The Death Eaters of Harry Potter are the bad guys — that much is pretty objective. Followers of Lord Voldemort, they operate on the premise than anyone of "lesser" blood than them is bad, that they must be destroyed, and that they're better for having more witches and wizards in their family than most. Operating on such ideologies, they do some truly awful things (including but not limited to, torture and murder).

But, shockingly, there are some moments in the series when some of the Death Eaters actually do something good, and we've compiled those moments. Some of them are almost... dare we say it... heroic?

RELATED: Harry Potter: 6 Best Death Eaters (& 4 Worst)

THEY ALL LEFT VOLDEMORT TO ROT

Starting off with the most questionable (but still good thing!), when Voldemort was hit by the killing curse that bounced off Harry, they all left him to rot. Sure, it wasn't that they had necessarily decided he was wrong — they had just decided they were better off not searching him out — but the Wizarding World went without him for thirteen years and very few people were launching complaints about that.

DRACO MALFOY DIDN'T KILL DUMBLEDORE

It may have been out of fear, but fear was driving him either way: Draco Malfoy made the decision not to kill Albus Dumbledore.

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He could have pleased Voldemort, ensured he lived, and tried to cast the killing curse on Dumbledore who was unarmed at the time, but he didn't. He may have been interrupted, but Harry specifically notes in the book that Draco is lowering his wand arm when Snape arrives, implying Draco didn't actually intend to commit murder.

AND HE FORGAVE HARRY/GOT OVER HIS PREJUDICE

Draco Malfoy eating an apple in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

It's a little more questionable, but it was still big of him — he eventually got over his prejudice and forgave Harry. It seemed by the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that he was actually on cordial terms with the man he might have once considered his worst enemy.

Considering how stubborn Draco was and his very strict upbringing, it was actually cool to see the change, however briefly.

KARKAROFF DEFECTED

igor Karkaroff

Not too much is known about Igor Karkaroff and we certainly couldn't say he's a good person. He seems selfish and greedy, at best. But he was one of the only Death Eaters who didn't go back to Voldemort upon his return. He could have gone back and grovelled, but perhaps couldn't face the awful things that Voldemort was sure to make him do. Instead, he fled.

Cowardly, perhaps, but better than going back to the Dark Lord. We'll take it.

BARTY CROUCH JR. TAUGHT HARRY TO FIGHT THE IMPERIUS CURSE

David Tennant as Barty Crouch Jr in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Barty Crouch Jr. was disguised as Alastor Moody for the majority of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and, objectively, is an awful human. He got close to Harry to ensure his death, he murdered his own father, and he hero-worshipped Lord Voldemort: a truly despicable genocidal man.

But the one good thing he did while being a professor at Hogwarts was to teach Harry how to shake off the Imperius curse. He was just trying to be a convincing teacher, perhaps, but it did Harry a lot of good when it came to resisting Lord Voldemort and armed him with an extremely valuable trait.

NARCISSA MALFOY SAVED HARRY

Narcissa Malfoy looking shocked in Harry Potter

Narcissa Malfoy wasn't technically a Death Eater — can you believe it? But her whole family were and she was a follower of Lord Voldemort, so we're counting it.

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She was so desperate to save her son at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that she lied to Lord Voldemort's face and told him Harry was dead. It was more for Draco than Harry, but it must have taken a hell of a lot of courage to do it. If Voldemort had caught her lying, she would have faced an instant (or drawn out and painful) death. But the idea of getting back to her son was more important than anything else to Narcissa.

AND SO DID PETER PETTIGREW

Peter Pettigrew

Pettigrew only tried to save Harry because he owed him a debt, but the fact remains: he did try to save Harry. Actually, he effectively did. When he had his hand wrapped around Harry's neck and Harry reminded him of when he saved his life four years prior, Pettigrew let go, and effectively instigated his own death. His magical hand turned on him and crushed his neck until he died — the ultimate sacrifice, far too late.

SEVERUS SNAPE CHANGED SIDES

Snape holding lily in Harry Potter

Snape may be one of the most polarizing characters in the Harry Potter series. He did heroic and terrible things in equal measure but, overall, it's widely accepted he wasn't necessarily a good person and his motivation was a selfish and borderline creepy obsession with Lily Evans. Despite that, he did change sides to protect her son, whatever his reasons were. He risked his own life time and time again to protect Harry and bring down Voldemort under the guidance of Voldemort, and Harry wouldn't have won the war without him.

Thanks, Snape. Guess you were okay, sometimes.

AS DID REGULUS BLACK

A framed photograph of Slughorn posing with the Slytherin Quidditch team, including Regulus Black in Harry Potter

Everyone forgets that Snape wasn't the only Death Eater to change sides. Sirius describes his younger brother as soft, but we later find out this probably wasn't the reason he defected. He found out about Voldemort's Horcruxes and he fled, read to hunt them down and attempt to destroy the Dark Lord.

Not only did he leave the Death Eaters, he fought Voldemort. And the work he did helped Harry later.

...AND HE WILLINGLY DIED FOR IT

Lord Voldemort Casts a Killing Curse in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Many people died in the war, but Regulus knew he would. He wrote a letter in preparation and went hunting for a Horcrux that he knew would probably kill him. In this regard, this not only makes Regulus the most selfless Death Eater, but probably the most heroic too, even despite the awful, twisted family he came from.

NEXT: Harry Potter: 8 Weird Facts About The Black Family