Reading books sucks, unless those books teach you something like, say, magic.  These 7 masters of mystics have done their reading and know all the best, most flashy, and powerful spells in the book(s). 

7. Malificent

Best known for her master Sleeping Beauty curse, this mistress of the dark arts has a real fire inside her.  Yup, a dragon joke.  Sure the pretty Prince Charming stabbed her an apparently killed her, but the Kingdom Hearts video game series showed she can spring back from anything - even a little boy with a giant key.

6. Voldemort

The Dark Lord has cheated death and has remained one of the most fearsome names in magic even though he was beaten by a little baby.  Hubris aside, Voldemort’s got a bevy of scary spells from the Killing Curse to mind control and talking to snakes (and he looks like one too).  Maybe if he stopped fighting adults and took kids seriously he’d be alive and higher on the list.

5. Dumbledore

Harry Potter’s mentor was a famous and respect wizard before his teaching career began, earning the Order of Merlin, First Class for all his achievements.  If there’s a spell in the Harry Potter Universe, Dumbledore knows if and has probably improved upon it.

4. Sephiroth

He’s beaten death and kept a fabulous head of hair.  Genetically engineered Sephiroth acquires an armada of black materia (magic) including the massive Meteor spell, which he casts in order to destroy the entire world.  Then he grows one wing.  I guess he needed to do some more reading.

3. Dr. Strange

The Sorcerer Supreme.  His true limits are unknown, leaving us only to imagine what tricks the Doctor still has up his sleeves.  Doctor Strange has faced off against demons from various dimensions, confronted Galactus, the devourer of worlds, and even faced off against the omnipotent Infinity Gauntlet.  Even Doctor Strange’s mortality is in question having made a deal with the Eternity to live as long as he likes.  Pretty sweet, heh.

2. Merlin

Merlin’s power comes simply because when you add all his appearances together, he has too many powers to list.  First orchestrating the birth of King Arthur and then serving as his chief advise, Merlin showed his wisdom but kept many tricks to fend of Morgan Le Fay and other evil forces (though adultery can break through any defense) from shapeshifting to frankly, all the spells in the Harry Potter-verse (remember, Order of Merlin).  So he’s got to be pretty impressive to have a whole wizard ranking system named after him, right.  I see prequel!

1. Gandalf

The one wizard to rule them all. More than 2,000 years old Gandalf has some experience behind him.  As one of the powerful Istar, Gandalf was charged with helping Middle-Earth defend itself against evil forces.  Even as one of the youngest of his race, Gandalf earned a ring of power, Narya, the Ring of Fire which increased his power and left him free of the evil Sauron’s influence.  During the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gandalf shows only slight displays of his immense power, often at times when no mortal efforts would suffice, like challenging the Balrog and repelling Saruman’s mystical spells.