Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a place of wonderment and inspiration. Aside from the heroic trio led by Harry Potter, many others have walked its ancient halls.
Whatever year it has been in Hogwart's history, a large part of what has made the experience both memorable and special to its graduates are the Professors that guided them along their academic journeys as students. Many of these Professors have left an indelible mark on their young pupils. Here are the worst of them.
8 Professor Binns - History Of Magic
History can be fun and enlightening. It can help people understand the repetitive cycle of human nature and teach those who heed it well not to repeat it. So much can be gained from it; human psychology, an exciting story, scandal, etc. History of Magic sounds like an absolutely fascinating class.
It is a real shame, therefore, that Professor Binns can make the subject so boring. Not having his students engaged is reflective of his inability to teach. He doesn’t seem to care that his students are bored or asleep, which speaks volumes about him as a teaching professional, even if he is dead.
7 Sybill Trelawney - Divination
Sybill Trelawney isn’t on this list through a lack of ethics or malice. The fact that she teaches divination isn’t bad either…well, maybe there is a slight ethics breach after all. It was a little odd that she taught divination that was questionable and believed in said questionable practices of it.
Yet, the only time she could foresee anything was incredibly random and unbeknownst to her. On top of that, she didn’t know that she could foresee anything because she would forget these episodes afterward. The only thing up for questioning or even debating is whether she knew that she was teaching ineffective divination or simply really believed in it after all.
6 Horace Slughorn - Potions
Horace Slughorn is a good teacher, but his whole favoritism thing is cringy. The fact that he shows kindness to certain witches and wizards isn’t necessarily just to further his own ambitions but rather to inflate his ego, and the human ego is a very dangerous thing, especially when fragile.
He almost forgoes telling Harry Potter about the Horcruxes due to his pride. He does indeed redeem himself by not only sharing the information but also aiding in the Battle of Hogwarts. However, his elitist parties do not save him from being on this list. After all, elitism is an unhealthy delusion.
5 Albus Dumbledore - Transfiguration
Dumbledore was probably a great professor in his own right. His worse teaching method would be his penchant for being cryptic for absolutely no reason. Not to mention that when he was suspicious of Tom Riddle being the heir of Slytherin, he never brought it up to the rest of the faculty nor investigated the matter further; he just retained an inkling. Tom Riddle then went to go on and become Lord Voldemort when Dumbledore really could have just nipped it in the bud right then and there.
His years as headmaster are quite questionable as he sat back and let a bunch of children investigate what he already knew to be Lord Voldemort’s handy work. Sure, he lent them a hand, but why did he never help out by being involved? Many would argue that he wouldn’t want to interfere with the prophecy, but the prophecy never covered him or the others experiencing negative connotations by lending a hand. The least he could have done was keep the children more informed. But no, he is “mysterious”.
4 Quirinus Quirrell - Defense Against The Dark Arts
Any guy willing to let an evil mastermind share his body is sketchy indeed. Really, Quirrell's inclusion on this list is quite straightforward, given that he released a rampaging troll in a school full of kids and tried to kill one student in particular.
The fact that he had many opportunities to kill, but didn't succeed, was also embarrassing to watch, which quite frankly proves that he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Simply put, he is the most inefficient puppet ever. The whole killing the unicorn thing wasn’t very cool of him either.
3 Alecto and Amycus Carrow - Muggle Studies & Defense Against The Dark Arts
Remember these two? Both were Death Eaters. Alecto replaced the muggle studies teacher who Voldemort and company tortured and killed after the death eaters took over Hogwarts in book 7 following Dumbledore’s death. She openly taught racist, biased, and classist subjects about non-magic people. On top of that, she greatly enjoyed torturing students.
Amycus also enjoyed torturing students who didn't go along with the new regime. They are basically the same person, although Amycus receives bonus points for being the worst for spitting in Professor McGonagall's face.
2 Gilderoy Lockhart - Defense Against The Dark Arts
Gilderoy Lockhart remains off of the number 1 spot simply because if a witch or wizard lives out their lives without any massive adventures or notoriety, then they have nothing to worry about. In fact, Gilderoy’s narcissism is quite comical and seemingly unthreatening. However, should he want a story out of anyone, then they can say goodbye to their very memories and being.
He is quite fond of the obliviate charm in order for him to wipe whoever’s memories that he wants to take credit for. Although he is a dunce, he is a scheming and manipulative dunce, which makes him quite dangerous to the unsuspecting witch or wizard. Mostly because he is goofy and charismatic, who would suspect him of doing horrible things?
1 Dolores Umbridge - Defense Against The Dark Arts
A huge fan of stripping away the rights of Hogwarts students and torturing them if they should cross her with a certain quill of hers, Dolores was the most dangerous kind of witch. Although she believed in "order" and following strict rules for the greater good, she would retain great pleasure when these rules were broken. She clearly receives enjoyment when students break the rules because she can enact consequences on them. Not just that, she purposely sets them all up for failure by creating countless educational decrees.
For her own personal agenda to move up the ladder of the ministry, she tries giving truth serums to multiple students for information against Dumbledore. She is a sadistic sociopath with a fragile ego. She grew up hating her muggle mother and brother. AND! When she was at Hogwarts as a student, her ego was shattered when she was refused a head girl position or anything that put her in charge. Her lack of empathy is quite scary, and she is always eager to join in on any regime that allows domination over others in order to make herself feel bigger, which is impossible because she is a toad.