Like teachers in the real world, the Professors at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry vary. There are competent heads such as Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, who use their skills to further the education and understandings of all the young pupils at their disposal. And then there are the likes of Severus Snape and Dolores Umbridge, who use their positions of power to make life unbearable for some people.
We now take a look at the best teacher from every Harry Potter movie. By best, we mean the individuals who are both brilliant at handling the students and those who impart wisdom on them as well.
Sorcerer’s Stone: Rubeus Hagrid
While Hagrid doesn’t actually become a Professor until the third book and movie, the Prisoner of Azkaban, he gets the nod for the Sorcerer’s Stone because of the way he treats Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger during their first year at Hogwarts together.
Hagrid goes to rescue Harry from the Dursleys and spends the entire movie making sure the Boy Who Lived is able to settle into his new surroundings. He also plays a key role in the trio’s hunt for the Sorcerer’s Stone, often giving them hints and tips about both what it is and what is protecting it. Other teachers spend the movie completely oblivious as to what is occurring in the school in which they work but Hagrid is the only one who gives them information, albeit mostly through his own clumsiness. It’s Information that, if they didn’t get, would have otherwise helped Lord Voldemort acquire it instead and return to power three years early.
Chamber of Secrets: Pomona Sprout
Hogwarts gets thrown into a state of chaos when, in the second book and movie entitled the Chamber of Secrets, students are attacked with alarming frequency. It’s a difficult time not only for the pupils, but the teachers as well: Albus Dumbledore gets sacked as headmaster, Rubeus Hagrid is wrongly incarcerated in Azkaban and Gilderoy Lockhart spends the whole movie just trying to get through.
But Professor Pomona Sprout, who teachers Herbology, is the shining light amid the darkness. It’s her who spends the entire year cooking up an antidote for the poison from the Chamber’s monster, the Basilisk. And without her, nobody would have woken up. So it’s down to her that Hermione Granger, Mrs Norris, Nearly Headless Nick, Justin Flitch-Fletchley and Colin Creevey are able to recover.
Prisoner of Azkaban: Remus Lupin
The Defence Against the Dark Arts is a subject where, for his first two years, Harry Potter struggles. In his first year, Professor Quirrell is revealed to be working on behalf of Lord Voldemort, spending the whole term trying to restore his master to full power. In Harry’s second, he has to contend with the clueless Gilderoy Lockhart who, had it not been for Ron Weasley’s wand backfiring, would have wiped his memory.
But that all changes in Harry’s third year. Remus Lupin saves him from Dementors, coaxes confidence from Neville Longbottom, unites Harry with godfather Sirius Black and also helps the Boy Who Lived learn about the Patronus Charm. Sure, he nearly ends them while in his werewolf form but we won’t hold that against him as he truly is a flawless teacher.
Goblet of Fire: Barty Crouch Jr
Harry has another difficult year at Hogwarts in the Goblet of Fire, having his name entered as a participant for the Triwizard Tournament and then nearly dying at the end of it all. Ironically, Barty Crouch Jr is behind both of those things. But he also acts as an outstanding teacher to the child that he’s trying to kill.
Posing as the auror Alastor Mad-Eye Moody, Crouch Jr takes over both his appearance and role as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He teaches pupils about the dangers out in the world, something that actually enhances them as witches and wizards. He’s strict on punishment too - transforming Draco Malfoy into a ferret - and even earns the respect of troublemakers George and Fred Weasley. That’s no small feat…
Order of the Phoenix: Harry Potter
While not officially being a Hogwarts Professor, Harry Potter himself becomes a teacher. Fed up at the Ministry of Magic’s refusal to believe his story of Lord Voldemort’s return, and Dolores Umbridge’s reluctance to teach them anything worth learning, the Boy Who Lived gets a gang of students together, teaching them spells and enchantments while working under the name of Dumbledore’s Army.
Under Harry, the students not only learn defensive spells, but enjoy doing so. Neville Longbottom is able to finally disarm somebody, Ginny Weasley produces a curse so strong her brothers look downright terrified, and the majority of his students are able to perform the Patronus Charm with ease. Unfortunately, Harry’s spell as a teacher ends quickly and unexpectedly when Umbridge gets wind of their scheme but he’s able to stay at Hogwarts when Albus Dumbledore takes the flak instead.
Half Blood Prince: Albus Dumbledore
Knowing that Voldemort was after a prophecy in the Order of the Phoenix, Albus Dumbledore spends his final year alive helping Harry Potter learn as much about the Dark Lord as possible. He does this by holding regular classes in his office, where the duo delve into Voldemort’s past in order to find a way to defeat him.
Not only that, but Dumbledore also gives Harry plenty of responsibility. He charges him with the task of acquiring a memory from Professor Horace Slughorn and even takes him to destroy one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes, a locket, towards the end of the school year. Bonus points, too, for ensuring Draco Malfoy’s soul remain intact by making sure he dies via Professor Snape’s hand instead.
Deathly Hallows Part 1: Severus Snape
Barely any of the Hogwarts teachers appear in the first Deathly Hallows movie due to the fact the school falls under the control of both Lord Voldemort and his loyal band of Death Eaters. Neither does Severus Snape - but he gets the nod anyway because of what he does for Harry Potter during the youngster’s time on the run.
It’s Snape who, via a Patronus Charm, leads Harry to the sword of Godric Gryffindor. He stands and watches from afar as a doe leads the Boy Who Lived to a lake in the middle of the Forest of Dean. The sword is then used to destroy one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes and is later used to get rid of another in the form of Nagini. Without Snape’s actions, none of that would have happened.
Deathly Hallows Part 2: Minerva McGonagall
We nearly went for Snape again for this one. After all, it’s revealed via his memories that he was working for Albus Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix the whole time, operating as a spy within Lord Voldemort’s army. However, Minerva McGonagall deserves it because of how she fights on the front line.
It’s McGonagall who forces Snape and the Carrows to leave the school, and it is her again who leaps to Harry Potter’s defense when he faces off against his old Hogwarts Potions Master. She enchants Hogwarts’ suits of armour to keep the castle’s inhabitants safe and sound while also joining Horace Slughorn and Molly Weasley in protecting a protective spell around the place. Without her, the death toll from the epic final battle would no doubt have been significantly higher.
