Within the wizarding world of Harry Potter, there are very few magical jobs that have a better reputation or more mystique than that of an auror. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, an auror is a highly skilled witch or wizard who is tasked with hunting down dark wizards and stopping them from committing any further evil deeds. So think an FBI agent, a CIA agent, and a cop all rolled up into one.
It takes a lot of ability and skill to become an auror, but as with any job, there are some people who absolutely excel at their duties while others completely bungle things up beyond all belief. Luckily the requirements of aurors are stringent enough that very few people make it to the position without being qualified for the job, but of course everyone who passes the test doesn’t necessarily deserve the job. So here are the five best aurors in Harry Potter, along with the five worst.
Worst: Savage
There isn’t much that’s said about the auror named Savage in the Harry Potter books or in the film series, but he’s still worthy of a spot on the list of the worst aurors in the known history of the wizarding world. Savage was one of a few aurors who were assigned to protect Hogwarts and investigate any dark wizard goings on in Harry Potter’s sixth year, and given what wound up happening at Hogwarts in the sixth and seventh Harry Potter books it seems pretty safe to say that Savage was an abject failure at his job on a level that most aurors could never come close to.
Best: Percival Graves
The real Percival Graves was presumably never found after being overtaken by Grindelwald, but it would seem that Percival’s abilities as an auror were some of the most exceptional in the entire United States of America. Graves was actually a descendant of one of the original 12 aurors for MACUSA, and he certainly lived up to his legacy.
When some sort of dark magical creature was terrorizing the largest city in America it was Graves who was tasked with investigating and stopping whomever and whatever was doing it, which is an extraordinary amount of responsibility for only one auror and would indicate that he was one of the best.
Worst: Proudfoot
Much like the auror Savage, little is said or known about the auror named Proudfoot aside from his absolute failure to do his job. He was among the team of aurors who was tasked by the Ministry of Magic to protect Hogwarts and investigate any possible threats, which means that he essentially stood by while Voldemort and his team of death eaters overtook control of the school right under everyone’s noses. Granted the death eaters are wily, but even a first year Hogwarts student could see what was happening, so the fact that Proudfoot and his team didn’t stop it is an embarrassment to the profession.
Best: Alastor Moody
Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody has a reputation that precedes him, both as one of the greatest aurors in the history of the Ministry of Magic and as a bit of a nut job. However, it seems that Mad-Eye’s paranoia and obsessive behavior was well justified, since he was captured and imitated by Barty Crouch Jr. for “his” one year tenure as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And in a business where people are known for dying young, the very fact that Mad-Eye managed to survive to a relatively old age speaks for itself.
Worst: John Dawlish
John Dawlish’s behavior and actions speak for themselves. While he was by all accounts an intelligent student and capable of all of the skills that being an auror requires, as the auror who worked most closely with Cornelius Fudge he really dropped the ball.
Fudge was more than happy to stick his head in the sand for as long as humanly possible, but as his auror adviser Dawlish should have forced him to recognize the dark wizard dangers that were approaching. If the most dangerous dark wizard of all time is rumored to have returned, you don’t ignore those rumors and hope everything is fine.
Best: Nymphadora Tonks
It seems like all of the best aurors have their own personal sets of quirks, and Nymphadora Tonks is pretty much quirks personified. Being a metamorphmagus has a lot of obvious benefits for the profession, but Tonks is an all around superstar when it comes to her job. She is both an auror and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, meaning that she was on the ball about investigating dark wizard activity inside and outside of the Ministry of Magic. She was always at the front lines of the Second Wizarding War, and much of what she did was crucial for the victory of the good guys.
Worst: Williamson
Williamson is yet another auror who was in the near constant company of former Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Obviously his failure when it came to preventing the rise of Voldemort and his death eaters was massive, and Williamson was an auror who wasn’t even good enough to become Fudge’s close adviser like John Dawlish. Williamson spotted Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic after he faced off with Dumbledore, but he had to see in order to believe. Most people don’t want to believe that the worst is possible, but the duty of an auror is to expect the worst case scenario and limit the fallout.
Best: Rufus Scrimgeour
Rufus Scrimgeour was not someone who ever wanted to be the Minister of Magic or someone who had the necessary skills and abilities to become it, however there’s a reason why he ascended to the position in the most dangerous period in the history of the wizarding world.
Rufus Scrimgeour was the head of the Auror Office and his skills as an auror were unparalleled. He was harsh and diligent, and pretty much inscrutable. Although Scrimgeour did not survive the Second Wizarding War he reportedly died after prolonged torture, and he never gave up the information about Harry Potter that Voldemort was looking for.
Worst: Hesphaestus Gore
Hesphaestus Gore may be an unfamiliar name even to the average Harry Potter fan, but his lack of capabilities as an auror distinguishes him as one of the worst in the wizarding world’s history. Gore was actually relatively effective as an auror in some ways, he was one of the earliest aurors for the Ministry of Magic and he served as the Minister of Magic in the 1700’s. He was in power during one of the goblin rebellions, and his response to the rebellion was so severe that it was likely the cause for even more rebellions and unrest later, which is exactly what any good auror doesn’t want.
Best: Harry Potter
It almost feels unfair that Harry Potter is at the top of the list, but it also wouldn’t be fair if he wasn’t at the top of the list. His career as an actual auror in the employ of the Ministry of Magic isn’t that well known, but I mean come on. He defeated the greatest dark wizard of all time when he was still a teenager and hadn’t even completed his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry yet. He achieved what many aurors would have thought was impossible before he was even an auror, so undoubtedly there were no dark wizards he encountered that he couldn’t handle.
