Dolores Umbridge From 'Harry Potter' Was Based on a Real Person

Out of all the villains in JK Rowling’s Wizarding World, Dolores Umbridge is probably the worst. Yes, worse than Voldemort. Apart from her being completely evil, she’s also just incredibly annoying to the characters and viewers alike. For a character that awful, it’s unsurprising to learn Rowling based her off a real person. Let’s hope for the author’s sake, however, this real-life person wasn’t nearly as bad.

Taking to the Pottermore website, Rowling once explained Umbridge was inspired by “a teacher or instructor,” trying to be as vague as possible, who she “disliked intensely on sight.” She went on to describe why exactly she took such conflict with her.

“The woman in question returned my antipathy with interest,” Rowling continued. “Why we took against each other so instantly, heartily and (on my side, at least) irrationally, I honestly cannot say. What sticks in my mind is her pronounced taste for twee accessories. I particularly recall a tiny little plastic bow slide, pale lemon in colour that she wore in her short curly hair.”

Of course, she did clarify Umbridge was a “grossly exaggerated” version of this woman, as the person never actually caused Rowling harm. But we all understand sometimes just irrationally not liking someone, and it looks like this was that person for the author.

Rowling was very careful not to let any real details slip, admitting she’s, “wary when talking about these kinds of sources of inspiration, because it is infuriating to hear yourself misinterpreted in ways that can cause other people a great deal of hurt.” But honestly, Umbridge was such an impactful character that so many people feel strongly about to this day, so it’s kind of an honor to be the inspiration. At least, Harry Potter fans might think so.

This article also appears on Mental Floss.