10 Most Evil Harry Potter Characters

Rita Skeeter represents the darker side of journalism, and from her perspective, there is nothing wrong with compromising the truth if it leads to greater publicity.

Despite a creditable performance by Miranda Richardson, it’s Rowling’s original depiction of Skeeter that gets under the skin. First introduced in The Goblet of Fire, this ruthless journalist does her upmost to publicly shame a number of characters. She depicts Harry as a mad delinquent, Hagrid as a dangerous animal, and her portrayal of Hermione as a promiscuous teenager leads to her being sent poisonous puss in the post.

Rita then publishes a biography of Dumbledore following his death in the penultimate novel. Far from acknowledging his great achievements, she instead chooses to slander both him and his family.

In fact, the only piece of honest journalism she ever did was an interview with Harry for The Quibbler, something that she was forced to do after Hermione threatened to reveal that she was an unregistered Animagus.