12 Questions About Harry Potter Movies That Keep You Up At Night

7. Why Did Dumbledore Hire Gilderoy Lockhart?

Mundungus Fletcher
Warner Bros.

For all his quirkiness and at times questionable leadership, Albus Dumbledore was for the most part a brilliant head master while at Hogwarts. Some would even say the best the school ever had. After all, the wizard is spoken of as one of the greatest of his generation, which is certainly a good start for any professor.

However, his tenure wasn't without its controversies. He was at one point in time voted out by the board, a Basilisk had been living in the castle for years under his nose, and it wasn't uncommon for students to turn up petrified or dead.

One of the biggest mysteries however, revolved around the Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching position. With the exception of Lupin, Harry never really had a good teacher, but one in particular was so bad that he made the guy with Voldemort living on the back of his head look good.

Why on Earth did Albus Dumbledore think it a good idea to hire Gilderoy Lockhart for a job he was clearly under-qualified for? Surely any kind of interview would have confirmed he was useless, let alone a demonstration that he actually knew what he was supposed to be teaching. Unless Dumbledore truly dropped the ball, which is unlikely, there must have been a method to the madness, but what could it possibly have been?

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