7 Reasons Why Voldemort is Better Than Umbridge

*4-Minute Read*

Lord Voldemort (originally Tom Marvolo Riddle) is supposed to be the main antagonist of the Harry Potter series. He was known as the most dangerous wizard ever. He was the one who tried to kill Harry multiple times. He was the one who killed many people before Lily Potter's love prevented him from killing Harry on his first attempt. But not even Voldemort irritated me as much as Dolores Umbridge. Imelda Staunton did such a fabulous job portraying her on screen that it was hard for me to watch. But what did Umbridge do to grate on every nerve of mine? And why was Voldemort such an improvement over her? Let's see...

1) Voldemort owned up to his wickedness. 

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His followers were called the "Death Eaters" and referred to their leader as the "Dark Lord." I think that's enough justification there. But Umbridge acted like she was just an innocent undersecretary in the Ministry of Magic (which was highly corrupt) and a defense against the dark arts teacher at Hogwarts (which she was trying to corrupt). Anything she did was, apparently, for everyone's own good. She even had the gall to interrupt Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts' opening feast (as seen above). No, Umbridge. You're only the Slytherins' friend, if that.  

2) Voldemort's parents abandoned him. 

(Photo Credit: Harry Potter Wiki)

I mention this, because they both resented their parents for very different reasons. Tom Riddle grew up in a muggle orphanage, where he was never really shown any love. His father had abandoned his mother while she was pregnant with Tom. His mother died an hour after giving birth to Tom, as she was either unwilling or unable to use her magic to save her own life. You feel kinda sorry for him here, right? Well, now let me tell you that Dolores Umbridge basically ousted her own mother out of her life. Umbridge and her magical father tormented her muggle mother and squib brother to the point where the two left them, never to be heard from again. Okay, well, at she liked her father. Wrong! She resented him for being a low-level ministry employee to the point where she bribed him into an early retirement. Umbridge would then claim that she was not related to him and that her mother was a witch. 

3) Voldemort was one of the best students in Hogwarts history.

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Both Voldemort and Umbridge were Slytherins, but their sameness ended there. Umbridge was an average student who was never given any position of power, which she felt she deserved. Tom Riddle, however, was a prefect and then head boy. He was one of the greatest students the school has ever seen. Armando Dippett, the then-headmaster, basically guaranteed him the post of defense against the dark arts professor in a few years. While this didn't come to fruition, I'm sure he would've been a better professor than Umbridge was. After all, Death Eater, Barty Crouch (disguised as Mad-Eye Moody), was a more competent teacher than her. 

4) Voldemort was loved by many. 

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I mentioned earlier that he had a group of followers called "Death Eaters." Now, you could argue that they didn't truly love him. That would be fair, but there was one who obviously did. Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort conceived a daughter, Delphini, together sometime in between losing the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries and dying in the Battle of Hogwarts. Dolores Umbridge may not have wanted children, but she did desire to have a powerful husband (whether she loved him or not). But it seemed that no one could even tolerate her. 

5) Voldemort was pro-werewolf.

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In 1993, Umbridge passed the anti-werewolf legislation. This law banned werewolves from working a full-time job, so people like Remus Lupin became destitute. Voldemort, on the other hand, allowed werewolves to be a part of his army. Therefore, Dolores Umbridge made it to where werewolves had to become evil people to live a decent life. 

6) Voldemort scarred Harry accidentally. 

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Okay, yes, Voldemort was trying to kill Harry when he gave him that lightning bolt scar on his forehead. And Umbridge wasn't trying to kill him, but she did give him a quill in which the ink was his own blood. She wanted Harry Potter to have an "I must not tell lies" scar on his hand to forever remind him of that message. And Harry had only been telling the truth! 

7) Voldemort was a leader in the First and Second Wizarding Wars. 

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Umbridge didn't fight in either. It was probably because she didn't know whether to become a fake member of the Order of the Phoenix or a loyal Death Eater. Despite this, she still ended up in Azkaban Prison for the rest of her life for the crimes she committed against muggle-borns. And Voldemort is dead, forever flailing around in limbo. Goodness does prevail, everyone. 

I saw a meme on Pinterest that stated that if Coronavirus was a person, it would be Dolores Umbridge. And that is absolutely correct. In comparison, Voldemort is more like the common cold. 

- Liv