Sorry but another Potter thread - What character(s) do you find the most 3 dimensional?

[TheBeatGoesOnandOn]

As in, are the most relatable/realistic?

I always liked Fred and George because they are indeed like lots of young boys/men. I felt like they could be put into the real world (magic withstanding) and pass.

What character(s) do you find the most realistic?

I also feel Mr Weasley is realistic too. A man who tries his best but never seems to cut a break, but still stays in good humour.

Lupin. Always been the best character.

I actually think a lot of the characters are relatable and three dimensional. I think it's one of the reasons I loved the books so much. Yes, you have characters like Vernon and Marge or Crabbe and Goyle who are very much caricature "stupid, nasty people", and Voldemort, who is just evil incarnate, but so many of the other characters on both "sides" are multi-faceted flawed human beings.

Neville: lives his childhood in his parents' shadow. Always compared to them, unfavourably, always seen as a bit useless, and then turns into a hero, when he's finally allowed to be himself.

Petunia: she is horrible to her orphaned nephew, which is cruel and unforgiveable, but you eventually find out much of it stemmed from shame, jealousy, fear and resentment at a world that had robbed her of her sister. There was also, deep down, an element of wanting to protect Harry: she knew the magical world was dangerous and perhaps thought that by denying his powers she could protect him from the fate that had befallen Lily.

Or the Black sisters; I could write an essay on them!

Excellent posts I do agree the characters aren't all stereotypical foodies who could do no wrong which is what I like.

I liked the small touches too like Voldemort apologising to Snape which makes himmlre human therefore, more scary.

Lupin getting angry at Harry even though he's usually so mild mannered.

Even Kreacher who at the end of the day, just wanted to be useful.

I agree, Lupin for me. My heart aches every time I think about all those years he spent alone after James, Lily and Peter died and Sirius went to Azkaban. And what an emotional ask it was from Dumbledore to ask him to come back to Hogwarts, probably the only place where he had ever been happy and riddled with memories of his schoolboy friends, and to teach a boy who didn't know who he was when, in another life, he might have called him 'Uncle Moony'. Then, after everything came to light and Sirius was vindicated, he lost one of his best friends all over again. So cruel.

I felt a bit sad about Hermione and her parents. Their bewilderment at the start of the stories, thenH comes back early from the Chritmas skiing holiday. The bit in the DH's when she makes them forget her is heartbreaking.

Snape, especially the way Rickman portrayed him. All grey areas. Mind working furiously behind those black eyes. Constantly assessing and evaluating. Spiderlike in his ability to sit it out and wait and then spring into action with quite explosive energy without losing focus for a second.

Always.

Molly and Arthur

Lupin

Least believable for me was Voldemort, but baddies often are.

I think least believable for me is Bellatrix she's just so bad with no backstory it's like you have no empathy at all.

At least with Voldemort you feel sad for him.

Luna. She's derided (even by Hermione? Certainly in the films) for being weird and different, and has maybe opted for the fantastical in order to avoid the harsh realities of being bereaved and bullied. Her gentleness and kindness towards Harry are touching.

Ted Tonks and Andromeda Black-Tonks. They are wonderful, rich characters in the books. The loss of Ted and Nymphadora is terrible, and the thought of Andromeda bringing Teddy up by herself is so sad - it reminds me of Neville and his grandmother (because let's face it Harry and Ginny are just too young to take the parental role for Teddy for many years.)

I think most characters are pretty 3 dimensional and even those who aren't we say that way as we only see them from Harry's point of view.

*TheBeatGoesOnAndOn That's interesting, as I always felt that Bellatrix was one of the most complex characters in the books. We never got a back story explicitly, but I always felt it was there, between the lines. (Film Bellatrix was completely one dimensional, but with book Bellatrix I saw a lot of layers.)

AnnDerry Completely agree about Andromeda, I genuinely worried about her after finishing Deathly Hallows. (And I like to think she was easier on Teddy than Augusta was on Neville!)

I think the mothers are brilliantly written, Molly and Narcissa in particular.

Sirius is beautifully flawed and it would make no sense if he wasn't. He thinks as the young man he was when he went to Azkaban and his treatment of Kreacher shows his short-sightedness. All helps to big up the Harry-has-love-the-greatest-magic-of-all thing, of course.

Severus Snape. Always.

I would love to hear Bellatrix's backstory! Do you think issues bid sibling rivalry/jealousy with Narcissa? Was there a love loss that broke her?

Draco, was massively jealous of Harry and Ron and their genuine friendship.

His character comes a little more to the forefront in Cursed Child, which is interesting.

@Mhw02 Now you say that the chapter she is with Narcissa visiting Snape did show she's at least fond of Narcissa.

I think it's quite clear she fell in love with Tom Riddle.

I think her husband was imprisoned in Azkaban but wasn't a first wave escapee like she was.

He wasn't killed as he raised Delphi as Voldemort's sire didn't he?

I found Albus very flat but did like Scorpios. I did feel Harry was even more immature in CC than he was in OOtF.

Snape
Always
Just brilliant

Bellatrix husband Rudolph escaped with her if I remember correctly but then was recaptured and sent back to Azkaban after the battle he later escaped from
There to find Delphini and inform her of the prophecy. Delphini was raised by some one else if I remember correctly

A lot of characters in cc lack the depth of the books I felt while the show is amazing to watch I felt a few characters Ron in particular where nothing more than a caricature in the play.

shakeyourcaboose I always felt that the strong physical resemblance between Bellatrix and Andromeda was intentional on Rowling's part - that they were probably very similar and very close in their youth, but due to circumstances took very different paths in life. I always felt that either girl could have gone either way.

I saw Bellatrix as a perfect storm, all the elements came together to create the woman she became, but it wouldn't have taken much to send her in a different direction.

I saw Bellatrix as someone who was very loyal and obsessive and desperate to please, and greatly felt the weight of family expectation. She was the eldest, she was expected to be the perfect Black daughter, the perfect pureblood witch. But she was also extraordinary; incredibly clever, incredibly talented (She was able to fight off Dumbledore in Order of the Phoenix), and she was afraid. Afraid that she couldn't live the life she was expected to. This brilliant mind was expected to marry and submit to her husband, produce a pureblood heir. Do basically nothing else. Waste all that potential.

She loved her sisters. And she was someone who loved very deeply. She was devoted to them (see Half Blood Prince.
The one person Bellatrix was willing to betray Voldemort for was Narcissa; she taught Draco occlumency to protect him from her master). When Andromeda left, Bellatrix saw it as a betrayal. Her sister had abandoned her family. That's why she was so angry. That's what she couldn't forgive. And partly, because Andromeda had had the strength to do what Bellatrix had not - she had chosen love over duty and loyalty.

Because Bellatrix had entered into an arranged marriage, a loveless one to a man she despised, a man who she did not see as her equal, and she felt bored and stifled and resentful. And then Voldemort came along and offered her everything- a chance to please her family, but still explore magic and set light to her talents. And she fell for him, and wanted to prove to him she was worthy because she still had this inbuilt need to please.

She was proud and arrogant and had a passionate obsession for giving her all, because then maybe Voldemort would show her the love she craved, but she couldn't see that Voldemort could see all this and used it to his advantage. And she sank darker and darker.

I also believe there may have been the loss of a child somewhere. It made no sense to me that she wouldn't want to do her duty and produce a pureblood heir. And then in Half Blood Prince she mentioned not having sons, which made me suspect she had miscarried or lost a daughter in infancy.

I don't believe she intended to send Frank and Alice mad. Because in doing so she failed...She didn't get the information she needed. She just lost control.

I don't believe the Bellatrix of the first war was the same person as the Bellatrix of the second war. Azkaban damaged her; Azkaban sent her mad. But even in the second war there were vestiges of the witch she had been; she was talented and astute, but she feared Voldemort as much as she loved him and the fear drove her to more and more out of control behaviour.

I genuinely think had Bellatrix met a Ted, she could have made different choices. I never felt she was predestined for evil in the way Voldemort was.

Apologies for the essay.

Oh, and I choose to ignore the existence of Delphi and Cursed Child's plot generally!

Excellent analysis I completely agree with you.

I think ultimately she wanted to prove herself. That's at the core of her personality.

@mhw02- that was fantastic, thank you!

Anybody play fantasy casting for Ted and Andromeda?

My choices:
Kristin Scott Thomas for Andromeda - she'd do aloof and privileged but compassionate brilliantly, someone who had to learn to value people based on their character, not their birth.
Philip Glenister for Ted - physically solid, he can do decent very well (his Dobbin was brilliant) and down to earth, but you'd definitely believe he had pulled one of the most eligible witches in school.

I may have thought about this rather too much.

AnnDerry Philip Glenister would be perfect for Ted! Perhaps Caitriona Balfe for Andromeda? (I actually thought she would have been a great Bellatrix, but Andromeda would work too.)

And while we're playing fantasy casting...Cate Blanchett for Narcissa, Richard Armitage for Sirius, Tom Hiddleston for Lupin, Carey Milligan for Tonks (or maybe Saoirse Ronan.)