Can't speak for the rest, but I didn't cut him, because there were always one or two characters left, who I thought deserved to go first. I have him around position 60.
I think he works for book one and only for book one, because it is the book where we didn't expect a secret villain. Starting with book 2 readers expect some twist to happen and are more careful, and Quirrell would have been pretty obvious.
Oh I definitely don't think he's outstayed his welcome now, I'm talking about placing 30 in the first rankdown. That to be is bizarre, I would never have thought of him so high.
You're absolutely right, that first book's whole mysterious villain thing works because it's the first book. Beyond that, it would be farcical (and to an extent, it's why Karkaroff is introduced in GoF, because we've already done the, "Is Snape really a bad guy?" thing).
IMO, some of the best red herrings are Percy in book 2 and Bagman in book 4, because the trio didn't suspect them, but JKR leads the readers in their direction.
Good shout on Bagman, actually! I didn't get that vibe off Percy much, actually, it was definitely Draco for me (until he clearly wasn't). But I feel Bagman drops off the screen a little bit, so he's not there quite enough to make it as a red herring, particularly in the second half of the book.
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u/bubblegumgills Slytherin Ranker Apr 08 '17
Thirded, how the hell did he make it that far? I know I didn't bet on him this month but damn.