A decade after the release of the final Academy Award.

JK Rowling’s Wizarding World has opened the minds of kids and adults across the globe, but her characters are a major factor in Harry Potter having stood the test of time, and we’re counting down the very best of them. Though the movies will come into play, we’re looking more specifically at the books, ranking on development, backstories, entertainment value, and general importance to the series and its audience.

Unfortunately, that means leaving off a whole bunch of our favorite characters. There’s no place for Bellatrix Lestrange, or indeed Molly Weasley, whose defeat of Bellatrix is one of the single greatest Harry Potter moments. Professor Umbridge, though despicably compelling, doesn’t hold up to some of the series’ regulars, while the Dursleys’ change of heart came just too late.

Here are the 16 Greatest Harry Potter Characters.

16. Hagrid

“No good sittin’ worryin’ abou’ it. What’s comin’ will come, an’ we’ll meet it when it does.”

There was no way we were ever going to leave Rubeus Hagrid out of a Harry Potter "best of" list. The BFHG (Big Friendly Half-Giant) is there for Harry from the very beginning, introducing him to magic, Diagon Alley, and the Wizarding World. Who can forget "Yer a wizard, Harry!"?

Even when things are rough for Hagrid, he never wavers in his for Harry, going so far as to openly throw a “ Harry Potter” party in the midst of Voldemort’s invasion of Hogwarts. Though he has the physical strength to back it up, Hagrid wears his heart on his sleeve perhaps more than any other character in the franchise, going against all the giant stereotypes in the book (though, ittedly, he tends to direct his many of his warm emotions toward  highly dangerous creatures).

15. The Weasley Twins

“Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother?”

Fred and George Weasley barely change at all through the series, but what they lack in development, they more than make up for in entertainment value. From the very first book to (most of the way through) the very last, the twins spend their Hogwarts years pulling stunts and pranks, occasionally taking some downtime to mercilessly rile Percy for taking his prefect duties far too seriously, or Ron, who is pretty much just an easy target.

Humor aside, their roles in introducing Harry to the Marauder’s Map are vital to his various investigations in the later books, and Fred’s death plays an important role in the finale of The Deathly Hallows. By killing off one half of the few comic relief characters (and one we had been invested in from book one), Rowling sets the stakes for the final few chapters at an all-time high.

14. Remus Lupin

“That suggests that what you fear most of all is – fear. Very wise, Harry.”

In The Prisoner of Azkaban, Lupin not only proves himself as the most competent Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to ever grace Hogwarts, he also offers an insight into Harry’s past. Through his friendship with James, Lupin forms a bond with Harry that would last the remainder of the series, providing a cool head under increasingly dark circumstances.

That Lupin is so calm and collected is essential in keeping the mystery of his frequent disappearances under wraps, and when it is finally revealed that he’s a werewolf, it adds a layer of depth to Lupin by brilliantly juxtaposing his usual demeanour.

Though he appears less frequently as the story develops, Lupin works behind the scenes for the Order of the Phoenix, fighting for Harry at the Ministry and otherwise using his position to spy on the underground werewolf community. By the time of his death in The Deathly Hallows, Lupin has learned to accept his status in the world, and allows himself to fall in love with and eventually marry Tonks.

13. Dobby (& Kreacher)

“Yes, Harry Potter! And if Dobby does it wrong, Dobby will throw himself off the topmost tower!”

It goes without saying that anyone left unaffected by Dobby’s sacrifice is dead inside. Dobby is a regular feature through the books, but even in the film series, where he had not appeared since The Chamber of Secrets, his death in The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is a tough moment to watch.

His death came after he had only just learned what it meant to be free. Dobby worked for the Malfoys when he first visited Harry, receiving death threats up to five times a day, but Dobby was the one house-elf with the courage to do what was right, even if it meant disobeying direct orders.

When it comes to courage and house-elves, Kreacher also deserves a mention here. Regulus Black’s loyal servant, Kreacher also finds the strength to stand up to his oppressors in The Deathly Hallows. After a few choice words from Harry and Hermione, Kreacher sets an example for house-elves by fighting evil in the name of his former master.

12. Voldemort

“There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it.”

With every good story comes an equally good villain, and you know you’ve got that box ticked when some of the most powerful sorcerers in existence refuse to even speak his name. Voldemort may come across as your one-note, generic bad guy, but it’s the fact that he is so unwavering in his pure evil that makes him so iconic. Even from childhood, we see Tom Riddle display no sense of remorse as he terrorizes various orphans and his own, disappointing (by his standards) family.

Moreover, Voldemort is legitimately terrifying. From his high-pitched hiss to his pet snake, Voldemort has us fearing to turn the page, but what scares us most in his raw power. Over their multiple encounters, Harry survives through courage and pure luck, and we simply don’t see a way that he could ever get the better of Voldemort in a straight duel.

11. Minerva McGonagall

“We teachers are rather good at magic, you know.”

You’re unlikely to find a stricter disciplinarian than Professor McGonagall, but where she differs from the likes of Snape and Umbridge is in the fact that she and Harry share an unspoken – and actually quite touching – mutual respect for one another. This is most evident in The Deathly Hallows, in which Harry only perfects the Cruciatus Curse after McGonagall is spat on, and McGonagall’s cry upon learning Harry is “dead” is the loudest of them all.

She comes into her own in the final book, taking the lead in the defense of Hogwarts and battling Voldemort at one point, but she has her moments even before that. In The Order of the Phoenix, McGonagall proceeds to repeatedly demolish Professor Umbridge with a series of one-liners, and she objects to leaving Harry at the Dursleys’ back in the opening pages of The Sorcerer’s Stone.

The bottom line is that she will take any step necessary to do what is right, even if it means actively encouraging Peeves to destroy the castle under Umbridge’s reign. Also she really hates Umbridge.

10. Ginny Weasley

“It’s for some stupid, noble reason, isn’t it?”

She doesn’t get anywhere near the attention she deserves in the movies, but book Ginny is a force to be reckoned with. After going through hell (almost literally) in The Chamber of Secrets, Ginny emerges not as the bumbling mess she had been early on in the story (specifically around Harry), but as a powerful witch, Harry’s magical and intellectual equal, and later a leader of the resistance.

Her relationship with Harry appears to come out of nowhere, but it’s actually set up at the very beginning. Ginny is infatuated with Harry from the first time they meet, and given her newfound confidence after book two and Harry’s utter cluelessness where girls are concerned, Ginny undergoes an incredible off-screen development that leads her to get what she wants.

But even then, the most impressive thing about Ginny is that she’s entirely independent and self-aware. She knows who she’s dating, and she encourages Harry wherever necessary to do what he needs to do, rather than settle down in the midst of a war.

9. Ron Weasley

“Don’t let it worry you. It’s me. I’m extremely famous.”

Ironically, what’s so special about Ron is that there’s nothing special about Ron. He’s an average-level student, your typical jealous teenager type, our voice of reason as ridiculous things unfold all around him. But just the fact that he’s just so normal is the reason he works so well as part of the trio.

Ron is the underdog – the last boy born to parents who wanted a girl. His family’s lack of money is a source of constant embarrassment, and almost everything he owns is second-hand. As a result, he feels unloved by his parents, intimidated by his brothers, and overshadowed by his best friend.

Essentially, Ron has no business being a hero. A chance meeting with Harry on the Hogwarts Express sees Ron propelled into a life he is thoroughly unprepared for, but through sheer determination and immense loyalty, he sets out to prove everyone wrong, and powers through to the very end.

8. Luna Lovegood

“Don’t worry. You’re just as sane as I am.”

Few characters are more compelling than Luna Lovegood, whose introduction in The Order of the Phoenix injects new life into the series. She immediately comes across as an oddball, out of touch with everything that’s going on around her, and almost a comic relief character. But we soon learn that she is a lot deeper than her obsession with Crumple-Horned Snorkacks would have us believe.

Luna is not only picked on relentlessly by her classmates; she witnessed her mother’s death as a young girl, and her only remaining parent is a social outcast. The fact that she is able to rise above it all and remain frustratingly naive is exactly the perspective Harry and the gang need in their fifth year at school.

After meeting Harry and ing Dumbledore’s Army, Luna’s sharp mind and magical power blossom through her eccentricities, and she goes on to play a pivotal role in the discovery of Ravenclaw’s lost diadem.

7. Sirius Black

“What’s life without a little risk?”

Sirius Black arrives on the scene as potentially the most dangerous threat Harry has faced in his school years so far. Sirius spends most of The Prisoner of Azkaban being talked about in hushed undertones, while the mystery of his escape from the wizard prison grows ever more fascinating that our interest is peaked right from the off.

That he turns out to be innocent, and Harry’s godfather to boot, provides the series with one of its biggest twists, and it says a lot about Sirius that he remains a fan favorite after only a book-and-a-half to develop a relationship with Harry.

Through The Goblet of Fire and especially the opening of Phoenix, Sirius is the father figure Harry desperately needs. In such a short space of time, he gets some of the best lines in the series through his bitter relationships with Snape, Kreacher and his mother’s portrait, and his untethered recklessness keeps the reader on their toes at all times.