Harry Potter: 10 Best Characters Who Aren’t Witches Or Wizards

You’d struggle to find many fantasy series with a better cast of characters than Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling’s ability to create a vast array of nuanced and distinctive personalities is the greatest aspect of her novels, and that's something that has also been brilliantly transferred to film.

Given Harry’s adventures predominately take place at Hogwarts, the overwhelming majority of Rowling’s characters are witches and wizards. Regardless of whether they’re heroes or villains, most of the people Harry encounters are capable of wielding a magic wand and performing a diverse range of spells.

But this isn’t the case with everyone – there are plenty of magical beings with remarkable abilities who aren’t witches or wizards. Some of these creatures – such as the house-elves – can perform their own unique magic, whilst others are useful in other ways.

Of course, there are also several human characters who aren’t magic at all. Once again, though, this doesn’t mean they are irrelevant to the story. Rowling had a knack for making every character play a significant role at some point.

Though none of the following individuals are amongst the very best characters in the franchise, they still deserve more recognition than they currently receive...

Argus Filch is the mad caretaker who prowls around Hogwarts looking for any excuse to punish students. And he’s rather difficult to avoid, given his knowledge of the secret passageways dotted around the castle.

Harry gets on the wrong side of Filch in his very first year when he’s caught snooping around in the dead of night. From there, their relationship only gets worse as the years go by.

As frightening as Filch can be at times, he’s also amusing. This is particularly noticeable in the film adaptation of The Goblet of Fire during his exploits with the canon. In the books, meanwhile, it’s always fun to watch Filch struggle against his arch-nemesis: Peeves the poltergeist.

Filch also happens to be a Squib. In other words, he was born into a magic family but doesn’t have any powers. In this sense, the Hogwarts caretaker is rather pitiful, but it’s hard to feel too sorry for him given how nasty he is.