Harry Potter: 10 Best Characters Introduced After The Philosopher's Stone

Bellatrix Lestrange is a great many things, but scary is probably the optimum word. Her wild, erratic and dangerous behaviour wasn't just for show, as she ended up taking the lives of many brave wizards and became one of the most frightening characters in the show. So, the fact that she only popped along in Order of the Phoenix is pretty impressive.

Lestrange was - for some time- the only named female Death Eater in the books, so bringing her into the movies needed to go well. Thankfully, it did, as her fanatical devotion to Lord Voldemort and sadistic nature painted the picture of a terrifying enemy who viewers were scared to even see in the same room as our heroes.

Part of what made her such a great character was that she felt like pure chaos in human form. While Voldemort symbolised evil itself, Lestrange felt more like an unpredictable psychopath who happened to fall in love with his evil ideologies, turning her into a complete monster.

She caused lots of trouble, including the maiming of Hermione and the death of Sirius, but got her comeuppance in the end.