Is Harry Potter the strongest wizard in the Wizarding World?

The Harry Potter movies boast a number of extremely talented witches and wizards, with the titular Harry Potter among them. Harry was not the most powerful character in the series, with many older wizards outranking him. To learn how these characters might be more powerful than Harry, we first need to look at how powerful he really was. 

Harry Potter proved he was a strong wizard multiple times throughout the series. Firstly, he defeated Voldemort, which obviously required some power. But Harry defeating Voldemort came down to luck and other people helping him for the most part. Albus Dumbledore, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, and even Harry’s own mother were vital parts of the plan to defeat “The Dark Lord.” Harry took down the basilisk in his second year and managed to learn the Patronus charm quite quickly in his third year. He also won the Triwizard Tournament in his fourth year — even though he was too young to enter. 

Harry convinced fellow students of Hogwarts to join Dumbledore’s Army in his fifth year, where he taught them Defense Against the Dark Arts. He then led the charge in The Battle of the Department of Mysteries. After the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry became an Auror. He was extremely good at it, becoming Head Auror and revolutionizing the system. Almost every one of Harry’s accolades proves how powerful a wizard he was, but for most of these, he was helped along the way. So let’s take a look at ten wizards and witches that might be more powerful than “The Boy Who Lived.” 

Albus Dumbledore 

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore might not only have been stronger and smarter than Harry Potter, but he may have been the best wizard ever to live in the Harry Potter universe. Dumbledore’s reputation as one of the greatest wizards began after he defeated the dark wizard, Gellert Grindelwald, which we are yet to see but will presumably witness in one of the upcoming Fantastic Beasts films. Dumbledore also made the wizarding history books by aiding Nicolas Flamel with his alchemy and by discovering the twelve uses of Dragon’s Blood.

In addition, Albus Dumbledore was the only person the Dark Wizard, Voldemort, ever feared. Dumbledore used his influence to create the Order of the Phoenix to fight against Voldemort’s dark forces during the First Wizarding War. When Voldemort rose to power the second time, invulnerable because of his tie to the Horcruxes, he was not able to defeat Dumbledore in the Ministry of Magic during Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This is likely because of Dumbledore’s strength and skill as a wizard, and also because he was the current wielder of the Elder Wand — the most powerful wand ever made. 

Dumbledore also essentially planned the defeat of Voldemort, and people continued his plan even after his death. Dumbledore truly was wiser and more powerful than Harry Potter and was most likely the greatest wizard to ever live.

Tom Riddle / Voldemort

The wizard who was known as Voldemort and “He Who Must Not Be Named,” Tom Riddle was the strongest dark wizard in the Harry Potter universe. Not only did he maintain enough power to form one of the largest associations of dark wizards, but he also united magical beasts to do his bidding. Voldemort was powerful enough to wield dark magic — enough to split his soul into seven parts to create seven Horcruxes.

Voldemort was also powerful enough to jinx the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, guaranteeing no professor would spend more than a year in the position. He mastered the ability to fly without a broom, something which not many wizards could do, and he was also an accomplished Legilimens. Needless to say, Voldemort was unabashedly evil, and his evil was matched by his incredible power. If he had not accidentally created a Horcrux within Harry, Harry would have never been able to defeat him in a duel, as Voldemort was much stronger than him. 

Gellert Grindelwald

Gellert Grindelwald was a dark wizard and arguably the second-strongest dark wizard of all time, behind Voldemort. Grindelwald was able to amass followers like Voldemort was able to, though he seemed to do so only to achieve his goal — to subjugate the Muggles and, of course, become all-powerful. He was on a quest to find the Deathly Hallows and was extremely powerful after taking The Elder Wand from the wandmaker, Mykew Gregorovitch.

After he acquired the Elder Wand, Grindelwald wreaked havoc upon Europe and evaded his capture multiple times. He utilized human transfiguration to disguise himself as Percival Graves before dodging captivity yet again. His use of magic and the dark arts were so skilled with the Elder Wand that Dumbledore risked breaking the blood pact he had with Grindelwald to form forces against him. Grindelwald’s last show of power was in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald when he performed Protego Diabolica, which was capable of destroying Paris if a combination of wizards, including Newt Scamander and Nicolas Flamel, hadn’t quelled the flames. 

Alastor ‘Mad-Eye’ Moody

Alastor Moody was an Auror and may have been the most powerful member of The Order of the Phoenix, aside from Albus Dumbledore. It was mentioned in the series that many of the witches and wizards that were imprisoned in Azkaban Prison were put in there by Moody. He killed Death Eaters — notably Evan Rosier — in the war against Voldemort. Moody was also the Auror responsible for tracking and capturing the Death Eater, Igor Karkaroff, which led to the capture of Barty Crouch Jr. 

Even though the paranoid Moody had retired, Dumbledore trusted him enough to offer him the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts during Harry’s fourth year. But Barty Crouch Jr. had taken his place with the aid of some Polyjuice Potion. Unfortunately, Moody was killed by Voldemort during the Battle of the Seven Potters. Voldemort believed that the real Harry would be flying with the most skilled witch or wizard, which is why he targeted Alastor Moody, one of the most powerful Aurors —and certainly more powerful than Harry Potter. 

Credence Barebone

Credence Barebone might very well be Aurelius Dumbledore, a relative of, if not Albus Dumbledore’s brother. Credence was revealed to be an Obscurial in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which was why he was so powerful. Most Obscurials are overwhelmed by the dark magic inside them and die while they are young. The fact that the dark power was still inside him made Credence a powerful, chaotic force.

So far the most powerful display Credence has shown is when he tested out his new wand and nearly destroyed a mountain. He will most likely only show more of his power in the next installment of the franchise, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. 

Nicolas Flamel

Nicolas Flamel was one of the most powerful wizards to ever live in the Harry Potter universe. Even though he was hundreds of years old at the time, he still managed to perform powerful magic in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, when he started a counter-spell to stop the ever-consuming fire that Grindelwald started. 

Flamel’s real aptitude was for Alchemy. He created the Philosopher’s Stone and used it to make the Elixir of Life, which made the drinker immortal. He and his wife, Perenelle, drank the elixir. The Philosopher’s Stone could also turn any metal into gold and was one of the most powerful magical objects, making its maker a very powerful wizard.  

Severus Snape

Severus Snape was a professor at Hogwarts, and he taught Potions before he became the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and then the Headmaster for a year. Instead of wanting the role of Potions Master at Hogwarts, Snape desperately wanted to teach Defense Against The Dark Arts. Even though he was a Potions Master, he also had an aptitude for practical magic. 

Snape proved multiple times how powerful he was. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince revealed that Snape was the Half-Blood Prince and thus invented spells, such as Sectumsempra and Levicorpus, as well as numerous ways to better brew potions. He was also an expert in Occlumency, as he was able to conceal his thoughts from Lord Voldemort. These feats surely prove that Severus Snape was more powerful than Harry Potter. 

Lily Potter

Arguably the most overlooked powerful witch of the Harry Potter series, Lily Potter was noted as a remarkable student. The reason she is on this list and may indeed be more powerful than her son is that she might be the sole reason for Voldemort’s defeat. 

If not for her use of the sacrificial protection counter-charm when Voldemort attacked in Godric’s Hollow, Voldemort would have killed Harry and presumably would have won the war. Not only was she courageous enough to stare down death, but she saved the Wizarding World and Muggle World by doing so. 

Hermione Granger

A part of the trio that led the Harry Potter series, Hermione Granger was an extremely talented witch. Hermione was a large part of why Harry Potter managed to survive his adventures while at Hogwarts. She was trusted with a time-turner and used it effectively, and also successfully used memory charms to trick her parents into forgetting her to protect them from Voldemort. 

She mastered the Polyjuice Potion at a young age and was able to cast several protective charms to hide her, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter while hunting for the Horcruxes. Hermione was also the quickest to learn and easily mastered apparition. Hermione later became the Minister for Magic while Harry became Head Auror. Her ability with all things magical outshone Harry’s in almost every way, proving she was more powerful than him. 

Remus Lupin

Remus Lupin was a powerful wizard and was the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts for a year. Part of the Order of the Phoenix, Remus Lupin was not only a skilled wizard, but he was also a werewolf.

Lupin defeated a number of Death Eaters in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and was not defeated himself. In the Battle of the Seven Potters, he also managed to be one of the few members of the Order of the Phoenix who did not get hit after being ambushed by the Death Eaters. That may have had something to do with Snape’s subtle defending of Lupin, but it proved Lupin was powerful nonetheless. His aptitude for spell casting and his werewolf abilities supports that he was stronger than Harry Potter. 

So, even though “The Chosen One” was a strong wizard, there are more than a handful of wizards and witches who were more powerful than Harry Potter. In fact, the next few Fantastic Beasts films, including Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, which will be released in theatres on April 15th, might introduce even more witches and wizards that may be more powerful than Harry Potter.