Harry Potter fans were excited to see actor Daniel Radcliffe again surrounded by Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in the reunion special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts. Radcliffe has acted in several movies of various genres since completing his star role as the Boy Who Lived, including Escape from Pretoria, Swiss Army Man, and Jungle. Through these roles, Radcliffe has proven that he is an actor capable of great versatility, but many of his biggest fans will always love him most for his portrayal of Harry Potter.
Harry represented forces of good in the wizarding world and showed readers the power of love and the importance of a kind heart. However, he was far from a perfect character. Fans have noticed a few of his faults repeated throughout the series, and over the years, they have shared several memes and tweets roasting the wizarding hero. They have also taken to Ranker to vote on these criticisms.
Note: Ranker lists are live and continue to accrue votes, so some rankings may have changed after this publishing.
Harry Was Too Trusting Of Strangers
Despite frequently coming under attack from people he thought he could trust, Harry had a surprising level of trust for strangers. Time and again, Harry put his faith in the wrong people. The most notable was Mad-Eye Moody, who ended up actually being a Death Eater in disguise.
Of course, Harry's trust did not always serve him poorly. When he first met Mrs. Weasley, she told him to run straight into a solid brick wall, promising that it would take him onto the mysterious Platform 9¾. Thankfully, Mrs. Weasley wasn't steering him wrong, but it still seemed ridiculous to many that Harry would trust that openly.
Harry Couldn't Have Done It Without Hermione
Harry may have been the Chosen One, but he wouldn't have been successful without the help of others. Of course, this makes sense in a story mainly about love and friendship, but one of Harry's friends carried much more responsibility for the Boy Who Lived than was likely fair.
Harry not only depended on Hermione to get him through his schooling, but she also served as his voice of reason regarding his relationships and his mission to defeat Voldemort. In the end, Harry may have gotten the credit, but fans agreed that Hermione wasn't really a best friend in Harry Potter, but more of a parental figure — and the only reason that Harry succeeded.
Harry Never Learned To Listen
No matter how often the people around Harry warned him to be careful or to think things through before he acted, he continued to ignore them and rush ahead rashly. These decisions, such as refusing to close his mind to Voldemort in Order of the Phoenix, had varying results, but they were often catastrophic.
Ron was typically the only one encouraging Harry forward in his decisions, which served as enough justification for Harry to ignore Hermione, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Lupin, Serius, and Dumbledore. Of course, if Harry had always followed directions, there would be no story, but it is certainly a problematic trait.
Harry Is A Terrible Third Wheel
When Ron and Hermione started to show interest in each other, Harry struggled with how to handle it. He was unsure how their tumultuous relationship would affect their collective friendship, and he ultimately decided to be completely hands-off regarding his friends' romance.
By Deathly Hallows, Harry had become an all-out third wheel. He may have been the biggest hero of the wizarding world, but he was still a teenage boy whose best friends had coupled up. This might not have been so bad if he had handled it better, but his hands-off approach meant that he just sat by cluelessly through some of the worst fights within the Golden Trio.
Harry Is Just Bad At Naming Kids
The scene in which Harry and Ginny send their children off to Hogwarts was touching, but several fans found it difficult to enjoy the series' final moments when they saw what Harry had decided to name his children.
James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna seemed to fans like names that a die-hard Harry Potter fan would give their kids, not the titular character himself. The names were not only a little much, but it seemed outrageous to many that Harry would name his child after Severus Snape, who had treated him terribly for many years. It would have been acceptable for Harry to forgive Snape, but naming his son after him seemed unrealistic.
Harry Always Jumps To Conclusions
Year after year, Harry would jump to a conclusion and stick to it despite others telling him he was wrong. This started in Philosopher's Stone when Harry was sure that Snape was the one trying to get past Fluffy and continued through every subsequent installment of the series.
In Chamber of Secrets, Harry was sure that Malfoy was the heir of Slytherin. In Prisoner of Azkaban, he thought Sirius was trying to kill him. In Goblet of Fire, Karkaroff had obviously entered his name for the tournament, and in Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort was torturing Sirius. Despite being wrong so many times, Harry was still adamant in Half-Blood Prince that Dumbledore was oblivious to Snape and Malfoy's schemes.
Harry Wasted His Talent Becoming An Auror
J.K. Rowling has revealed that Harry Potter's chosen wizarding world career was to work as an Auror. This is shown in The Cursed Child and other works within the wizarding world like Quidditch Through the Ages. While this had been Harry's career goal throughout the series, fans couldn't help but feel it was a terrible choice.
Aurors are employed by the wizarding government, which Harry had grown to despise over the years. By going on to work for the organization that had mistreated him for so long, Harry proved that he was all too good at making poor decisions. Fans felt it would have made more sense for him to become the DADA teacher at Hogwarts since he loved the school and had already proven a talent for teaching.
Harry Always Underestimated Hermione
In Philosopher's Stone, Hermione uses the full body bind curse on Neville to prevent him from getting in the way of their mission to save the Stone. This shocked Harry and Ron, who had seen Hermione as a stickler for the rules. However, even after this, the two continued to be surprised whenever Hermione demonstrated how brutal she could be.
In Deathly Hallows Part 1, Harry's shocked expression when Hermione effectively attacked a Death Eater was the same as it had been years previous when she cursed Neville. Even after all those years, Harry still hadn't figured out not to underestimate his friend, proving again that he just didn't learn.
Harry Was Completely Lost When It Came To Women
In Order of the Phoenix, Harry finally had a shot with Cho Chang, whom he had admired for over a year. However, Cho went through a lot emotionally that year, as her previous boyfriend had only recently died. Despite Harry's experiences with death and grief, he found himself clueless as to how to support her.
Not only did Cho's frequent tears perplex him, but he repeatedly demonstrated that he had no idea how to have a girlfriend. He obliviously invited his female friend to join them on a date and was perplexed when Cho was upset by it. Despite being a hero, Harry Potter had no game.