Harry Potter: 10 Arguments In The Books & Movies That Put Favorite Characters At Odds
Even the closest of friends can't always be expected to get along, and everyone's favorite characters from Harry Potter are no exception.
The Harry Potter series has strong themes of friendship and those bonds were put to the test more often than you probably realized. Harry, who never experienced friendship before attending Hogwarts, creates close relationships with people that he begins to think of as family. He makes sacrifices for them and vice versa, and it is his love for them that urges him to do whatever he can to fulfill his destiny and bring down Voldemort.
As well as the themes of friendship, the series also focuses on redemption and forgiveness. Any relationship, no matter how close, will face its issues. In the Harry Potter books and movies, the characters often find themselves in a variety of conflicts that test the limits of their friendships. However, in the end, everyone's favorite characters come out the other end even close.
In Goblet of Fire, Harry meets Rita Skeeter, a journalist who is known for creating savage gossip. In one of her stories, Rita describes Hermione as a girl who enjoys playing with the hearts of Quidditch players, such as Harry and Krum.
This is, of course, not true, as Harry and Hermione have never been romantic. However, Mrs. Weasley bought the story hook, line, and sinker. She treats Hermione coldly, snubbing her on gifts and only giving her cool greetings, despite always treating her kindly before. Harry finally tells Mrs. Weasley that the story was false, and she changes her attitude. Hermione never gives it a second thought, but the interaction with her future mother-in-law was still uncomfortable for everyone.
When Harry's name was miraculously pulled from the Goblet of Fire, very few believed that he had not entered his own name. Harry was used to this sort of criticism from his classmates, but what really hurt was the fact that Ron didn't believe him either.
This fight is one of the most famous from the series and is still frustrating for fans. When it came down to it, Ron was only upset because he had grown so tired of living in Harry's shadow. Once he had had some time away, he was able to come back and patch things up with his best friend.
Ron and Hermione found themselves in several fights throughout the series, but Harry and Hermione typically got along very well. However, in the Prisoner of Azkaban book, Harry mysteriously receives a Firebolt broomstick after his Nimbus 2000 was destroyed. He was over the moon with excitement, until Hermione reported it to McGonagall, and the broom was confiscated.
At times Hermione could be a bad friend, but she had only done this out of fear that the broom had come from Sirius Black (which it actually had), but Harry could not handle the disappointment of losing such a great gift. He gave her the cold shoulder for several weeks.
In both the Half-Blood Prince book and movie, Harry pretended to slip Ron some Felix Felicis. This boosted Ron's confidence enough that he was able to shake the nerves that typically sabotaged their matches, and Ron had a perfect game.
After the match, Hermione angry exclaimed that they had only won because of the potion. When it was revealed that Ron had never actually had any, he becomes angry with Hermione, believing that she thought he could not win without a luck potion. Hermione was completely devastated, which became even worse when Ron started kissing Lavender Brown. The two refused to talk for months.
Percy is the most ambitious of the Weasley family, and this caused several problems within the family. This starts in Order of the Phoenix when Percy decides to stand with the Ministry instead of his family in the matter of Voldemort's return.
In Half-Blood Prince the Minister for Magic takes advantage of Percy's connection to Harry, and Percy and the Minister show up at Christmas under the guise that Percy wanted to make up. However, Fred and George don't buy it, and pull a prank on him, embarrassing him in front of everyone. Ultimately, Percy storms out, leaving his mother in tears. Percy eventually found redemption in Deathly Hallows, making his fight with his family the longest in the series.
At the start of Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, Hagrid is bubbling with excitement about all that he planned to teach them that year in Care of Magical Creatures class. However, neither Harry, Ron, nor Hermione had the heart to tell him that they had all opted out of his class for that year.
They all felt terrible, but when it came down to it, none of them enjoyed the subject. Hagrid eventually found out when they didn't come to class, and for the first time, he stopped talking to the trio. Harry finally decided to confront Hagrid, who had taken to calling him "Potter." Thankfully, they all worked out their differences with their favorite gamekeeper.
Another memorable fight was between Harry and Seamus during their fifth year at Hogwarts. Harry already knew that a lot of the wizarding community thought he was out of his mind for saying that Voldemort had returned, but he was especially hurt to learn that Seamus felt the same way.
The two ended up in a loud argument in the Gryffindor common room, in which Harry said a couple of not-so-nice things about Seamus's mother. They spent the majority of the school year in silence, which was especially uncomfortable for their dorm mates. However, Seamus did eventually see the light and offered Harry an apology, which Harry accepted.
In the Deathly Hallows book, Lupin turns up at Grimwald Place to offer Harry his help on their secret mission. Harry was confused, wondering why Lupin would want to leave Tonks behind. This is when Lupin admits that Tonks was pregnant and that he regretted ever marrying her.
His reasons revolved around his status as a werewolf and feeling that his wife and child would be better off without him. However, Harry quickly becomes enraged. He screams at Lupin, telling him that no parent should leave their child and calling him a coward (a moment that makes Harry Potter fans cringe). Lupin sends Harry flying with his wand, and storms out of the house. Later, Lupin does realize Harry was right, even making Harry his son's godfather, so all turned out well.
The locket Horcrux took a toll on every member of the golden trio, but not as much as Ron. Ron had a lot of deep-seated insecurities that made perfect fuel for the locket. He became jealous, irritable, and irrational until he finally lost control. Ron decided that he was better off without Harry or Hermione and left.
When he returned with the help of Dumbledore's deluminator, Harry forgave him immediately. Ron had earned it by confessing his insecurities and tackling them by destroying the locket. Ultimately, Ron ended up better for it. Hermione took some time to come around, but it wasn't long before Ron was back in her good graces too.
Dumbledore placed a lot of responsibility on Snape, and at times, Snape felt that it was too much. He resented the fact that Dumbledore had asked him to kill him, but still refused to share his master plan. This resulted in an agreement between the two that was partially overheard by Hagrid, one of the first hints about Snape's twist ending.
Snape told Dumbledore that he didn't want to do what he had asked anymore, without further information about what was going on. Dumbledore agreed to tell him more, and he divulged the important detail that Harry would have to be killed in order for Voldemort to be defeated. Snape was enraged, accusing Dumbledore of using and manipulating him. It's possible that Snape never fully forgave Dumbledore for this. However, he still carried through on his side of the bargain.