Top Five Witches and Wizards from Harry Potter

TOP FIVE (OR SIX) MOST POWERFUL WITCHES AND WIZARDS WHO WERE ALIVE DURING THE EVENTS OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES (1980-1998)

The Harry Potter series is widely credited for being one of the greatest literature masterpieces of all time, with many complicated and diverse characters. One question many people ask is: who is the most powerful wizard from all the seven books? Many people credit this honor to Albus Dumbledore or Tom Riddle (Voldemort), but who was really the most powerful? One of them or someone entirely different?

To give you an idea of on how I actually chose this list, I took two main factors into account: Magic, and also cunning and knowledge, to put an interesting spin and also mark out if the wizards could actually use their skills correctly, meaning that they could get more than those ranked behind them from a similar situation. 

The character does not have to live past a day after Harry's birth to be included. They must be mentioned, but do not have to appear at any point during the books. Please note that we may not have the same opinions about certain things, and I only include people who I am 100% sure were alive for at least some part of the series, hence the absence of many a character who may have appeared in Fantastic Beasts, even if, like in the case of Newt Scamander, they were clearly mentioned in the Harry Potter books. I would also like to mention that in one case the position is tied between two wizards, hence the inclusion of six witches and wizards instead of five.

Without further ado, let’s get into the list.

5: Tie between Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt

Two hugely powerful and influential wizards, it was very difficult to distinguish between the two, hence the inclusion of both of them. Two entirely different personalities and ages, the two were friends and senior Aurors. Moody boasts the largest number of Death Eaters caught, at least he did before the second wizarding war against Voldemort, and was likely the most magically gifted of the two at the time of his peak.

Kingsley, however, is most likely the smarter and more cunning of the two, as shown by his hugely successful run as Minister of Magic, and I would argue that he had the largest positive influence, exceeding even Hermoine Granger and Ulick Gamp, of any minister, and did a great job at repairing the wizarding world after Voldemort's demise.

4: Hermoine Granger

One of the three main characters from the Harry Potter series, Hermoine Granger was clearly a powerful witch from the second we met her in Harry and Ron’s compartment on the Hogwarts express. She was the smartest and most magically powerful of the three, top of the grade despite her muggle ancestry, and probably knew more magic than any other student at Hogwarts from the fifth book onwards.

This is reflected by her success in the ministry, and she became Minister of Magic. She was a key ally to Harry, and Voldemort’s reign wouldn’t have ended without her. She is the current-day minister and one of the most powerful witches to have ever lived.

3: Tom Riddle (Lord Voldemort)

The main antagonist of the Harry Potter series, the cruel, heartless villain would not look out of place in the first position. However, as the top three were near-indistinguishable when it came to magical power and knowledge, it had to come down to cunning, and in this regard he is the weakest of the three, which is largely related to his lack of empathy, along with his slightly rash behavior.

He is no doubt a powerful dark wizard, and would make a top ten most powerful witches and wizards of all time list without much debate, and would have nearly-always been number one if he had been born during another timeframe. His inhumane character was a huge strength, but also his greatest weakness, and it is for this reason he does not receive a position in the top two on this list.

2: Gellert Grindelwald

Yes, Grindelwald was still alive in the Harry Potter books, and was eventually killed by Voldemort in book seven in his own prison, Nurmengard, after, despite his old and feeble state, he managed to withhold vital information from the Dark Lord, a clear indication of his immense power. As I mentioned before, he had much more humane feelings than Voldemort, which meant he better understood human minds, and their motivations.

He was also brought down by a much more powerful and experienced wizard than Voldemort, and had a disadvantage as he still had feelings for that particular wizard, Dumbledore, while a rash Voldemort only had to fight his worst enemy, who he actually wanted to fight. For these reasons I rank him at second, above Voldemort, but below…

0: Honorable Mentions

Clearly, a lot of people missed out by only a few spots. For this reason, honorable mentions must go to:

Bellatrix Lestrange

Newt Scamander (if he is indeed still alive during Harry Potter)

Rufus Scrimgeour

Severus Snape

Minerva McGonagall

Filius Flitwick

And anyone else who might have just missed out (feel free to comment on your thoughts)

1: Albus Dumbledore

On par with Voldemort and Grindelwald when it comes to magic, he exceeds the others in both knowledge and cunning, the deciding factors to separate the top three. I wouldn’t argue much with anyone who placed either Voldemort or Grindelwald in this spot, but I simply can’t look past everyone’s favorite professor, Dumbledore.

The sweet old man actually fought off many personal demons before cementing his place as one of the greatest heroes in wizarding world history. He lived a long, relatively lonely life of nearly 116 years (born 1881) before he met his planned-out demise at the hands of Severus Snape at the end of the sixth book (around 1997).