Even if you aren’t a Harry Potter fan, the franchise is such a pop culture phenomenon that it’s impossible to have avoided the key details. For instance, Voldemort is the nigh-immortal, Horcrux-creating villain of the piece. Series veterans, however, know that there’s one particular character who may be even more hateful than He Who Must Not Be Named himself.
We were given a little insight into Voldemort’s troubled past, particularly in the books, enabling us to better understand and—maybe even just slightly—feel a bit sorry for him. The dastardly Dolores Umbridge, meanwhile, was just awful, horrible, and rotten to the core, and no excessive amount of sugars in her tea could make her any sweeter. She only got worse as her time in the series went on, as we’re about to see.
She Made Herself Seem So Sweet And Innocent At First
We first meet Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Freshly appointed to the yet-again-vacant Defense Against the Dark Arts post after the not-so-great choices Dumbledore had previously made, she eagerly steps up to make her own speech at the start-of-term feast while Dumbledore is talking. Right from her very first words as professor, she’s keen to try and ingratiate herself with everybody.
“How lovely to see all your bright, happy faces smiling up at me… I’m sure we’re all going to be very good friends,” she simpers in the cutest, pinkest outfit since pinkness itself. All the decorative kitten plates in the world couldn’t hide the true darkness within her, though, which becomes plainer and plainer as time goes on.
Her Attitude Towards Her Own Lessons
Right from Harry and friends’ first class with Umbridge, it’s immediately apparent that they’re not going to learn anything of use from her. With the knowledge that Voldemort is active again and beginning to build up his forces once more, it’s more important than ever during The Order of the Phoenix that the students are prepared.
Sadly, Umbridge echoes the Minister of Magic’s denials that the villain has returned, seeing no need to teach the students any defensive magic or allow them to do anything at all in classes being reading their textbook. Classes continue in this vein as the school year goes on, to the extent that Harry, Ron, and Hermione eventually feel compelled to form Dumbledore’s Army and have Harry teach students himself.
She Even Starts To Bully The Other Teachers
Despite her false adorable demeanour, fans soon learned the grim truth about Umbridge’s spiteful nature. To make matters worse, as Harry’s fifth year at Hogwarts went on, we saw that Umbridge wouldn’t stop at being cruel to her students.
As deputy headmistress, Professor Minerva McGonagall was among the most senior staff members at Hogwarts. Regardless, when she tried to chastise Umbridge about her "disciplinary practices"—more on that later—the villain refused to be cowed. Instead, she reported to Cornelius Fudge to demand more power.
Her Treatment Of The Students Becomes Worse And Worse
While Umbridge was simply silencing Harry’s protestations that Voldemort had returned, we could at least chalk it down to her fear of the truth, which was also the reason for Cornelious Fudge badmouthing Harry and Dumbledore that year.
However, there’s no possible justification for the steadily rising sadism she exhibited. The infamous bloody quill detention was one of the most horrifying moments in the series, and Harry was far from the only victim of this treatment.
She Issued More And More Educational Decrees
When she was just the Minister for Magic’s favorite teacher, Umbridge was cruel and conniving. When he appointed her High Inquisitor, however, she began a whole new campaign of control through fear.
This role gave her the power to deliver a variety of Educational Decrees—which were already being administered at this point, though she could create them herself thereafter—covering subjects from student organizations to Weasley products. She also expanded her influence through the Inquisitorial Squad, a band of students and student-hater Argus Filch who tattled on the other students and worked to keep Umbridge’s regime running smoothly.
She Became Headmistress And Abused Her Power Further
It would be fair to say that dear old Dumbledore could be more than a little lax when it came to rules and regulations. As Fleur Delacour once said, a mischievous poltergeist would have been removed from Beauxbatons immediately, but Dumbledore allowed Peeves to torment the castle’s residents (in the books) for his whole tenure.
When the wise old wizard was forced to leave the school, Umbridge took his place, giving her more power than ever. Did she wield this power in a positive way? No, no she didn’t. All this gave her was even more influence than she’d had as High Inquisitor, and her brief time as head of the school was a nightmare for any who hadn’t toadied up to her.
More And More Of Her Prejudices Are Revealed
At this time in the history of the magical world, it was more important than ever that everybody bandied together to defeat the threat some knew was coming. Voldemort’s return was imminent.
While supposedly working for the forces of good, however, Umbridge revealed herself to be a blinkered, judgmental woman. She was immediately dismissive of Hagrid, believing him to be a dim-witted oaf purely as a result of his half-giant nature. All of this Pure Blood nonsense was central to her worldview, as we would see during her later career at the Ministry, but more on that later, too.
The Incident With The Centaurs
As Hagrid explains to the Golden Trio, tensions among the centaurs are at an all-time high during the events of Order of the Phoenix. The Ministry of Magic has restricted and restricted their territory, pushing highly intelligent and perceptive creatures to the limits of their patience. With the prophetic abilities they’re said to have, they’re bound to be at breaking point already, seeing as they could the conflict that was to come.
When Umbridge encounters a group of them in the Forbidden Forest, then, does she play it safe? Try to mediate? No, her petty hatreds come to the fore again, and she deems them “filthy half-breeds.” In response, the proud creatures… well, we all know what happens next, and nobody deserved it more.
She Wields Yet More Power At The Ministry Of Magic After Leaving Hogwarts
Near the close of the fifth movie/novel, Umbridge’s fall from grace at Hogwarts is the moment fans had all been waiting for. She never teaches at the school again, and almost everybody there surely breathed a sigh of relief.
This wasn’t the last we’d see of the awful woman, though. She crops up again in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, now a senior Ministry of Magic member wielding Slytherin’s locket. To reclaim the Horcrux, Harry, Ron, and Hermione must infiltrate her awful Muggle Born Registration Commission. She’s in her awful element here, picking on muggle-borns she considers to be beneath her and subjecting them to the most appalling treatment. This is not the Ministry of Magic as it should be, and Umbridge is the personification of Voldemort’s presence in its ranks.
She Was Imprisoned In Azkaban For The Rest Of Her Life
Fudge sees Voldemort in the horrifying snake-y flesh at the end of Order of the Phoenix, and Dumbledore and Harry are exonerated. For her part, Umbridge is removed from her post and subjected to an investigation.
Sadly, this didn’t seem to amount to much. As we’ve seen, she went right ahead into a high-ranking position at the Ministry, but we didn’t see hide nor hair of her in the final battle or the runup to it. As for the aftermath, J.K. Rowling has since revealed that Umbridge was tried and sentenced to life in Azkaban for her crimes against muggle-born witches and wizards. A charming end for a charming woman.