Posthumously, of course, but Regulus taking on Voldemort's patented torture potion at seventeen. Not to mention that because Kreacher never mentioned being told to make him drink, he must have forced it all down of his own volition. Even Dumbledore only got through three and a half cups. Out of eleven.
And his note! "I know I will be dead long before you read this... I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione breaking into Gringotts, stealing something from a high security vault, and riding a dragon to escape. If that's not awesome, I don't know what is.
Neville killing Nagini with the sword of Godric Gryffindor while being on fire. Right after he pulled a Shut UP, Hannibal right at Voldemort, just when it looks like their last hope is dead.
Only that? Remember that he's the sole resistance leader when Harry arrives. He shows no care about his severe injuries, he's goddamn pissed when Harry tries to stop them from engaging in an open fight with Voldemort and reacts to Harry's request to take on Nagini with barely any emotion.
If there's anything good that came from this war, it's that it forced Neville to grow up and take a level in badass.
In a way, even what Voldemort says to Neville is a CMOA. The boy has been seen as a joke and a loser for years, and now the dark lord, the wizard that people are afraid to speak of by name, obviously respects Neville both as a worthy opponent and potential ally.
A moment of awesome has to go to Neville's grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, even though it's only spoken of and not shown. When a wizard tries to resist the Death Eaters, Death Eaters kidnap any family members they can use to force compliance. When Neville starts up a rebellion at Hogwarts, Death Eaters go after his gran. It doesn't end well for them.
"Little old witch, living alone... they probably didn't think they had to send anyone particularly powerful. Anyway, Dawlish is still in St. Mungo's and Gran's on the run." Bear in mind, Dawlish was a top Auror with "Outstanding" in all of his N.E.W.T.s.
Even Kreacher and the House Elves get a moment of awesome.
As well as his simple response to his reasoning. "He spat at you."
In the middle of Deathly Hallows, Dobby gets one by teleporting Ron, Harry, and Hermione from right in front of Bellatrix. Unfortunately, it also ends in his death, which was one of the most poignant scenes in the series.
Especially his reply to Bellatrix's: "How dare you defy your masters?!"
"Dobby has no master! Dobby is a free elf!"
This exchange:
Ron: So Dumbledore left me his Deluminator because he knew I'd leave you? Harry: No -- it was because he knew you would come back.
Hagrid producing a brick wall from the motorbike.
That's got nothing on the dragon flame that he used as a turbo booster.
Narcissa Malfoy in Deathly Hallowssaving Harry's ass by lying to Voldemort's face -- but only when she was sure that Draco was still alive.
Especially when one considers that Voldemort is especially talented at Legilimency, which means that he has very little trouble finding out if his followers are lying to him. The only way to block it is through Occlumency, which Order of the Phoenix established took a lot of control over one's emotions. Which means that Narcissa, while scared and shaken and desperate to find her son, discovers that Harry survived and that Draco is still alive, and is able to remain sufficiently emotionally neutral to prevent Voldemort from suspecting or realizing what was up.
Second to last chapter in the final book: "Of course it is happening inside your head, but why on earth should that mean that it isn't real?"
Damn near everything McGonagall does in Deathly Hallows -- CHARGE!
To clarify, Harry almost gets flattened by a whole army of transfigured desks, McGonagall running after them shouting, hair undone and a massive cut on her cheek, clearly so into the battle that she doesn't even see him.
No, seriously, everything she does. The moment she steps into Ravenclaw tower, McGonagall just defines this trope. She doesn't take crap. She doesn't take nonsense. War is coming, and by Merlin, the teachers and body will be armed, the school will be evacuated. You stand in her way - you don't stand a chance. Everything she does reveals the incredible bravery, loyalty, and love she has for Hogwarts.
Her defiance of the evil Carrows is also awesome.
Amycus: He can punish them. Couple of kids more or less, what’s the different? McGonagall: Only the difference between truth and lies, courage and cowardice. A difference, in short, which you and your sister seem unable to appreciate. But let me make one thing very clear. You are not going to pass off your many ineptitudes on the students of Hogwarts. I shall not permit it. And if you know McGonagall, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that come hell or high water, she is NOT going to permit it. And this is before Harry appeared; as far as she knew at that moment, if it had come to a fight, she would have stood alone.
McGonagall agreeing to defend the school against Voldemort himself. "We teachers are rather good at magic, you see."
Also, her fight with Snape where she demonstrates just how a Transfiguration master fights.
Add to that when McGonagall straight up told Slughorn that treason is not an option.
Slughorn: "My word! What a to-do! I’m not at all sure whether this is wise, Minerva. He is bound to find a way in, you know, and anyone who has tried to delay him will be in most grievous peril— McGonagall: I shall expect you and the Slytherins in the Great Hall in twenty minutes, also. If you wish to leave with your students, we shall not stop you. But if any of you attempt to sabotage our resistance or take up arms against us within this castle, then Horace, we duel to kill. Slughorn: (aghast) Minerva! McGonagall: The time has come for Slytherin House to decide upon its loyalties. Go and wake your students, Horace.
'"Our headmaster is taking a short break", said McGonagall, pointing to a Snape-shaped hole in the window'.
Even better was what she said to the student body: "He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk."
And, of course, there's the moment she animates every freakin' statue and suit of armor in the whole goddamn castle to fight, shouting the following:
McGonagall: Hogwarts is threatened! Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!
Hermione doing a memory charm on a Xenophilius Lovegood right before she blew the floor away and apparated in mid-air with both Ron and Harry to cover up Ron's presence.
Hermione managing to come up with a good lie while being horribly tortured was pretty cool - as well as the fact she managed to save the Magical Bag of Awesome from the Death Eaters by stuffing it down her sock.
Also, after that, when Hermione tells Griphook they targeted her because she's a Mudblood, and when Ron mutters she shouldn't call herself that, she says she's a "Mudblood, and proud of it!"
Horace Slughorn leading the Slytherins and probably everyone in Hogsmeade back to the final battle, where he then proceeds to attack Voldemort himself head-on. People who have always been brave and strong doing brave and strong things? Awesome. A geriatric hedonist finding the strength to overcome his deepest fears in the eleventh hour? Running headfirst into battle with the MOST POWERFUL DARK WIZARD OF ALL TIME!!?? CROWNING MOMENT of Awesome.
Also, Ron saving Harry from drowning and then yelling at him for being an idiot once they're on dry ground.
And Ron losing it and disarming Bellatrix when he hears her about to kill Hermione.
Harry's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Voldemort. Made even better by the fact it's an allusion to an equally awesome speech of the same nature given by Dumbeldore.
If you'd like, I'll put up the full speech. But frankly, it's a lot of work...
Snape giving Detention to Ginny and Co. It doesn't sound awesome at first, but think about it: instead of leaving them to the Carrows (where they would surely be tortured), he sends them into the Forest with their friend Hagrid. And he still maintains his cover as Voldemort's right-hand man
Hell, just the actions of the students in general during the Death Eater regime. Many of the DA members willingly suffer torture and beatings from the Carrows and their supporters rather than submit to them. Seamus in particular was tortured and maimed so badly Harry didn't even recognize him until he spoke, and the kid still had the strength to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts. That's Oireland for you.
The Battle of Hogwarts. FULL. STOP.
Just before Harry gets his Big Damn Heroes / Only Mostly Dead moment after his supposed first death, the other good guys are kicking every named Death Eater's ass, and due to the fact that at one point the writing gets delightfully vague (e.g. "Dolohov fell with a scream at Flitwick's hands"), if you imagine bare handed asskicking in the place of wands, it can get even more awesome, mostly from the sheer thought that these sadistic, morally bankrupt assholes are literally getting the shit beaten out of them.
The fact that Sybil Trelawney, who was almost a complete Joke Character, started dropping crystal balls on the Death Eaters' heads and the first person she took out was Fenrir Motherfucking Greyback, the most dangerous, powerful, and vicious werewolf alive. And note that this is the same werewolf who singlehandedly took down Bill Weasley, who was a professional cursebreaker, making him a very powerful wizard. Bill couldn't take him down with all the jinxes and hexes at his disposal, but Trelawney took him down with, of all spells, Wingardium Leviosa.
Fridge Brilliance dictates that Neville was fighting the entire second-half of the battle only with the Sword of Gryffindor. Remember, his wand got thrown away and he wouldn't have had the time or inclination to pick up another one. This that retroactively doubles the amount of awesome right there which makes it the second time Neville had gone into battle without usable magic.
McGonagall telling Slughorn that it was time for Slytherin House to get its collective ass in gear, and making it known that those who are fighting for Hogwarts will not hold back if they are betrayed.
"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" CMOA of the entire series. When you read this sentence, you know that Bellatrix will die just like the bitch she is.
Molly then wipes Bellatrix' smile off her face, orders everyone else out of the way ("she's mine!") and proceeds to give the (second) most dangerous witch of the series such a beating that the stones under their feet heat up and crack before the fight even reaches its climax. Oh yeah, and she wins.
Dean Thomas gets two in the final battle. For starters, charging into battle without a wand of his own, and followed later when he was shown battling with a wand he had won for himself, clearly meaning that he, an unarmed teenager, managed to wrestle an armed, trained-to-kill Death Eater's wand away and made it his own, which he was now putting to good use. Or he took it of afallen comrade.
Before the battle, all of the Hogwarts students are called into the Great Hall, where McGonagall informs them of what's happening and what they'll do about it. Before the school starts evacuating, Voldemort speaks to them from the Shrieking Shack, saying that he won't harm anyone in the school if they give him Harry, saying they have one hour to comply. After the message, Pansy Parkinson decides to be a typical Slytherin and stands up, pointing at Harry and shrieking "IT'S POTTER! HE'S RIGHT THERE! SOMEBODY GET HIM!" Nobody moves towards Harry. Instead, the other three tables all stand up in unison, draw their wands, and point them at the Slytherins, ready to curse them into oblivion if any of them make a move towards Harry.
*Punch* "And that's the second time we've saved your life tonight, you two-faced bastard!" In one action and fourteen words, Ron (who arguably suffered the most from him) pays back Malfoy for all the crap he's taken from him over the years.
The Circling Monologue in the final battle. "So it all comes down to this, doesn’t it? Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does... I am the true master of the Elder Wand."
Students call each other by their last names, so when Harry calls him "Riddle," he's treating him like a fellow student: a complete equal.
When the Dementors attacked Harry, Ron, and Hermione when they were going to the Shrieking Shack. Both Ron and Hermione cast their Patronuses to try and repel them to no effect, while Harry can't even bring himself to try. Before the Dementors come to them, three Patronuses rescue them. Who is it that sent them? Not teachers, Aurors, or members of the Order; it's Seamus Finnegan, Ernie Macmillan, and Luna Lovegood, using what they learned under Harry in Dumbledore's Army. This gives Harry the hope he needs to summon his own Patronus. Particularly awesome when you realize that the trio who saved them represent the three Hogwarts Houses who were allowed to stay and fight against Voldemort.
Just before the final duel between Harry and Voldemort, when everyone thinks Harry is dead. Harry sneaks through the battle, under his Invisibility Cloak, saving half a dozen people without fanfare. When he finally reaches where the main battle is being fought, he sees Voldemort blast back McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn and start to turn his wand towards Molly Weasley. Harry casts a Shield Charm, saving her, and throws off his cloak, appearing alive in front of all his friends.
When, towards the end of the Battle, even the creatures living in the castle and its grounds join in; the Thestrals (led by Buckbeak), Grawp, the centaurs (who were previously neutral), the house-elves...
Snape's reply to Dumbledore telling him that he wants Snape to kill him:
Also, his What the Hell, Hero? speech to Dumbledore upon the revelation that Harry, whom Snape has been protecting throughout the entire series, must die in order to defeat Voldemort. It takes balls to call someone out. It takes strong, plentiful, titanium-coated balls to do it to the most powerful, respected wizard of the age.
A subtle one, but Harry after Dobby's funeral finally completing his Character Development and growing from a rash, angsty teenager who lets his emotions get away with him into a mature, effective leader who makes careful, informed decisions. It's just so very satisfying to finally feel like we can trust our hero to not screw up.
Harry sees Snape die a nasty death, blood and memories leaking everywhere, and Snape get his last CMOA - "Look at me." So, depressed, weary, and tired, he drops Ginny and Hermione off to mourn over Fred, who just died. Then, he goes to Dumbledore's office and discovers Snape loved his mom, Snape just died without any recognition for being a hero, and now, oh yeah, Harry has to die. After going through all this, the battle, the mourning, and memories, the pain, the shock, he gets up and manages enough sanity to walk out, all alone, without any comfort but his deceased family, and find Voldemort. He has no idea how badly, or even if, Voldemort will torture him. He doesn't know anything else, but just trusts Dumbledore, that Voldemort'll be mortal. He doesn't know if Neville will get Nagini in the end, (which he does, ON FIRE), and he doesn't know if any'll bring Voldemort down in the end. He stands there, silently saying goodbye to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, and is completely willing to die, on his own. Wow.
Made even worse by the song "Open at the Close" by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls. If there's a Crowning Moment of Tearjerking, that song makes it.
Of course, everything that Snape does and did counts as one of these; but in particular, his sheer nerve and force of will in obeying Voldemort, playing the loyal servant and even managing to stay in the same room as him, not only concealing his triple agent status, but also the unimaginable hatred he must have felt towards the person who murdered Lily. Not just betrayed her, like Sirius (or so it seemed to him) or Wormtail, or even his enemy who'd stolen her away; the one who struck her down, the one who actually killed her. The man must have had a backbone made of adamantium.
Damn, Harry names his SON after him, stating Snape was the bravest man he ever met, and that is including people like Neville(killing Nagini while on fire, with a SWORD) and Dumbledore (who orchestrated his own death).
While the Battle of Hogwarts was amazing and all, Harry's rescue of all those Muggleborn witches and wizards in the Ministry was a shining moment for him (which makes this troper bitterly disappointed with the movie).
"Their blood is pure," said Harry (as Runcorn), as his deep voice echoed impressively through the hall. "Purer than many of yours, I dare say!"
Draco gets a small one early on in the book, when Harry and the others have been captured. Hermione's just thrown a jinx at him, messing up his face horribly, and the Death Eaters need Draco to identify him. What does Draco, who not too long ago wanted Harry dead and is under incredible pressure from the likes of his desperate mother and father, not to mention Bellatrix and Greyback, do?
"I can't- I can't be sure." Then, after being hassled by his father to check again. "I don't know."
Hermione erasing all her parents' memories of her. Every. Last. One. Granted, she was planning on bringing them back but still! Not only did that show her caring for them, but it also shows her courage.
While I think that action pretty much sums up why Hermione is a Gryffindor and not a Ravenclaw, her plan to restore her parents' memories wasn't "granted" at all - she could only do it if she lived long enough to find them, and one of the reasons that she erased the memories in the first place was so that if she was killed, or Voldemort won and she had to spend the rest of her life on the run/in hiding, her parents could be happy in their ignorance. You'd want to spare your parents that kind of grief, wouldn't you? *feels immensely sorry for Hermione*
From the film, Professor McGonagall jumping to Harry's aid, then duelling Snape. Most people already have a very soft-spot for McGonagall - that admiration will launch itself into the stratosphere in this moment.
In the book, she's even more badass.
PIERTOTUM LOCOMOTOR!
Neville Longbottom. In the course of 3 pages, he bullrushes Voldemort (though unsuccessfully), shoots down his We Can Rule Together offer, gets set on fire while Petrified, then, in one fluid move, breaks free of the curse, pulls the sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat, and beheads Nagini. The first time I've ever cheered out loud while reading a book.
