Harry Potter is perhaps the most famous book and movie franchise across the world. Fans fell in love with the wizarding world and its characters, from Harry himself to Dumbledore and Dobby to Hagrid.
But there are just some characters we all love to hate – and that’s just as true for author J.K. Rowling.
Back in Halloween 2014, she decided to give fans an insight into the lore around the character she despises the most in her iconic wizarding world.
Surprisingly, it is not the notorious Lord Voldemort, the dark wizard who is the central villain of the series’ seven books. Instead, it is the vile and power-hungry Dolores Umbridge, the Ministry of Magic bureaucrat who torments Harry Potter and his friends with cruel punishments and a false sense of justice.
Rowling’s aversion to Umbridge goes beyond mere fictional disdain, as the character was inspired by a real-life figure from her past.
This revelation comes from a 1,700-word essay released over a decade ago by Rowling on Pottermore, the online platform for fans of the Harry Potter universe – now simply harrypotter.com.
Introduced in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Umbridge begins as the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic and gradually ascends to more power, ultimately taking over as the Headmistress of Hogwarts.
While Voldemort embodies pure evil, Umbridge’s brand of tyranny is far more chilling due to the way it’s disguised behind a mask of order, authority, and an obsession with the law.
Rowling has often referred to Umbridge as one of her least favorite characters, and described her in the essay as “the character for whom I feel the purest dislike”.
Rowling writes: “Her desire to control, to punish, and to inflict pain, all in the name of law and order, are, I think, every bit as reprehensible as Lord Voldemort’s unvarnished espousal of evil.”
Later in the article, Rowling revealed the real person behind the despicable character, detailing that she was based on a real woman from her past.
Though Rowling did not name the individual, she explained that this person was a teacher whom she had encountered “long ago” in her own education.
“The woman in question returned my antipathy with interest. Why we took against each other so instantly, heartily and (on my side, at least) irrationally, I honestly cannot say”, she added.
Rowling also described the teacher’s appearance, specifically her “pronounced taste for twee accessories,” mentioning in particular a “tiny little plastic bow slide, pale lemon in color,” which she felt was “more appropriate to a girl of three”.
In the same Pottermore essay, Rowling also revealed some fascinating details about Umbridge’s backstory, like her phobia of non-humans and her secret “half-blood” status – meaning she would be the daughter of a wizard and a Muggle (a non-magical person) – despite her behavior in the books, where she regularly boasts about her “pure-blood” credentials and expresses disdain for Muggle-born wizards and witches.