Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry seems like it would be a huge place absolutely full of teachers to keep tabs on what seems like thousands of students; after all, it seems that every single witch and wizard in England attended the school. Strangely, there are actually very few people in each year group, and therefore, not that many teachers.
We’ve listed each person to have held a teaching role at the school over the course of Harry Potter’s time in attendance (not including those who arrived after Voldemort’s rise to power) and decided on the worst thing about each of them.
Filius Flitwick: Changed His Appearance
There wasn’t really anything wrong with Flitwick as a teacher; he was pretty much the most consistently nice of all of them.
However, he looked completely different in The Philosopher’s Stone in comparison to the films that followed. That’s a little confusing, right?
Pomona Sprout: Didn’t Care Much About Neville
Professor Sprout falls into a similar bracket as Flitwick. She seemed quite genuinely nice to all of her students and was well-liked.
The only thing she ever did ‘wrong’ was dismissed Neville when he passed out in The Chamber Of Secrets.
Rolanda Hooch: Seemingly Disappeared
Madame Hooch was the Quidditch teacher at Hogwarts. She had quite an important role during the first film/book as she was the one to teach Harry how to play Quidditch. After that, however, she sort of disappeared.
Surely you can learn more about flying than just what they were shown in the first year? And where was she during the Battle Of Hogwarts?
Minerva McGonagall: Was A Bit Too Stern
Minerva was a fan favorite the entire way through the Harry Potter series. Her quippy one-liners combined with her caring persona were the highlight of the character.
However, there were times when she was just a little too stern for her own good. Surely she could have signed Harry’s Hogsmeade form?
Sibyl Trelawney: Wasn’t Good At Her Job
Trelawney was hired by Dumbledore because her inherited gift showed itself a couple of times.
This doesn’t really seem like a valid reason to give someone a teaching job, and she proved herself totally incapable and a waste of a paycheck.
Rubeus Hagrid: Took Too Many Animal Risks
Hagrid was another strange one. He was given the role of groundskeeper as an act of kindness, and he did a good job.
However, he didn’t have any reason to land the Care Of Magical Creatures job, because he wasn’t a teacher. He just kept endangering the lives of his students with weird animals instead.
Horace Slughorn: Was Unprofessional
For any teacher to openly admit and brag about his favorite students is pretty unprofessional. To open up a club where only the most elite of students are selected for attendance is ever weirder.
Keeping pictures of your past students on a table is just beyond explanation.
Remus Lupin: Made Himself Look Suspicious
Of course, Lupin was truly a good teacher and a good man. However, when Harry, Hermione, and Ron confront him and Sirius Black in the Shrieking Shack, he makes himself look weirdly suspicious and threatening (“Hermione you really are the brightest witch of your age”) for absolutely no reason.
Gilderoy Lockheart: Was A Faker
He was arrogant and annoying from the very start of The Chamber Of Secrets but the one thing we didn’t expect Lockheart to be was evil.
He ended the film by revealing that he simply stole the stories of other wizards, and ended up trying to wipe the memories of his students.
Severus Snape: Bullied His Students
No matter how much Snape redeemed himself eventually, he wasn’t a good teacher.
He spent most of his lessons picking on those he wasn’t fond of and embarrassing them in front of their peers.
Albus Dumbledore: Forced Harry To Understand Riddles
The major flaw with Dumbledore’s character doesn’t really have much to do with his teaching style, as we never actually saw him teaching.
The worst thing he ever did was indirectly cause hundreds of deaths because he made Harry take months longer than necessary to figure out what he had to do by giving him riddles instead of facts.
Dolores Umbridge: Was Evil
The most hated character in Harry Potter (possibly the most hated in all of literature?) was Dolores Umbridge.
Her terrible attitude and arrogance combined with the fact that it took so long for her to get her comeuppance was genuinely hard to read at times.
Barty Crouch Jr.: Wasn’t Really Alastor Moody
You can’t really blame Alistor Moody for this issue, but as a famous dark wizard catcher, he probably should have been a bit more prepared for Barty Crouch Jr.’s attack...
Anyway, while disguised as Moody, Crouch literally allowed for the rise of the Dark Lord. That’s quite bad.
Quirinus Quirrell: Had Voldemort On The Back Of His Head
Similarly, the stuttering Professor Quirrell had some pretty terrible affiliations with Voldemort.
It was his fault that Voldemort was actually brought inside the castle, with Quirrell attempting to allow Voldemort to rise again, even if he did actually fail.