Months ago, Bloomsbury launched a worldwide search and vote to find out which Harry Potter character was the favourite amongst fans. The voting period has now ended, and the winner was chosen.

SEVERUS SNAPE

VOTED FAVOURITE CHARACTER FROM HARRY POTTER NOVELS

‘Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid’s, but they had none of Hagrid’s warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.’ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Severus Snape, Potions master, Head of Slytherin and Death Eater has taken the number one spot in the vote to find the world’s favourite character from the Harry Potter novel.

Snape snatched the top spot from Harry, J.K. Rowling’s personal favourite. When asked about her favourite character J.K. Rowling said: ‘Harry, although I believe I am unusual in this, Ron is generally more popular (I love him too, though) Now that I have finished writing the books, the character I would most like to meet for dinner is Dumbledore. We would have a lot to discuss, and I would love his advice; I think that everyone would like a Dumbledore in their lives.’

The vote was launched in May 2011 and received over 70,000 votes. Severus Snape gained 20% of those votes (just under 13,000) making him a clear winner. Severus Snape has appeared in all seven of the Harry Potter novels and came to be an integral part of Harry Potter’s life.

Hermione Granger took second place and Sirius Black third. Harry himself came in fourth and Lord Voldemort just made the top twenty at number 17. Dobby is the only non-human character to make the top ten and another Slytherin, Draco Malfoy, completes the top characters in tenth place. The top 40 is below:

1. Severus Snape
2. Hermione Granger
3. Sirius Black
4. Harry Potter
5. Ron Weasley
6. Luna Lovegood
7. Ginny Weasley
8. Albus Dumbledore
9. Dobby
10. Draco Malfoy
11. Remus Lupin
12. Neville Longbottom
13. Fred Weasley
14. Bellatrix Lestrange
15. Minerva McGonagall
16. Rubeus Hagrid
17. Lord Voldemort
18. Nymphadora Tonks
19. Gilderoy Lockhart
20. George Weasley
21. James Potter
22. Hedwig
23. Lily Potter
24. Lucius Malfoy
25. Molly Weasley
26. Cedric Diggory
27. Alastor Moody
28. Arthur Weasley
29. Kreacher
30. Dementors
31. Dolores Umbridge
32. Moaning Myrtle
33. Sybill Trelawney
34. Rita Skeeter
35. Filius Flitwick
36. Argus Filch
37. Dudley Dursley
38. Vincent Crabbe
39. Gregory Goyle
40. Cornelius Fudge

Voters could also suggest their own favourite characters outside of the 40 and of these Oliver Wood was the most popular. Fang, Hagrid’s dog, and the Fat Lady in the portrait at the entrance to Gryffindor gained the least votes with only one each!