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Villain Overview

Dolores Umbridge: Mr. Potter, tell them I mean no harm!
Harry Potter: Sorry professor, but I must not tell lies.
~ Umbridge in the film version of Order of the Phoenix as she is dragged off by the centaurs
I will have... order!
~ Umbridge's most famous quote.
Now, I want you to write, "I must not tell lies".
~ Umbridge before torturing Harry.
That's right, because you know, deep down, you deserve to be punished. Don't you, Mr. Potter?
~ Umbridge while torturing Harry.
You know... I really hate children!
~ Umbridge to Harry and Hermione after being tricked.

Professor Dolores Jane Umbridge is a major antagonist in the Harry Potter franchise. She was a Ministry of Magic official who served as Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic under three successive ministers: Cornelius Fudge, Rufus Scrimgeour and Pius Thicknesse.

Umbridge was designated as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by the order of Minister Fudge in 1995, and was later promoted to Hogwarts High Inquisitor, and eventually Headmistress. This was part of a Ministry effort to keep the school, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, and Harry Potter under control and prevent a mass "rebellion." She was removed from these positions later on in 1996, when Lord Voldemort was publicly revealed to be still alive, and returned to the ministry, eventually working as a judge under Voldemort's supremacist regime from 1997 to 1998.

In the films, she was portrayed by Imelda Staunton, who also played Mrs. Lovett at the Chichester Theatre Festival's adaptation of Sweeney Todd, Angorra in The Snow Queen and Alexandrina Victoria Hannover in The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!.

Personality[]

That's right because you know, deep down, you deserve to be punished. Don't you Mr. Potter.
~ Dolores to Harry, giving him a cruel punishment.

Dolores Umbridge can be described as a very unpleasant woman, an ambitious, immoral, egotistical, manipulative sadist who possessed an extremely high opinion of herself. She evidently believed herself above the law, as shown multiple times like when she used the Black Quill (a torture device that causes the user to write in their own blood) on Harry and then the entire DA. Or when she secretly slipped Veritaserum potion into tea cups that she offered to students, despite its use on the students being forbidden. The most notable example of her power abuse is when she personally sent two Dementors to attack a minor, Harry, by her own initiative without legal permission from the Ministry, to either have them give Harry the Dementor's kiss, an extreme action only taken for the most dangerous criminals, or force Harry to use magic to defend himself, giving Minister Fudge a pretext to expel him from Hogwarts. By doing so, Umbridge also put the life of a bystanding Muggle teenager, Dudley Dursley, and many Muggle residents in danger by sending Dementors to roam around freely at Little Whinging. She was even prepared to use the Cruciatus Curse, a spell of physical torture and even against the law, on Harry despite him being a minor, justifying this by saying, "What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him".

Umbridge's most notable abuse of power is when she sent several Ministry officials to raid Professor Hagrid's hut to evict him during the night when fifth year students were having their Astronomy exam, having chosen nighttime as not to cause a commotion with the students, as when they were present at Sybill Trelawney's dismissal. Due to her extreme prejudice towards Hagrid, Umbridge blamed him for releasing a couple of nifflers into her office (in reality, Lee Jordan was the culprit), and attempted to have Hagrid forcibly removed from the premises, and possibly even arrested. When Hagrid refused to go quietly and started to fight the officials, who unsuccessfully tried to stun him, Fang came to his master's aid until one of the wizards stunned him, sending Hagrid over the edge and causing a violent wrath in him. When Professor Minerva McGonagall intervened, furiously charging to the hut and demanding that Hagrid be left alone, she was seriously injured by the officials after being hit by four simultaneous Stunning Spells without warning, which would require for her to be moved to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for medical treatment. This enraged Hagrid even more and led to him knocking out more officials, and this outcome was likely a satisfying result for Umbridge, as Hagrid's reaction gave her an excuse to prove how dangerous Half-Giants are and to have Hagrid arrested for assault, although the Ministry failed to do so, since Hagrid fled with the unconscious Fang and went into hiding outside Hogsmeade until Umbridge's dismissal from Hogwarts. In addition, Umbridge was still surely delighted with the outcome, as it removed, at least for a time, a major opposition to her authority as headmistress in the form of Minerva McGonagall.

Umbridge could also be bribed to ignore the law and not report criminals, as when she caught Mundungus Fletcher selling valuable goods without a license, she was convinced to let him get away by confiscating Salazar Slytherin's locket from him. When she was put in charge of registering Muggle-Borns by Minister Thicknesse, she became even more incredibly corrupt and malevolent; she sentenced Muggle-Born wizards and witches for life imprisonment at Azkaban under outrageous false accusations and under the prejudiced beliefs that these witches and wizards stole their magic from Pure-Bloods, supporting the Death Eater propaganda. Some of these victims died from the horrendous conditions in Azkaban. Those who were not found "guilty" of stealing magic were condemned by Umbridge to be stripped of their wands, jobs, and families, and be evicted from their homes to be left on the streets as the "Wandless". Many of the condemned were Umbridge's fellow employees of the Ministry, especially Aurors, and others in the Ministry were shown to fear her, such as Mafalda Hopkirk (who was implied to have been forced or coerced into serving the Voldemort-controlled Ministry), no doubt because they were aware or at least suspected her connections with the Death Eaters, who now ran rampant.

Despite being a teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she openly hates children, and due to this took, great pleasure in enforcing torturous punishments on students. When she realized she was tricked when Hermione and Harry lured her to the Forbidden Forest, Umbridge flatly said "I really hate children". While under control of Hogwarts, she enforced strict and somewhat tyrannical rules that the students were forced to comply. For instance, one of the few was that boys and girls could not be in close vicinity of one another and broke up a Wizard and Witch kissing with her wand. Umbridge was a colossally prejudiced and inequitable woman as well. She believed that Half-Breeds, Half-Bloods, Muggleborns, and the Muggles were inherently inferior and registered them with extreme cruelty at the Ministry of Magic under Lord Voldemort's fascist reign, despite the fact that she herself was a half-blood, showing a completely immoral side of her hypocrisy where she discriminated towards her fellow half-bloods as if she were not one herself (a fact she evidently tried to hide while under Voldemort's reign not only to protect her own skin (although witches and wizards that had some muggle heritage were permitted to continue their lives), but also to ensure she remained in power.

Umbridge was xenophobic and intolerant towards Half-Breeds as well. Because of this, she was extremely impertinent and argumentative towards Rubeus Hagrid, the Gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor, and antagonized him as he was Half-Giant. She additionally spoke in an insulting and scornful tone towards the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest, unwisely provoking them into wrath by doing so and assaulting Magorian with a spell. According to Sirius Black, Umbridge was well-known for her hatred towards Half-Breeds and for looking down to other magical creatures, having contributed to make the lives of Werewolves as miserable as possible by using the law.

Umbridge was condescending and even cruel towards her fellow teachers. For example, she interrupted Dumbledore's start of year speech with her trademark fake cough. She later did the same to Professor McGonagall who also offered her a cough sweet. She also insulted Professor Flitwick when she measured his height or mocked Professor Snape for his unsuccessful attempts to become Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. She was especially vituperative, disrespectful, and sadistic towards Divination teacher Professor Trelawney, asking her to predict something for her (Professor Trelawney said it is impossible to predict something on demand, which made Umbridge dissatisfied with that answer) However when Umbridge was told she was in "terrible danger", she merely said, "good". Upon firing her, Umbridge takes sadistic pleasure in firing her with the entire school watching.

She was also dishonest and fraudulent. As noted earlier, she would have performed one of the Unforgivable Curses on a teenager and would never have told the Minister. She claimed that a Locket, which was also a Horcrux, was in her family for generations. As such, she was extremely hypocritical, as she repeatedly punished Harry Potter for "lying" to others from her perspective even though she herself would deceive others for personal gain.

Umbridge attempted to mask her wickedness by giving off a sweet and pleasant demeanor, she dressed and spoke as a person's grandmother; her creator (J.K. Rowling) describes her personality as "poisoned honey". She wore a decorative black bow on her head (in the books only), dressed exclusively in pink, adorned her office with cat plates (though simply liked pictures of cats and considered the real animal to be too troublesome) and enjoyed drinking tea along with cakes and sweets. Also, when first meeting her in her office, Harry resembled Umbridge's appearance with that of a toad. Even after making it obvious how evil she was, she still kept up her sweet facade, which only ascertained how monstrous she truly was.

Despite her evil nature, Umbridge appears to be good friends with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, referring to him by a first name basis, and Fudge placed Umbridge in control of Hogwarts. Then again, this did not stop her from lying to him about using the Cruciatus Curse on Harry, more than likely due to her arrogance, something that Cornelius would never approve. While she spoke highly about him, Dolores in reality just saw Cornelius as nothing more than a pawn, as demonstrated when Fudge was sacked and fired from his position. Instead of siding with him, Umbridge didn't give any support to her former employer and just sided with his replacement, Rufus Scrimgeour.

Another similarity between Cornelius and Umbridge was that they were both quite paranoid and were worried that Dumbledore was amassing a secret army and weapon that would end the Ministry of Magic. However, Dolores was crueler in pursuit of her answers; when she became the Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, she forbade any students from using their wands or magic as she believed it would only further Dumbledore's Army.

A cold-blooded sadist who rarely ever raised her voice or lost her cool, Umbridge was able to maintain a calm, nearly worry-less persona. Her voice was incredibly relaxed and rarely displayed genuine emotion, aside from making a sinister smile while making Harry use her "special quill". While extremely rare, Umbridge occasionally lost her temper, like when she screeched at Harry Potter for insinuating that Lord Voldemort had returned and later slapped him when she caught him and the DA sneaking into her office. While being dragged deeper into the Forbidden Forest by centaurs, she was seen screaming in terror.

Though she was a noticeably powerless witch, Umbridge was a very intelligent woman. When she was nineteen years old, she enrolled in Improper Use of Magic Office and thirteen years later, she became head of the office. She is quite conniving and manipulative, as shown when she was able to let loose two Dementors on Harry Potter and his cousin Dudley, which only highlighted her ruthlessness. Despite her intelligence, Umbridge was extremely gullible and unsophisticated at times, and was easily deceived by Hermione's deception that led her into the Forbidden Forest and to be taken by the centaurs.

However, what makes Umbridge more despicable than other Death Eaters is that she was abnormally self-righteous. As stated above, she cruelly forced Harry to write in his own blood using the Blood Quill. After the boy finished writing the single sentence "I must not tell lies", she then coldly said, "You know deep down, you deserve to be punished." However, the only thing that Harry had done was speak out of line and he didn't remotely deserve something so monstrous as a punishment. Umbridge was always a glutton for power to the point of immorality in its pursuit, but in a position of respect, she viciously abused it. Her corruption carried out by the way she gave people who groveled or sucked up to her, such as Malfoy and Filch, power in her ranks. She dished out a vast multitude of sadistic and vicious punishments on a myriad of pupils simply to instill people's fear for her. This shows that she didn't want to be respected but feared, as respect would imply that she was equal to others, when she thought herself to be above everyone else.

Relationships[]

Allies[]

Enemies[]

  • Her own family:
    • Orford Umbridge (estranged father)
    • Ellen Cracknell (estranged mother)
    • Unnamed squib younger brother
  • Magical Creatures:

Quotes[]

I am a tolerant woman, but the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty. Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I feared! Cornelius will want to take immediate action.
~ Umbridge to McGonagall.
Study hard, and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so, and the consequences may be, severe. Our previous instructions of this subject has been disturbingly uneven. But you'll be pleased to know, now on, you will be following a carefully structured ministry approved course, of defensive magic.
(There's something in here about using defensive spells?)
USING spells? Heh heh, well I can't imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom.(We're not gonna use magic?)
You'll be learning about defensive spells in a secure, riskfree way.
(Potter: What use is that, if we're gonna get attacked it won't be riskfree)
Students will raise their hands when they speak in my class! It is the view, of the ministry, that a theoretical knowledge would be sufficient to get you through your examinations, which, after all, is what school, is all about.
(Potter: And how is theory supposed to prepare us for what's out there?)
There is nothing out there dear, who do you image would want to attack children, like yourself?
(Potter: Oh, I don't know, pfffttt, maybe Lord Voldemort!)
(Students: Oh no, did he just say that.)
Now let me make this, quite plain, you have been told, that a certain, dark, wizard, is at large once again. This, is, a, lie!
(Potter: It's not a lie! I saw him I fought...)
DETENTION! MR. POTTER!
(Potter: So according to you Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord)
Cedric Diggory's death, was a tragic accident!
(Potter:It was murder! Voldemort killed him you must know that!)
ENOUGH! Enough... See me later, Mr. Potter, my office.
~ Umbridge having an argument with Harry Potter.
Come in, good evening, Mr. Potter, sit.
You're going to be doing some lines for me today, Mr. Potter, no, not with your quill, you're going to use a rather special one of mine. Now, I want you to write... I must not tell lies.
(Potter: How many times?)
Well, let's say... for as long as it takes for the message to sink in.
(Potter: You haven't given me any ink)
Oh you wouldn't need any ink.
(Potter starts writing, as the message eventually starts getting on his hand)
Yes.
(Potter: Nothing.)
That's right, because you know, deep down, you deserve to be punished. Don't you Mr. Potter.
~ Umbridge to Potter while giving him an unfair detention.
You give me no choice, Potter. As this is an issue of Ministry security, you leave me with... no alternative. The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue.
(Hermione: That's illegal!)
What Cornelius... doesn't know
won't hurt him.
~ Umbridge about to torture Potter as well as her revealing disrespect to Cornelius Fudge.
What on earth are you doing, Albert?
(Harry: You're lying, Dolores... and one mustn't tell lies! STUPEFY!
~ Umbridge discovering Harry Potter disguised as Albert Runcorn and also her last words of the film series.

Trivia[]

  • Dolores Umbridge is considered by fans to be one of (if not) the most hated Harry Potter characters (often even surpassing Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange). Though not part of Voldemort's Death Eaters, she forms an alliance at least with two of them, Lucius Malfoy and Corban Yaxley. She also has no qualms about working in a Death Eater controlled Ministry of Magic, and agreed to send the Muggle-Borns to Azkaban, even letting the Dementors kiss some of them. As mentioned above, her harsh teaching methods, cruel nature, and the fact she targets children makes her stand out among the others. And while she was ultimately sentenced to life in prison for her crimes, some fans feel that such a fate for Umbridge was too tame in comparison to something like receiving the Dementor's Kiss, which she was spared from suffering since Dementors were removed from Azkaban by that time.
    • Such sentiment was shared even by her actress, Imelda Staunton, who admitted that her character was a "bloody monster". Imelda even said that she nearly vomited when she had to film the scene where Umbridge makes Harry write in his own blood, citing it to be one of the most "sickening parts she ever filmed". Therefore, she despised playing Umbridge in spite of enjoying being part of the Harry Potter film series.
    • Not surprisingly, WatchMojo.com listed Dolores Umbridge as #3 on their Top 10 "Most Evil Harry Potter Characters" list.
  • Umbridge is also considered one of the crueler examples of evil fictional teachers considering the harsh punishments she doled out to students who dared to cross her (such as when she forced Harry Potter to slash "I must not tell lies" onto his hand with a magical quill), the obvious favoritism she showed towards those who sucked up to her, and her feverish desire to place Hogwarts firmly under Ministry control with her as a proxy (possibly only being surpassed by Ms. Trunchbull).
  • She is revealed to be extremely xenophobic, as Remus Lupin noted that Umbridge was one of the main supporters of proposed anti-werewolf legislation, advocated for merpeople to be rounded up & tagged, and considered centaurs to be inferior to wizards. In the seventh book, she then became a Ministry Judge who determines the "blood purity" of witches and wizards and was one of the main forces behind the Anti-Muggle propaganda distributed by the Ministry.
    • However, given Lupin's heroic actions during the Second Wizard War and that he was posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin, aside from the fact that Umbridge was incarcerated on Azkaban, it's likely that Kingsley Shacklebolt repealed the legislation upon being named Minister of Magic.
  • In the Order of the Phoenix book, it is revealed that Umbridge was the one who sent the Dementors after Harry in order to silence his claims of the Dark Lord returning. This isn't, however, mentioned in the film, so one can assume Voldemort sent them instead due to them being natural allies for the Death Eaters.
  • While Harry couldn't cast a Patronus charm while wearing the locket, Umbridge manages to conjure a Patronus which takes form of a cat. The reason she is able to cast the Patronus charm is because the horcrux helped her rather than hindered her due to the fact that she was already evil.
  • Novelist Stephen King noted that Dolores Umbridge is the greatest make-believe villain to come along since Hannibal Lecter.
  • She is the only character in the series, apart from Lord Voldemort, to leave a permanent physical scar on Harry Potter.
  • Although she did not appear in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film, in the novel, she briefly appeared at Dumbledore's funeral. She is also confirmed to still be working at the ministry by Rufus Scrimgeour who brings up her when Harry mentions his ambition to become an auror, and she is part of the reason why Harry refused to be his poster boy over Christmas Break.
    • In the film, none of these things are mentioned (as Dumbledore's funeral was cut). However, a toy of Umbridge appears in the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes scene, repeating the lines "I really hate children" and "I WILL have order" from the previous film.
  • Umbridge's organization in Hogwarts during her time as high inquisitor and headmaster, "The Inquisitorial Squad", is based on two real-life political youth groups from the Third Reich (Nazi Germany): the Hitler Youth and League of German Girls, as well as their respective sub-units, the German Youngsters (Deutsches Jungvolk), Young Girls' League (Jungmädelbund), and Faith and Beauty Society.
  • It's commonly believed that J.K. Rowling based Dolores Umbridge on Margaret Thatcher, with Imelda Staunton playing Umbridge in the films as a reference to Thatcher. However, Rowling has clarified this isn't the case but that Umbridge is based on an abusive teacher of hers.

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           HarryPotter Villains

Death Eaters
Lord Voldemort | Barty Crouch Jr. (Warner Bros.) | Bellatrix Lestrange | Corban Yaxley | Peter Pettigrew (Warner Bros.) | Alecto Carrow | Amycus Carrow | Antonin Dolohov | Augustus Rookwood | Walden Macnair | Thorfinn Rowle | Evan Rosier | Cedric Diggory (Alternate Timeline) | Rodolphus Lestrange | Avery II

Death Eater defectors
Severus Snape | Regulus Black | The Malfoys (Lucius Malfoy & Draco Malfoy)‡ | Igor Karkaroff | Peter Pettigrew

Death Eater Allies
Quirinus Quirrell | Dolores Umbridge | Fenrir Greyback | Pius Thicknesse | Albert Runcorn | Snatchers (Scabior) | Vincent Crabbe | Gregory Goyle | John Dawlish | Kreacher | Stan Shunpike

Hogwarts Staff
Severus Snape | Barty Crouch Jr. (Warner Bros.) | Alecto Carrow | Amycus Carrow | Quirinus Quirrell | Dolores Umbridge | Gilderoy Lockhart | Argus Filch | Salazar Slytherin

Ministry of Magic
Cornelius Fudge | Pius Thicknesse | Corban Yaxley | Muggle-Born Registration Commission (Dolores Umbridge & Albert Runcorn) | John Dawlish | Damocles Rowle

Gellert Grindelwald's Alliance
Gellert Grindelwald | Credence Barebone | Vinda Rosier | Queenie Goldstein | Gunnar Grimmson | Abernathy | Krall | Carrow | Nagel | Krafft | MacDuff | Helmut | Anton Vogel | Karl

Other Wizards & Witches
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New Salem Philanthropic Society
Mary Lou Barebone | Credence Barebone

Ranrok's Loyalists
Ranrok | Pergit | Belgruff the Bludgeoner | Grodbik | Ogbert the Odd

Creatures
The Serpent of Slytherin | Acromantula (Aragog & Acromantula Colony) | Dementors | Centaurs‡ | Giants | Inferi | Nagini | Mountain Troll | Gnarlak | Griphook | Kreacher | Manticores (Manticore Queen)

Tales of Beedle the Bard
Charlatan | Death | Warlock

Muggles
The Dursleys(Marge Dursley) | Tobias Snape

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