Dolores Umbridge: Biography, Cruelty and Secrets

Dolores Umbridge smiles, speaks in a sweet voice and wears a pink bow. And for many readers she is the most hated character in the series, more than Voldemort. Her cruelty comes with signatures, stamps and regulations, and that makes it harder to fight than an army.

Who she is

She works at the Ministry of Magic, first as Senior Undersecretary to Minister Fudge and then as High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. She arrives at the school in Order of the Phoenix as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, sent by Fudge to keep an eye on Dumbledore. She first appears at Harry's hearing at the Ministry, seated beside Fudge (Order of the Phoenix, ch. 8). Her office is full of plates with kittens, and her voice almost always starts with a "hem, hem." Rowling places her in Slytherin; the books do not say.

Key moments

• Order of the Phoenix, ch. 12: in her first class she bans wand use and orders everyone to read the textbook. Harry contradicts her and gets detention.
• Order of the Phoenix, ch. 13: she makes him write with a quill that carves the words "I must not tell lies" into the back of his hand.
• Order of the Phoenix, ch. 17: she passes educational decrees that ban student groups and meetings.
• Order of the Phoenix, ch. 32: she tries to cast the Cruciatus Curse on Harry to get information out of him.
• Deathly Hallows, chs. 12 and 13: she presides over the Muggle-born hearings under Voldemort's government.

Relationships

With Fudge, an interested loyalty. With Dumbledore, contempt and envy. With Harry, constant war. With McGonagall, open enmity. With the centaurs, a contempt that costs her dearly. With Voldemort, an obedience she never questions.

What almost nobody notices

In Order of the Phoenix (ch. 33), the centaurs of the Forbidden Forest carry her off after she insults them by calling them half-breeds. A woman who hid behind decrees ends up at the mercy of creatures no Ministry rule protects.

And in Deathly Hallows (ch. 13), Umbridge wears Slytherin's locket, the Horcrux, at the hearing and claims it is a Selwyn family heirloom. It hangs from her neck while she decides who is "worthy" of remaining a wizard.

To understand why she bothers readers so much, read Why You Hate Umbridge More Than Voldemort. And find your house in the house quiz.