Harry Potter fans have voted Severus Snape as their favourite character.

The character with the greasy locks, curling lip and biting remarks, played in the blockbuster film series by Alan Rickman, was the surprise winner in a public poll, coming out with 13,000 votes – 20 per cent of the 70,000 votes cast.

The survey, carried out by the books' publisher, Bloomsbury, put loyal swot Hermione Granger into second place.

Surprisingly, Harry Potter, the multi-million selling series's eponymous hero, only just makes it into the top five, taking fourth place behind Sirius Black but ahead of his chum Ron Weasley, who comes in at number five.

JK Rowling's, the writer behind the famous books, admits that Harry is her own favourite character, although she has admitted that she may be unusual in her preferences.

"Ron is generally more popular (I love him too, though). Now that I have finished writing the books, the character I would most like to meet for dinner is Dumbledore. We would have a lot to discuss, and I would love his advice; I think that everyone would like a Dumbledore in their lives,"

she said, before the poll opened.

Albus Dumbledore is ranked number eight in the poll, behind the delightfully eccentric Luna Lovegood and Ron's smart sister, Ginny Weasley. Trailing at the end of the top 10 are the house elf Dobby and Harry's rival, the bully Draco Malfoy.

The poll was launched in May with a list of 40 characters to choose from. The favourite characters outside the top 40 suggested by readers was Oliver Wood. Fang, Hagrid's dog, and the Fat Lady in the portrait at the entrance to Gryffindor gained the least votes with only one each.

Here’s a list of the full top 40 Harry Potter characters

1. Severus Snape
2. Hermione Granger
3. Sirius Black
4. Harry Potter
5. Ron Weasley
6. Luna Lovegood
7. Ginny Weasley
8. Albus Dumbledore
9. Dobby
10. Draco Malfoy
11. Remus Lupin
12. Neville Longbottom
13. Fred Weasley
14. Bellatrix Lestrange
15. Minerva McGonagall
16. Rubeus Hagrid
17. Lord Voldemort
18. Nymphadora Tonks
19. Gilderoy Lockhart
20. George Weasley
21. James Potter
22. Hedwig
23. Lily Potter
24. Lucius Malfoy
25. Molly Weasley
26. Cedric Diggory
27. Alastor Moody
28. Arthur Weasley
29. Kreacher
30. Dementors
31. Dolores Umbridge
32. Moaning Myrtle
33. Sybill Trelawney
34. Rita Skeeter
35. Filius Flitwick
36. Argus Filch
37. Dudley Dursley
38. Vincent Crabbe
39. Gregory Goyle
40. Cornelius Fudge