One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Harry Potter films and books is the wide variety of spells that the various characters can wield. Obviously, some characters are more talented at the use of magic than others, and of course regular people can’t use magic at all (and surprisingly most would never want to, even if they had the chance).
This being the case, it’s fascinating to think about how the various witches and wizards would fare if they were confronted by a powerful being from another franchise such as, for example, the infamous Terminator. Some would almost certainly survive while some, sadly, would be terminated.
Survive: Harry
Look, anyone who can survive an attack by Voldemort when they are just a baby would almost certainly be able to survive an attack by the Terminator.
Of course, it helps that Harry is also a very talented wizard, when he can be bothered to put his mind to the actual subject at hand. His chances of survival would be vastly improved if Hermione would be there to help him since, by all accounts, she is one of the most talented witches of her generation.
Terminated: Ron
Poor Ron. Though he’s very loyal and a reasonably good wizard in his own right, there’s no question that he sort of plays second fiddle to both Harry and Hermione (much to his annoyance). He just doesn’t seem to have the same innate abilities as they do.
If he were to have an encounter with a Terminator, it seems rather likely that he’d bumble his way into a response and, assuming Hermione wasn’t there to help him, he’d probably meet a rather unfortunate fate.
Survive: Hermione
Hermione is widely acknowledged by those who know about such things as one of the most talented witches of her age. Evidence for her accomplishments are everywhere, and it's easy to lose track of the number of times that she manages to save the day, either with her knowledge or her ability to wield magic with the facility of a natural.
Not even the most advanced model of the Terminator would stand a chance against Hermione, who could probably defeat one with one hand tied behind her back.
Terminated: Uncle Vernon
There are quite a few very unpleasant characters that appear in Harry Potter, and Uncle Vernon is right up there at the top. He takes a malicious glee in torturing Harry in every way that he possibly can, and he has an almost pathological avoidance of anything that he can’t make fit within his own system of understanding.
In all likelihood, he would probably deny the existence of the Terminator right up until the moment that it blasted him into oblivion.
Survive: Dumbledore
It’s pointed out several times that the only wizard that the malevolent and powerful Voldemort ever truly feared was Dumbledore. It’s not hard to see why.
After all, Dumbledore was the one who brought about the defeat of numerous other villains, and he appeared to be a very formidable wizard indeed. With his sharp intellect and his firm command of magic in all its forms, it’s pretty likely that he’d be able to make short work of a Terminator and anything it might bring against him.
Terminated: Cornelius Fudge
Cornelius Fudge is the worst sort of government bureaucrat. Rather than recognize the threat to everyone that is posed by Voldemort, he turned a blind eye until it was too late. He was far more concerned with what he saw as a threat to his own position and to the Ministry of Magic and far too little with the actual threats being posed to everyone’s life.
Like Vernon, he would probably go on insisting that the Terminator wasn’t real until it just did away with him altogether.
Survive: McGonagall
There are some very good reasons that Minerva McGonagall has long been a fan favorite. For one thing, she’s played by Maggie Smith, and for another, she’s just a truly great witch. She clearly is very formidable in terms of her command of magic, since most people don’t seem to want to cross her.
If a Terminator was foolish enough to think that she could be dispensed with because she’s an older woman, it would soon find itself on the business of her wand.
Terminated: Dolores Umbridge
It has to be admitted that this one might be a bit of wishful thinking, but is there anyone out there who doesn’t wish that a Terminator had actually taken care of Umbridge before she was able to perpetrate so much harm on Hogwarts and everyone else?
That being said, she is also the type of person whose arrogance would make them overconfident in any sort of confrontation with a creature like a Terminator, and this more than anything else would prove to be her fatal undoing.
Survive: Snape
There are few villains in fantasy as compelling or complicated as Snape. With each book and film, the reader and viewer learned more about him and what made him tick, until he eventually became a sort of hero in his own right.
Aside from that, he also showed that he was a very powerful and clever wizard (he’d have to be, to come up with his own spells). If he were to find himself confronted with the likes of a Terminator, it seems pretty certain that he’d be able to find its fatal weaknesses, exploit them, and attain victory in the end.
Terminated: Draco
Like so many other members of the noble wizarding families, Draco sees himself as a cut above the rest of his fellow students.
The sad truth is, though, that he’s really not that exceptional of a wizard, as he shows time and time again. It would actually be rather fascinating to see him get into a confrontation with a Terminator, if for no other reason than that it would hopefully set him down a peg or two, right before it was able to blast him into little tiny bits. He almost certainly wouldn’t survive an encounter with one.