Character from harry-potter-order-of-the-phoenix by
Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, and the most terrifyingly effective villain in the series -- because she doesn't need Dark Magic to be evil. Bureaucracy is enough.
Umbridge is the most hated character in the series because she is the most recognizable. Voldemort is a fantasy -- a snake-faced dark lord. Umbridge is the bureaucrat who enjoys hurting people while insisting she's doing it for their own good. She is the teacher who punishes children with a blood quill that carves their words into their own flesh. She is the administrator who bans student organizations, fires teachers, and rewrite rules until the only legal activity is obedience. She was sent to Hogwarts by Fudge to suppress Dumbledore and ensure students learn nothing useful about defending themselves -- because a Ministry that denies Voldemort's return cannot allow children to prepare for a war it claims isn't happening. She accomplishes this with Educational Decrees, each one a small tyranny: no student groups without approval, no teachers speaking about anything off-syllabus, no publications not sanctioned by the High Inquisitor. She forces Harry to write 'I must not tell lies' with a blood quill until the words scar his hand. She nearly uses Cruciatus on a student. She sends Dementors to Little Whinging to silence Harry. She loathes half-breeds, centaurs, and anything not purely human with visceral disgust she considers righteous. She is immune to guilt and interprets all resistance as proof she is correct. She is, in the end, dragged into the Forbidden Forest by centaurs she provoked, and even Dumbledore has to rescue her.
Short, squat, with a broad face like a pale toad. Fluffy pink cardigan over Ministry robes, black velvet bow in mousy brown hair. Wide mouth, pouchy eyes, small hands with stubby fingers. A sweet, girlish voice that goes softer the more dangerous she becomes. Her office is decorated with ornamental plates featuring frolicking kittens. She smells of sickly-sweet perfume.
Also known as: Umbridge, Dolores Umbridge, Professor Umbridge, Dolores, High Inquisitor