The Saddest Death In The Harry Potter Series
There have been a lot of "Harry Potter" characters to come and go over the years, with many suffering sad and twisted fates that hit movie fans square in their Muggle-born hearts. There was Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson), Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), and of course, Dobby (Toby Jones), just to name a few — all biting the dust in various ways that viewers will likely never forget. But which on-screen death was truly the saddest?
Looking back, it's easy to toss out a few fan favorites and go for the low-hanging "Potter" fruit, such as Sirius' tragic demise in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" or Dobby's death at the end of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1," both at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange. But we're going to let fans make that decision.
Over on Fanpop, more than 200 people took part in a poll to determine which "Harry Potter" death was, in fact, the saddest. What the survey found also aligns with what fans on social media have been saying for quite some time now.
Fred Weasley's death was the saddest
According to 35% of the Fanpop readers polled, Fred Weasley's death in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" during the Battle of Hogwarts was the saddest one of the entire franchise — and Reddit users have been saying the same thing for years now.
"I've made the case for Fred before because it was so... sudden, and highlighted the chaos of the battle where even when you think you've got a safe spot to catch your breath you really don't," explained u/xfuzzzygames in a 2017 discussion on which "Potter" death was the saddest.
"I still can't think about it without feeling sad," wrote u/jmacdaddywack. "I wish it was actually acknowledged in the movie. It felt like a sideshow that didn't really call our full attention." Redditor u/Slytherin4Lyfe argued, "Fred is the only death that i actually got sad over. I didn't grow up reading the books so maybe that effected [sic] it but all the other deaths were just like 'damn, ok'. With Fred it's pretty heartbreaking when you think about George and the Weasley family in general."
As for author J.K. Rowling's opinion on the Fred slaying, she tweeted on the 17th anniversary of his death, "I would just like to say: I'm really sorry about Fred. *Bows head in acceptance of your reasonable ire*," following up with "Fred was the worst for me" (via Twitter).