As a huge Harry Potter fan, I tend to relate events and people to characters and events from the series. The 2016 election is no exception. Unfortunately, the connections that I made are not pretty: Professor Dolores Umbridge and Professor Gilderoy Lockhart.
As most Harry Potter fans can tell you, there is no character more universally hated in the fandom than Professor Umbridge. She has ranked above Malfoy senior, Malfoy junior, and even Voldemort in most people’s eyes. Her stint as a Hogwarts professor and headmaster showed the readers her bigoted, close-minded personality. This managed to turn almost all the fans against her. Although Voldemort shared the same beliefs, his past gave him a fan base. I believe Umbridge's vast unpopularity comes from the fact that this is her natural personality, no reasons behind it. While the Harry Potter fandom can see this in a fictional character, a good part of the U.S can’t seem to see it in Trump.
Gilderoy Lockhart is probably the second most universally hated character in the series, at least for me. His frivolous attitude and disregard for his students’ needs were rather disgusting. The end of the book revealed that none of his accomplishments were his. He erased the memories of the real people who actually did the deeds he talked about. He also erased the memory of him doing so. He faked and lied his way through some things, but he was never purposefully cruel or bigoted. This is why although he was a major douche-bag he is not the number one hated character in the fandom. Though the Harry Potter fandom mostly realizes that, and while Gilderoy was not the best, he is also not the worst. Yet somehow some part of the U.S does not realize this about Hillary Clinton.
This is an appeal to the Harry Potter fandom and anyone who has watched, read, or heard about the series. No one can deny that Lockhart is bad, but they also can’t deny that Umbridge is worse. Who do you want as president Gilderoy Lockhart or Dolores Umbridge?
