Hogwarts staff
The following are teachers and staff at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling. Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall and Rubeus Hagrid have their own pages.
For a complete list of subjects and held positions, see Hogwarts employees
Note on names
In canon, the forenames of Professors Binns, Sinistra and Vector have not been revealed, the characters simply referred to, according to the school custom, as Professor [Surname]. However the characters are named on a sheet of scribbles revealed by Rowling on her website.
The canonical worth of the sheet is debatable. It contains other names which are wrong, or are of characters who have never
appeared in canon, and references to clearly discarded concepts; this means that the information is sometimes discarded as
'non-canon'. Others accept the non-contradictory information due to it being unquestionably from Rowling (as opposed to other
names, such as 'Rolanda Hooch' or 'Quirinus Quirrell'), and without contradictory information. In this article, the names derived
from the sheet are included, but should not be accepted as unquestionable.
Cuthbert Binns
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Cuthbert Binns | |
| Species | Human (Ghost) |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
Cuthbert Binns teaches History of Magic and has the distinction of being the only teacher at Hogwarts who is a ghost. It is said that he was so old when he took a nap in a chair in the teachers lounge/staff room that he died in his sleep and simply got up to go teach his next class... as a ghost, but his teaching didn't change one bit; one could speculate that he doesn't know he's dead yet, were it not for the fact that in Harry's first class with him, Binns "floated through the blackboard".
His classes are infamous for being dreadfully boring. Binns does not engage with his students at all; rather, he drones interminable rote lectures about "The International Warlock Convention of 1289", or "a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers" in a monotonous voice described as sounding "like an old vacuum cleaner". So tied is he to his dull routine that he barely seems to notice he has students. On the one occasion when his class does attempt to quiz him on a historical subject, he cannot remember any of their names, and seems surprised that there is any class in front of him.
Some of the botched names he called his students:
- "O'Flaherty" (Seamus Finnigan)
- "Miss Grant" (Hermione Granger)
- "Miss Pennyfeather" (Parvati Patil)
- "Perkins" (Harry Potter)
His forename is derived from the sheet of scribbles, and has never been used by the author in any up-to-date source. However, it unquestionably derives from Rowling.
Binns has not appeared in the films. His explanation in the second
book of the legend of the Chamber of Secrets is instead given by
Professor McGonagall in the film. In the related video game, the explanation is given
by Flitwick.
Phineas Nigellus Black
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Phineas Nigellus Black | |
| Parentage | Pure-blood |
| Actor | John Atterbury |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix |
Phineas Nigellus Black (1847–1926), more commonly known as Phineas Nigellus, is the great-great-grandfather of
He does not get along well with his great-great-grandson, young people, or most people for that matter; however, he did seem somewhat upset to find out Sirius, the last male Black, was dead, for either purely dynastic or emotional reasons. He is unusual in being a character who openly criticises Harry Potter's often rash behaviour in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. A second portrait of Phineas hangs in the Black family home at 12 Grimmauld Place, and like other characters in portraits in the wizarding world, Phineas can travel between his portraits.
In Order of the Phoenix, Harry uses the bedroom where Phineas's
portrait is hanging, and Phineas gives him messages from Albus Dumbledore. His voice
can sometimes still be heard coming from the frame when he is not in it, making sarcastic comments. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows it is revealed through Severus Snape's memories that Phineas Nigellus had been aiding Snape and Dumbledore so that they could
find the trio. After Voldemort's fall, Phineas said that the Slytherin's contribution in the cause should not be forgotten,
referring to his own contribution and also Snape, Slughorn and the Malfoys participation.
Argus Filch
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Argus Filch | |
 David Bradley as Argus Filch in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |
|
| Parentage | Squib |
| Actor | David Bradley |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
Argus Filch is the caretaker of Hogwarts in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of books. While he does not act maliciously, and is not an evil character, he is certainly both short- and ill-tempered, which has made him very unpopular with the student body. His knowledge of the secrets and shortcuts of the castle is nearly unparalleled. The only people who have known more were James Potter and friends, and the Weasley twins. Filch is revealed to be a Squib in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Harry accidentally discovers he is trying to teach himself basic magic from a Kwikspell correspondence course. His inability to use magic in a setting where it would greatly help his duties and the fact that students are learning magic all around him are likely causes of his bitterness. Nonetheless, Filch is at least able to use wizarding devices with their own innate magic (such as the Secrecy Sensor used in Book 6). Filch appears in the seventh book to complain that students are out of bed. He is promptly informed that the students are on the move because the school is readying for war and to find Peeves. He is then ordered to oversee the evacuation of younger students.
Filch owns a cat named Mrs. Norris to which he has a particular attachment; he frequently
calls her "my sweet". She acts as a hallway monitor or spy for Filch: if she observes students engaging in suspicious activity,
or out of bed after hours, Filch arrives in seconds. She has been known to follow Hagrid
everywhere when he goes about to the school, apparently under Filch's orders. According to Rowling, there is nothing particularly
magical about Mrs. Norris, other than her being "...just an intelligent (and unpleasant) cat."[1] It is the ambition of many Hogwarts students to "give [her] a good
kick".
Firenze
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Firenze | |
 |
|
| Species | Centaur |
| Voice actor | Ray Fearon |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
Firenze is a centaur and later becomes a teacher of Hogwarts. His first appearance comes towards the end of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in which he rescues Harry from Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. Having carried Harry to safety on his back, Firenze is involved in an altercation with the other centaur residents in the Forest, who object to the symbolic suggestion that centaurs are subservient to humans. They argue further about the responsibility of centaurs to read the future in the stars and whether it is correct to intervene in the unfolding of that future. Firenze remains with his herd but he is clearly at odds on some issues.
The character does not make another appearance until Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, in which he is appointed by the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, to teach Divination at Hogwarts in place of Sybill Trelawney, who has been sacked by High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge. When Harry sees Firenze in class, it is obvious that Firenze has been attacked, and it emerges that he was indeed cast out of the centaur herd for agreeing to answer Dumbledore's request for help. Firenze ignored the centaurs' taboo on assisting humans because he felt he had an obligation to contribute to the struggle against Lord Voldemort. At the end of the fifth book, Firenze remained a member of the teaching staff, and in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince he shares teaching duties with a reinstated Professor Trelawney, a situation which she finds most distasteful. The reason Dumbledore keeps him on is that Firenze would have no place left to go, being an exile from his herd.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he is seen near
the end of the book fighting alongside the other professors of Hogwarts, helping to defend the school against Voldemort and his
Death Eaters; it was mentioned that he was wounded on his flanks by the Death Eaters but ultimately survived the battle. Although
not mentioned in the series, according to a J.K. Rowling web chat Firenze's herd is later forced to acknowledge that Firenze's
pro-human leanings are not shameful and allow him back into the fold.[2]
He is described in the book as a blonde centaur with astonishingly blue eyes and a muscled upper body, like all centaurs. Supposedly he is quite good looking as many of the female population of Hogwarts are attracted to him. Parvati describes him as gorgeous.
Filius Flitwick
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Filius Flitwick | |
 in the three newest Harry Potter films. |
|
| Parentage | Half-blood |
| Species | Human with a dash of Goblin ancestry |
| Actor | Warwick Davis |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
Filius Flitwick is the Charms Master at
Hogwarts and the head of Ravenclaw. Apart from his
posts, Professor Flitwick has served Hogwarts in many ways outside of the classroom. He used his magical skills to help decorate
the Great Hall at Christmas time in the first book, as well as
help guard the Philosopher's Stone by putting charms on a hundred keys so they can fly, making it difficult to find the key to
the door of the next chamber. During Harry's second year, Flitwick helped Professor
Sinistra carry a petrified Justin Finch-Fletchley to the hospital wing. He taught the front doors to recognise
a picture of
Near the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Flitwick is summoned by Minerva McGonagall to ask Professor Severus Snape to come to the aid of the Order of the Phoenix against the Death Eaters (Battle of The Tower). However, he is unable to do so, since he has been stunned by Snape. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows he helps to put protective charms around the castle to hinder Lord Voldemort and his oncoming Death Eaters, and later fights in the Battle of Hogwarts against Voldemort's intruders, and he defeats Antonin Dolohov (Hermione Granger states that Filius Flitwick was once a duelling champion [3] ). He also helped Harry determine the identity of Voldemort's last Horcrux. His comment that no one had seen Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem in living memory lead Harry to the Grey Lady, the ghost of Ravenclaw's daughter. And it was through his conversation with her that he determined what the Horcrux was and where it was located.
In the film adaptations, Flitwick is portrayed by Warwick Davis. In the films, he is
also a music conductor. J. K. Rowling said: "I must admit, I was taken aback when I saw
the film Flitwick, who looks very much like a goblin/elf (I’ve never actually asked the filmmakers precisely what he is), because
the Flitwick in my imagination simply looks like a very small old man."[4] However, Rowling mentions on her official website that Flitwick is human, with "a dash of goblin
ancestry."
Gilderoy Lockhart
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Gilderoy Lockhart | |
 Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. |
|
| Actor | Kenneth Branagh |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets |
Gilderoy Lockhart is a narcissistic wizarding celebrity, having written many books on his fabulous adventures encountering Dark Creatures. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Lockhart is appointed as Hogwarts' new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor. In his first lesson, he gives the class a test concerning his many books on his favorite subject, which is himself. He is unpopular amongst the staff and is particularly disliked by Professor Severus Snape, who sought the position Gilderoy holds. Hermione Granger develops a crush on him, along with many many other girls in Hogwarts much to the disgust of Ron Weasley. Harry dislikes Lockhart in part due to the latter's belief that Harry flew to Hogwarts in a car to make himself more famous. After being photographed together for The Daily Prophet, Gilderoy thinks it put ideas into Harry's head and that he was handing out signed photos of himself. Lockhart is exposed as a fraud when, attempting to avoid entering the Chamber of Secrets, reveals to Ron and Harry that he never performed the amazing feats in his books. Instead, he stole other wizards' experiences, then erased their memories with a memory charm (the only charm he proved he is skilled at performing). Lockhart claims he was once nobody and, apparently, failed to get himself noticed in youth. While trying to eliminate Harry and Ron's memories to conceal his fraud, the spell backfires when he uses Ron's broken wand. Consequently, Gilderoy loses his memory and is sent to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
On Christmas in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter sees Lockhart in the hospital, slowly regaining his memory and saying he is so improved that he can now write joined-up letters (script). Lockhart still receives fan mail, although he has no idea why, and still likes signing autographs. Lockhart never fully recovers, though.[5] He is harmless, but, at the same time, he is a danger to himself as he wanders about and cannot remember his identity or his location.
J.K. Rowling has said on her site that Lockhart is the only character that she directly based on a person she knew in real
life, and that she "barely exaggerated", although she refuses to reveal who it was.[6]
Remus Lupin
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Remus John Lupin | |
 David Thewlis as Remus Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban |
|
| Parentage | Half-blood |
| Actor | David Thewlis (adult), James Utechin (teenager) |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban |
Remus John Lupin, nicknamed Moony, first appears in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. As a boy, he was bitten by Fenrir Greyback the werewolf. Lupin remains in the story long after resigning from this
post as a friend to the central character, Harry Potter. His first appearance
is on the Hogwarts Express when a Dementor appeared in the train and Lupin drives them away. During his tenure, he gave Harry private lessons in casting the
Patronus Charm. His students, excepting a few from Slytherin, held him in extremely high regard and loved his hands-on teaching style. Harry and his
friends considered him to have been their best Defence teacher. Until the climax of Prisoner of Azkaban, Lupin believed
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Lupin joins the newly reformed Order of the Phoenix and is part of the guard which escorts Harry from the Dursley family home in the book's opening chapters. Lupin lives in Grimmauld Place, the Order of the Phoenix headquarters with Sirius Black, but does not stay there often as he is usually sent on secret tasks for the Order. Later, he participates in the battle at the Department of Mysteries where he duels Lucius Malfoy, and comes out unscathed from the battle.
At the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it is revealed that Nymphadora Tonks has fallen in love with Lupin, despite a thirteen year age gap. He resists becoming involved with her because of the risks from his being a werewolf, and he said he is, "too old, too poor, and too dangerous," for her. However, the two are seen holding hands in one of the book's last scenes. By the opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Lupin and Tonks are married; far from bringing happiness to Lupin's life, it makes him more worn than ever. Later in the book, it is revealed that Tonks is pregnant but Remus thinks that the the unborn child, who could potentially have inherited lycanthropy, would be better off without him. For instance, Lupin meets the trio and offers them some help in their quest for Horcruxes but the meeting ends in a heated argument between Lupin and Harry. Eventually, he recognises the truth in Harry's words and returns to Tonks' side. Late in the year, Tonks gives birth to a healthy baby boy named Teddy Remus Lupin, who demonstrates Metamorphmagus tendencies instead of lycanthropy.
Lupin remains active in the Order of the Phoenix throughout the year. Loyalists with the wizarding wireless hear him run the casualty reports section on the pirate radio station Potterwatch under the pseudonym of Romulus. Lupin commands a group of defenders on the school grounds during the Battle of Hogwarts and is last mentioned duelling Antonin Dolohov. Both Lupin and Tonks die in combat, killed by Dolohov and Bellatrix Lestrange, respectively[7], leaving Teddy an orphan with Andromeda Tonks as his guardian and Harry Potter as his godfather. Rowling has since stated that she originally intended for both Lupin and Tonks to survive,[8] but finally killed them off to compensate for the last-minute reprieve she gave to Arthur Weasley when he survived a snake attack in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.[9]
Rowling has stated that Lupin is the kind of teacher she wishes she had had. He is good-natured, kind, and able to extract the best in everyone. The fact that he is a werewolf and needs to take a potion to avoid hurting people for the rest of his life makes him a symbol of the consequences of prejudice and segregation, as well as society's often negative reaction to the ill and the disabled.[10]
"Remus," is an allusion to Romulus and Remus,[11] the legendary founders of Rome, who as infants
were cared for by a she-wolf. Lupin borrows the name of the other twin, "Romulus," as a nom de
guerre in the seventh book. His surname, "Lupin," recalls the English word "lupine" (meaning "characteristic of or
relating to wolves"), which in turn is derived from Latin lupus ("wolf").
Alastor Moody
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Alastor Moody | |
 Gleeson as fake Professor Mad-Eye Moody in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. |
|
| Actor | Brendan Gleeson |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |
Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody is an ex-Auror working for the Order of the Phoenix. Moody's character is portrayed as a teacher of Defence against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts in Goblet of Fire. It is not revealed until the climax of the book that the teacher is actually an impostor and the real Alastor Moody has been imprisoned in a magical trunk for most of that time.
Moody is perhaps the most famous Auror in modern times, single-handedly responsible for capturing numerous wizard criminals. He is also said never to have killed his quarry "if he could help it". Moody's face is badly scarred, described as looking as if it had been "carved out of wood by a person with only the crudest understanding of the human face". He has lost several body parts, including his left eye, right lower leg, and part of his nose, in fighting practitioners of the Dark Arts, and is cautious - some might say paranoid - in that he refuses to eat or drink food which he has not himself prepared. His magical eye can rotate 360 degrees and see through almost everything (including walls, doors, invisibility cloaks and the back of his own head). He walks with a pronounced limp due to his prosthetic leg, and uses a walking staff.
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Moody is appointed as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, coming out of retirement as a favor to Dumbledore. Shortly before the school year begins, however, Moody is attacked by Bartemius Crouch Jr, who subdues him with the Imperius Curse and takes Polyjuice Potion to assume his appearance. He keeps the real Moody alive so that he can be interrogated about his mannerisms and memories, and takes Moody's place at Hogwarts teaching Defense Against The Dark Arts. Moody's well-known habit of carrying around his own drinks in a private hip flask allows Crouch to take the Polyjuice Potion as needed without raising suspicion.
Moody becomes noted for teaching and demonstrating otherwise higher-level topics to Harry's fourth-year class, such as the Unforgivable Curses. Crouch/Moody also mentors Harry, encouraging and tutoring him in the three Tournament tasks. But after Harry unexpectedly returns alive from the graveyard battle with Voldemort, Crouch/Moody takes Harry back to his office, questions him about Voldemort and the graveyard, and reveals that he is in fact working on Voldemort's behalf. He then prepares to kill Harry, expecting to be rewarded, but he is stopped by Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape. Having neglected to take his hourly dose of Polyjuice potion, Crouch transforms back to his own appearance and, under the influence of Veritaserum potion, confesses everything. Dumbledore then rescues the real Moody from his magic trunk.[HP4]
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, (the real) Moody has joined the newly re-formed Order of the Phoenix, and leads the party transferring Harry from 4 Privet Drive to Number Twelve
Grimmauld Place, accompanied by fellow Order members
Moody's appearance in Half-Blood Prince is minimal, appearing only as a cameo at Dumbledore's funeral. In
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Moody is killed by
Lord Voldemort; falling off his broom after he is abandoned by Mundungus Fletcher, who is acting as a decoy. The survivors are unable to recover his
body, but later his eye is found by Harry Potter upon Dolores Umbridge's door, being used
as a security measure. Harry steals the eye, disgusted that it would be used in such a way, and later buries it at the base of an
old tree in Mad-Eye's memory.
Poppy Pomfrey
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Poppy Pomfrey | |
 Madam Pomfrey, as portrayed by Gemma Jones, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets |
|
| Actor | Gemma Jones |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
Madam Poppy Pomfrey is a magical healer in the Harry Potter series of books. She is the matron in charge of the hospital wing at Hogwarts. In the first book, Ron goes to Madam Pomfrey after being bitten by Norbert, a baby dragon. After Harry fought Professor Quirrell in the dungeons, he spent three days unconscious in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was reluctant for Harry to have visitors (particularly Ron and Hermione). Madam Pomfrey helped Harry in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by regrowing the bones on his arm after Gilderoy Lockhart incompetently tried to mend Harry's broken arm, removing all bones from it instead. Earlier on in the book, Hermione ended up in the hospital wing for a month after a mishap with the Polyjuice Potion, which left her half-feline. Later on, Hermione and other victims were stuck in the hospital wing after they were petrified by the basilisk.
After Dolores Umbridge stunned Minerva
McGonagall in the fifth book to get her out of the way,
Madam Pomfrey said she would resign in protest, if she were not afraid of what would become of the students without her. In
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Madam Pomfrey
takes care of Ron dutifully after he was poisoned, and when Harry had his skull cracked during Quidditch. She burst into tears
when she found out about Albus Dumbledore's death. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Madam Pomfrey and Argus Filch oversaw student evacuations from Hogwarts. She was later seen helping the injured in the
pause after the Death Eaters' attack.
Quirinus Quirrell
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Quirinus Quirrell | |
 Ian Hart as Professor Quirrell |
|
| Actor | Ian Hart |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
Quirinus Quirrell was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during Harry's first year at the school. Though the character's first name was never mentioned in the novels, Rowling has named him as "Quirinus"; this name is also used in the official Harry Potter Trading Card Game.
Prior to his employment at Hogwarts, he is said by Hagrid to have had a "brilliant mind", and was a fine teacher "while he was studyin' outta books"; some time before Harry's arrival at Hogwarts, "he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience". There were rumours that he encountered vampires in the Black Forest and one in Romania. Upon his return, he appeared perpetually nervous, had developed a stutter and nervous tics, and Hagrid was able to say even before the beginning of the autumn term that he was "scared of the students, scared of his own subject".
Harry first meets Quirrell at the Leaky Cauldron, a hidden pub in London, while being escorted by Hagrid to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies. Quirrell's manner is timid and unassuming. Quirrell is next seen
at Hogwarts conversing with Potions master Severus
Snape at the start-of-term banquet, and then regularly while teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. Quirrell's
attire includes a new purple turban that he says he received as a gift from an African prince, for getting rid of a zombie. During the school's Halloween banquet, Quirrell appears in the Great Hall to warn staff and students of a
During the climax of the story, as Harry and Quirrell struggle to recover the stone from the Mirror of Erised, Voldemort reveals himself on the back of Quirrell's head and speaks directly to Harry, threatening to kill him if he did not assist Voldemort in recovering it. After Harry refuses, Voldemort orders Quirrell to attack Harry, who holds off Quirrell long enough for aid to arrive, at which point Voldemort flees, in his non-physical form. Voldemort's departure causes Quirrell to die, hence Dumbledore's comment that Voldemort is as merciless to his followers as to his enemies.
J.K Rowling stated in a live web chat on July 30, 2007 that
Quirrell had worked at Hogwarts as Muggle Studies teacher for a certain length of time, before taking the cursed Defence Against
the Dark Arts position in the same year that Harry joined. [12] Quirrell is played by the British actor Ian Hart in
the film adaptation of the book.
Horace Slughorn
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Horace Slughorn | |
 Mary GrandPre's illustration of Horace Slughorn (disguised as an armchair) from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince |
|
| Actor | Jim Broadbent |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince |
Horace E. F. Slughorn was a former Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He makes his first appearance in the sixth book of the series, resuming that teaching position in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Before the series starts, Horace Slughorn was the long-serving Potions teacher and Head of Slytherin House since at least the 1940s. He retired in the 1980s. During his long initial period of employment at Hogwarts, Slughorn taught several adult characters; among his pupils were the young Severus Snape and Lily Evans. Harry's mother was one of Slughorn's favorite students, whom he repeatedly praises as "one of the brightest I ever taught... vivacious... charming... cheeky", despite his slight preference of pure-bloods. An earlier cohort of students included Tom Marvolo Riddle. On one occasion, Riddle questioned Slughorn about Horcruxes. Having learned of the nature of Horcruxes, Riddle went on to perform the necessary Dark magic to create his own Horcruxes, which contributed to his formidable power in his later reign of terror under his assumed name of Lord Voldemort.
At some point after his retirement and the resurgence of Voldemort described in the novels, Slughorn went into hiding, concealing all knowledge of his whereabouts from both sides in the growing conflict in the Wizarding world. However, at the beginning of the sixth book, Dumbledore moves Snape, then Potions master, to the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, locates Slughorn and convinces him to succeed Snape as Potions Master.
Slughorn demands less stringent entry criteria for Advanced Potions than his predecessor, Snape, lowering the required grade from a perfect O (Outstanding) to a near-perfect E (Exceeds Expectations). This last-minute change enables Harry and Ron to take Potions to NEWT level, but because he had not expected to be allowed to join the course he has none of the necessary materials. Slughorn lends him an old textbook until he can procure his own, which forms a key plotline of Half-Blood Prince. In his first Potions class, Slughorn offers a small amount of Felix Felicis potion, known as "liquid luck", to the student who brews the best cauldron of Draught of Living Death. He tells the class that he has taken Felix Felicis twice, once at age 24 and once at age 57. Harry wins the potion, with the help of handwritten notes in the borrowed textbook, which in fact first belonged to Severus Snape. Harry continues to use the book in classes with great success, causing Slughorn to remark repeatedly that Harry has inherited his mother's abilities at potions. Harry used the Felix Felicis to retrieve a memory from him and later to protect his friends from the Death Eaters that attacked the castle.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Slughorn briefly appears with other Hogwarts teachers assembling to fight Death Eaters; it is revealed that he has become permanent head of Slytherin House, Snape having first fled and then (under the Voldemort-dominated Ministry) been promoted to Headmaster in the wake of Dumbledore's death. Though Slughorn is hesitant to join in the battle, and is assumed to have evacuated with his House out of the school (after it had shown it could not be trusted), he not only returns to the fray with reinforcements but summons up the courage to duel Voldemort (along with Minerva McGonagall and Kingsley Shacklebolt) personally.
Slughorn will be played by Jim Broadbent in the sixth Harry Potter movie. [13]
Slug Club
The Slug Club is the informal name given to a group of students favoured by Slughorn who accept his patronage and attend his extra-curricular meetings. Slughorn hand-picks the students because they are connected to important people or he believes they have traits, such as ambition, brains, charm, and talent, which will make them important and famous when they leave school. Much to Draco Malfoy’s displeasure, Slughorn excludes students that have Death Eaters in their family. Throughout the school year Slughorn organises dinners and parties at which he makes introductions and forges useful contacts between members. Once out of school, many of his favourites go on to become outstanding in their various fields. According to Molly Weasley, the Ministry of Magic is "littered with Slughorn's old favourites". After leaving Hogwarts, Slughorn’s favourites often stay in touch and send him gifts, give him inside information, or get his opinion on the news or other important decisions. Slughorn is known to have given his old favourites a helping hand, say getting jobs later in life.
In the book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,
Harry is invited to the first meeting held on the Hogwarts Express. Slughorn also
invited Neville Longbottom and Marcus Belby to the first meeting on the train, but was not impressed by them. He
continued to invite Harry, Cormac McLaggen, Blaise Zabini and Ginny Weasley to meetings,
and later invited Hermione Granger after getting to know her across the first weeks of
school. Harry, who does not particularly like Slughorn after meeting him before the start of school, manages to avoid most of the
other meetings due to scheduling conflicts with Albus Dumbledore’s private lessons,
detentions with Snape, or Quidditch practices (which,
as captain, he could deliberately schedule to conflict with Slug Club meetings) every time he is invited.
Pomona Sprout
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Pomona Sprout | |
 Miriam Margolyes as Pomona Sprout in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. |
|
| Actor | Miriam Margolyes |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
Pomona Sprout is Professor of Herbology at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the Head of Hufflepuff House. She is described as a dumpy little witch with flyaway grey hair who wears a patched, frayed hat and shabby robes, often covered in earth due to the time she spends tending plants in the Hogwarts greenhouses. Sprout is introduced in Philosopher's Stone, but she plays no active role until Chamber of Secrets, in which she teaches her second year students to work with Mandrake plants. She is responsible for raising the Mandrakes to full maturity, at which point their juice is used to revive the petrified victims of the basilisk. Sprout subsequently appears in Goblet of Fire in which, as the Hufflepuff head, she comforts Amos Diggory and his wife after the death of their son, Hufflepuff student Cedric Diggory, whom she knew well.
In Order of the Phoenix, Sprout is a nonvocal supporter of Harry Potter's story about Lord Voldemort's resurrection. Like many teachers at Hogwarts, she detests Dolores Umbridge's presence and does her best to disobey her. After the raid of Hogwarts in Half-Blood Prince, Sprout is a staunch advocate of keeping Hogwarts open after Dumbledore's death, stating that Dumbledore would have wanted it so. She also supports the suggestion that Dumbledore should be laid to rest at Hogwarts. Sprout attends Dumbledore's funeral, where she appears cleaner than she has ever been seen before.
In Deathly Hallows, she chases Severus Snape away from Hogwarts with Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick. Informed that
Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters are coming to besiege Hogwarts, she uses her knowledge of magical plants by improvising offensive botany, and with some students, throw Mandrakes and
Venomous Tentaculas off the castle walls at the approaching Death Eaters. The epilogue of the final book reveals that nineteen
years after the events in Deathly Hallows, Neville Longbottom has become the
Herbology teacher at Hogwarts - the circumstances of Pomona Sprout's departure from the job are not revealed.
Sybill Trelawney
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Sybill Patricia Trelawney | |
 Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban |
|
| Actor | Emma Thompson |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban |
Sybill Patricia Trelawney is the professor of Divination at Hogwarts. She first appears in the third book of the series, when Harry, Ron and Hermione start divination lessons. The friends generally believe Trelawney is a fraud, an opinion with which the teachers (particularly Minerva McGonagall) are inclined to agree. According to McGonagall, her credibility as a Seer is undermined by her habit of erroneously predicting, each year, the death of one of her students. Trelawney is the great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated seer Cassandra Trelawney.
Trelawney is portrayed as wearing many gaudy bangles, cloaks, and shawls, many of them covered with shining sequins. She is said to wear thick glasses, which causes her eyes to appear greatly magnified. Her classroom, in the North Tower of Hogwarts, is scented so heavily that students often fall asleep during class.
Prior to the events of the Harry Potter books, Trelawney falls into a prophetic trance while in an interview with Albus Dumbledore, saying:
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
This prophecy was overhead by Severus Snape, who relayed part of it to Lord Voldemort. This led Voldemort to attack the Potter family, believing that Harry was the child named. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Trelawney prophesises to Harry about the events of the book's climax, including Peter Pettigrew's escape and return to Voldemort.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, she is seen aiding in the fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters by magically accelerating crystal balls at them from above. One knocks out the werewolf Fenrir Greyback after he attacks and wounds Lavender Brown (but did not bite her, thanks to Hermione's quick reflexes). Lavender is known to be a favored student of Trelawney's.
In the British editions of the books, her name is consistently spelled as "Sybill". In
the American editions, from her first appearance in Prisoner of Azkaban through Order of the Phoenix, her name is spelled as "Sibyll". But in the American
edition of Half-Blood Prince, it is re-spelled as
"Sybill", matching the UK edition. The name "Sybill" alludes to the Sibyls of classical
Graeco-Roman tradition, who were oracles that made cryptic predictions about the future
which often could not be understood until they had already come to pass. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Trelawney is portrayed
by British actress Emma Thompson.
Dolores Umbridge
| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Dolores Jane Umbridge | |
 Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. |
|
| Actor | Imelda Staunton |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix |
Dolores Jane Umbridge is the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry's fifth year. She is a short, squat woman described in the book as resembling a large pale toad. She has a broad, flabby face, little neck, and a wide, slack mouth. In Order of the Phoenix she has "short, curly, mouse-brown hair" and often wears a black velvet bow (or pink Alice band) in her hair that reminds Harry of a fly about to be caught. In Half-Blood Prince, her hair had turned "iron-coloured".
Umbridge is first presented as an inquisitor at Harry's trial for underage wizardry in the opening chapters of Order of the Phoenix. It is later revealed that Umbridge herself had ordered Dementors to attack Harry. Umbridge is subsequently installed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor by order of The Ministry of Magic in Educational Decree Number Twenty-two. The Ministry of Magic is trying to interfere at Hogwarts and has stationed Umbridge to provide on the ground feedback and address what the Ministry believes are falling standards. Her teaching consists only of defensive magical theory, due to Fudge's paranoid fear that Dumbledore intends to use his students as an army to bring down the Ministry. She is soon appointed the first (and only) "Hogwarts High Inquisitor", by Educational Decree Number Twenty-three, in which position she is given extraordinary powers over the students, teachers, and curriculum. Umbridge creates the Inquisitorial Squad, which rewards some students for reporting on others and sanctions them to act as enforcers of Umbridge's rules.
Umbridge's time at Hogwarts is characterised by cruelty and abusive punishments against students; she stands out especially for forcing Harry, Lee Jordan and other students who get detention from her to write lines using a quill that magically causes the words to be cut into the skin on the back of the writer's hand and uses their blood as ink. Umbridge even uses or attempts to use the illegal potion Veritaserum and Cruciatus Curse, in order to extract information from students. She later has a small cameo in Half-Blood Prince, where Harry is disgusted to notice her at Dumbledore's funeral.
Umbridge plays a role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as the head of the Muggle-born Registration Commission, and appears to have written a leaflet called "Mudbloods and the dangers they pose to a peaceful pure-blood society". She had somehow obtained Mad-Eye Moody's magical eye after his death, and used it to spy on the other Ministry workers from her office. She had also taken Slytherin's locket as a bribe from Mundungus Fletcher after he stole it from 12 Grimmauld Place; she uses the trinket to solidify her pure-blood credentials, claiming the "S" on the locket to stand for "Selwyn" (rather than Slytherin). The recovery of this locket forms a major plotline in Deathly Hallows. Despite Harry being unable to conjure a Patronus while wearing the locket, Umbridge manages to do so. Rowling explains this by Dolores being a "very nasty piece of work" and having an affinity for the locket, the object aiding her instead of hindering her.[14]
Following Voldemort's demise and the de-corruption of the Ministry, Umbridge is arrested, interrogated, put on trial, and imprisoned for her crimes against Muggle-borns.[14]
Novelist Stephen King, writing as a book reviewer for the July
11, 2003 Entertainment Weekly, noted
the success of any novel is due to a great villain, with Umbridge as the "greatest make-believe villain to come along since
Hannibal Lecter...".[15] The Daily Mail described Staunton's portrayal of
Umbridge in the 2007 movie as a "refreshing addition",
with the character herself described as "a cross between Margaret Thatcher and
Hyacinth Bucket".[16]
Others
- Charity Burbage: identified as the Muggle Studies teacher in the final book. Because she taught a favorable study of Muggles, evidenced by an editorial article in the Daily Prophet, she was in direct opposition to the Death Eater philosophy of the supremacy of pure-bloods. She was a prisoner of Lord Voldemort, who tortured her, killed her, and fed her to Nagini.
- Alecto and Amycus Carrow: Death Eaters appointed by Voldemort during his reign to "teach" Muggle Studies and Defence Against the Dark Arts.
- Armando Dippet: the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who preceded Albus Dumbledore, during the time that Tom Riddle was a student and opened the Chamber of Secrets. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it is noted that Rita Skeeter has written a book titled Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?[HP7].
- Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank: a substitute Care of Magical Creatures teacher. She first appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, taking lessons when Hagrid is unable to teach, and again in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Hagrid is away on a mission for Dumbledore. She was played by Apple Brook in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
- Madam Rolanda Hooch: taught broomstick flying to Hogwarts first years and was the referee of intramural Quidditch matches. She was described as having short grey hair and "yellow and hawk-like" eyes. Madam Hooch was played by Zoë Wanamaker in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
- Madam Irma Pince: the librarian of Hogwarts, compared to an "underfed vulture". She tries to protect her books from students by placing odd jinxes on them. Madam Pince was portrayed by Sally Mortemore in the film adaptation of the second book.
- Aurora Sinistra: the Astronomy Professor. Her classes are held at midnight on the tallest tower of Hogwarts. Even though Harry does attend to Astronomy, no astronomy class has ever been described in the series, and thus, very little is known about Sinistra.
- Wilkie Twycross: teaches Hogwarts Sixth year students a course in apparition. He is famous for teaching the method of the three D's (Destination, Determination and Deliberation).
- Septima Vector: the arithmancy professor. She likes to give her pupils plenty of complicated homework. Arithmancy is Hermione's favourite subject. Hermione also claims that it is the most difficult subject to pass in O.W.L.s.
References
- ^ JKRowling.com - Rumours section: Mrs. Norris is an unregistered Animagus
- ^ "J.K. Rowling Web Chat Transcript", The Leaky Cauldron, 2007-07-30. Retrieved on 2007-07-30.
- ^ Rowling, J. K. (1998). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (in English). London: Bloomsbury/New York City: Scholastic, et al. UK ISBN 0747538492/U.S. ISBN 0439064864., chapter 11
- ^ JKRowling.com - F.A.Q. section: Is Flitwick a short human or is he some other type of being?
- ^ http://the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/7/30/j-k-rowling-web-chat-transcript
- ^ JKRowling.com - Extra Stuff section: Gilderoy Lockhart
- ^ "J.K. Rowling Web Chat Transcript", The Leaky Cauldron, 2007-07-30. Retrieved on 2007-07-30.
- ^ Spoiler alert! Rowling discusses Harry's fate here. usatoday (2007-07-25). Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
- ^ Meredith Vieira (2007-07-29). Harry Potter: The final chapter. MSNBC. Retrieved on 2007-07-30.
- ^ What Jo says about... Remus Lupin (aka "Moony"). Retrieved on 2007-08-12.
- ^ "Rumours: Professor Lupin has a twin," February 18, 2004, J.K. Rowling Official Site
- ^ J.K Rowling Webchat Transcript from the "Harry Potter" website at "Bloomsbury"
- ^ [1] Broadbent on Potter and Indy 4
- ^ a b Anelli, Melissa. "