Winner!

For our "Who's Your Favorite Character" contest, I thought I'd post all these wonderful answers.

Kim C
That's easy. It's Sirius Black--hands down. He's been my favorite character the whole time(at least since he really came into play in Azkaban). I have always been a sucker for the dark, tortured soul in a book and he fit the bill.

In Azkaban I loved how I spent most of the book worrying for Harry and then Sirius turned out to be on his side all along. After reading book three, I really started thinking about how Sirius' life situation shaped his character. He grew up in a wealthy, prominent, pureblood family. In my mind he had all the makings of a rich, spoiled brat. The fact that he left home and family as a teen really went against what I thought would be his character but it gave me an added measure of respect for him. The one thing I think his upbringing probably gave him was an arrogance--as evidenced by his antics with James while they were in school. His loyalty to his friend, James, was another thing that really cemented my love for him as a character.

I've always wondered how he would have turned out had he not spent 12 years in Azkaban. Can you even comprehend what spending that much time in a place like that would do to your mind? In many ways I'm sure he had stopped maturing when he went in--survival mode kicked in most definitely. Plus years of deprivation from other people and positive feelings--it's really got to destroy most of who you could have been. It's amazing to me that he was able to feel anything let alone the love he had for Harry.
I still hold out hope that one day JKR will write about the Mauraders(Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs)--that really seems like it would be a story worth telling :)

Jo "Celtic Memory Yarn"
It has to be Hagrid of course!

Big, gruff, lonely, loving, thoughtful, kind, ever careful of young people's feelings, utterly loyal to Hogwarts and those in whom he trusts, Hagrid is the kind of person we all wish we could run to when we're in trouble. And to make him perfect, he has his own passions and hobbies too, even if they are for creatures that only their mother (and Hagrid)could love.
Blast-ended Skrewts anybody?

Libby
I would have to say it's Mrs. Weasley.

She knits (or at least charms her needles to do so), raised 6 kids [Libby emailed me immediately after and said "Erm...I meant 7 kids. Apparently my counting skills have fallen by thewayside...which is bad in knitting, yes? :)"] and keeps everything in The Burrow in order. She wears fabulous mom clothes, and makes me want to have more kids, but only if I can have that
sweater and her magic skills :)

Plus, who DOESN'T love that clock?

Just a Knit Wit
My favorite character in the book is Voldemort. Aside from the necessity of there having to be a villain for the sake of the story, I think he's a wonderfully complex and well written character. He isn't just evil, like Lucius Malfoy is. He has a past history, flaws, strengths, quirks, beneath the evil façade he is still a man. A desperate man who is terrified of his own mortality and is willing to sacrifice himself to escape death, but a man nonetheless. At the same time he is charming, intelligent and strangely sympathetic to women. Consider that he tried actively to give Lily a chance to stand aside. Argued with her even. I doubt James was given the same options. And in OotP he rescued Bellatrix before escaping the ministry. Much like Snape's description of the Dark Arts in HBP, Voldemort himself is like a many headed hydra.

Johann, our Ravenclaw Ghost
I love Harry's mom, Lily, and Ginny Weasley, for very similar reasons,
but my favorite would have to be Remus Lupin.

Here is a man who was faced with the most extreme provication to turn
to evil, or at least handle things badly. You only have to look at
Greyback to see how bad he could have made things.

But he chose to do his best.

Granted, he's not living a really happy life, but he has managed to
help others while doing his best. The kids he taught at Hogwarts are
all better for knowing him. And now he's in the Order of the Phoenix.

I really hope he doesn't die in the next book, and I'd even like to
see him have some happiness with Tonks.

I've had some bad breaks over the last 12 years, and was dissappointed
that I hadn't been able to do a better job of turning them around. But
reading about Lupin and Greyback has made me realize that I'm not
all-powerful, and I could have done much worse. Others with my
problems have turned to drink and drugs. I turned to knitting. And I
realize I've done the best possible with the rotten hand I was dealt.
He's let me hold my head up again and keep going.


Thank you so much for all these great answers! I loved that a) we had no repeats b) we have such personal reasons for loving these characters and c) Deathly Hollows will be out in a week! Er- sorry- I'm just really excited.

Due to the number of responses and the fact there's no way to pick a winner, Ann and I decided to go with the tried and true method of names in a hat. The Hubba served as a non-partial judge and he withdrew the name:

Kim C!

I'll be changing some dates as we completely missed the Big Second Contest deadline. Anyone else notice, besides Johann (thanks for that Jo!)? This sort of inefficiency would never be condoned at Hogwarts! Though I will not drag my co-host into this, I can only say, I am the Gilderoy Lockhart of blogs. And I learned joined together writing for a reason.

Cheers!