It's never easy to be an actor taking over a beloved role from another actor, especially one as emblematic as Albus Dumbledore, let alone  find a way to make it one's own. But Michael Gambon did just that when he was thrust into the Hogwarts Headmaster's magical shoes starting with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban — after the sorrowful passing of the original Dumbledore portrayer, Richard Harris.

It took some time for Gambon to find his signature take on the professorial father figure to Harry Potter, but throughout the rest of the film series he evolved and continued to flex his stellar acting muscles until making his name truly synonymous with the gravitas of the character.

He certainly had a number of memorable scenes in the film adaptations, but judging purely on a scale of EPIC-ness, here's our ranked list of the FIVE most epic Michael Gambon as Dumbledore moments in the Harry Potter franchise.

#5 – “Harry, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?!”

This is of course from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and it makes the list with a bit of notoriety to it. It definitely belongs in the Gambon canon, but this line divides Harry Potter fans across the internet and beyond. The line is important to the plot of both the book and film, but as meme-ers have gleefully pointed out over the years since the film's release, Gambon went a direction with his reading that veered from J.K. Rowling's description in the book.

Much has been made of the fact that J.K. Rowling described Dumbledore in the book as having asked Harry the all-important question “calmly.” Gambon, meanwhile, in the film asks the question with a sense of heated urgency as he grabs Harry by the shoulders. It was then Gambon who took some heat from fans for the acting choice.

But Gambon also brought that same intensity and sense of power to other key moments in the film where it made the Dumbledore of the book leap off the page in a fun and exciting way, so let's forgive him this one curious moment. Also, J.K. Rowling has made some far more inflammatory writerly choices in her Twitter musings post-Harry Potter, so maybe we shouldn't take every word she writes so seriously anyway. Maybe it's Gambon who made the better choice here.

Or even if you didn't care for the controversial delivery, consider it endearing to know that a larger-than-life figure (and actor) is fallible like the imperfect rest of us, and think of it as him simply bringing more humanity to the character.

#4 – “It is not in the nature of a dementor to be forgiving, but you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

This is from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as Gambon delivers a powerful sermon to the entire assembled Hogwarts student body in the Great Hall. He exudes wisdom and heart with his prescient words, playing the role of psychologist as he tries to instill an important life lesson about positivity to these young minds.

As the dementors have left their post at Azkaban to pivot to working for Voldemort, Dumbledore is warning his wide-eyed Hogwarts brood of the role that one's outlook plays in warding off dementors. They infamously feed on human happiness and replace it with feelings of depression and despair, but if you don't allow a dementor to sap your good vibes, they look elsewhere to fulfill their gloomy destiny.

As Dumbledore magically flicks his wrist to bring back fire to an unlit candle, Gambon's humanity shines through as well.

#3 – “It was foolish of you to come here tonight Tom. The Aurors are on their way.”

This line is from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and it's a serious wand drop moment for Gambon. In this one simple statement, there's more shade being thrown than at a park designed for determatologists' kids. Having the gall to call He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named not even by his title of Lord Voldemort, but by his pre-evil overlord first name of “Tom” is the ultimate in badass wizardry.

Then to call him “foolish” for showing up at all to this much-hyped battle without even so much as flinching as he brandishes his wand heading in Tommy Boy's direction is some next-level Dumbledore/Gambon psychological warfare. Kudos to Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort for playing off of Gambon so well here, and letting in the slightest hint of fear to his eyes.

#2 – “So, when the time comes, the boy must die?” “Yes, yes, he must die.”

This conversation, between Snape and Dumbledore, is from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It takes place after Dumbledore comes to the realization that Harry Potter himself must be one of the Horcruxes, and therefore Voldemort can only be destroyed if Harry dies too. You feel the true weight of Gambon's words with his heart-wrenching cadence, even as you feel his internal wheels spinning to try to think up an alternate solution.

#1 – “Please…”

This one probably doesn't need much explanation. It's from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and is Gambon's final line before Dumbledore's death. He oozes humanity as he pleas the word to his lifelong friend Snape, who can't reveal his true colors yet. Then, as suddenly as he says it, he's hit with the death sentence “Avada kedavra” curse and plummets to his death.

One of the saddest — if not the saddest — moments in the entire book/film franchise and only made more so by the life Gambon imbued the character with throughout his career-defining run.

Probably part of makes news of his passing so tragic is that Harry Potter fans have had to face Dumbledore's death now in multiple forms — first in the book, then when Richard Harris passed away, then Gambon as Dumbledore in the film adaptation, and finally now Gambon himself.

It's a sad day in Hogwarts and here in the muggle world to be sure, but we should heed Michael Gambon as Dumbledore's words and remember to turn on the light of these magical movie memories even in this darkest of times.