Or maybe Lucius

And Vernon.

... and Barty Sr.

Who picked Arthur?
It was never his fault his job was bad.
He worked hard to support his family even though he barely could.
I think that Barty was too much focused on his career, and left his son to make wrong decisions, and eventually become a Death Eater.
Barty Crouch Jr. had potential, but he never got the chance to show it because of his over-ambitious father.
Like Mady-Eye Moody would say, filth.

Barty had strong character, but he was too coldhearted. He didn't dedicate enough time to his son probably thinking that he didn't have to and that Barty would turn out just fine on his own. He wasn't a parent, he was more a person you share the same house with. He wasn't there when his family needed him.

Arthur is the complete opposite, warm and dedicated to his children, but he was childish in a way. I always felt sorry for the Weasleys in the books. Money doesn't buy you happiness, but knowing that they could've had better clothes (Ron for the Yule ball, for example) if their dad took a better job he was offered, made me feel uncomfortable. For his kids' sake, he should've taken the job he was offered.

Lucius' problem weren't his views on muggleborns (in that respect he merely passed on to Draco what his own parents thaught him), but rather that he was too involved. Even Voldemort knew Draco was Lucius' weak spot. Draco became an overly dependant child. His world was turned upside down once Lucius ended up in Azkaban. He cracked under pressure. Without Lucius around, Draco was more fragile and less confident.

In the end I picked Vernon. I was really disgusted with some of the scenes from the Dursley household. It seemed as if Vernon and Petunia's life mission was to please Dudley and that whatever Dudley did was right.

for sure,Dudley could be a nice boy without his dad and mom.

And Vernon.

WHOA! NONE OF THESE.
WHERE THE HELL IS JAMES? THE BULLY? After OoTP, I hate him. But there is no option of JAMES POTTER, ARROGANT AND BULLY.

Has anyone else noticed the irony that Barty Sr. made a "big mistake" by focusing on his career, but Arthur Weasley made a "big mistake" by not focusing in his career?

i think Mr.Weasley was a great dad, he worked really hard to make sure his family had a good life...

Mr Weasly is definitly the best dad in HP, he loves his family and does everything FOR them.


AND RealBenTennyson, I think you are mixing completely different things. Yes James made mistakes when he was younge and he bullied Snape, BUT that doesnt make him a bad father. He gave his LIFE for his son and wife, matured for them, and died for Harry! Something, for example Lucius (my pick) wouldnt do, because he's too much of a coward.

I'd say Barty Crouch's and Vernon Dursley's were the worst.

Though I wouldn't say the fathers in Harry Potter were always the most flawed. I'd personally consider Arthur Weasley a better, less flawed parent than Molly (besides, why is it bad Arthur didn't go for a better job, but not bad Molly didn't have one at all if their poorness was so to their family's detriment? Especially once her children were all in school, couldn't she have considered working if their financial situation was so bad?), and though Petunia and Vernon were both around equally bad, if I had to choose one who was more prone to rather hysterically spoil Dudley I'd say Petunia.

^^ Same.

@ RealBenTennyson
I didn't include James because we didn't see that much of him. We don't know what kind of father he was, what kind of father he would become. Who knows, maybe Harry would end up being just like James was in his youth. I couldn't include him because we just don't have that much info. :)

@ solsis
I don't agree with you when you say Lucius wouldn't sacrifice himself for Draco. Precisely the opposite. It was clear even to Voldemort (a man who didn't know or value love) that Draco was Lucius' weak spot, that the biggest punishment for Lucius would be his son's death. If Voldemort wanted Dumbledore dead, he'd assign a more acomplished wizard to do the task. He wanted a certain death for Draco while Lucius (being in Azkaban) couldn't do anything to help him (something Lucius did all of Draco's life to such extant that Draco became overly dependant IMO). While it's pretty obvious Lucius wouldn't risk his life for the cause (like Bellatrix or Barty Crouch Jr), I'm sure he'd be more than willing to sacrifice himself for his son. I completely respect your opinion, but I just had the need to explain why I decided that being overprotective was Lucius' weakest point as a parent. Lucius wqasn't a distant father like Barty and he didn't spoil Draco in a way Vernon did, but until HBP Draco never had to worry about his actions because he knew he could always relly on his dad to fix everything.

@ Mermaid-Tail
Thsi is something I was wondering, as well. Why didn't Molly get a job, espcially once her children got older? In her defense, perhaps she tried to find a job but couldn't find anything. :/

He was such a horrible father!

Well, I do know someone who gets the "Dudley Dursley" treatment, and it's pretty bad, but I still think a distant parent would be even worse. I mean... clearly in Jr.'s case it was pretty bad.

Definitely. He disowned his son. How bad of a parent would you have to be to disown your own blood?

Vernon wasn't really a bad father. He was just bullied by Dudley. He should have put his foot down, but Dudley didn't turn out too bad (sure be bullied some kids, but he matured eventually).

Lucius was just more concerned with his power than being an actual father. I know he loved Draco, but he showed it in a weird way I guess.

I don't think Arthur was a bad father. Some things are more important than money, and I commend him for taking a job that he found satisfactory than one that paid a lot and kept him at work all the time. He was already working a lot of time, but if he got a higher paying job, he would be at work a lot more. I think Arthur is an ideal father.

i agreee with Hraesvelg.

for me it goes Vernon, then Lucius, then Barty, then by a long shot Arthur. Arthur is the best father in the whole series IMO.

But about one thing I am sure all of them love their sons!

If he had spent more time wit him there wouldnt be no tom riddle.. or sommin

@solsis

I don't think so. Snape vowed to protect Harry only coz he was LILY'S son. But he still hated him of being JAMES' son. In 6 years, Snape made Harry suffer much more than Voldermort. That's only coz of the MARAUDERS or particularly JAMES bullying him!!

JAMES.

Well Lucius wasn't a bad father in a way of spoiling his son, but more in the sense of over protecting him. Not only did Lucius pass on his views of so called "mudbloods" onto Draco, but he hid the true world from his only son. It is very evident that Lucius deaply loves his son, even Voldemort could see that, but eventually it is his protective-ness over Draco that makes the story. Draco I think became the bully because of his ignorence of what people, such as Harry, went through. Lucius hid the death and tradegy left behind by Voldemort, and fixed every little problem Draco had with a couple Gallions (im sorry i cannot spell) When Draco finally has to do something in HBP, his father is gone, locked up in Azkaban. There is no longer anyone to hide behind, and that, I think is what nearly causes his destruction.

Though Barty was ignorent, his son still had control over his own decitions. No matter how hard you try, once someone believes that the people on the "good side" if you will are the ones who must be punished, it is nearly impossible to convert them back. SUre Barty could have done more, but overall it was his son who chose his own path.

Vernon is an interesting case. It was hard to decide if he was worse or not, but in the end I think h is the better father. Look at it this way: Vernon is not a father who spoils his son, but a father who fears his son, and thus does anything to please him. He tried to make his son the best he could, he thought by giving him everything he would be happy. I have come to believe this is a parent's main goal. Vernon tried, hard by that matter, and thus should not be veiwed as a bad father.

DO i even have to explain Arthur? I personally do not see him as being a bad father...

@xXSweeneyXx...
I see how you could dislike James after his childhood was receiled, but this question is about parenting. James oviously cared very much about his family. After all, he died for them. Sure he was cruel to Snape, but the type of father he was we don't know. Sure he could have been terrible, but since he did die for his family, we have to infer that he was a good father.

Well I hope this sums it up...

~Penguin098~

Penguin098, that's a great analysis. That's exactly what I had in mind when I started this poll. You nailed it. However, I still think Vernon was worse than Lucius. I think some of the things Lucius wanted to protect Draco from were so horrible that I understand him. Lucius was the leader of the D.E.s, a D.E. in the rank of Bellatrix (Voldemort trusted the two of them with his horcruxes!). To achieve that he must've have done many horrible things. He was aware of the cruelty of these acts and he obviously didn't find them pleasurable (unlike Bellatrix). Otherwise, he wouldn't try to protect Draco from them. Keeping Draco in the dark wasn't a good idea, but I can understand Lucius. I fully agree with everything else you wrote and once again that was a great post.

So far, Barty had more votes than the other three fathers combined. Vernon has 2 times more votes than Lucius and Arthur together. Barty was the least involved parent of the four. He was very dedicated to his work, but more so to honesty and justice. I don't think the fans who picked Barty think he was a bad parent because he let his son rot in Azakabn. I think they picked him because he didn't stop him from becoming a D.E. in the 1st place. He ignored his family, he so dedicated to his career that he didn't even notice when his son slipped up. With that in mind, I'd say most fans agree that parents play a huge role in their children's lives and that children need some guidance in their youth.

Vernon comes 2nd. Most fans noticed Vernon had no control over his son. I feel Penguin098 really gave a good analysis of Vernon. Vernon didn't know how to control Dudley so he thought Dudley would be good if he got whatever he wanted. The result was a typical bully, a little tyrant. I picked Vernon and in my opinion he was a weak parent. Everything opposite from his physical appearance. The roles in that family were reversed. Vernon and Petunia probably wanted to be good parents, but they didn't know how to say no to their son. What disgusted me also a lot was the way they treated Harry. No fatherly/motherly feelings whatsoever in spite of the fact that they were parents themselves (and unlike the Malfoys, no real traumas from the past to explain their behaviour either). The Dursleys were a dysfunctional family.

In the end, Lucius and Arthur. The two men who hate each other, seem so different and in the end they get 15% together. Lucius gets 11% and Arthur only 4%. Arthur is good parent without a doubt. Most fans don't think he should've taken a better paid job when it was offered to him to secure his family a better life. It was also mentioned that Molly should have tried to find a job. Lucius is a more interesting case. Vile and cruel, probably a killer and a D.E., probably the only really evil character of the four mentioned, yet most fans wouldn't say he was worst parent you could get.

They've all made mistakes. Barty was a bad father but I don't think Barty Snr can be blamed for the choices his son made. Barty Jnr chose to become a Death Eater. Many other characters had bad childhoods too but they didn't become Death Eaters.

And Vernon.
Barty was a lot more crazy then Him though.

I wished that Barty Jr. wouldn't have been so crazy. he could have been a good guy and then david tennant could have been more involved in the movies. but it was what it was. i still think that barty senior should have paid more attention to his son. and maybe thought twice before sending him to azkaban, even though, yes yes, he had done bad things.

They all have there bad points

in a way i pity Barty jr...