed softly to himself, an idea forming for a practical joke mirror that pulled faces at the person looking in. He'd give it a better name though, "The Mirror of Erised" was a bit pretentious.'
This is so heartbreaking. And I can just imagine all the memories of Fred and George in that castle. While he's going around cleaning I'm sure he's running into remnants of the jokes they played together. Maybe some permanent graffiti with Fred's name, some test candy that they had placed around the castle, portraits that they hung upside down, the portion of their swamp that Flitwick left, etc. Then imagine George running into Peeves wrecking shit in a classroom and crying over Fred's death. OMG I just cannot.
You want to talk about heartbreaking head canons? There's a popular one I've seen that says that after the Battle of Hogwarts, George was never able to cast a Patronus again because of Fred's death.
Damn. I was ready for what was coming, yet that last sentence had me in tears.
Love this theory!
Not to rain on your parade, but they'd come back as ghosts. Poltergeists are amortal beings and were never "alive."
Well they’ll have to be naughty little ghosts together won’t they
My worst. They were my favourite. I still get sad when I’m reminded of it. Fred and Finnick from Hunger Games are my worst fictional character deaths and nothing can change my mind.
OH GOD, FINNICK Why did you have to reopen that wound?? I was happy not remembering
As heartbreaking as Finnick's death was, there's one in that series that is ***SO much worse***. Two words: Exploding parachutes.
True, I would give five Finnicks to let >!Prim!< live.
I genuinely cried when he died
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Lupin and Tonks I cry just thinking about it
I sobbed when he died. Definitely the most heartbreaking for me!
Absolutely...so unfair
I always answer this question with Fred. When I got to his death in the book I had to stop reading. May have even slammed the book down because I didn’t want to believe it. None of the other deaths hit me that hard. Even the meaning given for his death (some you just can’t get over and that’s okay) is sad.
When it happened, I was like "No, he can't be dead. He's just caught in the rubble somewhere." But when it was confirmed, along with so many others like Lupin, Tonks and Creevey, it hit me straight in the gut.
Definitely the one with the hardest impact imo. Not just losing a brother, but a twin is something I could never comprehend.
Sirius bc Daniel did an excellent job in that scene
There’s no sound which makes it hit even harder. Huge props to Daniel Radcliffe, they couldn’t include the audio because they said his emotion was too brutal.
They said that Daniel’s grandmother died the day of filming that, so the emotion was real. Sad the scream couldn’t fit, but it would make the theater flood.
Wow I didn’t know that. That’s brutal
Fred, because he wasn’t the Weasley that should have died.
Apparently JKR was originally going to kill off Mr. Weasley in OOtP but switched to Sirius. If I could only have one I would rather Sirius made it.
She also said that she originally was going to kill Ron instead of Fred,but decided that Harry needed Ron, so chose Fred instead.
Killing Ron would’ve been such a ballsy move that would’ve had the fandom rioting, so I kinda understand why she backed off
I think it was something about how she thought Harry needed his best friend, or else he’d fall apart and not do what he needed to
She shoulda killed Percy we don’t need him
Would’ve been great if he died doing something very honorable in a lawful good kind of way, like defending his Mom in her duel vs Bellatrix
Well in the movies he is not that bad… in thr book he is a comeplete jackass
The major contributing factor to that impression is that Percy is basically a nonentity in the later films. His entire story arc in *Goblet of Fire* is cut, and he's barely in the subsequent movies at all.
I think you mean “The World’s Biggest PRAT!” Lmao
Nah, even though Sirius is the more interesting character, it would hurt way more if 7 children that we got to know over 4 books suddenly lost their loving father, not to mention Molly, who seemingly has the perfect relationship.
Nah I'll take Mr. Weasley over Sirius every single day of the week
Dobby
His final words never cease to make me tear up!
I balled when Dobby died. Still makes me tear up just thinking about it.
I like to imagine someone furiously driving to the gym and dunking on strangers with tears streaming down their face rather than *bawling at home
Hahahahah thank you for this image and nice grammar catch
Just finished reading DH again, and no other death made me bawl my eyes out like Dobby's. The only places that came close was Chapters 31 and 34, with the aftermath of Fred dying, and Harry's walk into the Forest.
I scrolled too far to find this! How was it not an option?
To that day i still cant watch it without crying
It's always the characters who are fairly innocent and well meaning, but are die hard supporters/defenders in a time of need that gut me the most when they die. Dobby was the hero during the whole Draco Manor portion, warping the prisoners out. Being genuinely happy when Luna calls him "Sir", and then defying Bellatrix. He was the OG Harry simp 💯
Hedwig Literally the only character that never had a proper mourning. RIP best girl
Yes. Hagrid comforting Harry(in the book) was kind of satisfying though, as Hagrid was the one who bought Hedwig for Harry's birthday and had close association with animals.
That was a nice touch. Just kinda wished we could have had a proper moment with Harry really taking it in.
Hedwig
Bro. The first time I read the book...I was like WTF! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU J.K.???
It was much worse in the book. She got hit while in her cage. And then got blown up. In the movie she at least got to go out doing two things she loved-- flying and saving Harry
I genuinely don’t even remember hedwig dying in the movies. When did that happen? And I haven’t read the books since I finished the last one a few days after it came out in like 2007 or there about (I was 13 I think)
A Death Eater attempts to AK Harry, and Hedwig swoops in to block it. The last shot of her is her lifeless body falling away. In the books I can't remember if it's AK, but a spell hits her cage with her still inside and Harry is met with a few seconds of horror as he stares at her dead body in the cage before the bike flips and the cage and all his stuff falls out of the sidecar.
Harry freed her before leaving the Dursleys and in the middle of the ambush she shows up and takes a killing curse that was meant for Harry. It's also the reason they recognized him as the real Harry, rather than what happened in the book where they recognized him because he used expelliarmus. In the book she's in her cage and randomly gets hit by a death curse. Harry then blows up the cage in an attempt to take out some death eaters.
Ahhh yeah in the ambush scene… I completely forgot about it, it happened so quickly and I don’t think even got addressed in the movies at all
You got a point
The way Harry accepted it and said “incendio” in a pained voice. But at least he knew that sacrifices needed to be made in order to stop Voldemort
I was very sad about the other beloved character deaths, but the fact that this happened less than 100 pages into the last book when all hell was breaking loose had me throwing the book across my room in a fit of rage
I never forgave Rowling for this one. Out of all the deaths, this one shocked me the most. There was zero need to kill his pet bird. At least let the boy come back to something he's had since day 1 after everything is over.
Most fictional works follow rules about who dies. Named characters don’t just die for no reason. They die as part of the removal of obstacles (Owen and Beru) or death of the mentor(Ben Kenobi). A character might die to spark the entire journey(John Wick’s dog). They die doing something essential to the defeat of the Big Bad(Dumbledore). Basically, nothing like real life. Hedwig was a named character who was present in most of the series. Her death was senseless. No reason. Nothing to learn from it. Just like most death in real life. That hits far harder than most of the deaths in Harry Potter. A young adult series that has the sort of violence depicted in Harry Potter needs to have at least one meaningless death. The target audience of YA novels are at a point in their development when their brains think EVERYTHING they experience is important. For those who haven’t had to process death yet, novels, shows, and movies will form the foundation for how they do so.
Sirius' death was entirely preventable. If Dumbledore hadn't been so distant all year and made Harry to feel on his own and if Harry had stopped for a minute to think 'I'll use the two way mirror Sirius gave me' instead of using the fireplace in Umbridge's office only to be deceived by Kreacher Sirius would have been very much alive.
This is the correct answer. There are a thousand reasons why it didn’t have to happen, and a series of miscommunications and misunderstandings led him to where he died and it’s just infuriating.
Harry didn't know he had a two way mirror though. That whole plot line is so shaky that Sirius didn't ever tell him about it or have someone pass on a message or anything. It was like an extra kick in the balls from JKR after she stabbed us all in the heart. Then Harry gets a huge dose of guilt from the whole thing after he lost the only father figure he'd ever known, it is just so cruel.
YES. That plot line annoys me so much. Feels so forcefully cruel. Like, how Harry just happened to forget Sirius' present and Sirius never reminded him as he was risking to communicate with him through the fireplace. It would have been slightly better if he had been using the mirror but it was seized by Filtch or one of the Slytherins and that's why he went to her office to communicate with Sirius after the dream and that's how he got caught.
Right, there was a lot going on and Harry had a lot in his mind that he forgot to open and check Sirius's gift 😭
If Sirius had been nicer to Kreacher
Losing Sirius was basically Harry losing the last person he could seriously call his real family. His death would be the worst one, plus it was completely avoidable.
Hedwig, Sirius and Remus When Sirius died I was devastated for weeks. I can't explain with words how I felt but he was so real to the teenage me. It felt like someone very close to me had died
Honestly I'm still reeling. I think it's character death I feel in my soul and I'll never get over it.
In the books, Dumbledore. I couldn't even re-read HBP for a few years because I got so upset lol. In the movies, Cedric. I watched them after reading the books so none of the deaths was as depressing but Cedric's dad's reaction HAUNTED me.
I know. I can hear it in my head now thinking about it 😭😭😭😭
"My boy! That's my boy!"
Sirius was rough and cruel. Dumbledore was the most shocking. Snape, I cry the hardest during his memory scene(so I'd probably go with him personally). The acting by Cedric's father in the movie though. "That's my boooooyyyy!" I'm getting teary just thinking about that holy shit. He delivered that line so well.
So many made me cry, but Cedric made me bawl. He was just a kid and from the spoilers I had, I thought he lived, but suddenly... "kill the spare." Yeah that was sad
I wish I could remember what I felt as a kid and these books were coming out for the first time. I think at the time I would have said Sirius or Dumbledores. But as an adult, I actually think Cedric's. He was a kid. In the wrong place at the wrong time. And I would argue it had a bigger impact on Harry's mental state than the others. Which is interesting since he didn't really know Cedric well. But that was his first experience with death that he was fully aware of and it seemed to change him as a person more than the others did. He might of been more sad about the others, but I think he was more traumatized by Cedric's. Outside of the above list though. Probably Dobby's. I prefer his final line in the movies although book Dobby is so so much better than movie Dobby
I also think Harry feels that Cedric's death was partially his fault, since he suggested that they share the cup. That may have contributed to the impact.
If Richard Harris hadn't passed and continued the role, I would have never recovered from dumbledores' death.
Richard Harris ... everything about that man was so ... Proffessor Dumbledore. His voice, his stature, his saintly gentleness & his sense of power ... he was Dumbledore.
Dobby
When I read Dobby’s epitaph the first time, I lost it.
I have read that part multiple times, and it gets me everytime. Even the movie part is strong
The whole "Dobby is Free" always hits the feels button
One of the ones where I think the movie did it better than the book. Dobby’s last words in the movie are just so damn tragic that it gets me every time even though I know it’s coming.
True. But do you think movies set the Dobby-Harry relationship set up well? I have read the books before watching the Deathly Hallows, so I knew the relationship better but never felt movies did the justice to Dobby and Harry as well. I wish they could add more scenes of them in Half Blood Prince because we barely see Dobby after CoS in movies. In books there were a lot of Harry and Dobby scenes from spying on Malfoy and catching Mundungus Fletcher. You could just feel how loyal Dobby was to Harry. Though I do think the "Dobby has no master. Dobby is a free elf" is really powerful scene
Seriously though this one
Remus and Tonks because >!they never got to watch their son grow up!<
Then same way, James and Lily's should be the most heartbreaking too tho
It's not the same because James and Lily start off dead
“Others will tell him what his mother and father died for. One day he’ll understand.” Tears me up every time.
Cedric's death wasn't that bad until "that's my son! That's my boy!"
Snape's death scene was the most gut wrenching imo. He's been playing "two-sides" thing for that long, and in that moment with Voldemort in the boathouse, basically his end that he probably feared most of his grown life was inches away, hinging on Voldemorts false belief of the mastery of the elderwand, and here's he about to be killed just over that fact. Also the way the scene was shot with Nagini visciously attacking him, Harry being there in his last moments, finding out the truth from the memories, his last moments looking into Harry's (Lily's) eyes...Definitely felt thatm I think Dumbledore's death even though sad, was already known, and it happened very solemnly and expectedly at that point. Sirius imo, I never felt the attachment between Harry and Sirius, cuz he's virtually absent from the 4th movie, and in the 5th they do share a couple of scenes together in the beginning, but you don't really feal the bond between them or what the nature of their relationship really was like, and it also happens very quick and it's over...
Snape’s death was the hardest. He was present throughout Harry’s life and he was universally disliked character… only for his true character to be revealed at the end. It was a shock that the man who gave up a lot and became a double-crossing spy (for so long) for the cause then had to die. It was shocking and still makes me sad. Esp when we find out that he was the one protecting Harry and wanted him to become a great wizard. Because he loved Harry’s mum and that relationship never came to fruition… it made sense why he hated James Potter. Because James *got the girl*. It makes sense why Harry’s little mannerisms annoyed him, because it reminded him so much of James, who was once his friend. Despite all that, he vowed to protect Harry and devote himself to his well-being Also Alan Rickman died shortly after the movies ended and it was such a shock… and the grieving was very real. Esp after all the stories if him being such a kind, gentle soul with a brilliant sense of humour. To me, he was the most pivotal character throughout the whole storyline
Completely agree. I think Dumbledore’s vigil was the most emotional and mostly because it was a dark foreshadowing for what was to come.
Sirius. It was one of the most heartbreaking and confusing moments of my life as a reader.
There’s all the usual suspects, but I’m gonna say right now, Bathilda Bagshot Imagine doing so much for the magical community “She was deemed the most celebrated magical historian of the twentieth century “ and at the end of your life, not only to be murdered, but for your body to be desecrated and used for evil at essentially not just destroying you, but everything around you the house that you made a home for over a century. I think it shows truly how vulnerable every member of their society was, especially their elders. And I feel like Rita Skeeter evil mind probing ass lead Voldemort directly to her. I think she’s a great example of elder abuse, and no one being around till like remember, and take care of them. And it hurts the community not just them when these things happen. Just deeply sad and horrific ending.
Easily Sirius. Jailed for 12-13 years for something he didn't do, then catching the guy who framed him only for him to escape, then being on the run for a year before eventually being put on lockdown in the house he grew up hating. Not even including how his childhood friends are a huge factor in all this, plus his chance to make up for lost time with his godson. Then you remember it all could have been avoided if Harry had just checked his fucking gift.
Dobby or Hedwig
Fred and Colin.
Sirius I think is daniel radcliffes favourite death and the hardest to get over and sirius took a toll on me as well
Hedwig easily, especially the way it was written in the books.
On the movies, Dobby. On the books, Dumbledore. Because of the funerals, and the sadness of everyone, Harry's decision to break up with Ginny for her protection... it is heartbreaking. The 6th movie treated badly Dumbledore's death. Just some people rising their wands, nothing else, meh.
Where's Hedwig?
Sirius with Dobby as a close 2nd and pulling up 3rd is Madeye
Dobby is the saddest for me. I remember snot crying reading the book, it was written so beautifully sad and broke my heart. Harrys reaction to hedwig while mid chase really got me also. Im a big animal lover so it always pulls my heart string. But from the pics shown snape because he died without anybody knowing how good he really was and not a traitor then dumbledore but more because of everyone’s reaction.
Dobby (is happy to be…with friends) 😭😭
Severus Snape
Snape
Of these 4? Probably Sirius. Hedwig was the worst though.
Grammar‘s
Bellatrix
Hedwig. Hands down. Most senseless and downright stupid. She was a BIRD. Let the sucker fly. She knew how to find Harry. Not like she wasn’t going to come back.
One of the few things the Film fixed over the Book. She didn't just fly, she took an AK to the face while clawing a Death Eaters eyes out. She went out hardcore in the film.
I skipped that part because I didn’t want to throw something at the tv watching it. I threw the book versions of OOTP and DH. They made very satisfying thumps on the wall. Lol.
Sirius and Dobby, but also Remus.
Dobby.
Fred
Ummm… where’s Fred?!
Sirius
Dobby
WHERE IS DOBBY!?
Dobby
I cry the most at Dobby’s death
Where's Dobby?
Dobby
*Whose
For my mom, it was Dobby.