Parental figures are a major theme in the Harry Potter series. The main character, Harry, lost his parents to Lord Voldemort at a young age and has since sought out parental figures in the adults with whom he grew close. Harry was primarily able to find father figures in men such as Arthur Weasley and Sirius Black and a mother figure in Molly Weasley.
However, not everyone was lucky to have parents that they are close to, or have parents that were good at being parents. Much like muggle families, wizards and witches have family dynamics that vary from family to family, and some parents are worse than others. Here is a look at the ten worst parents in the entire Harry Potter series, ranked from bad to the worst.
Sirius Black
While Sirius Black was mentioned earlier as a father figure for Harry, his role as a father figure wasn’t an entirely positive experience. Through no fault of Sirius’s own, he was framed for the murder of Lily and James Potter and sent to Azkaban for twelve years until his escape. After his escape, he and Harry were able to reconnect and Harry was able to learn the true story of Peter Pettigrew’s betrayal.
After the two reconnected, they did their best to maintain contact, but because of his fugitive status, they could very rarely meet in person. On top of that, as time progressed, it became clear that as much as Sirius loved Harry, part of Sirius viewed Harry as a surrogate for James with Sirius even mistakenly calling Harry “James” in his final moments.
Amos Diggory
Amos Diggory is the father of Cedric and, as such, was featured prominently in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Throughout the book and the movie, Amos doted on his son and often openly resented Harry for (unintentionally) stealing media attention away from Cedric. He very openly grieved for his son upon encountering his son’s dead body.
These things would make Amos seem like a good parent, except that his doting as it was depicted in the books did seem a bit excessive. It is important to help bring children’s self esteems up as a parent, but it is just as important to help them learn that not everything they want will come to them. This is a lesson that Cedric thankfully learned on his own.
Kendra And Percival Dumbledore
Kendra and Percival Dumbledore were the parents of Albus and Aberforth. Percival Dumbledore exhibited some tendencies toward anti-muggle beliefs that peaked in the assault or murder of some muggle boys terrorizing his daughter Ariana. He was then arrested for his actions, leaving Kendra to raise the three children on her own.
Kendra, on the other hand, hid Ariana away after she started to lose control of her magic. Kendra feared that Ariana would be admitted to St. Mungo’s hospital, which she probably needed to. Had Kendra actually done what was necessary to take care of her daughter, she and Ariana may have lived longer.
Merope Gaunt And Tom Riddle, Sr.
Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle, Sr. are the parents of Tom Riddle, Jr., who would grow up to be Lord Voldemort. Tom Riddle only fell in love with Merope because she used a love potion or some kind of spell on him, and when Merope let the effects wear off, he left her while she was pregnant with his child.
Merope died in childbirth, naming her son after the father who abandoned him and her father, who abused her. Because of Merope’s negligence when using magic, Tom, Jr. was conceived while Tom, Sr. was under the effects of the love potion or spell, causing Tom, Jr. to be unable to feel love.
Harry Potter
It is established in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child that Harry isn’t the greatest parent, especially for his second son Albus. In spite of reassuring Albus that it would be okay if he was sorted into Slytherin in the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Cursed Child establishes that Harry is in fact not okay with his son being in Slytherin.
From there, Harry and Albus’s relationship continued to be strained. Ginny seemed to be a better parent to Albus, but their relationship is less covered than Albus and Harry’s.
Petunia And Vernon Dursley
Petunia and Vernon Dursley exhibit two extremes of bad parenting. With their son Dudley, they spoiled him. Dudley got everything he wanted from his parents from attention to food, from electronics to multiple rooms.
They were also Harry’s guardians, and with Harry, they neglected him. He slept in a cupboard under the stairs, for the first eleven years of his life and he was fed just enough to keep him alive. The Dursleys even explicitly stated that they were hoping their abuse of Harry would get rid of his magical abilities.
Fridwulfa (Hagrid’s Mom)
Not much is known about Hagrid’s mother, Fridwulfa, other than what Hagrid remembered of her. She left Hagrid and his father when he was still a small child purely because he was a small child (for a giant or half-giant). After she left the Hagrids, she returned to the giants where she had another son named Grawp, who was also small for a giant and was thus abandoned.
Abandoning children who are smaller is part of giant culture, but that does not justify Fridwulfa’s actions. Furthermore, Hagrid has mentioned that from what he did remember of her, Firdwulfa was not a good mother, meaning she likely was not a good mother to Grawp either before abandoning him.
Narcissa And Lucius Malfoy
Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy were followers of Lord Voldemort and therefore were the wizard equivalents of white supremacists. It is established multiple times throughout the series that they cared for their son Draco very much; however, they instilled problematic beliefs in him that he later had to overcome. Because of the way they brought him up, Draco sought to become a Death Eater and was tasked with murdering Dumbledore.
Draco later renounced his family’s pureblood ideals of his own accord, but his parents seemed to renounce those same beliefs for the sake of survival and preserving their family. Family preservation is good, but it is a selfish reason to change one’s beliefs regarding other groups of people’s rights.
Walburga And Orion Black
Walburga and Orion Black were similar to the Malfoys in that they believed in the superiority of pureblood wizards and witches over their Muggle-born and half-blood counterparts as well as Muggles, again making them the magical equivalent of white supremacists.
According to Sirius, he did not get along well with his parents at all and frequently got into arguments with them over their different beliefs. Sirius was eventually disowned by his mother, who burned his image and name off of the Black family tree. He also was then left without a home and had to turn to the Potter family for help.
Marvolo Gaunt
Marvolo Gaunt was the father of Morfin and Merope and the grandfather of Lord Voldemort. He is a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin and, as such, carried on Slytherin’s beliefs about pureblood wizards which would eventually be the basis for Voldemort and the Death Eater’s beliefs.
On top of that, he and Morfin physically and emotionally abused Merope to the point that she was too weak-willed to live after Tom Riddle, Sr. left her and the strain of childbirth physically weakened her. Furthermore, Marvolo disowned his daughter merely for falling in love with and marrying a Muggle.
Next: Harry Potter: 5 Female Characters Who Had Badass Arcs (& 5 Who Deserved More)
