Dumbledore is one of the most well-known and also controversial figures in Harry Potter. While he started off as a benevolent mentor figure to Harry who likely had a few secrets, he turned out to be a person who used and manipulated Harry to try and help save the world. We also learned of Dumbledore’s past with Grindelwald and his troubling past when it comes to Muggles, making it harder for many fans who like Dumbledore to defend him. As a headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore might not have been as great as it seems at face value, and there are likely other professors that could have done a better, more focused job.
Here are eight Hogwarts professors who would have made better headmasters than Dumbledore.
THE REAL MAD-EYE MOODY
While Mad-Eye Moody was technically not ever a professor, he could have done a decent job of it. The real Mad-Eye was kept in a trunk while Barty Crouch Jr. used Polyjuice Potion to take over his likeness.
However, if the real Moody wherever headmaster, he would have been very serious about security. While he is rather gruff, his heart is mostly in the right place, and he was a formidable force in the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore did his best to keep Hogwarts safe but was often preoccupied with so many different concerns and issues.
POMONA SPROUT
One big issue with Dumbledore is how he definitely had favorites. Overall, many of the Hogwarts professors don’t do a very good job of remaining unbiased, and there is a lot of favoritism and weird rivalry depending on which house the professors come from. Professor Sprout isn’t one of these teachers. She would have made a very fair and open-minded headmistress, given her Hufflepuff traits, with an eye for taking care of things. Dumbledore might have seemed caring but was generally rather aloof. A more gentle headmaster like Pomona Sprout might be better for the student body overall.
FILIUS FLITWICK
Professor Flitwick is another professor at Hogwarts who is likeable and never shows a dark side. He is also a talented wizard when it comes to charms, and he would likely have made a very fun and reliable headmaster. He never picked favorites in his class and was overall a very reasonable and kind professor for students to work with.
As such, he would have been a good choice for headmaster and wouldn’t have had so many other things to worry about. While Dumbledore felt he needed to be at Hogwarts to protect Harry and keep Voldemort at bay, this meant that his actual headmaster duties often fell to the wayside.
CHARITY BURBAGE
While not much is known about Charity Burbage, it would have been an important and powerful statement to have the professor of Muggle Studies be headmistress of Hogwarts.
Her murder in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is tragic and wrong, but, in another world, she could have made a fair-minded headmistress who respected Hogwarts students of all backgrounds. It’s unlikely that Muggle Studies professor ever held the title at Hogwarts, and this would have been a major step forward for the school.
HORACE SLUGHORN
Horace Slughorn is definitely not a perfect figure or Hogwarts professor by any means, but he was a good person in the end. He had some bad habits of collecting the students he deemed most worthy and most likely to become famous or influential. So, he probably wouldn’t have been a headmaster who was super focused on equality. However, he was a capable wizard and rather charismatic and charming. And, unlike Dumbledore, he wouldn’t have been spending all of his time trying to be one of the most influential and important wizards of the age while still being headmaster of a school at the same time.
REMUS LUPIN
Remus Lupin was definitely one of the best professors that Harry ever had. Of course, Lupin did have a connection to Harry that made him a strong mentor figure. However, Lupin did also go out of his way to try and help and teach all of his students, and he was a skilled teacher as well as a capable wizard.
If he was headmaster, he would have been able to show people that a werewolf is not someone to fear. He would likely have been very invested in his job and cared about the well-being as well as the intellectual pursuits of his students. He is also a character who is good at giving advice, making him someone that Hogwarts students could trust and relate to.
HAGRID
Hagrid might not be the most skilled wizard out there since he never got the chance to complete his formal education because he was blamed for a death that was actually caused by Tom Riddle, but he would have made a caring headmaster. Hagrid has a good heart and loves animals as well as people. He is very kind and knows more about the castle than almost anyone else. He would have focused more on the emotional care of students and keeping Hogwarts looking great. But, considering that Dumbledore was somewhat neglectful of the student body in many ways, Hagrid would have been a refreshing change.
MINERVA MCGONAGALL
McGonagall is the only person on this list who does actually take the title of headmistress. After Dumbledore, she becomes the head of Hogwarts, a job which she rightfully deserves. McGonagall might have been strict and expected a lot of her students, but she was also caring and devoted. She is a powerful witch who could have kept Hogwarts safe while still making sure that the academics of the school were up to par. Unlike Dumbledore, she could have focused more solely on the school during the time Harry was there instead of having to worry so completely about saving the world from Voldemort. She is definitely one of the best professors at Hogwarts, and she deserves to take up the title after Dumbledore was gone and Hogwarts was restored after the Battle of Hogwarts.