Going to Hogwarts sounds like a dream come true, until you take a long, hard look at some of the teachers. Throughout the Harry Potter series, the school hires professors who are rude, incompetent, cruel, and sometimes murderous. Even some of the school’s most respected teachers act in ways that would never fly in a regular Muggle classroom. These eight Hogwarts professors are some of the worst teachers in the Wizarding World.
Dolores Umbridge
It’s difficult to think of a Hogwarts professor more strongly despised than Dolores Umbridge. First coming on the scene in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, this Ministry of Magic official takes over Defense Against the Dark Arts. Though she comes off as sickeningly sweet, it is actually a cover for a very sinister nature. She makes life miserable for her students. She doesn’t actually teach anything; instead, she makes students read textbooks nonstop. Her obsession with rules, punishment, and authority has every single student hating her. She even forces Harry to write lines with a magical quill that carves the words right into his skin! Despite her pink wardrobe, innocent voice, and kitten decorations, Umbridge is the evilest teacher Hogwarts has ever seen.
Gilderoy Lockhart
The undeniably good-looking Professor Lockhart shows up at Hogwarts with his collection of bestselling books. Though many think highly of him, no one has a more impressive opinion of Lockhart than himself. Though he claims to have encountered a host of dangerous creatures and life-or-death situations, he becomes totally useless when faced with danger. We soon learn that he is a complete liar who has claimed other people’s accomplishments as his own. His only real magical specialty is performing Memory Charms on the people whose stories he’s stolen. His Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons are super chaotic, including one class involving a swarm of out-of-control Cornish Pixies. Lockhart also accidentally removes all the bones from Harry’s arm while trying to heal his injury. Not exactly the stuff a competent teacher is made of.
Severus Snape
Severus Snape is maybe the most complicated character in the Harry Potter universe, but that doesn’t make him a good teacher. As the Potions professor, he enjoys making fun of students and shaming them when they fail. While he shows open favoritism toward members of the Slytherin house, he also shows open hostility toward Harry Potter and his friends. Snape bullies Neville so relentlessly that the poor boy is in constant fear of the man. Snape may be brilliant at potion-making and hold a great knowledge of the Dark Arts, but he is a miserable and terrible teacher.
Quirinus Quirrell
Professor Quirrell seems like a harmless teacher with a massive anxiety problem. His constant stammering and timid behavior make him seem like an odd choice for teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. However, his real problem is much more disturbing. Quirrell is a servant of Voldemort. Not only does he do the evil one’s bidding but actually has Voldemort’s weakened form attached to the back of his head. While we don’t get a good idea of his classroom style, any educator who attempts to kill one of his students is a bad teacher indeed. We’re pretty sure secretly harboring the world’s most dangerous dark wizard is a teaching disqualification.
Sybill Trelawney
Professor Trelawney teaches Divination, the study of predicting the future. She uses all sorts of methods like tea leaves, crystal balls, and star charts. While she is a hands-on educator, everything is completely subjective and students are left highly confused. Her lessons become an outlet for her to perform theatrically, particularly when she repeatedly predicts terrible things will happen to Harry. Her dramatic personality is entertaining and her attic classroom full of cushions and cozy chairs is super cool, but it doesn’t make up for her infuriating lack of teaching students anything real. Ironically, Trelawney really does seem to possess the gift of prophecy; she just doesn’t seem to be able to teach anyone else how to use it. You know a class is particularly bad when even A-student Hermoine storms out of it.