Harry Potter/Awesome

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"EXPECTO... PATRONUM!"

Warning, here be spoilers. And lists that get steadily longer and more awesome with every book.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

• Three first-year students take on a fully-grown mountain troll and not only survive, but defeat the troll.
  • Later, those same three first-year wizards take on an obstacle course designed by their teachers and beat it.
• Snape reversing Quirrell's hex.
• Ron. Chess match. Big Damn Hero.
  • It's actually so awesome, and people never give Ron enough credit for his CMOAs.
• Hermione saving Harry's ass by setting Snape's robes on fire.
  • Actually, Hermione saved him by accidentally knocking over Quirrell on the way, who was enchanting Harry's broom. Snape was chanting the counterspell.
• Harry catching the Snitch with his mouth.
• Dumbledore's scene in the hospital wing with Harry.
• Neville - the class klutz - standing up to his friends to protect the honor of his House.
  • His only friends. It gets more awesome when you realize that Lupin and even Dumbledore, in similar situations, didn't have the courage to do what Neville does in his first year.And, this act ends up giving Gryffindor enough House Points to win the House Cup.
• And let's not forget Neville also jumping into the fray when Ron fought Malfoy. True, Crabbe and Goyle kicked his ass, but it's the principle of the thing.
  • Neville took on the two physically strongest first years, at the same time. And he held his own against the two long enough for Ron to give Malfoy a black eye. That's more than a principle.
• The poke of death!
• What about Lily? Voldemort wasn't even going to kill her in the first place, but she offered herself instead of her son, got killed first, and essentially defeated Voldemort by protecting her son.
• Harry frightening Peeves away by impersonating the Bloody Baron.
• Fred and George enchanting snowballs to fly at the back of Quirrell's head. They were basically throwing snowballs in Voldemort's face.

---

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• Chamber of Secrets, in the dueling club. Lockhart's been talking non-stop with his usual self-importance and highly-inflated opinion of himself... and then he asks Snape to help him demonstrate a duel. Snape (who at this point has just been standing back and letting Lockhart make a fool of himself) casts Expelliarmus and not only disarms him, but smashes him into a wall - and what's even better, he actually impresses Harry "I hate them both. Malfoy and Snape" Potter. And, of course, gives Harry his signature spell.
• Harry in the Chamber of Secrets.
• Tom Riddle sneered that all Dumbledore could give Harry was "a songbird and a old hat". However, it was those two things that guaranteed Harry's victory against the Basilisk.
• Mrs. Weasley's Howler definitely counts.
• Dobby pwning Lucius Malfoy: "You shall not harm Harry Potter!"
• All of Mrs. Weasley's sons were taller than her, but they cowered as her rage broke over them. It's a sign of things to come.
• Harry telling off Tom Riddle about how his "filthy Mudblood mother" saved him, then killing off the basilisk and stabbing the diary.
• When the basilisk emerges out of the statue's mouth, ready for battle.
• Phoenix vs. Basilisk. And the crown goes not to the 60-foot snake with the killing stare, it goes to the "songbird".
  • We are introduced to the "songbird" first as Dumbledore's dying pet, then a feeble newborn. Months later, it reminds us that it is in fact, an immortal legend and one of the main reasons why Harry survives for so long. giving two of his tail feathers rather than one protects Harry from Voldemort once he overcomes the shield on Harry, saving him from a Basilisk by intercepting its attack, blinding it and healing its venom, helping Dumbledore look after Harry...
• Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy's brawl in Flourish and Blotts. Words can't describe how much this troper wanted to see that get into the movie.
• "Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer that ever lived!" Also doubles as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
  • Also, Harry's Crowning Shut UP, Hannibal Take That to Tom Riddle: "I've seen the real you. You're nothing! You're ugly! You're foul!".
• Mr. Weasley's car saving Harry, Ron and Fang from Aragog and his children, even though it abandoned them after getting beat up by the Whomping Willow.

---

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Hermione slapping Draco in the face. Little twerp had it coming...
  • And then driving Draco (who, remember, never hesitates to toss a taunt or racial slur her way) into full retreat by merely pulling out her wand. It suddenly occurred to him that he's just pushed the most talented witch in the school one inch too far.
• Ron has had his leg broken by a deranged murderer (he is led to believe) and can basically be defeated by a stiff wind. So he tells that same murderer, if he wants Harry, he'll have to go through him. Steve Kloves can be safely ignored on this front: Ron is Harry's man, through and through.
• Expecto Patronum!
  • A lone 13 year old boy against more than a hundred soul suckers.
• The Quidditch Final.
• The entirety of the Shrieking Shack scene.
  • "The Marauder's Map never lies. Peter's alive, Harry. Ron's holding him."
  • "I want to finally commit the murder I was imprisoned for!"
  • "If you want to get to Harry, you'll have to go through me!"
  • "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS! AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"

---

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• All hail Frank Bryce, the only Muggle to mock Voldemort towards his face. True, he did die, but the old man had balls of steel
  • "Lord is it? Well, I don't think much of your manners, my Lord. Face me like a man, why don't you?!"
• Cedric, Fleur, Krum, and Harry in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.
  • Not only the first task, in the second task, Harry stubbornly refuses to leave other prisoners; he comes in last but is awarded second place for his "moral fiber", as Fred and George put it, and more importantly wins respect from the other competitors.
  • Before It Got Worse, Harry and Cedric deciding that it didn't really matter which one of them won the tournament, instead just doing it for the honor of Hogwarts. In hindsight, this may not have been such a good idea.
• Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret.
• Hermione's revenge on Rita Skeeter.
• Dumbledore blasting through fake Moody's door.
  • "At that moment, Harry fully understood for the first time why people said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared."
• Snape reading the trashy Witch Weekly article out loud in front of the entire Potions class. Also doubles as Snape's Crowning Moment of Funny, thanks to this line:

Harry Potter's Secret Heartache... Dear dear, Potter, what's ailing you now? Miss Granger has developed a taste for famous wizards which Potter alone cannot... satisfy.

• Also, Snape shoving his Dark Mark in Cornelius Fudge's face, and giving him a lecture that basically amounts to "Here you go, you ignorant fuck: proof that Voldemort is back!"
  • And Fudge is still in denial.

---

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• One of Neville's better crowning moments of awesome is in "Order of the Phoenix", when he's crippled, unable to cast spells, and still sticks a Death Eater in the eye with Hermione's wand.
• The fact that Harry and his friends, a bunch of fifth-years and fourth-years, managed to escape and defend themselves against about a dozen trained and deadly Death Eaters for quite some time was pretty amazing.
  • As is the fact that Harry initially buys time by taunting them about Voldemort being half-blood.
• Fred and George Weasley get their moment when they leave the school.
  • "Give her hell from us, Peeves."
  • It gets even better: not only does Peeves do as he was told, he saluted Fred and George as they left. Earning that amount of respect from Peeves, of all people...
  • As well as everything that the mass of unnamed students who took up after the twins left did. Hexing Umbridge's minions, making themselves sick to get out of class, putting Nifflers in her room, the list goes on.
  • And before that, the speech they give to Hermione declaring that they don't care about getting thrown out anymore; in fact, they're only staying at all to do their bit for Dumbledore.
  • One of the Slytherins tries to use his Umbridge-given powers to bully Fred and George. He ends up stuck in Vanishing Cabinet limbo for weeks.
• Bellatrix overdid her share of amazing things during the series, but her crowning moment of awesome occurred in the end of The Order of the Phoenix, where she defeated Tonks, Sirius, and Kingsley, which were half of The Order of the Phoenix present at the battle. Not only that, but she deflected Dumbledore's spell, while all the other Death Eaters were easily caught by that same spell. None of this was shown during the movie, but Helena Bonham Carter's acting made up for that flaw. Of course, she was later owned by Dumbledore's enchanted statue, but still.
• "You have to admit, Minister, Dumbledore's got style."
  • "You seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to -- what is the phrase? 'Come quietly.' I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course -- but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing."
• Dumbledore destroying the Ministry's trumped-up charges against Harry and calling them out for their corruption, all while being completely calm and extremely polite.
• Damn near everything McGonagall does, period. Especially her response to being inspected by Umbridge in Order of the Phoenix.
  • "It unscrews the other way." That is all.
  • On a similar note, her inability to join Peeves in chasing Umbridge from the school because she had allowed him to borrow her walking stick, which he used to whack Umbridge repeatedly upside the head.
  • McGonagall railing all over Umbridge's attempts to crush Harry, saying she'll do everything she can to get him made an Auror even if she has to die in the process, all the while giving Umbridge the hate glare. Awesome.
  • '"You are raving," said McGonagall, superbly disdainful.' Superbly disdainful. I mean, right?
  • "Professor Umbridge stood up. Since she was so short, this didn't make much of a difference... Professor McGonagall stood up. In her case, the effect was much more impressive."
  • McGonagall's answer to Umbridge about Harry getting poor grades in her subject: "I should have made myself plainer: he has achieved high scores on exams applied by a competent teacher." which, at that point, pretty much meant Lupin. Umbridge must have loved that.
  • It may not have achieved anything, but she ran into battle against four Aurors to stop them arresting Hagrid.
  • And taking four Stunners in the chest in the process.
  • Madam Pomfrey assures Harry that none of those four Aurors, whom McGonagall herself earlier described as exceptionally talented elites who underwent three years of harsh training, would have stood a chance against McGonagall in a fair fight. They had to resort to suddenly whirling round to attack her without warning.
  • McGonagall protecting Trelawney from Umbridge. She may disdain the woman's profession, but NO ONE is throwing one of her teachers out but her. Her moment goes to Dumbledore in the movie, but Maggie Smith's ice-glare to Umbridge while standing in front of a sobbing Trelawney deserves a mention of its own.

Umbridge: Anything you'd like to say, Minerva? McGonagall: There are several things I would like to say to you!

• Also, Snape's response to Umbridge.

Umbridge: "You applied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post?" Snape: "Yes." Umbridge: "And you were unsuccessful?" Snape (in a 'what the hell do you think' voice): "Obviously."

• • Perfect delivery by Alan Rickman.
• Dumbledore vs. Voldemort, which is somehow made more awesome in the film. And while we're at it, Dumbledore's Big Damn Heroes moment.
  • Harry and Neville are cornered and facing half a dozen Death Eaters. The Order of the Phoenix arrive, and things even out, until another few Death Eaters arrive. Things are now looking very bad for the heroes, and then Dumbledore arrives. Before the end of the page, all but two Death Eaters are disarmed and bound in the middle of the room - and about half of that is Harry thinking, "awesome, Dumbledore's here! We're saved!"
• As a prefect at Hogwarts, and especially in her house, it was only a matter of time before Hermione had her authority challenged by the red-headed twins of chaos Fred and George. When she stands up to them, and they stand up to her, they taunt her with challenges to give them detention. But Hermione utterly terrifies them with the promise, "I'm going to write a letter to your mother."
  • "You wouldn't!"
  • Made even better, because the twins immediately complied, an act which was never seen before, or since.
• After Umbridge grabs one of the students in Dumbledore's office, shaking her very hard, before anyone can see him, Dumbledore pulls out his wand and says that he will not allow her to harm one of his students; it even mentions that it was one of the few times that anyone has ever seen Dumbledore angry.
  • May also double as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming to see how much Dumbledore cares for his students.
  • During that scene, Kingsley modified that student's memory to make it seem like there were only two meetings of the DA. On the spot, without getting noticed.
  • Dumbledore assures Fudge that he won't be taking on him, 2 Aurors and both his Senior and Junior Undersecretaries alone.... "unless [they were] foolish enough to force [him]".
• In the Forbidden Forest: "I'm sorry, Professor. I must not tell lies."
• Hermione showing just how much she owned Rita in the Three Broomsticks. Also (while pretty cruel) that she had the foresight to see that one of DA might betray them and came up with a jinx that even Pomfrey couldn't remove to mark them -- and her spell incapacitated Marietta enough that she was prevented from spilling too much about the DA. NOT TO MENTION that she came up with a pretty good lie to keep Umbridge from torturing Harry.
• In the movie, right when all of Harry's friends are captured by Death Eaters, out pops Sirius, who proceeds to sock Lucius Malfoy in the face.

"Get away from my godson."

• Snape, showing nothing but contempt to Umbridge when she catches Harry and the DA. Especially awesome when he's telling her to suck it using lame excuses when asked for Veritaserum, and you realize later on that he was the first to inform the Order of the situation.
• Hermione Granger vs. the Ministry of Magic's propaganda campaign. Hermione wins.
• "None of them had seen Hagrid in a real temper before..."
  • This one needs elaborating. Professor Umbridge has two teachers dismissed from Hogwarts during her reign as High Inquisitor: Professor Trelawney (Divination teacher) and Professor Hagrid (Care of Magical Creatures teacher), the former because she wasn't actually a prophet, the latter because he was a half-giant. When Professor Trelawney is dismissed, she cries like a baby, begging Umbridge to let her stay, saying "Hogwarts is my home!" and generally being really pathetic, even though it was a sad scene nonetheless. When Hagrid is dismissed, does he cry? No. Does he beg to be allowed to stay? No. What does he do? He delivers an epic Curb Stomp Battle to the four Aurors (read: exceptionally powerful wizards) that came to take him away, with his bare hands, while holding his unconscious dog under his arm, while the whole time Stunning Spells are bouncing uselessly off him (which Hermione later explains is due to his giant's blood, giants being notoriously hard to Stun). Umbridge is freaking terrified, two of the Aurors get knocked out cold by Hagrid (who as mentioned before, is not using any magic, and is facing a team of the most highly-skilled wizards there are), and it ends with Hagrid fleeing into the Forbidden Forest, still being bombarded with spells that are doing absolutely nothing to him.
• Neville in the Ministry of Magic standing up to Bellatrix. Keep in mind, this isn't some rent-a-cop Death Eater. This is Bellatrix freaking Lestrange, arguably the most dangerous witch in the world, the one who tortured his parents into insanity. And not only does he meet her taunt ("Why, I've had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy!") with pure, unadulterated rage as opposed to fear, he charged in to save Harry. Without a wand that didn't work properly for him. Unable to pronounce spells. His line "HE'S DOT ALONE! HE'S STILL GOD BE!" (Translation: "He's not alone! He's still got me!") qualifies as his first huge CMOA in the series. It was just a taste of the awesome to come.
  • The YMMV part of the above line is that it definitely was NOT a Crowning Moment of Awesome for Harry at that time (who actually Face Palms upon hearing it). At the time, Neville showing up was the worst possible thing that could have happened to Harry, given that for one, he couldn't use his wand properly (his nose was broken and it affected his speech, so he couldn't pronounce the incantations properly) and for two, he was, well, Neville, and they were fighting a massive group of Death Eaters.
    • He was, in the DA, improving so rapidly that near the end of their lessons with Harry he was the second person after Hermione to master the spell they were learning. And even though he was injured, inarticulate and unable to perform magic, he still charged an armed Death Eater who could've killed him and stuck a wand in his eye to save Harry. Gryffindor, indeed.
• In the film, this exchange
  • Bellatrix: "Neville Longbottom, is it? How's Mum and Dad?"
  • Neville: "Better, now that they're about to be avenged." -pulls out wand-
• "Weasley Is Our King." That is all.
• The title of the 36th chapter (yes, a chapter title is a Mo A) says everything you need to know about Voldemort's true view of Dumbledore: "The Only One He Ever Feared"

---

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Fleur: "I am good-looking enough for the both of us, I theenk!"
• "Dumbledore's man, through and through".
• Ron and Hermione: "You said to us once before, we had time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?" "We're with you whatever happens."
• Dumbledore, despite being weakened by drinking the potion that was between them and the Horcrux, summoning a massive wall of flame to ward off the Inferi attacking him and Harry.
  • Dumbledore during that entire sequence. That wall of flame was more like an inferno.
• Draco Malfoy gets a Villainous CMOA early on in the book when he stomps an immobilized Harry in the face. Was it a total dick move? Absolutely. Was it also awesome? Signs point to yes.
  • Correction: He stomps him in the face after he figures out he was hiding under his cloak with next to no clues.
  • Slytherin is also known for their cunning, but this has been overshadowed by their evilness. Draco has just proven just how cunning he is. Perhaps more cunning than any of the other Slytherins, since they did not notice Harry. At all.
• Dumbledore's last CMOA: "No, Draco. It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now."
• Harry's fight with Snape:

Harry: "Kill me then. Kill me like you killed him, you coward-" Snape: "DON'T! CALL! ME! COWARD!"

• • After reading Deathly Hallows, Snape killing Dumbledore becomes a CMOA for both of them: Dumbledore, for laying the groundwork for Voldemort's final defeat, sacrificing his life along the way, and Snape, for being man enough to (1) kill his only remaining friend and (2) shoulder the hatred of the entire Wizarding World for the rest of his life. Damn, just... Damn.
• Sometime during his teenage years, Snape devised a spell which could brutally and painfully kill even accomplished wizards. Throughout the years, he had been routinely bullied and humiliated by the Marauders, one instance of which cost him the love of his life, which presumably didn't end before he graduated. He didn't employ it even once. Everyone who has ever been truly bullied in school would agree that this is a tremendous feat of self-control.
  • Actually, he did use it once: in the Pensive, we see him cast it at James and cut his cheek.

---

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (This is gonna be a long one)

• Post-humously, of course, but Regulus taking on Voldemort's patented torture potion at seventeen. Not to mention that because Kreacher never mentioned being told to make him drink, he must have forced it all down of his own volition. Even Dumbledore only got through three and a half cups. Out of eleven.
  • And his note! "I know I will be dead long before you read this... I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more."
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione breaking into Gringotts, stealing something from a high security vault, and riding a dragon to escape. If that's not awesome, I don't know what is.
• Neville killing Nagini with the sword of Godric Gryffindor while being on fire. Right after he pulled a Shut UP, Hannibal right at Voldemort, just when it looks like their last hope is dead.
  • Only that? Remember that he's the sole resistance leader when Harry arrives. He shows no care about his severe injuries, he's goddamn pissed when Harry tries to stop them from engaging in an open fight with Voldemort and reacts to Harry's request to take on Nagini with barely any emotion.
  • If there's anything good that came from this war, it's that it forced Neville to grow up and take a level in badass.
  • In a way, even what Voldemort says to Neville is a CMOA. The boy has been seen as a joke and a loser for years, and now the dark lord, the wizard that people are afraid to speak of by name, obviously respects Neville both as a worthy opponent and potential ally.
• A moment of awesome has to go to Neville's grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, even though it's only spoken of and not shown. When a wizard tries to resist the Death Eaters, Death Eaters kidnap any family members they can use to force compliance. When Neville starts up a rebellion at Hogwarts, Death Eaters go after his gran. It doesn't end well for them.
  • "Little old witch, living alone... they probably didn't think they had to send anyone particularly powerful. Anyway, Dawlish is still in St. Mungo's and Gran's on the run." Bear in mind, Dawlish was a top Auror with "Outstanding in all of his N.E.W.T.s.
• Even Kreacher and the House Elves get a moment of awesome.
  • Kreacher: "Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willnae be fooled again!"
  • Kreacher got one earlier. "Perhaps once again, Master Harry, just for luck?"
• Harry, curb-stomping Amycus Carrow for insulting McGonagall. "You shouldn't have done that."
  • As well as his simple response to his reasoning. "He spat at you."
• In the middle of Deathly Hallows, Dobby gets one by teleporting Ron, Harry, and Hermione from right in front of Bellatrix. Unfortunately, it also ends in his death, which was one of the most poignant scenes in the series.
  • Especially his reply to Bellatrix's: "How dare you defy your masters?!"

"Dobby has no master! Dobby is a free elf!"

• This exchange:

Ron: So Dumbledore left me his Deluminator because he knew I'd leave you? Harry: No -- it was because he knew you would come back.

• Hagrid producing a brick wall from the motorbike.
  • That's got nothing on the dragon flame that he used as a turbo booster.
• Narcissa Malfoy in Deathly Hallows saving Harry's ass by lying to Voldemort's face -- but only when she was sure that Draco was still alive.
  • Especially when one considers that Voldemort is especially talented at Legilimency, which means that he has very little trouble finding out if his followers are lying to him. The only way to block it is through Occlumency, which Order of the Phoenix established took a lot of control over one's emotions. Which means that Narcissa, while scared and shaken and desperate to find her son, discovers that Harry survived and that Draco is still alive, and is able to remain sufficiently emotionally neutral to prevent Voldemort from suspecting or realizing what was up.
  • "Do not lie to Lord Voldemort. He knows. He always knows." Not this time, you no-nosed bastard.
• Second to last chapter in the final book: "Of course it is happening inside your head, but why on earth should that mean that it isn't real?"
• Damn near everything McGonagall does in Deathly Hallows -- CHARGE!
  • To clarify, Harry almost gets flattened by a whole army of transfigured desks, McGonagall running after them shouting, hair undone and a massive cut on her cheek, clearly so into the battle that she doesn't even see him.
  • No, seriously, everything she does. The moment she steps into Ravenclaw tower, McGonagall just defines this trope. She doesn't take crap. She doesn't take nonsense. War is coming, and by Merlin, the teachers and body will be armed, the school will be evacuated. You stand in her way - you don't stand a chance. Everything she does reveals the incredible bravery, loyalty, and love she has for Hogwarts.
  • Her defiance of the evil Carrows is also awesome.

Amycus: He can punish them. Couple of kids more or less, what’s the different? McGonagall: Only the difference between truth and lies, courage and cowardice. A difference, in short, which you and your sister seem unable to appreciate. But let me make one thing very clear. You are not going to pass off your many ineptitudes on the students of Hogwarts. I shall not permit it. And if you know McGonagall, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that come hell or high water, she is NOT going to permit it. And this is before Harry appeared; as far as she knew at that moment, if it had come to a fight, she would have stood alone.

• • McGonagall agreeing to defend the school against Voldemort himself. "We teachers are rather good at magic, you see."
  • Also, her fight with Snape where she demonstrates just how a Transfiguration master fights.
  • Add to that when McGonagall straight up told Slughorn that treason is not an option.

Slughorn: "My word! What a to-do! I’m not at all sure whether this is wise, Minerva. He is bound to find a way in, you know, and anyone who has tried to delay him will be in most grievous peril— McGonagall: I shall expect you and the Slytherins in the Great Hall in twenty minutes, also. If you wish to leave with your students, we shall not stop you. But if any of you attempt to sabotage our resistance or take up arms against us within this castle, then Horace, we duel to kill. Slughorn: (aghast) Minerva! McGonagall: The time has come for Slytherin House to decide upon its loyalties. Go and wake your students, Horace.

• • '"Our headmaster is taking a short break", said McGonagall, pointing to a Snape-shaped hole in the window'.
  • Even better was what she said to the student body: "He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk."
  • And, of course, there's the moment she animates every freakin' statue and suit of armor in the whole goddamn castle to fight, shouting the following:

McGonagall: Hogwarts is threatened! Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!

• • Even better in the film version where, after giving that line, she turns to Molly Weasley, grins like a giddy first-year, and says "I've always wanted to use that spell!"
• Hermione doing a memory charm on a Xenophilius Lovegood right before she blew the floor away and apparated in mid-air with both Ron and Harry to cover up Ron's presence.
• Hermione managing to come up with a good lie while being horribly tortured was pretty cool - as well as the fact she managed to save the Magical Bag of Awesome from the Death Eaters by stuffing it down her sock.
• Also, after that, when Hermione tells Griphook they targeted her because she's a Mudblood, and when Ron mutters she shouldn't call herself that, she says she's a "Mudblood, and proud of it!"
• Horace Slughorn leading the Slytherins and probably everyone in Hogsmeade back to the final battle, where he then proceeds to attack Voldemort himself head-on. People who have always been brave and strong doing brave and strong things? Awesome. A geriatric hedonist finding the strength to overcome his deepest fears in the eleventh hour? Running headfirst into battle with the MOST POWERFUL DARK WIZARD OF ALL TIME!!?? CROWNING MOMENT of Awesome.
  • There's something even more awesome about that scene. It means a large number of Slytherins, many of who are pureblood supremacists themselves, are finally putting their foot down and admitting that, yes, Voldemort and the Death Eaters have gone too far and MUST BE STOPPED.
• Ron destroying the Slytherin Locket.
  • Also, Ron saving Harry from drowning and then yelling at him for being an idiot once they're on dry ground.
  • And Ron losing it and disarming Bellatrix when he hears her about to kill Hermione.
• Harry's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Voldemort. Made even better by the fact it's an allusion to an equally awesome speech of the same nature given by Dumbeldore.
  • If you'd like, I'll put up the full speech. But frankly, it's a lot of work...
• Snape giving Detention to Ginny and Co. It doesn't sound awesome at first, but think about it: instead of leaving them to the Carrows (where they would surely be tortured), he sends them into the Forest with their friend Hagrid. And he still maintains his cover as Voldemort's right-hand man
• Hell, just the actions of the students in general during the Death Eater regime. Many of the DA members willingly suffer torture and beatings from the Carrows and their supporters rather than submit to them. Seamus in particular was tortured and maimed so badly Harry didn't even recognize him until he spoke, and the kid still had the strength to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts. That's Oireland for you.
• The Battle of Hogwarts. FULL. STOP.
  • Just before Harry gets his Big Damn Heroes / Only Mostly Dead moment after his supposed first death, the other good guys are kicking every named Death Eater's ass, and due to the fact that at one point the writing gets delightfully vague (e.g. "Dolohov fell with a scream at Flitwick's hands"), if you imagine bare handed asskicking in the place of wands, it can get even more awesome, mostly from the sheer thought that these sadistic, morally bankrupt assholes are literally getting the shit beaten out of them.
  • The fact that Sybil Trelawney, who was almost a complete Joke Character, started dropping crystal balls on the Death Eaters' heads and the first person she took out was Fenrir Motherfucking Greyback, the most dangerous, powerful, and vicious werewolf alive. And note that this is the same werewolf who singlehandedly took down Bill Weasley, who was a professional cursebreaker, making him a very powerful wizard. Bill couldn't take him down with all the jinxes and hexes at his disposal, but Trelawney took him down with, of all spells, Wingardium Leviosa.
  • Fridge Brilliance dictates that Neville was fighting the entire second-half of the battle only with the Sword of Gryffindor. Remember, his wand got thrown away and he wouldn't have had the time or inclination to pick up another one. This that retroactively doubles the amount of awesome right there which makes it the second time Neville had gone into battle without usable magic.
  • Sprout weaponizing her plants was also epic.
  • Flitwick awakening the statues of Hogwarts.
  • McGonagall telling Slughorn that it was time for Slytherin House to get its collective ass in gear, and making it known that those who are fighting for Hogwarts will not hold back if they are betrayed.
  • Percy hexing the Imperius'd Minister of Magic.

"Hello Minister, did I mention I'm resigning?"

• • "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" CMOA of the entire series. When you read this sentence, you know that Bellatrix will die just like the bitch she is.
  • Dean Thomas gets two in the final battle. For starters, charging into battle without a wand of his own, and followed later when he was shown battling with a wand he had won for himself, clearly meaning that he, an unarmed teenager, managed to wrestle an armed, trained-to-kill Death Eater's wand away and made it his own, which he was now putting to good use rr he took it of a fallen comrade
  • Before the battle, all of the Hogwarts students are called into the Great Hall, where McGonagall informs them of what's happening and what they'll do about it. Before the school starts evacuating, Voldemort speaks to them from the Shrieking Shack, saying that he won't harm anyone in the school if they give him Harry, saying they have one hour to comply. After the message, Pansy Parkinson decides to be a typical Slytherin and stands up, pointing at Harry and shrieking "IT'S POTTER! HE'S RIGHT THERE! SOMEBODY GET HIM!" Nobody moves towards Harry. Instead, the other three tables all stand up in unison, draw their wands, and point them at the Slytherins, ready to curse them into oblivion if any of them make a move towards Harry.
  • *Punch* "And that's the second time we've saved your life tonight, you two-faced bastard!" In one action and fourteen words, Ron (who arguably suffered the most from him) pays back Malfoy for all the crap he's taken from him over the years.
  • The Circling Monologue in the final battle. "So it all comes down to this, doesn’t it? Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does... I am the true master of the Elder Wand."
  • Students call each other by their last names, so when Harry calls him "Riddle," he's treating him like a fellow student: a complete equal.
  • When the Dementors attacked Harry, Ron, and Hermione when they were going to the Shrieking Shack. Both Ron and Hermione cast their Patronuses to try and repel them to no effect, while Harry can't even bring himself to try. Before the Dementors come to them, three Patronuses rescue them. Who is it that sent them? Not teachers, Aurors, or members of the Order; it's Seamus Finnegan, Ernie Macmillan, and Luna Lovegood, using what they learned under Harry in Dumbledore's Army. This gives Harry the hope he needs to summon his own Patronus. Particularly awesome when you realize that the trio who saved them represent the three Hogwarts Houses who were allowed to stay and fight against Voldemort.
  • Just before the final duel between Harry and Voldemort, when everyone thinks Harry is dead. Harry sneaks through the battle, under his Invisibility Cloak, saving half a dozen people without fanfare. When he finally reaches where the main battle is being fought, he sees Voldemort blast back McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn and start to turn his wand towards Molly Weasley. Harry casts a Shield Charm, saving her, and throws off his cloak, appearing alive in front of all his friends.
  • When, towards the end of the Battle, even the creatures living in the castle and its grounds join in; the Thestrals (led by Buckbeak), Grawp, the centaurs (who were previously neutral), the house-elves...
• Snape's reply to Dumbledore telling him that he wants Snape to kill him:

"Would you like me to do it now? Or do you need a moment to compose an epitaph?"

• • Also, his What the Hell, Hero? speech to Dumbledore upon the revelation that Harry, whom Snape has been protecting throughout the entire series, must die in order to defeat Voldemort. It takes balls to call someone out. It takes strong, plentiful, titanium-coated balls to do it to the most powerful, respected wizard of the age.
• A subtle one, but Harry after Dobby's funeral finally completing his Character Development and growing from a rash, angsty teenager who lets his emotions get away with him into a mature, effective leader who makes careful, informed decisions. It's just so very satisfying to finally feel like we can trust our hero to not screw up.
• Harry sees Snape die a nasty death, blood and memories leaking everywhere, and Snape get his last CMOA - "Look at me." So, depressed, weary, and tired, he drops Ginny and Hermione off to mourn over Fred, who just died. Then, he goes to Dumbledore's office and discovers Snape loved his mom, Snape just died without any recognition for being a hero, and now, oh yeah, Harry has to die. After going through all this, the battle, the mourning, and memories, the pain, the shock, he gets up and manages enough sanity to walk out, all alone, without any comfort but his deceased family, and find Voldemort. He has no idea how badly, or even if, Voldemort will torture him. He doesn't know anything else, but just trusts Dumbledore, that Voldemort'll be mortal. He doesn't know if Neville will get Nagini in the end, (which he does, ON FIRE), and he doesn't know if any'll bring Voldemort down in the end. He stands there, silently saying goodbye to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, and is completely willing to die, on his own. Wow.
  • Made even worse by the song "Open at the Close" by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls. If there's a Crowning Moment of Tearjerking, that song makes it.
• Of course, everything that Snape does and did counts as one of these; but in particular, his sheer nerve and force of will in obeying Voldemort, playing the loyal servant and even managing to stay in the same room as him, not only concealing his triple agent status, but also the unimaginable hatred he must have felt towards the person who murdered Lily. Not just betrayed her, like Sirius (or so it seemed to him) or Wormtail, or even his enemy who'd stolen her away; the one who struck her down, the one who actually killed her. The man must have had a backbone made of adamantium.
  • Damn, Harry names his SON after him, stating Snape was the bravest man he ever met, and that is including people like Neville(killing Nagini while on fire, with a SWORD) and Dumbledore (who orchestrated his own death).
• While the Battle of Hogwarts was amazing and all, Harry's rescue of all those Muggleborn witches and wizards in the Ministry was a shining moment for him (which makes this troper bitterly disappointed with the movie).

"Their blood is pure," said Harry (as Runcorn), as his deep voice echoed impressively through the hall. "Purer than many of yours, I dare say!"

• Draco gets a small one early on in the book, when Harry and the others have been captured. Hermione's just thrown a jinx at him, messing up his face horribly, and the Death Eaters need Draco to identify him. What does Draco, who not too long ago wanted Harry dead and is under incredible pressure from the likes of his desperate mother and father, not to mention Bellatrix and Greyback, do?

"I can't- I can't be sure." Then, after being hassled by his father to check again. "I don't know."

• Hermione erasing all her parents' memories of her. Every. Last. One. Granted, she was planning on bringing them back but still! Not only did that show her caring for them, but it also shows her courage.
  • While I think that action pretty much sums up why Hermione is a Gryffindor and not a Ravenclaw, her plan to restore her parents' memories wasn't "granted" at all - she could only do it if she lived long enough to find them, and one of the reasons that she erased the memories in the first place was so that if she was killed, or Voldemort won and she had to spend the rest of her life on the run/in hiding, her parents could be happy in their ignorance. You'd want to spare your parents that kind of grief, wouldn't you? *feels immensely sorry for Hermione*

---

Misc. Awesome

• Dumbledore averages about two literary crowning moments per chapter commentary in The Tales Of Beedle The Bard.
  • Particularly his commentaries with Brutus and Lucius Malfoy, in which both of them get utterly pwned.
• The new Theme Park area at Islands of Adventure, Wizarding World of Harry Potter, is easily a crowning moment for all the designers involved as far as immersively rich detail goes, giving even the Disney Theme Parks a run for their money.
• The way everything started. A single mum who was living on thanks to food stamps, as she is riding a train, gets an idea for a kid's novel, one where the main character is a young wizard who has just discovered what he really is and that he is a hero thanks to something that happened when he was a baby. She starts writing it, taking care of her family on her own while she writes a book where she works out her idea and expands on it, and finishes the first book in five years. She presents it to several agents, and the second one she tried it with accepts it. After eight publishing houses rejected the manuscript, a publishing house by the name of Bloomsbury decided to accept it and offered the writer an advance of 2,500 pounds. Fast forward twelve years, and the book turns out to be one of the highest successes ever in history of books, bringing kids back to reading, gets six sequels as the main character (and its readers) grow up, it also gets versioned into movies which are also amongst the most successful ever, and the single mum has become one of the richest people in the world thanks to the books. If that isn't awesome, tell me what it is.
  • The publishing houses who rejected her manuscript are probably kicking themselves in the butt right now.
  • There's also this awesome piece written by her where she tears apart society's obsession with thinness.

---

The film series:

Sorceror's/Philosopher's Stone

• The chess scene.
• Dust-Voldemort trying to kill Harry. Scary as hell? Yes. Completely awesome? Hell yes!

Chamber of Secrets

• Snape is generally awesome, but this troper found it exceptionally awesome when he sent Lockhart flying across the room in the dueling scene.
  • That was awesome. But Snape topped himself in the "Holy fuck, that's awesome!" department just a few minutes later... just by SMIRKING at Lockhart. (The Smirk of Awesome happens at 3:16).
• 12-year-old boy vs. basilisk. Harry wins.
• Dobby kicking Lucius's ass at the end.
• Near the end of the movie, after Lucius Malfoy's plot was foiled:

Lucius: Well...let us hope that Mr. Potter will always be around to save the day. Harry: Don't worry. I will be.

Prizoner of Azkaban

• Hermione punching Draco.
• Snape gets one he never got in the books. Runs out of the Whomping Willow, sees a werewolf about to eat them, and his first response is to stand between the kids and the wolf. Not bad, Snape.
  • His getting Remus sacked the next morning doesn't seem that spiteful when you consider this scene: it no doubt reminds him of what happened when he was at Hogwarts, and all he's thinking is "there go the bloody Marauders, putting students in danger again."
• When Buckbeak attacks the werewolf.
• Sirius whooping as he, Harry, and Hermione fly away from his cell on Buckbeak.

Goblet of Fire

• When Harry stepped forward to face Voldemort. He knew that he was about to die. But he would not die crawling and begging for mercy.
  • Daniel Radcliffe's expression for that moment just sold it. Completely.

Order of the Phoenix

• Sirius decking Lucius at the start of the fight in Order of the Phoenix. "Get your filthy hands off my godson. *BAM!*" Malfoys seem to come off on the wrong end of CMoA's.
• "Sorry, Professor. I must not tell lies."
  • The Weasley twins destroying Umbridge's classroom... with fireworks... on brooms... during an exam. Needless to say, this troper cheered and then swooned for some reason.
  • When Dumbledore steps out of one of the fireplaces in the Ministry of Magic to fight Voldemort with one simple line. "You shouldn't have come here tonight, Tom."
  • Voldemort is no slouch during the final battle, producing a huge serpent made of fire and an implosion that shatters everything that's made of glass, then sending every shard of glass Dumbledore's way. For someone who fears Dumbledore, he certainly held his own.
• Dumbledore's escape from an entire room of wizards, including Aurors, while basically taking them all down with one shot? That was when you first saw why Dumbledore had the rep he did.
• Ginny pulling off a Reducto spell at the Department Of Mysteries.
• Snape's responses to Umbridge. All of them, but especially, "...No idea."
  • You can't forget:

Umbridge: You first applied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post. Is that correct? Snape: Yes... Umbridge: But you were... unsuccessful? Snape: (with unbelievable sarcasm) Obviously.

• I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Luna's CMOA from Order. During the fight in the Department of Mysteries, Luna (already bleeding from her lip) is confronted by a Death Eater flying towards her from a great height. The camera shows her from the Death Eater's POV as she looks up at him placidly, pulls out her wand and (with an expression of mild curiosity on her face) hits him with a Full-Body Bind curse that's so powerful it blasts him backwards into a shelf of prophecies. Now, imagine what she could do if she was angry...

Half-Blood Prince

• Dumbledore's claim: "Being me has its privileges."
• After being reduced to a near-catatonic wreck in the sixth movie by the Horcrux potion, Dumbledore snaps out of it and wrecks the whole bunch of zombies trying to kill Harry.
  • And the very fact that Dumbledore forced Harry to give him the potion.

Deathly Hallows Part 1

• Unlike in the book, here Hedwiga isn't killed by some stray shot - she comes to her master's aid and rams several Death Eaters before getting killed. Sure, she inadvertently clued them about the genuine Potter, but that doesn't diminish the awesomeness.
• During the trailer for the film, Voldemort asks, "Why do you live?", glaring into Harry's face. The response? "Because I have something to live for."
• Dobby in Malfoy Manor:

Bellatrix: You could have killed me! Dobby: Dobby did not mean to kill -- just to... maim, or... seriously injure. *shrugs*

• • The above also counts as a Crowning Moment of Funny.
• Dobby telling Bellatrix after he rescues Harry and his friends that he is a "free elf!"

DOBBY HAS NO MASTER!'

• This line, just after defeating Wormtal.

Who gets his wand?

• Death Eaters stop the Hogwarts Express to search it. They get to the back, and Neville stands up and says to their faces, "Hey, losers. He isn't here." Death Eaters, meet Neville's balls.
• After Harry (in disguise) witnesses Umbridge falsely accuse a woman on trial of possessing a stolen wand, he subjects her to possibly the most cheer-worthy Oh Crap moment of the series.

"You're lying, Dolores..." *as his disguise begins to fade* "And one mustn't tell lies!"" (he then casts Stupefy, knocking her out)

Deathly Hallows Part 2

• This entire movie was a Crowning Moment of Awesome. The perfect way to end the most celebrated series of all time. And we still have Pottermore.
• Harry's entrance to the castle. "It appears you have a security problem, Professor." Cue a good chunk of the remaining Order of the Phoenix walking in.
  • Also, a bit earlier in that scene, the way Harry reveals himself to Snape and the Carrows, practically hiding in plain sight, and then the way he proceeds to utterly own Snape by calling him out for his actions.

"How dare you stand where he stood?"

• The entire castle preparing for the Battle of Hogwarts. Starting with Professor McGonagall saying Voldemort's name.
• Molly Weasley and her Berserk Button attack on Bellatrix after she nearly kills Ginny. In the book, it's said that she merely kills her with a curse. In the film, however, she obliterates her. Literally.
  • To be a little more specific, Molly gives Bella the Winnie Sanderson treatment: Taken for Granite immediately followed by Made of Explodium.
  • Just to give an example of how incredibly awesome this scene was: this troper's entire showing stood up and cheered wildly. Judging from the sounds through the walls and stories from friends, so did every other showing in the entire theater.
  • This tropers theater also burst into cheering and applause during that scene, with some also whistling and yelling 'Kick her ass, Molly!'. There is just something so damn satisfying about seeing one of the biggest monsters in the entire series being taken down by Mrs. Weasley, probably one of the sweetest, most unassuming characters ever created.
• I'd like to nominate every single scene that McGonagall is in, especially when she defends Harry against Snape.
  • Note that in this scene, Snape cleverly takes out the Carrows, who are flanking him, by redirecting some of McGonagall's attacks at them -- thus staying under cover while striking a blow against Voldermort.
  • Snape deserves a lot of cred for that scene, even if McGonagall stole the show. Notice how neither he nor McGonagall had any injuries walking (*cough* flying) out of that duel. Try to guess who was pulling the strings there.
  • When I was at the premiere of this movie in Finland (keep in mind that Finnish people are in general some of the most stoic and reserved people in the world), the whole cinema burst into cheering and applause when that happened. The execution is spectacular: Mc Gonagall blasts Snape with a spell, which he deflects. There's a pause while Mc Gonagall looks slightly worried, and you think that'll be the end of it - but then she hits him with another spell, which he again deflects. Then another pause, then another spell - and then she follows it up immediately with another, and another, and another, speeding up between casts while walking towards him until she's hitting him with a barrage of spells, which he keeps deflecting (though seems to have more and more difficulty doing so), while backing away, until she casts one final spell and smashes him through a wall. Owned.
• The theater this troper went to clapped and whistled at "NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH!", but the full on cheering was for Neville. With a sword.
  • Neville in this movie is a Badass from beginning to end. Not only did he basically tell an entire battalion of snatchers to suck his nuts, but then he followed it up with collapsing an entire bridge full of them, and living to tell the tale.
  • Neville fully cemented himself in this film as a Supporting Leader and Hero of Another Story.
• Aberforth's incredible Patronus that drives off all the dementors.
• The entire final battle between Harry and Voldemort, which is turned from Voldemort's wand backfiring a spell on him to a couple Beam-O-War matches and some impressive back and forth before Harry defeats the dark lord, takes the wand back, and Voldemort falls to pieces.
  • It gets even better, as this is preceded by Harry grabbing Voldemort and jumping off one of Hogwarts' towers. The two then proceed to teleport all over the castle, and are shown to still be fighting each other in mid-air while doing so.

Harry: Come on, Tom. Let's finish this the way we started (grabs Voldemort's shoulder) Together! (jumps and drags Voldemort with him)

• YMMV depending on how much you hate them, but the Malfoy family very calmly and indifferently walking away as the war rages behind them was a ballsy move that was strangely hilarious to watch. Bonus points for Draco and Narcissa holding hands and not bothering to look back as they do so.
  • Narcissa fucking Malfoy. Aside from contributing to Harry's victory by falesly saying he's dead, of course, there's the way she just grabs Draco's hand and calmly walks across the Hogwarts battlements, not bothering to look back, even as her own husband flounders uselessly behind them. It was like she was saying, "Sorry buddy, you brought us in too deep and now I'm getting us out of it. You can come if you want but either way, I don't give a damn."
  • It has to be stressed that, at this point, other Death Eaters were also fleeing in terror, but they had the good sense to apparate out. Narcissa just grabs Draco's hand and walks out, in full view of Voldemort. That's practically giving him the finger.
• When Harry "comes back from the dead" and at least half of the Death Eaters flee in fear. Look out, it's a seventeen year old boy!
  • Well, it makes sense, considering you basically are seeing someone get hit with the Avada Kedevra and come back to life, after he had already survived it once before. And add to the fact that the Dark Lord is the one who did it twice and failed, well... I'd be shitting myself also.
• The entire film series accomplishing the seemingly impossible task of adapting the entirety of Harry Potter to film, keeping all the same cast members except for one who died through the whole thing.
  • And Crabbe, whose actor got busted for drugs. But honestly, does anyone really care?
• It was genuinely satisfying to see that Ukrainian Ironbelly claw its way out of Gringotts and sit in the fresh air. When you consider that it had been tortured and its wings had basically atrophied by that point, watching it scramble up the rocks to escape and finally take flight is pretty inspiring.
• Ron asking Harry what he's going to do with the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in existence, and Harry nonchalantly snaps it in two and throws away the pieces.
• A piece of acting awesome: Helena Bonham Carter as Hermione as Bellatrix. She literally becomes Emma Watson's character, so that at times you actually forget which actress you're seeing.
• The Ron and Hermione movie kiss may not seem awesome until you put it into context. You have a muggleborn and a bloodtraitor... making out in the Chamber of Secrets.
  • It was awesome before that, moreso to the shippers than anyone else. Still, when put into that context, it becomes one the biggest 'Screw you' moments we've ever seen.
• Neville's big speech, where he rallies support from his troops right in front of Voldemort. Capped off with the supremely awesome "Harry didn't die in vain. But you will."
• When Neville regains consciousness after Voldemort blows him back into the Great Hall - look behind him as he sits up, and you'll see a Death Eater, flying through the air, on fire.
• "Lightning has struck! Lightning has struck!"
  • Cue chills of awesome.
• Hermione gives Greyback exactly what he deserves.
  • In the last part of the battle, after Harry's resurrection and Voldemort's gleeful descent into complete batshit insanity, Nagini's on the loose in Hogwarts and something hits her on the head - a rock. She slithers over to the staircase to see a bedraggled, injured Hermione standing below her, ready to chuck another rock at the snake. Hermione smiles...Nagini, meet Hermione's balls.
• The part after Snape leaves the castle. The scene plays one of John Williams 's old themes for the first two films, the torches in the Great Hall light up, and it gives a feel that things are finally going to get under control and something epic is ahead.
• "Man the boundaries! Protect us! Perform your duty to our school!"
• The film took the book's climax and made it more intense so it would be better-suited for the big picture. The result? Nagini chases Hermione and Ron through the castle, destroys their basilisk fangs, and is about to kill them when Neville comes just in time to destroy her. And Harry's and Voldemort's final confrontation gets turned into an epic chase scene through the school rather than a "The Reason You Suck" Speech like in the book. The book version was awesome in its own way, but it wouldn't suit the big screen very well.
• J.K. commented on the McGonagall vs Snape showdown saying she didn't like the "marginalization of women when the fighting breaks out. The only downside to this is that she mentions that, in an earlier draft of the book it was actually Harry that fought Snape.