Percy was a relatable overachiever

Look, Percy Weasley wasn’t perfect (despite one of his several nicknames being “Perfect Percy”) – we know that. But who is? Right from the start, we were told that Percy was too try-hard, too pompous, too big for his boots. In fact, one of the first conversations we ever see from the Weasleys is from Fred and George, taking the mickey out of their older brother – much to the chagrin of Mrs Weasley. Immediately, we were told this particular Weasley wasn’t like the rest of his more fun-loving, more rebellious family. He was the goodie-two-shoes. And as the books unfolded, so did Percy’s ambitions – going from Prefect to Head Boy to moving up the ranks at the Ministry of Magic.

As we saw Percy climb the ladder, mockery was never far behind: especially from Fred and George, constantly finding inventive new ways to irritate him: such as bewitching his beloved Prefect badge to read ‘Pinhead’. And yes, Percy did wear his achievements like a literal badge of honour a little too often. And the more he took himself seriously, the more his own family didn’t. So, Percy fired back – with a holier-than-thou attitude and his own repertoire of snide remarks.

But which came first? Percy’s snootiness – or Fred and George laughing at him? You could argue that Percy built up this personality as a self-defence mechanism against his siblings, who were often playing pranks on him and whispering behind his back. Here was a guy who was really just trying to better himself, coming from such humble beginnings, who can blame Percy for wanting to bag a hot job at the Ministry, after years of hand-me-downs and making-ends-meet at The Burrow?

Is it really a surprise that Percy ended up being so puffed-up in the first place? Coming from such a huge family, most of whom were likeminded, silly, mischievous and unruly, poor Percy probably felt left out most of the time. There he was, the sensible one, with dreams of becoming a top Ministry worker, a leader, with all his efforts often met with ridicule, with only his mum sticking her nose out to defend him.

So as Percy’s insecurities stacked up, so did his pretentiousness, and in tandem, his brothers and sister continued to deride him. It was a slippery slope – culminating in a full-on estrangement from his family. And although Percy was callous in cutting ties, there is a case to be made for him being pushed away. Arguably, Percy simply went from one family to another – choosing to surround himself with people who did see his value. And when Voldemort came to power, and the Ministry became his plaything, Percy was too far gone to see it: he finally had a community that respected him.

A collective source of anxiety for any human being is the fear of not being good enough: and we saw this happen to Percy. After years of teasing, he snapped, to devastating consequences.

Thankfully, he found his way back, realising that he had gone too far, even cracking a joke upon his return. And isn’t it poignant that in Fred’s final moments, the last thing he did was give his brother what he so desperately craved his whole life: acceptance.

No, Percy was a pompous prat

Fred and George had it right, Percy Weasley was a Humongous Bighead. Time and time again he proved himself to be self-important and willing to throw anyone under the bus if it helped get him ahead – and that includes his own family (not very Gryffindor if you ask us).

Percy followed the letter of the law to the extreme. And we question whether that actually made him suitable for such a role. Being a good leader involves flexibility, something that Percy lacked. Instead of weighing up situations and taking context into account, he did things like take house points from his own brother when he was a Prefect. Granted Ron shouldn’t have been coming out of the girls’ loos, but would it have killed Percy to look the other way?

Oh, and we have to talk about how insufferable he was when he landed that job at the Ministry of Magic. He might have been humbled after leaving Hogwarts. He went from being Head Boy and a big fish in a small pond to being a small fish in a much bigger pond. But no. Listening to Percy, you would think that he had landed the role of Minister for Magic rather than an entry-level position where he wrote about cauldron bottom thickness of all things. You’d also be forgiven for assuming he’d discovered the secret to world peace and not stopping leaks.

The progression of his career was infuriating too. First, he was promoted to Barty Crouch’s Assistant and was too wrapped up in himself to really worry about why his boss was acting a bit odd. Then in the wake of Voldemort’s return, rather than seeing his ascent to Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic for the cynical ploy it was, he went absolutely berserk at his Dad for suggesting anything of the sort. This is where Percy was truly a pompous prat. He threw out insults like they were going out of fashion and disowned his family. A little self-reflection at that moment wouldn’t have gone amiss… instead he doubled down.

Ok, you might think we are being a little harsh. After all, you might say he redeemed himself when he fought at the Battle of Hogwarts. In our view? Too little too late Perfect Percy. When you hurt the Weasleys, buy into the whole ‘Harry is lying about the return of Voldemort’ shtick and spend years putting yourself and your ambition above all else, then you’ve lost our support.

Percy Weasley was a pompous prat. Throughout the stories he consistently showed who he truly was and didn’t seem to have much growth until the final chapters of the final book. Whether he went on to become a better person? Well, we hope he did – especially in the aftermath of Fred’s death. We hope he learnt that there is more to life than getting a promotion… and we hope he found something other than cauldron bottom thickness to talk about.