The Battle of Hogwarts was the scene that brought the Harry Potter franchise to a close, both in the books and movie. It’s where the Boy Who Lived and his close friends and loyalists make their final stand against Lord Voldemort, eventually reigning supreme and bringing the villain’s time in charge of the magical community to an abrupt end.
Their victory comes at a cost, however, with the likes of Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Fred Weasley and Lavender Brown all dying on the battlefield. With that in mind, we now look at 10 characters who were lucky to emerge from the fight with their lives.
Harry Potter
This one is obvious. Harry was lucky to emerge from the fight with his life intact, not just because he was the one who Lord Voldemort wanted dead most of all, but because he survives the killing curse for the second time in his life - something no wizard has managed to do even once.
Harry prepares to sacrifice himself to save his friends and the ones he loved having learned via Severus Snape’s memories that he had been raised by Professor Albus Dumbledore like a pig for slaughter. He then discovers, though, that he’s able to continue the fight, meaning he’s able to survive the Avada Kedavra curse once more.
Narcissa Malfoy
Voldemort senses something is wrong when he hits Harry Potter with the killing curse for the second time having ended up on his back. Wary, he sends Narcissa Malfoy to check on the youngster to determine whether or not he’d finally been successful in his mission to eliminate the Hogwarts student.
Narcissa lies, however, choosing to ask Harry instead where son Draco Malfoy is. Had the Dark Lord found this out she would have been slain where she stood but, luckily for her, he discovers the truth too late to lash out at her.
Draco Malfoy
Narcissa Malfoy isn’t the only member of the Malfoy family fortunate to come out of the Battle of Hogwarts with their life, with son Draco Malfoy having Harry Potter to thank for escaping the Room Of Requirement when his close friend Vincent Crabbe sets it on fire.
Crabbe perishes when he attempts to burn Harry, Ron and Hermione alive, and Malfoy looks set for a similar fate. He’s saved, though, with Harry instructing his friends into rescuing them. Luckily for Draco, Harry stuck to his moral code despite the intensity of such a situation.
Gregory Goyle
Draco Malfoy isn’t the only person fighting alongside Vincent Crabbe in the Room of Requirement. Gregory Goyle is also there and, unlike the former, he’s able to get out of the flaming environment thanks to help from Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
The heroic trio fly high above the flames on broomsticks found within the Room, managing to grab the hands of their ex-school enemies. While Malfoy would go on to fight alongside Harry’s side years later during the events of The Cursed Child, it’s unknown what happened to Goyle after the battle.
Ginny Weasley
Ginny is the first of four Weasleys who make this list. Being Harry Potter’s girlfriend alone means she was fortunate not to have been targeted by Death Eaters and that also rings true when you consider that she was one of the underage fighters who took part in the battle.
In the books, she’s very nearly murdered by Bellatrix Lestrange with a killing curse shooting narrowly over her head. This is what prompts her mother Molly Weasley into engaging Bellatrix in combat and finding an outlet to release all the pain of losing son, Fred, during the fight.
Molly Weasley
Molly Weasley is somebody the Death Eaters loathe. Not only does she act as a surrogate mother towards Harry Potter, but she’s also at the head of the biggest ‘blood-traitor’ family (i.e. the Weasleys) around. Like Ginny, that means she should be grateful to still be alive but, in the books, there’s a detail that makes her extra fortunate.
When Molly kills Bellatrix, Lord Voldemort turns his wand on her and attempts to get revenge. Harry casts a Shield Charm, however, and it’s this which prompts him into lifting off his invisibility cloak and revealing that he’s actually alive, despite the Dark Lord’s best efforts.
Percy Weasley
It’s a detail that was sadly overlooked from The Deathly Hallows - Part 2, but Percy Weasley was actually fighting alongside brother Fred when the latter loses his life towards the midway point of the battle during the book.
Fred dies when there’s an almighty explosion, moments after cracking one of his standard jokes. Percy stood in close proximity but, unlike his sibling, is able to walk away with his life intact. Grief-stricken, the third-oldest Weasley then chases Death Eater Augustus Rookwood in order to release his anger and get revenge.
Ron Weasley
There’s two occasions where Ron Weasley could have died during the Battle Of Hogwarts. The first is when he and Hermione Granger travel to the Chamber of Secrets and are nearly defeated by Lord Voldemort’s Horcrux, and the second is when they find themselves about to be eaten whole by Nagini.
It’s the same for Hermione but you also get the sense that Ron, as the closest thing Harry has to a brother, would have been an extra-special coup for the Death Eaters. They love murdering and torturing Muggle-Borns but, in their eyes, Blood-Traitors are just as bad.
Hermione Granger
Hermione Granger, unlike Ron Weasley, actually comes extremely close to death on three occasions throughout the course of the second Deathly Hallows movie. The third of which is when Crabbe, in the Room of Requirement, fires a killing curse at her.
It narrowly misses her and it’s enough to send Ron into a fit of rage, with the youngest Weasley boy chasing after the Slytherin student. He’s soon seen running in the opposite direction, though, when Crabbe accidentally sets the room on fire and kills himself in the process.
Neville Longbottom
Neville Longbottom grows in stature throughout not just the course of the Harry Potter books but the movies as well. This is particularly evident in The Deathly Hallows - Part 2, where he risks it all to blow up a Hogwarts bridge in order to prevent Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort from getting inside the castle.
He nearly falls to his death but is able to cling on. In the books, this scene doesn’t happen but Harry does save his friend when Lord Voldemort attempts to avenge the beheading of Nagini by firing a killing curse in the youngster’s direction.