7 most misunderstood Harry Potter characters

2. Sirius Black

Sirius Black is the second-most misunderstood character in the Harry Potter book and film series. It’s clear from his introduction that Sirius Black is a bad dude. He betrayed Harry’s parents and killed a load of muggles, along with his good friend Peter Pettigrew. That’s what we’re led to believe, anyway. 

While Sirius did have hot-headed tendencies, he is not the villain he’s made out to be. In fact, it wasn’t Sirius who betrayed the Potters, killed the muggles, and killed his friend. It was Peter Pettigrew who actually betrayed everyone and led to Harry’s parents getting killed by Voldemort. Pettigrew is also responsible for Lord Voldemort’s return in many ways.

Once that mystery is solved, Sirius becomes a gentle and loving guardian to Harry, ferociously protecting his godson. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see that relationship blossom before Sirius' time is up.

Leading up to and after his death, it wasn’t revealed to the public that Sirius was not, in fact, the mass murderer he was alleged to be. For that reason alone, he’s one of the most misunderstood characters in the series.