Harry Potter: Ranking Every Hogwarts Teacher From Worst To Best

Will your favourite Hogwarts teacher oust the competition and make it to the top?

Dolores Umbridge Harry Potter
Warner Bros.

What would Hogwarts be without the teachers? These talented people are the backbone of the world’s greatest magic school. It’s their duty to educate the next generation of witches and wizards and prepare them for the dark forces which lie beyond the castle walls.

For this list, Harry’s teachers will be ranked based on how entertaining they are, rather than their ability to teach. In other words, those with great dialogue, complex personalities, and lengthy character arcs are going to come out on top.

Of course, there are plenty of teachers who fit into these categories. J.K. Rowling’s extensive planning meant that all her major characters have plenty of depth, and the Hogwarts staff are no exception. Almost all of Harry’s teachers have intriguing backstories and unique attributes. They aren’t just great at magic – they're also fascinating people.

And given every entry introduces at least one new teacher, it’s hard to get bored with the Hogwarts staff members. Some of them are heroes. Some of them are villains. But regardless of which book or movie you’re experiencing, Harry’s teachers are rarely uninteresting...

15. Cuthbert Binns (History Of Magic)

Dolores Umbridge Harry Potter
Warner Bros

Professor Binns is the most boring teacher at Hogwarts, and he also happens to be a ghost. Every lesson – without fail – he floats into the classroom and drones on about magical history.

Only Hermione can concentrate during his monotonous lectures. Harry and Ron, meanwhile, tend to drift off into space or play hangman whenever they’re supposed to be listening.

Professor Binns is also the only teacher who physically appears in the books but not the movies. Yet he’s so dull that fans of the book have never really complained about his absence.

Looking back, Rowling missed an opportunity with this character. Learning more about the history of her fantastical setting could have been fascinating. Instead, we have to look to Pottermore (now the wizardingworld.com) if we want to dig into the past of her beautiful world.

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Love to read and write. Have an unhealthy obsession with Harry Potter. Enjoy running up hills.