10 Secret Facts About Hogwarts Professors

Hogwarts professors are admired by the Wizarding community and idolized by students. A good professor, like McGonagall, can change your outlook on magic, studying, and your future. A bad one, like Lockhart, can turn your bones into jelly. Here are some secret facts about your favorite Hogwarts professors.

1. Dumbledore knew Gilderoy Lockhart was a fraud when he hired him, Rowling has revealed. McGonagall once asked Dumbledore why he would hire such a dumb professor, and Dumbledore said, “There is plenty to be learned even from a bad teacher: What not to do, how not do be.” Therefore, he must have known teaching would reveal Lockhart’s true self to the world. This is, however, quite a dangerous way to test this stupidity for the students.

2. Minerva McGonagall, the Professor of Transfiguration, fell in love with a Muggle in her youth. She fell for Dougal McGregor, the son of a local farmer during the summer after she graduated from Hogwarts. Before she started her job at the Ministry, McGregor proposed. She had to turn him down, for fear keeping her witchcraft a secret would ruin her ambitions. He eventually died, which freed her heart from his grasp.

3. Filius Flitwick is a Dueling Master. His short stature can make opponents underestimate him, but his focus on charms made him a Dueling Champion in his youth. This is how he was able to obtain the coveted Charms professor position at Hogwarts, and why he’s in charge of protecting the castle with charms when Voldemort attacks.

4. Dumbledore can make himself completely invisible without a Cloak of Invisibility. He can complete such an advanced Disillusionment Charm his body can simply disappear. His old lover Grindelwald could do this as well. While most witches and wizards can learn to Apparate, it is a much rarer skill to disappear completely.

5. Professor Flitwick isn’t supposed to be of Goblin or Elf ancestry. In the books, Rowling pictured him as a small, old man. Therefore, when she saw the movies, she was taken aback at his Goblin/Elf-like appearance. It’s interesting how filmmakers can take such imaginative directions with such a detail-oriented fanbase.

6. Each of the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor couldn’t stay longer than a year because of an actual curse. It was always rumored to be jinxed, but this was thought to be just that – a rumor. However, it was revealed Voldemort genuinely placed a jinx on the position when Dumbledore didn’t let him teach it. Therefore, when Voldemort died, the jinx was broken, so the position could last longer than a year.

7. Professors Flitwick and McGonagall were Hatstalls when they were sorted into houses. This occurs when the Sorting Hat can’t decide on a house, because they have an almost equal number of characteristics for two. McGonagall’s decision took five and a half minutes, which eventually led to her being in Gryffindor, and Flitwick going into Ravenclaw. Hermione’s sorting was also a Hatstall between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor but ended with the same result as McGonagall.

8. Cuthbert Binns was the History of Magic Professor. However, he’s also a ghost. He continued as a professor after his death, and taught James Potter. Who better to teach the history of magic than someone who lived through it?

9. Professor Sybill Trelawney has very strong Seer ancestry. While her predictions weren’t accurate day to day, she predicted the demise of Lord Voldemort. This kind of makes up for lack of general predictions. Her talents could come from her relation to famous Seer Cassandra Trelawney.

10. Severus Snape invented many spells in his lifetime. He invented Levicorpus, which levitates bodies, as well as Sectum Sempra, which slashes people’s bodies. He created the Muffliato Charm, which creates a buzzing sound in people’s ears, and Langlock, which places one’s tongue on the roof of one’s roof. His spells are commonly used in the books, but many don’t know he’s the inventor.