Harry Potter: 10 Worst Things Dolores Umbridge Has Ever Done
3. Tortured Students During Detention
When Umbridge arrives at Hogwarts, she’s immediately irritating thanks to her pink dress sense, her high-pitched voice, and her annoying mannerisms. But it’s not until Harry’s first detention that we realise just how evil she is.
Upon entering Umbridge’s office, Harry is given a quill without ink. But when he begins to write, a red substance oozes from the nib, and at the same time, he feels a sharp pain coursing through his hand:
“Again and again, Harry wrote the words on the parchment in what he soon came to realise was not ink, but his own blood.”
It’s a sinister, barbaric practice, and – at least in the books – Harry has to go through this ordeal for hours at a time. And he isn’t the only one, either. Umbridge uses this punishment on all those who receive detention.
The initial pain is bad enough, but the words etched upon the skin don’t always heal. Indeed, Harry reveals that he still has the scars when Rufus Scrimgeour pays a visit to the Burrow more than a year after his detentions with Umbridge.