My Top 5 Most Favorite Characters in Harry Potter

Hi! 

Who’s here not reading Harry Potter books?

Well, gotta tell you, you’re out of this post, mate! :P

Jadi gw udah pengen bikin postingan ini dari dulu, dari sejak baru bikin blog ini. Tapi, entah kenapa baru sekarang kesampean bikinnya. So, why don’t we just... start.

Harry Potter adalah buku favorit gw. Jelas. Mantra Harry Potter telah menyedot at least 20% dari memoir hidup gw sekarang. Gw berharap mantra ini terus hidup sampai kapan pun karena semua kenangan gw tentang Harry Potter itu menyenangkan, terlalu indah untuk dilupakan. *Tsaaaahh..

Seperti halnya pembaca setia suatu buku lain, khususnya novel, pasti punya karakter-karakter favorit dalam suatu cerita. Entah karena ganteng/cantik, atau kepribadiannya menarik, atau cara dia bertutur/dituturkan, semua orang pasti punya alasan sendiri. Gw terhadap Harry Potter, juga begitu.

I dedicate this post for JK Rowling, as my appreciation for how great she was in making such characters. 

1. BELLATRIX LESTRANGE

Dimulai dari kebiasaan gw mengagumi tokoh wanita antagonis dari hampir setiap film. No apparent reason, gw cuma berpendapat bahwa karakter antagonis yang diperankan seorang wanita itu... keren! Don’t u think so? Entah kenapa lebih oke aja seorang evil, penjahat, mastermind of crime, what so ever, kalo diperankan oleh wanita. Lebih ekspressif, lebih ga berperasaan, lebih cruel. Emang sih sampe sekarang di kebanyakan film tokoh antagonis masih didominasi oleh pria, but when a beautiful lady chooses to follow the darkness, somehow it makes things so much... hotter, doesn’t it?

Sebelom Harry Potter, gw sudah mengagumi sosok-sosok seperti Cruella de Vil, Poison Ivy, Maleficent, dll. Kalo yang non-fantasy gw suka tokoh Miranda Priestly di The Devil Wears Prada (which is played awesomely by Meryl Streep), Regina George di Mean Girls (Rachel McAdams is sure a legend!), sama inget Madison Lee? former Charlie’s Angel who turned to be the villain in the latest Charlie’s Angel movie? Dia juga favorit gw. Epic moment pas Demi Moore ngomong “Why be an Angel when you can be a God?” Huanjirrrr!!! Satu lagi quotes-nya yang epic: “I was never good, I was great!”

THAT’S MY GIRL OVER THERE!

Anyway, back to Madam Lestrange. So yeah, alasan-alasan itu semua yang bikin gw nge-fans sama Bellatrix. Sebelom tampil di film, gw membayangkan sosok Bellatrix adalah campuran dari semua tokoh wanita antagonis yang gw suka. Pas liat sosoknya pertama kali di Order of Phoenix, men.. Dia jauuuuhhh... lebih sempurna dari bayangan gw! David Yates emang paling pinter milih Helena Bonham Carter jadi Bellatrix. I mean, look at her track records, dia itu semacam Johnny Depp, peran2nya extreme beda2 tapi selalu berhasil ngebawain semua itu dengan SEMPURNA. Apalagi suaminya Tim Burton, udah deh. Klop! Harusnya Tim Burton main tuh di Harry Potter, jadi Rodolphus Lestrange. Ehehehe.

And yeah, gw ikutin perkembangan Bellatrix dari satu buku ke buku lain, film ke film lain, dan gw menyimpulkan karakternya dia kuat banget. Dia itu jahat, sangat jahat. Dia memperlakukan orang lain seperti sampah, dan dia gila, punya masalah kejiwaan! Seperti halnya Voldermort, dia membunuh untuk bersenang-senang, sama sekali ga punya hati nurani! Dia akan melakukan berbagai cara supaya Voldemort senang.

"The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!" (Goblet of Fire)

"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy? You need to mean them Potter! You need to really want to cause pain -- to enjoy it -- righteous anger won't hurt me for long -- I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson!" (Order of Phoenix)

You have to mean it, Potter!

Beberapa kalimat JK Rowling yang menggambarkan gimana sosok Bellatrix membuat membuat gw semakin mengagumi sosok itu. Here’s my favorite Bellatrix Lestrange-about quotes that charmed me more than anything:

a woman with thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a throne. (Goblet of Fire)

the drawing-room door opened behind Harry. A woman spoke and the sound of the voice wound Harry’s fear to an even higher pitch. (Deathly Hallows)

or dear Bellatrix, who likes to play with her food before she eats it. (Dumbledore)

too polite! You need to treat people like they’re scum! (Harry to Hermione on How-To-Imperson-Bellatrix)

I would love to meet Helena Bonham Carter sometimes, just to say: “Would you be my master?” huahhhahahaha~

I believe in Bellatrix Lestrange.

I’ll name my daughter Bellatrix someday.

2. RON WEASLEY

Yes! Gw suka karakter Ron dari sejak Harry Potter pertama. Seperti kata Hermione, i always found him interesting! Itu benar. Ron itu karakter yang sangat menarik! Let’s say dia punya awkwardness yang jatohnya lucu! Hahaha. Ron punya spontanitas yang unik dimana dia selalu menggambarkan sesuatu apa adanya, segamblang-gamblangnya. Ron selalu dinomer-sekiankan dalam segala hal, jadi dia cenderung suka iri sama keistimewaan Harry, which is menurut gw itu sesuatu yang wajar dan menunjukan betapa Ron adalah seorang yang manusiawi.

You got dirt on your nose by the way, did you know? :P

Ron adalah orang yang sangat care dengan orang2 di sekelilingnya. Dia juga paling ga bisa jujur sama perasaannya terhadap sesuatu karena dia takut menyinggung orang-orang jika demikian.

Hubungan Ron-Harry ga sebatas BFF, tapi mereka juga sehati. JK Rowling selalu ngegambarin Harry dan Ron yang selalu sama-sama ngambil pelajaran, selalu back-up for each other kalo lagi kesusahan, kena detensi bareng2, dll. Mereka selalu kompak dalam segala hal. Their chemistry is just too strong.

Terlalu banyak quotes menarik dari Ron yang gw suka, jadi gw cuma bisa tulis satu aja disini. Ini yang menurut gw puncak dari semua kisah tentang Ron.

Harry     : “You’ve sort of made up for it tonight. Getting the sword. Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving my life.”

Ron        : “That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was.”

Harry     : “Stuff like that always sound cooler than it really was, I’ve been trying to tell you that for years.”

Pertama kali baca kalimat itu di bukunya, gw bayangin momennya, you know what? Gw nangis. JK Rowling berusaha memasukkan banyak hal dalam kalimat itu sehingga flashbacknya adalah jatuh bangunnya persahabatan mereka selama ini.

I love you, Ron, i really do.

And Rupert played Ron as perfect as Helena played Bellatrix.

3. SIRIUS BLACK

Who doesn’t love Sirius? Even JK Rowling falls in love with Sirius.

JK Rowling berusaha memasukkan banyak karakter pria dalam Sirius Black. Sirius Black digambarkan sebagai pribadi yang tampan, kharismatik, pintar, setia, berani, sedikit jahil, tegas, asyik, keren, tangguh, baik hati, etc.. not to mention he’s also very rich (keturunan bangsawan Black). Pokonya semua sifat yang all-men-will-die-to-have.

Have-You-Seen-This-Awesome-Wizard-?

Sirius loves motorcycles, just like another man. Dia pasang foto-foto cewek Muggle berbikini di kamarnya, just like another boy.

Dia menghadapi Azkaban dengan tegar sampe Dementor pun ga bisa ambil jiwanya, just because deep down inside, he knew that he’s innocent, and he stayed that way.

Dia juga nekat! Kabur dari Azkaban karena liat tikus (yang adalah Peter Pettigrew) di koran! Tanpa pikir panjang dia kabur, padahal itu bisa aja bukan Peter!

Sirius sangat terpuruk dan sangat menyesal ketika James meninggal. Dia merasa bersalah selama 13 taun ga bisa memberikan Harry hidup yang layak. Jadi dia menebusnya dengan banyak hal. Salah satunya adalah menyempatkan diri mampir ke Magnolia Crescent di tengah malam tepat setelah kabur dari Azkaban, cuma supaya bisa liat Harry sekilas.

He’s really trying to be a Dad for Harry, too bad he also treated Harry like he did to James. Guess someone missed his best friend so much...

Persahabatan Sirius dan James Potter mungkin ga seperti Harry dan Ron. Sirius-James lebih seperti partner-in-crime. They do crazy stuffs together. Seriously, why in the world two teenagers will illegally turned themselves into an Animagus for only giving their best friend a company? They’re rockin insane!

Menurut gw, Prisoner of Azkaban adalah seri Harry Potter paling bagus dari segi cerita. Jalan ceritanya mungkin agak klise, tapi JK Rowling berhasil mengemas ceritanya dengan apik, jadi ga sekedar berkisah tentang pertemuan dua insan manusia belaka (Harry- Sirius).

Gary Oldman, aktor veteran, he is awesome! Sirius Black character is definitely on a right hand. Alfonso Quaron sama cerdasnya dengan David Yates dalam memilih aktor.

Oya, satu quotes Sirius Black yang paling gw suka:

"What's life without a little risk?"

Betul itu! Jangan takut ambil resiko, kawan!

Anyway, inget surat Sirius di HP 3?

Gw suka banget surat itu. Surat itu quotes Sirius Black yang paling berharga buat gw. So, why don’t re-post it here? :)

Dear Harry,

I hope this finds you before you reach your aunt and uncle. I don't know whether they're used to owl post.
Buckbeak and I are in hiding. I won't tell you where, in case this falls into the wrong hands. I have some doubt about the owl's reliability, but he is the best I could find, and he did seem eager for the job.
I believe the Dementors are still searching for me, but they haven't a hope of finding me here. I am planning to allow some Muggles to glimpse me soon, a long way from Hogwarts, so that the security on the castle is lifted.
There is something I never got round to teling you during our brief meeting. It was I who sent you the Firebolt -

Crookshanks took the order to the Owl Office for me. I used your name but told them to take the gold from Gringotts vault number seven hundred and eleven - my own. Please consider it as thirteen birthdays' worth of presents from your godfather.
I would also like to apologise for the fright I think I gave you, that night last year when you left your uncle's house. I had only hoped to get a glimpse of you before starting my journey north, but I think the sight of me alarmed you.
I am enclosing something else for you, which I think will make your next year at Hogwarts more enjoyable.
If ever you need me, send word. Your owl will find me.
I'll write again soon.

PS:
I thought your friend Ron might like to keep this owl, as it's my fault he no longer has a rat.

I, Sirius Black, Harry Potter’s godfather, hereby give him permission to visit Hogsmeade at weekends.

That’s lovely, Uncle! :)

4. LUNA LOVEGOOD

Luna mulai diperkenalkan JK Rowling di Order of Phoenix sebagai anak Ravenclaw yang berperilaku aneh. Dia ‘beda’ dalam artian dia ga seperti murid kebanyakan. Dia punya pemikiran yang unik, pemikiran yang dianggap tidak lazim (bahkan gila) oleh banyak orang. Dia punya sense of fashion yang unik, quirky, yang kadang ga bisa diterima sama anak-anak lain. Semua tingkah laku kostum yang dipake Luna di film jelas menggambarkan betapa uniknya dia.

Setiap sekolah pasti punya murid seperti Luna Lovegood. Murid-murid yang cenderung suka di-bully karena dianggap beda/aneh/freak. Luna sering banget di-bully, entah verbally or physically. But she chills! Dia cuek aja sama para bullies-nya, ga pernah marah, ga pernah bales bully. Ini membuat gw menyimpulkan bahwa se-freak apapun si Luna, dia masih setahap lebih dewasa dari anak-anak lain.

"You're not going mad. I see them too. You're just as sane as I am." (Order of Phoenix)

"That's all right. Anyway, my mum always said things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end. If not always in the way we expect." (Half-Blood Prince)

What appeared to be fine golden chains wove around the pictures, linking them together, but after examining them for a minute or so, Harry realised that the chains were actually one word, repeated a thousand times in golden ink: friends... friends... friends...(Deathly Hallows)

Karakter Luna Lovegood mengingatkan gw pada diri gw sendiri. Cewek freak, or kinda.

But the most important thing i learned from Luna is she’s living in her own world and she’s making the best of it. Terbukti dari bagaimana JK Rowling menggambarkan Luna di masa depan:

After leaving school, Luna became a famous wizarding naturalist, travelling the world in search of strange creatures.  She discovered and classified many species that had never been encountered before, but was never able to find the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, and had to come to terms with the fact that there are some things that simply do not exist.

As I am about to begin wrapping my future, i wanna be like Luna. Good things will happen as simply as we believe it to be.

5. MEROPE GAUNT

Mungkin lo bisa mengklaim diri sebagai fans Harry Potter tanpa membaca bukunya. Banyak orang merasa nonton film udah cukup untuk bisa jadi fans Harry Potter. Well, untuk orang-orang seperti itu (pardon my language) you guys = #FAIL. Menurut gw lo rugi banget kalo ga baca bukunya. Gotta tell you, Harry Potter is more than meets the eye. Yang ditampilin di film mungkin cuma 30% dari bukunya. 

When you’re reading Harry Potter, you’re playing with imagination. True. Just set your mind free and you’ll see MORE than you saw in the films. Bukunya itu jauuuuhh lebih seru, lebih bombastis, lebih complicated dari film-nya. Makanya gw selalu merasa gw larut dalam kata-kata yang ditulis JK Rowling. Gw selalu ngerasa ada sesuatu di kata-kata itu yang menyihir gw untuk keep on reading. Mungkin gw lebay, tapi gw ngerasa setiap kata-kata di buku Harry Potter itu seperti drugs. Lo kan akan bisa berenti untuk baca karena udah ada semacam ketergantungan. True. Very true. Gw selalu baca Harry Potter everytime gw butuh ketenangan. Just sit down, relax, and read your Harry Potter. Gw ngerasa Harry Potter sampe masuk ke nadi gw, karena gw selalu merasa jadi lebih baik setelah baca Harry Potter.

Nah, kerugian orang-orang yang ga baca Harry Potter selain mereka ga bisa ‘playing with imagination’ adalah mereka ga pernah tau karakter-karakter unik lain yang ga ditampilin di film. Tanya mereka siapa Marvolo Gaunt, Ludo Bagman, Charlie Weasley, Regulus Black, Winky the House-Elf, dan tokoh-tokoh lain yang punya makna besar, mereka ga akan tau. Salah satu tokoh unik yang sayang sekali untuk dilewatkan adalah Merope Gaunt, who is happened to be... one of my favorite character too!

Who is Merope Gaunt? She is Mrs. Riddle a.k.a ibunya Voldemort. Yes! There’s a story about her in the 6th book. Cuma 2 chapter yang bahas tentang Merope, two fantastic chapters.

There was a scuffling noise in the corner beside the open window, and Harry realized that there was somebody else in the room, a girl whose ragged gray dress was the exact color of the dirty stone wall behind her. She was standing beside a steaming pot on a grimy black stove, and was fiddling around with the shelf of squalid-looking pots and pans above it. Her hair was lank and dull and she had a plain, pale, rather heavy face. Her eyes, like her brother's, stared in opposite directions. She looked a little cleaner than the two men, but Harry thought he had never seen a more defeated-looking person. (Half-Blood Prince)

Merope

Penampilannya seperti gelandangan. Dia kerap disiksa secara verbal oleh ayah dan kakaknya. Simply karena dia squib yang dianggap mempermalukan keluarga berdarah murni. Padahal sebenarnya Merope adalah gadis remaja biasa yang juga punya perasaan. Ia jatuh cinta pada putra orang kaya di Great Hangleton, Tom Riddle Sr., dan sebisa mungkin menunjukkan perasaannya kepada Tom. Bad thing, karena Tom adalah seorang Muggle yang menjadi alasan Marvolo Gaunt (ayah Merope)  untuk lebih tidak menghargai anaknya.

Can you imagine her situation? You just start growing up and being abandoned. I mean, mungkin kita sering dilarang untuk melakukan hal aneh yang sebenernya kita penasaran banget pengen nyoba, you know, the part of growing up, we’re just being curious all the time, tapi orang tua kita melarang kita untuk melakukannya. I believe this happens to everyone. Tapi pernah ga sih orang tua lo ngelarang lo untuk jatuh cinta? Seriously, bahkan kita ga bisa menahan diri untuk tidak kan? When you’re in love, you know, it just happened. Gimana pun caranya kita mencoba untuk mengelak, but when it happened, you can’t do anything.

Merope juga ada di posisi itu. Dia cuma jatuh cinta, and look what her father and brother (Morfin) did to her:

"She likes looking at that Muggle," said Morfin, a vicious expression on his face as he stared at his sister, who now looked terrified. "Always in the garden when he passes, peering through the hedge at him, isn't she? And last night--"

Merope shook her head jerkily, imploringly, but Morfin went on ruthlessly, "Hanging out of the window waiting for him to ride home, wasn't she?"

"Hanging out of the window to look at a Muggle?" said Gaunt quietly.

"Is it true?" said Gaunt in a deadly voice, advancing a step or two toward the terrified girl. "My daughter--pure-blooded descendant of Salazar Slytherin--hankering after a filthy, dirt-veined Muggle?"

Merope shook her head frantically, pressing herself into the wall, apparently unable to speak.

"But I got him, Father!" cackled Morfin. "I got him as he went by and he didn't look so pretty with hives all over him, did he, Merope?"

"You disgusting little Squib, you filthy little blood traitor!" roared Gaunt, losing control, and his hands closed around his daughter's throat.

So sad, her life is so sad. Bahkan saat ia berhasil bebas dari ancaman ayah dan kakaknya pun. Hidupnya tidak lebih baik. Baik sebentar, mungkin. Saat-saat ia memberikan ramuan cinta pada Tom Riddle dan kabur bersamanya. Tapi ketika ia memutuskan untuk berhenti memberi Tom ramuan cinta, Tom sadar dan meninggalkan Merope. Saat ia hamil tua, ia butuh uang dan datang ke tempat yang salah. Kalung Salazar Slytherin (yang kemudian menjadi salah satu Horcrux) ia jual ke Caractacus Burke hanya dengan 10 Galleon karena ia ga ngerti betapa besar nilai kalung itu. Untungnya Merope ingat untuk pergi ke panti asuhan, tempat ia bisa melahirkan Voldemort dengan layak. Sayangnya Merope ga cukup kuat untuk bertahan hidup karena jika ia hidup, there will be no Voldemort, and no Harry Potter stories. Pada intinya kisah Harry Potter ini kan dimulai karena Voldermort tidak pernah merasakan cinta sepanjang hidupnya. 

Gw membayangkan penampilan Merope jika ia muncul di film adalah seperti Penelope Cruz dalam Gothika. A nice girl who’s just happened to be the victim of a situation. 

Kalo ada yang penasaran siapa aja Top 10 most fave charactersnya, well tadinya gw emang mau bikin Top 10, tapi gw ngerasa 5 yang lain ga bisa gw jelaskan sejelas gw menjelaskan Top 5. Well, if you're curious, 

#6    Albus Dumbledore

#7    Nymphadora Tonks

#8    Dobby

#9    Fred and George Weasley

#10  Harry Potter (of course)

Okay, those are my favorite characters in Harry Potter books and movies. 

Who's yours? I'd love to hear it from you! Do share in comments! :)