Over eight films, we were introduced to a multitude of Harry Potter cast members. There were, of course, the three main members of the child cast who were basically unknown when they were cast, and the many well-known faces of the teachers, death eaters and order members.
There is a fair bit of height difference in that cast, so we’ve ranked the five tallest and five shortest members of the cast based on their height at the end of the series.
TALLEST: Young Hagrid - Martin Bayfield (2.13m)
By far the tallest person ever cast in a Harry Potter film is Martin Bayfield. The ex-rugby player isn’t an actor and has only appeared in a handful of films, mostly thanks to his enormous height.
In The Chamber Of Secrets, he plays a young version of Hagrid. He doesn’t speak and his face is hardly seen, so this casting choice seems to be almost exclusively down to the need for a tall person to play the half-giant.
Nearly Headless Nick - John Cleese (1.96m)
You might not expect it, but one of the most influential and famous members of Monty Python is also almost 2 metres tall. Next to his Python friends, you can sort of tell, but as he floats around Hogwarts already several feet off of the ground in his ghostly form of Nearly Headless Nick, it isn’t so clear.
He appears in every book (and has a major role in The Chamber Of Secrets) but we don’t see anything of him from the third film onwards, which is a shame.
Igor Karkaroff - Predrag Bjelac (1.95m)
He was one of the creepiest figures in The Goblet Of Fire (even though he actually never ended up reprising his Death Eater ways), and this was probably helped by his impressive height.
Bjelac played Igor Karkaroff perfectly, nailing both his threatening fear in the flashback and his newfound innocent desires in the present day. We wish he had returned in later films.
Dean Thomas - Alfred Enoch (1.93m)
Interestingly, one of Seamus’ best friends was also one of the tallest members of the cast.
As his role was slightly underplayed in the films, we didn’t quite get to appreciate how tall he was, but Ginny’s once-boyfriend was looking down on almost all of the adult cast, as well as his best Hogwarts friends.
Pius Thicknesse - Guy Henry (1.92m)
Standing at almost two meters tall, the fifth tallest person to take on a major role in Harry Potter is Guy Henry who plays Pius Thicknesse in the final two movies in the franchise.
His character is a Ministry official who has been put under the Imperius curse so that he can become the Voldemort-surrogate Minister For Magic.
SHORTEST: Seamus Finnigan - Devon Murray (1.57m)
We might know Daniel Radcliffe as one of the most surprisingly short actors in the world, but he was being consistently outdone by Devon Murray during the entire Potter franchise.
Seamus Finnigan was tiny when we were first introduced to him, and remained as such throughout. He was, at the same time, one of the most consistent sources of humour throughout the series.
Professor Sprout - Miriam Margolyes (1.55m)
Miriam Margolyes is known for landing some impressive roles in her long career. In Harry Potter, she plays Professor Sprout.
Her role as herbology teacher and head of Hufflepuff house was consistent throughout the entire series, whether she was mocking Neville for neglecting his earmuffs or taking part in the Battle Of Hogwarts.
Dolores Umbridge - Imelda Staunton (1.52m)
The most hateful, most heartless and hateable character in the Harry Potter franchise (probably outranking Voldemort, to be honest) was Imelda Staunton’s, Professor Umbridge.
The fact that she was so short probably added an extra layer to her menace, as she was able to have such control and impact over Hogwarts, even when every other student and teacher towered over her.
Professor Flitwick - Warwick Davis (1.07m)
As Warwick Davis has a rare form of dwarfism, he is only around 1m tall. He first shot to fame by playing Wicket W. Warwick in Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi (a role he reprised in The Rise Of Skywalker almost forty years later), and landed numerous roles in Harry Potter thanks to his position as possibly the greatest dwarf actor of all time.
He is most known for his role as Professor Flitwick, but he also played Griphook in the first (through voice only) and last films.
SHORTEST: Verne Troyer (0.81m)
If there is one actor who embraces their height as part of their career, it is Verne Troyer. He became well-known through his role as Mini-Me in the Austin Powers films and stood at less than 3ft tall. As such, he took on the very interesting role as the physical form of Griphook the first time he appeared on our screen, even if his voice was played by Warwick Davis.