The Harry Potter series is full of shocking moments, from magical twists and turns to heartbreaking character deaths – but what is the most shocking moment of all?
It may have been over a decade since the Harry Potter series came to a satisfying end with Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, but fans around the world are still obsessed with the series and its most shocking moments.
For our latest post on The Blog That Must Not Be Named, we thought it would be fun to revisit some of the most shocking moments that the Harry Potter series has to offer, and rank them from worst to best!
While the ongoing Fantastic Beasts franchise have delivered plenty of twists and turns, we’ve made the decision to focus solely on the Harry Potter series for this particular ranking.
Here are the thirty most shocking moments that the Harry Potter series has to offer:
20- When Neville Stood-Up To Voldemort
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
Neville may have started out as a bumbling, forgetful young wizard, but this shocking moment in The Deathly Hallows proved that he truly belonged in Gryffindor!
19- When Voldemort Returned
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
For a moment it really looked like Harry would have another Voldemort-free year at Hogwarts, but destiny had other ideas. Watching Lord Voldemort rise to full power in The Goblet Of Fire was undoubtedly one of the series’ most shocking moments!
18- When Bathilda Bagshot Was Actually Nagini
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
When it comes to the most shocking moments in the Harry Potter books and movies, Nagini slithering out of Bathilda Bagshot’s corpse is without question one of the most memorable scenes.
17- When Dementor’s Attacked In Little Whinging
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
Unusual and terrifying things happen in the Wizarding World every day, but a Dementor attacking Harry and Dudley in Little Whinging was certainly one of the series’ most shocking moments!
16- When Molly Weasley Killed Bellatrix
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
The moment Molly Weasley took down Lord Voldemort’s right hand, Bellatrix Lestrange, wasn’t just one of the most badass moments in the entire series – it was one of the most shocking. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that expected Molly to lose the duel, but I guess a mothers protection wins every time.
15- When Harry Saw Dumbledore In Limbo
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
If Harry’s death in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows wasn’t a big enough shock, his post-death conversation with Albus Dumbledore, who also happened to be deceased was certainly enough to drop a few jaws.
14- When Neville Killed Nagini
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
Neville Longbottom started out as one of the Harry Potter series’ biggest underdogs, so we were thrilled to see the young wizard step-up and destroy the final Horcrux, Voldemort’s pet snake Nagini, in The Deathly Hallows.
13- When Narcissa Told Voldemort That Harry Was Dead
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
The Harry Potter series did a good job of showing that the Malfoy family was firmly on the dark side, so it was a massive shock to see Narcissa Malfoy lie to Lord Voldemort to protect Harry – putting herself in a great deal of danger.
12- When Voldemort Killed Harry
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
I think we can all agree that nobody actually expected Lord Voldemort to kill Harry Potter, so it was a massive shock to watch Harry sacrifice himself for the greater good.
While Harry may not have stayed dead, this moment still stands as one of the series’ most shocking moments!
11- When Mad-Eye Moody Was Actually Barty Crouch Jr
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
Discovering that Harry’s new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Mad-Eye Moody, was actually a Death Eater disguised as the famous Auror will always be one of the Harry Potter series’ most shocking twists.
10- When We Found Out That The Marauders Were Bullies
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
The Harry Potter series has no shortage of twists and turns, but one of the most shocking twist of them all was the reveal that James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were cruel bullies during their time at Hogwarts.
9- When Snape Revealed He Was The Half-Blood Prince
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
The identity of the Half-Blood Prince was one of the Harry Potter series’ best mysteriers, so it was a massive shock to learn that it was, in fact, Professor Snape
8- When Voldemort Was On The Back Of Quirrell’s Head
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE
It was a big enough surprise to learn that Professor Quirrell was the bag guy instead of Professor Snape, as Harry Ron and Hermione had expected – but it was an even bigger shock to see the face of Lord Voldemort on the back of Quirrell’s head.
7- When We Found Out That Tom Riddle Was Voldemort
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS
The discovery that Tom Riddle was actually a preserved version of Voldemort’s younger self was an outrageously smart twist, that still stands as one of the series’ most shocking moments.
6- When Tonks & Lupin Died
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
The Harry Potter series is full of heartbreaking character deaths, but the loss of Remus Lupin and Tonks stands as one of the most shocking – mostly because we didn’t want to believe that Teddy Lupin had been orphaned.
5- When We Saw Snape’s Memories
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
The discovery that Snape had been working as an undercover agent for Dumbledore the entire time, and that his bravery came from a love he had for Harry’s mother, was one of the most shocking reveals in the entire series.
4- When Snape Killed Dumbledore
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
Lord Voldemort’s death at the hands of his ally and friend, Severus Snape, will always be one of the Harry Potter series’ most shocking and heartbreaking moments.
3- When Fred Died
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
The death of Fred Weasley was one of the biggest shocks that the series had to offer, as we never expected J.K. Rowling to kill one half of the series’ comedic relief.
2- When Bellatrix Lestrange Killed Sirius Black
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
Just when you thought Harry might have a chance to escape the Dursley’s and live a happy life with Sirius, everything was torn away.
1 – When Cedric Diggory Died
MOVIE/BOOK: HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
The death of Cedric Diggory was a game-changer for the entire series, and let us know that no character was safe moving forward.
Is there a Harry Potter moment that shocked you more than any other? Let us know in the comments section below this post!
Did you hear? The Blog That Must Not Be Named: The Podcast has finally arrived! We just released the first episode of our BRAND-NEW podcast, in which Kieran (founder and editor of this blog) discussing his love of the Harry Potter series and reveals how he was introduced to the Wizarding World. You can listen to the episode by clicking play on the YouTube video below:
Cooll!!!!!
Well, Finding out Sirius Black was innocent was expected to come first by me