For those saying that friendship was one of the highest values any character could hold in the Harry Potter series – Merlin’s pants, our favourite characters still knew how to bicker! From little fall-outs to big, blow-out arguments in Gryffindor Tower, here are some of the choicest fights from the book series, and why we found them ever-so-slightly infuriating…

Seamus Finnigan and Harry Potter: Voldemort’s return

If only Seamus hadn’t read the Daily Prophet like his mother. If only Harry hadn’t had such a temper. Unfortunately, fifth year was a trying time for our characters. While Seamus’s mum didn’t want him to go back to Hogwarts because she believed the Daily Prophet’s lies, Harry had faced radio silence from all of his friends and family while still struggling to come to terms with Voldemort’s recent return. So, it’s understandable that their emotions ran a little too high when they finally saw each other.

Although Seamus definitely shouldn’t have accused Harry of making up the return of Voldemort, Harry really shouldn’t have retaliated by insulting Seamus’s mum – it was never going to end well!

Mrs Weasley and Hermione Granger: Rita Skeeter

Before realising that Rita Skeeter and her quill were about as reliable as Peter Pettigrew acting as a Secret Keeper, Mrs Weasley was a fan of her articles, and was outraged on Harry’s behalf when she read an article that accused Hermione of playing the field between Harry and Viktor Krum. As such, she treated Hermione very coolly (by giving her a tiny Easter egg of all things, how passive-aggressive can you get?), and was only placated when Harry told her that he and Hermione were never romantically involved. Why couldn’t Molly have just asked Hermione? This one definitely had us rolling our eyes!

‘Hello, Hermione,’ said Mrs Weasley, much more stiffly than usual.
Hello,’ said Hermione, her smile faltering at the cold expression on Mrs Weasley’s face.
Harry looked between them, then said, ‘Mrs Weasley, you didn’t believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in Witch Weekly, did you? Because Hermione’s not my girlfriend.’
‘Oh!’ said Mrs Weasley. ‘No – of course I didn’t!’
But she became considerably warmer towards Hermione after that.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Ron Weasley and Harry Potter: the Triwizard Tournament

We get that Ron’s anger at Harry being chosen as a Hogwarts champion in the Triwizard Tournament was the product of three years of being overshadowed, but after all they had been through together, how could he have ever had thought that Harry would willingly put his name into the Goblet of Fire? Of course, there had to be at least one time that Ron and Harry had a tiff – they were attending boarding school and spent more or less every minute together after all, but it doesn’t mean we weren’t fuming when Ron wasn’t there for Harry when he needed him the most. And as readily as Harry was to forgive Ron following the first task, we were a little less willing...

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger: Viktor Krum

Ron fell out with Hermione in their fourth year when she attended the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum, and it was admittedly pretty annoying. After all, he had attempted to woo Hermione with the infamous line, ‘you’re a girl’, which didn’t make her feel too great, and then ruined the night for her anyway when she went with someone who actually wanted to go with her. But what really gets us is that he continued to treat her horribly in the sixth year when Ginny told him that Hermione and Viktor probably kissed each other at some point. Honestly, Ron had his moments, but this was probably him at his worst. Jealousy in its ugliest form:

‘You go!’ said Hermione, blinking back tears. ‘I’m sick of Ron at the moment, I don’t know what I’m supposed to have done …’ And she stormed out of the changing room, too.
Harry walked slowly back up the grounds towards the castle through the crowd, many of whom shouted congratulations at him, but he felt a great sense of let-down; he had been sure that if Ron won the match, he and Hermione would be friends again immediately. He did not see how he could possibly explain to Hermione that what she had done to offend Ron was kiss Viktor Krum, not when the offence had occurred so long ago.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and Hermione Granger: the Firebolt

It wasn’t often that Harry and Hermione had a fall-out with one another, since it was usually Ron who picked the fights. But this one particular fall-out made us sad, as Hermione had only been trying to make sure Harry wasn’t about to get murdered, via a potentially cursed broom, and Harry could only think about his precious Firebolt rather than his friend’s worries.

Yes, this was the occasion where Harry had been gifted the best broomstick ever for seemingly no reason, and Hermione had the audacity to think that this was suspicious (at the time, they all thought that Sirius Black was trying to murder Harry at any given opportunity). So, a rightfully concerned Hermione grassed him up to Professor McGonagall, and Harry was mortified when the broom was taken away to be ‘stripped’ for hexes. This led to him giving Hermione the silent treatment, rather than being appreciative of his close friend looking out for him. As it turned out, the broom was fine and anti-jinx tests didn’t do anything to it whatsoever. After all that, Hermione had been half-right anyway: the broom had been from Sirius Black, but thankfully he didn’t turn out to be a heinous murderer. Harry nearly accepted a gift from a complete stranger without any regards for the consequences, and then went on to take it all out on Hermione. Boys.

He had been the owner of the best broom in the world for a few short hours, and now, because of her interference, he didn’t know whether he would ever see it again. He was positive that there was nothing wrong with the Firebolt now, but what sort of state would it be in once it had been subjected to all sorts of anti-jinx tests?
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Percy Weasley and the Weasley family: Voldemort’s return

Less of a spat and more of a family-wide fall-out was Percy turning his back on his parents, brothers and sister after they chose to believe Harry saw Voldemort’s return. He chose to stick with the Ministry and call Harry a liar. Although we knew Percy was pretty pompous, he was still part of our favourite family, and it was painful to see him treat them the way he did, especially when he sent Ron the letter suggesting that he ‘sever ties’ with Harry. But the bigger the fall-out, the bigger the reunion, and Percy’s return to the Weasley fold by joining in at the Battle of Hogwarts was a moment to remember:

‘I was a fool!’ Percy roared, so loudly that Lupin nearly dropped his photograph. ‘I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a – a –’
‘Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron,’ said Fred.
Percy swallowed.
‘Yes, I was!’
‘Well, you can’t say fairer than that,’ said Fred, holding out his hand to Percy.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Of course, there were a few more incidents involving Ron compared to everyone else, but hey, who’s counting? As important as friendship was in J.K. Rowling’s novels, these little fights and fall-outs were an unmissable part of them. So, we’ll have to let it slide, especially since they always sorted it out in the end.