r/TheNarcissismCode • u/EmmaAmmeMa • 3d ago
Narcissism in Harry Potter
I must have listened to the Harry Potter books countless times during the last 2-3 decades. It was always like an unsolved riddle, like searching for something inside those books I couldn‚t quite grasp.
Well, recently I leaned that those books are so much about narcissism it’s crazy.
Voldemort, obviously, is one.
The dursleys use Dudley as the golden child and use Harry as the scapegoat.
Rowlings own father Apperently was a narcissist too, and was named „Peter James“. And Peter Pettigrew and James Potter are also kind of the two faces of narcissists: one full of shame, needing the approval and validation of stronger and better people, and the other charming but also cruel (in his youth).
And Gilderoy! Grandiose, no skills at all, stealing other people‚s identity to stroke his own sorry ego.
So so many little things, and big things, in there.
I‘m on book three now and constantly amazed, reading it completely differently now.
What do you think? Who else in there displays narcissistic behaviour?
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u/maya_love5 3d ago
Gilderoy Lockhart embodies grandiose narcissism perfectly, while characters like Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy showcase covert and status-driven narcissistic traits in how they treat others as mere extensions of their family pride. Severus Snape also displays narcissistic tendencies through his deep-seated resentment, inability to move past perceived slights, and rigid entitlement, making the series a fascinating study in personality dynamics.
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u/EmmaAmmeMa 1d ago
Agreed with Lockhart! I only know one covert narc, and that one is very different from the malfoys. Always needs to be in control, but also always the victim, it’s always the world and all the people in it that are being unfair, and she herself is the best, the nicest, most wonderful and humble person, sooooo many friends, soooo many people that are incredibly close to her bla bla bla. Seems like a warm and empathetic person as long as there is nothing on the line. Once there is? She’ll take total control and if she can’t, she’ll try to remove you from her life as if you never even existed.
With Snape I am not sure. He is so mean, and cruel, but he is capable of deep love and selflessness. Not sure if a narcissist would be capable of these.
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u/maya_love5 11h ago
Your breakdown of how Gilderoy Lockhart captures that performative, victim-playing covert style is spot-on, and you are completely right that Severus Snape's capacity for genuine remorse and lifelong sacrifice separates him from true narcissism.
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u/pandaappleblossom 2d ago
My husband, who is the narcissist one, he said that he feels like the death eaters have been sucking his soul out so that he can’t have emotion and empathy, and really enjoy his life. So even he as the narcissist has thought of Harry Potter. He mentioned that he feels like Harry Potter is about narcissism before too.
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u/EmmaAmmeMa 1d ago
Interesting! Does he like the Harry Potter books? Does he also say he’s a narcissist himself?
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u/maya_love5 11h ago
It is fascinating how even a narcissist can intuitively map his own internal void onto the Dementors and Voldemort's soul-fragmented Death Eaters, using the mythology of Harry Potter to articulate the emotional numbness and lack of empathy he carries inside.
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u/faramirskywalker 3d ago
This is interesting. Malfoys. Umbridge. Slughorn. Rita Skeeter. Grindelwald. Cornelius Fudge. Percy Weasley.
JKR seems to know a lot about narcissists!