Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
While there are likely many WIZARDS that come to mind when you think of Harry Potter and
EVIL – Gellert Grindelwald and Lord Voldemort to name a few – the title of most evil WITCH
may not be quite so obvious.
So, in this video, we’re going to be discussing why I believe that the most evil witch in
the Harry Potter universe is one Gormlaith Gaunt.
Now, I know what you may be thinking.
WHO in Merlin’s Beard is Gormlaith Gaunt?!
Wouldn’t Bellatrix Lestrange be the obvious choice for most evil witch?
How could a witch who many may not have even heard of deserve the title of the MOST evil
witch?
Could she possibly be MORE evil than Bellatrix, the literal mistress of Evil Reincarnate?
(More on that in just a second.)
Well, of course, Bellatrix was a truly evil b– er, witch.
She performed some incredibly cruel and heinous acts of magic – and non-magic, for that
matter – in the name of being one of Lord Voldemort’s Death Eaters.
In fact, the rumour is that Bellatrix was so devout to Voldemort and the Dark Arts that
she actually fell IN LOVE and was intimate with the Dark Lord himself, producing a daughter
named Delphi – taking the vows of a Death Eater quite above and beyond, if you ask me…But
anyway, in addition to her ABSOLUTE loyalty to Voldemort, Bellatrix was also involved
in some of the most disturbing acts of Dark Magic described throughout Harry Potter.
For example, she took part in the torture of Aurors, Frank and Alice Longbottom, an
act which drove them both mad and permanently landed them in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical
Maladies and Injuries for the remainder of their lives.
She also committed many a murder, including that of beloved House Elf, Dobby, her own
cousin, Sirius Black, and her niece, Nymphadora Tonks – and she did all this in the name
of pure-blood supremacy and the Dark Lord’s vision of the wizarding world.
So, yes, of course, it’s true – Bellatrix Lestrange was a monstrously evil witch.
But, hundreds of years before there was Bellatrix Lestrange, there was an Irish witch by the
name of Gormlaith Gaunt, whose acts of unspeakable evil rival Ms. Lestrange’s to the point
in which I must admit that, in my opinion, she was indeed the more evil of the two.
So, first thing’s first: Who was Gormlaith Gaunt?
Well, as I’m sure you’ve deduced by her surname, Gormlaith was part of the House of
Gaunt, a prominent, fanatically pure-blooded lineage in Europe.
The Gaunts were among those listed in The Sacred Twenty-Eight, a directory of pure-blood
wizarding families, which was created in the first half of the 1900s.
They were enormously proud of their ancestry, as they were the the descendants of Salazar
Slytherin – one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
and believer of pure-blood supremacy – and Cadmus Peverell – the most arrogant of the
three brothers who originally possessed the Deathly Hallows and served as inspiration
for The Tales of the Three Brothers.
Tom Riddle who, of course, became Lord Voldemort, was also a member of the House of Gaunt, as
his mother was Merope Gaunt, daughter of Marvolo.
With relatives like these, it’s not too hard to imagine that Gormlaith would be one
of the nastiest witches to have ever lived.
Of course, Gormlaith was around long before Voldemort, and well after Salazar Slytherin
and Cadmus Peverell, as she was born in the latter part of the 16th century.
Much of what is known about Gormlaith’s life actually revolves around her famous niece,
Isolt Sayre, one of the founders of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – the
North American school of magic, located among Massachusetts’ Mount Greylock.
In fact, it is her actions towards Isolt and Isolt’s immediate family that, in my opinion,
have garnered her the title of MOST evil witch in the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
Let’s take a look, shall we?
As you may recall, the Gaunts were so intent on the preservation of their pure-blood line,
that they often would marry their own cousins.
So, it’s definitely not an understatement to say that the House of Gaunt was fervent
in their belief of blood purity.
Gormlaith was no exception.
Like many of her ancestors she possessed the ability to speak in Parseltongue, a rare talent
which allowed her to communicate with snakes.
This was just one of the gifts passed down to Gormlaith from Salazar Slytherin, and she
was also in possession of this powerful wizard’s original wand.
It is known that Gormlaith’s sister did not share in the family’s extreme anti-Muggle
sentiments, and the two were rather estranged.
However, although they were not familiar, Gormlaith knew that her sister had produced
a daughter, Isolt.
Gormlaith also became aware that her sister and brother-in-law were secretly helping unsuspecting
Muggles with minor maladies and farm work.
And so, it is said that Gormlaith was so horrified by her sister’s friendly interactions with
local Muggles that she became “concerned” for her niece’s future – how could she
allow a pure-blood ancestor of Salazar Slytherin to grow up a blood traitor, intermingling
and aiding non-magical folk?
And so, Gormlaith, in an effort to redirect Isolt’s life, killed her own sister and
her sister’s husband by burning down their home with the two of them inside – but not
before “rescuing” Isolt from the fire.
It would seem that in Gormlaith’s twisted mind, the murder of her closest blood relative
was justified in that she was “saving” Isolt from a life that may have led the girl
to accept non-pure-bloods – or worse – Muggles.
As you can imagine, childhood with an aunt like Gormlaith was not a happy one for young
Isolt.
For Isolt’s entire youth, Gormlaith kept her isolated in a valley known as Coomcallee,
forcing the young girl to watch as she cursed any living thing that came their way, causing
misery and pain to both her victims as well as to poor Isolt.
Gormlaith also prevented her niece from attending Hogwarts, fearing that she would only be exposed
to Mudbloods and halfbloods in an all too tolerant environment.
Instead, Gormlaith took it upon herself to teach Isolt magic – although she never permitted
the girl to have her own wand – and kept her in line through the use of Dark Magic.
Gormlaith kept the girl under this kind of restraint for years.
It was over a decade before Isolt was finally able to make her escape.
After she had fled, Gormlaith searched for Isolt for many years in vain, determined to
find her niece so that she could go back to enforcing her fervent anti-Muggle ideologies
on the young woman.
Fortunately for Isolt, she was able to travel undetected to North America, where she eventually
fell in love with a Muggle and founded Ilvermorny – a school of witchcraft and wizardry which
today has a reputation as one of the most progressive and tolerant of its kind.
When news of this American wizarding school reached Gormlaith in Ireland, she deduced
that her estranged niece must be involved, as Ilvermorny was the namesake of Isolt’s
first home, the one which Gormlaith had destroyed when she had murdered the girl’s parents.
As you can imagine, Gormlaith was furious.
Gormlaith set out to America at once to seek her revenge, for the very thing she had hoped
to prevent seemed to have come true: Isolt was not only tolerant of Muggles, she was
in love with one – a James Steward.
The two had even gotten married and had two twin girls, Martha and Rionach.
Upon her arrival at Ilvermorny, Gormlaith attempted to use her Parseltongue and Dark
Magic abilities to murder Isolt and her husband James.
Thankfully, her plans were foiled by two teenage wizards, Chadwick and Webster – whom Isolt
and James had adopted – the power of love, and a Pukwudgie named William – whom Isolt
had befriended many years previous.
Ultimately, it was the Pudwudgie – a magical being, native to America and distantly related
to the goblins of Europe – who killed Gormlaith with one of his poisonous arrows.
If you ask me, it was a fitting end for a witch most evil – a woman who had spent
her entire life in the pursuit of pure-blood supremacy at any cost, including murdering
members of her own family and holding her niece hostage for years with the use of Dark
Magic – was killed with a fatal arrow to the heart.
A poisonous arrow for a poisonous heart.
Seems like poetic justice, does it not?
And that brings us to the end of this video!
What do you think?
Does all this rightfully give Gormlaith Gaunt the title of MOST evil witch in the Harry
Potter universe?
Or is there another witch that I’ve overlooked?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
And, as always, if you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to like it and to subscribe
to the channel!
Until next time…
“THOSE CUNNING FOLK USE ANY MEANS, TO ACHIEVE THEIR ENDS…”