I thought I'd let y'all know I just created a list for this on Ranker, focusing on each wizard in their prime. I should premise what I say with the fact that I've only read a summary of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, so I've neglected to include characters from it as I don't consider myself informed enough to draw strong conclusions there. With that aside, here's my list: https://www.ranker.com/list/best-wizard-duelists-in-harry-potter/mark-runyan?publish=true
1: Dumbledore. I get that he may have only beat Voldemort due to the Elder Wand at the Department of Mysteries, that said, he wasn't anywhere near his prime (he was over 100 years old), so I find it probable a Dumbledore in his prime would have beaten Voldemort in his. I could start rattling off a list of feats, but I think Dumbledore's a pretty obvious pick here outside Voldemort, he beat Grindelwald WITH the Elder Wand. Enough said.
2: Voldemort: Frequently mentioned (along with Dumbledore) as possibly the most gifted student Hogwarts ever saw and the greatest dark wizard of all time. He's pretty much the yard stick everyone else is measured by. Surviving a duel with Voldemort is one of the biggest wow-factors a person can have. So yeah, enough said.
3: Grindelwald: Usually said to have been the great dark wizard of all time before Voldemort, Grindelwald literally took over most of Europe and plunged the Wizarding World into war single-handedly. He beat everyone they sent at him to the point where everyone believed that only Dumbledore stood a chance of stopping him. Like the others above, enough said.
4: Alastor Moody: Now we're getting into the more debatable territory. As I said, I'm talking Moody in his prime. The Moody who allegedly put half the prisoners in Azkaban in their cells. The greatest auror of all time. Moody's feats during the period of the books are also somewhat impressive - he erects defensive spells Voldemort can't penetrate, he fights two death eaters at once on multiple occasions, but is beaten by Dolohov. I'm talking about the Moody who Voldemort respected as the most likely to be protecting Harry at the battle of the Seven Potters over even Kingsley Shacklebolt. Don't get me wrong, Bellatrix may have been better than Moody in his prime, I'm not sure. But I'm willing to bet, based on my impression from the books, that for every person Bellatrix defeated, Moody defeated two, so I'm giving prime Moody the edge. I'll admit that's entirely me buying into the hype though, I probably hedge my bets and have him lower as we don't actually see that level of bad-assery from him in the books.
5: Bellatrix Lestrange: As mentioned in the comments above, Bellatrix beat four wizards at once, injured Kingsley (who briefly dueled Voldemort one-on-one), injured and later murdered Tonks, defeated the Longbottoms who escaped Voldemort three times, etc. Her only big downside was getting killed by Molly Weasley, but I'd argue that that was largely the result of her underestimating Molly and a bit of unluck.
6: Severus Snape: Also debatable, particularly given how he was bullied by the Marauders in his early years. That said, Snape demonstrates a vast number of incredible feats in the 6th and 7th books. He's an incredible occlumens of course, shielding himself from the greatest Legilimens of all time. On top of that, he is the only other person to demonstrate the ability to fly without a broom. Snape briefly holds his own against McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick, utilizing magic reminiscent of Voldemort and Dumbledore's duel in the department of mysteries. The year before, he absolutely wrecked Harry who (one might remember) was able to hold his own briefly against Bellatrix in the Department of Mysteries. Snape is said to have known as many curses in his first year as most seventh years, he literally invents half-a-dozen himself, etc. Snape's a beast.
7. Kingsley Shacklebolt: We get to see him go toe-to-toe with Voldemort twice. Single-handedly even once, and he emerged unscathed each time. That's pretty much all you need to place at this level, but we know more about him to - Kingsley fought five death eaters at once and beat three in the fight while emerging unscathed. Kingsley defeated Rookwood. Kingsley defeated several death eaters single-handedly after using Voldemort's name. He was appointed to personally defend the Muggle prime minister. He was the best auror the Ministry had at the time and went on to become Minister of Magic. His only negative was getting beat by Bellatrix, but she's #5 on my list, so that's hardly damning.
8. Filius Flitwick: I'm conflicted about putting Flitwick this high, but I don't know if I could look at myself in the mirror if I didn't. He was a dueling champion after all, and you don't become dueling champion unless you're better than everyone else. That aside, his feats are pretty good as well, he duelled Yaxley to a standstill and beat Dolohov - who were probably the second and third strongest Death Eaters Voldemort had after Bellatrix.
9. Professor McGonagall: The Hamilton to Dumbledore's Washington, McGonagall is Dumbledore's second-in-command. She's known to be profoundly magically gifted from an early age and she's a master of transfiguration. On top of that, she joined Kingsley and Slughorn in dueling Voldemort for an extended period. Prior, she fought evenly with Snape in a duel filled with magic reminiscent of Voldemort and Dumbledore's duel and then drove him off when Flitwick and Sprout arrived to reinforce her.
10. Harry Potter: No, before you say it, I didn't try to squeeze Harry into this spot, he happened to move around quite a bit while I was making the list and then settled at #10. A quick reminder, I'm talking about Harry in his prime, when he's the Head Auror of the Ministry of Magic or the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. We see a lot of Harry in the books, and while not being the most magically impressive person, his reactions, quick thinking and dueling ability allowed him to hold his own against Bellatrix Lestrange briefly and even spar with Voldemort. In book 4, he dodges Voldemort's spells on a broken leg. He defeats death eater after death eater throughout the books, albeit with a fair share of losses, but by the end of the series, it isn't impossible to imagine that his talents would enable him to defeat the likes of Dolohov, Sirius or Yaxley on a good day. But that's beside the point, because he was a kid. Knowing all that about a much younger Harry, we now know he became one of the youngest aurors ever and then a celebrated head auror, joining the ranks of Rufus Scrimgeour and Alastor Moody. It's not to hard to imagine a prime Harry defeating Kingsley, McGonagall or Flitwick, so I'm willing to give him the number 10 spot.
11. Sirius Black: During the first Wizarding War, Sirius defied Voldemort twice and escaped. Later he dueled Antonin Dolohov, Voldemort's 2nd or 3rd best Death Eater, to a standstill. After Harry intervened and they defeated Dolohov, he went on to fight Bellatrix, yes Bellatrix, to a standstill as well, for apparently some time as they were the only two left fighting, but then he was killed when he laughed at her missing him with a stunning spell and let his guard down.
12-13. Yaxley/Dolohov: Voldemort's two best Death Eaters after Bellatrix. Dolohov helped murder the Prewetts, he duelled Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom single-handedly, despite a Silencing Charm forcing him to use non-verbal magic. He incapacitated Hermione and broke Neville's nose, and was only defeated by Harry in a moment of distrcaction. Shortly afterwards, he defeated a retired Alastor Moody, the greatest auror in recent memory. He then dueled Sirius to a standstill and later killed Remus at the battle of Hogwarts. Yaxley has a shorter list of accomplishments, but what makes him potentially greater than Dolohov is that Dolohov was defeated by Flitwick at the Battle of Hogwarts, while Yaxley dueled Flitwick to a standstill. Still, as that's a single accomplishment, I think it's a toss up between the two.
14. Hermione Granger: Like Harry, in the books she would be much further down the list. Even in the books, Hermione is one of the greatest prodigies of her time - brilliant, cunning, brave and magically gifted. Still, she isn't a particularly experienced duelist, and is defeated on several occasions (although she manages to make her mark frequently as well). That said, she goes on to become the Minister of Magic, and given her outspoken nature and her less than popular politics (e.g. SPEW), we can presume that's based on merit. Hermione is a massively gifted witch, it's hard to imagine her not being able to contend with the best in her prime.
15. James Potter: Defied Voldemort three times and escaped. James Potter was the main figure in the Marauders behind the animagus transformation, a testament to his skill in transfiguration, along with being one of McGonagall's star pupils. We can presume that as a talented quidditch player like Harry he also had excellent reflexes. All this points to a man who was probably an excellent duelist, so I'm inclined to place him above others who defied Voldemort, like Lily Potter, Amelia Bones and Frank and Alice Longbottom. I should note though that Amelia Bones could easily be up by Bellatrix and Severus if we take the vague statements at their word and believe she actually fought Voldemort AND for a substantial period of time, because that's pretty much unheard of in the Second Wizarding War. I just have doubts given that it's secondhand speculation.
That's my list: Let me know what y'all think.
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