History Characters / HarryPotterHogwartsTeachers

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: While he first comes off as an incredibly narcissistic and annoying AttentionWhore, there seems to be nothing bad about him per se. That is off course until he reveals to have stolen his fame from others and plans to leave Ginny to die to save his own skin.

* VoluntaryShapeshifting: As an Animagus, she can transform into a cat whenever necessary.

* IWasQuiteALooker: While there are very few drawn pictures of [=McGonagall=] throughout the series, Pottermore provides a look at her during her Quidditch days and [[http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/File:YoungMcGonagall.jpg wow]].

** Her first major moment in ''Order'' consists of Harry being sent to her for some kind of punishment, and her cautioning Harry to be careful ''how'' he subverts her authority.

* AbsentMindedProfessor: He is shown to be a bit of a bumbling old man when not practicing his trademark Slytherin smooth elitism. More pronounced in the films, where he often appears baffled and weak-willed, especially when confronted by assertive people like Harry or Tom Riddle.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He takes on Voldemort in the last book along with [=McGonagall=] and Shacklebolt, and all three hold their own. ''Horace Slughorn fights Voldemort head-on. [[CrazyAwesome In his pyjamas]].'' Many characters have commented on his skill, including Dumbledore and it's implied that Voldemort recognizes Slughorn as a powerful wizard.

* {{Teleportation}}: In the first book, he disappears when Harry blinks on the way back from Diagonal Alley.

* IntergenerationalFriendship: As the younger of the two with Dumbledore, who, in his own words, would trust Hagrid with his life. HeartwarmingInHindsight once you get a bit deeper into Dumbledore's character. He forms a friendship with the Trio, and [[spoiler:even seems to have a special bond with Harry's children as of the epilogue.]]

* DeadpanSnarker:
** She implies that a coward, a fraud, a werewolf and a wizard Nazi are all more competent than Umbridge.

** She mocks a prophesy of Harry's death in monotone:

* AdaptationalBadass: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed,]] but he is a little more competent in the [[VideoGame/HarryPotter video game version]], teaching Harry the Rictusempra and Spongify spells, both of which are extensively used in both ''Chamber of Secrets'' and ''Prisoner of Azkaban''. Harry even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades it!]]
-->'''Harry, after defeating [[BigCreepyCrawlies Aragog]]:''' "''Well, at least I learned something in Lockhart's class: Rictusempra.''"

* BigDamnHeroes: In the book, she bludgeons Greyback with a crystal ball in the final battle to save Lavender Brown's life.[[note]]Sadly, WordOfGod has it that, like in the film, Lavender did not survive her injuries after all.[[/note]]

* MamaBear: In ''Deathly Hallows'' she saves Lavender Brown from being eaten alive by Fenrir Greyback by smashing his head in with her crystal ball! Poor Lavender wasn't so lucky in the movie though...[[note]]And sadly she didn't actually survive in the books either.[[/note]]

* GeniusDitz: She can see the future in her trance and it's hinted that she could foresee without trance but she only sees what she wants to see and being big on drama she tends to interpret everything as disaster.

* IntergenerationalFriendship: Implied to have one with Lavender and Parvati, who are the only two students shown as giving her much respect, let alone taking her class seriously. [[spoiler:Which makes the blink-and-you-miss-it scene in ''Deathly Hallows Part II'' with her and Parvati mourning over Lavender's dead body even more heartbreaking.]]

* NotSoPhonyPsychic: The only real prophecies Trelawney has ever made (both of them) happen when she goes into a trance, and thus she can't remember them afterwards. Every prophecy she actually makes on purpose is made up. Of course, if you squint FromACertainPointOfView they do come true, although the general underlying interpretation she takes is all wrong.

--> '''Albus Dumbledore''': "The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed...Professor Trelawney, [[CondescendingCompassion bless her]], is living proof of that."

* UltimateJobSecurity: As a Seer, she's got only two accurate predictions under her belt sprinkled among numerous failures including predicting the deaths of a number of very much alive students over the years. As a teacher she's got a similar record. Save for Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, every single student she teaches doesn't take her seriously and they've been known to make up fake predictions that she can't distinguish from real ones. She is by any reasonable measure terrible at her job. Dumbledore for his part straight up admits to Harry in the later series, that he not only doesn't respect Trelawney, he doesn't respect Divination as a subject and would have axed it from the curriculum if parents didn't keep demanding that Hogwarts teach it, and then when [[spoiler:she did make her prediction about the Prophecy, Dumbledore hired her to protect her from Voldemort]].

* FightingFromTheInside: Very mildly, but the book suggests he is stuggling against Voldemort on some occasions when Harry and co. hear him whimpering in his classroom at night, suggesting Voldemort is punishing him. They assume he is responding to Snape's bullying of course.

* MeaningfulName: Quirinus was one of the epithet of Janus, the ''two-faced'' roman deity. In the [[DubNameChange Italian translation]] he's renamed Raptor which, fittingly enough, can mean "thief".

* AntiMentor: He was hired by Hogwarts school to teach the students Defense Against Dark Arts. However, when he gets to teach, it quickly becomes apparent that he's rather incompetent, while passing it off as "accidents". That he's revealed to have stolen all of anonymous magicians' feats in order to become famous doesn't help. This was actually {{invoked|Trope}} by Dumbledore. When questioned by staff about why he was hiring so incompetent a teacher, he said there were many things Lockhart could teach the students; how not to act, for instance.
* AttentionWhore: Pottermore gives the impression that he was always this trope, due to being spoiled by his mother. His years as a student at Hogwarts can best be summarized as him trying his damnedest to be the center of attention, including (but not limited to) carving his name into the Quidditch pitch (for which he received a week's worth of detention), shooting an over-sized hologram of his own face into the sky, and mailing 800 Valentines to himself on Valentine's Day! That's not even mentioning that he went around telling people that he was going to create a Philosopher's Stone before he graduated, captain the English Quidditch team to World Cup glory, and then settle down to be Britain's youngest Minister of Magic. It got so bad that when he finally graduated (God knows how!), everyone in Hogwarts [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing breathed a sigh of relief]].

* CripplingOverspecialization: He's extremely good at performing Memory Charms, but incompetent at any other spell he tries.

* FauxAffablyEvil: After his secret is outted and he plans to erase Ron's and Harry's memories, as well as leaving Ginny to die, he still maintains his quirky attitude.

* GeniusDitz: Can't really do anything but memory charms, which he is implied to be a genius at.

* HotTeacher: Hermione certainly thinks so during most of the second book, however much she tries to deny it.

* MeaningfulName: He pretends to be the king of fighting off Dark creatures, but it's all fake glamour. He does, however, have the knack of unlocking the hearts of his female followers. Specifically, to "gild" something means to cover it with gold, and indeed Lockhart cultivates an image of himself as handsome, talented, and brave to cover up the fact that he's a complete fraud.

** On the flip-side, it resulted in the DADA curriculum being wasted on learning nothing useful except to never let Cornish Pixies out of a cage. In fairness, Lockhart's fraudulence likely would have been exposed much sooner had the Chamber of Secrets not been opened. Not to mention, the jinx on the position ever since Voldemort tried to apply for it some thirty-odd years ago meant Dumbledore was probably having a hard time looking for a competent teacher anyway.

* BabiesEverAfter: In ''Deathly Hallows'', Tonks is pregnant with her and Remus' child who she later gives birth to in the same book.

* MeaningfulName: Remus is a legendary co-founder of Rome who was raised by wolves; "Lupin" is Latin for "wolf-like." His codename on ''Potterwatch'' was Romulus, referencing the same legend. It gets to the point that those who are well-rehearsed in Latin and mythology can predict what he actually is early on in ''Prisoner of Azkaban''.

%%* TemptingFate: Not him, but his dad.

* WolfMan: In the film adaptations...although not the case in the books.

->''"Now, I want a nice clean game...from ALL of you!"''

* BrutalHonesty: While Firenze concedes that Trelawney may or may not have seer gifts, he does not know and doesn't outright call her a fraud, he is brutally frank about what he thinks of her methods. Mostly anyone who spends any time with the woman usually agrees.

** More broadly he's critical of people thinking that interpreting the stars can be used as a MundaneUtility when the universe has bigger fish to fry.

* MrFanservice: His human half is fairly pretty, [[WalkingShirtlessScene he doesn't wear clothes]] (granted his lower half is that of a horse so it doesn't matter much) and he quickly gains the admiration of Parvati and Lavender when he starts teaching.

* NiceGuy: Never says a single harsh word to anyone in the series. Although he can be a bit condescending especially when he tells Harry that Hagrid's brother is a lost cause.

* DutyThatTranscendsDeath: Even his own death doesn't prevent him from continuing to teach.

* NapInducingSpeak: His lectures put everyone to sleep.

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: Even Harry, Ron, and Hermione (begrudgingly to varying degrees) admit that she's a good teacher, but lie to Hagrid about it because they clearly don't want to hurt his feelings. When Umbridge inspects her class, Wilhelmina effortlessly manages to pass even with her voicing open praise for Dumbledore. Hagrid himself ultimately feels she's a better teacher than him, and considered having her take over full time.

* {{Familiar}}: It's implied, at least in the earlier books, that Filch shares a far deeper connection with Mrs. Norris than it seems. Apparently Mrs. Norris patrols the school on her own, and if she witnesses any rule-breaking Filch turns up shortly afterwards. In one encounter Harry actually had to tell Mrs. Norris he wasn't breaking any rules. Mrs Norris is the single closest thing to a familiar in the entire Wizarding World.

* CombatMedic: While her main claim to fame is as a medic, she's also an effective duelist, as she demonstrates during the final battle.

* ExpositoryThemeTune: The Sorting Hat sings one to the Hogwarts students at the beginning of Fall Term, describing the Four Houses and what they value, and occasionally giving warnings.

* NoIndoorVoice: The Hat ''ALWAYS'' talks in a boomtastic voice that echoes in the Great Hall. When Harry was whispering not to be sorted in Slytherin, everyone heard what he was thinking thanks to the Hat.

* CutLexLuthorACheck: He seems to be a genuinely talented writer, and he's incredibly charismatic - had he decided to just write fiction, he could have become rich and famous in his own right. But he wants to be famous for his bravery as well, which leads him to his crazy memory schemes.

-->'''Voiced by:''' Mari Luz Olier (European Spanish), Magda Giner (Latin American Spanish, ''Philosopher's Stone''), Queta Leonel (Latin American Spanish, ''Chamber of Secrets''-''Deathly Hallows''), Vianney Monroy (Latin American Spanish, ''Fantastic Beasts'')

* ApatheticTeacher: Only those students who Slughorn prejudges of being of great talent and skill, or having connections, get his undivided attention. Those students who don't might try and work hard and get by ok in his class, but they will never get invited to his parties.

* CoolTeacher: For all his favoritism, Slughorn does deliver an impressive first Potions lesson and he can make the course seem fun. Ethically though, he's not a very good teacher.

* ParentalFavoritism: He was his mother's favorite, because he was a wizard and his two elder sisters were Squibs.

-->'''Harry, after defeating [[BigCreepyCrawlies Aragog]]:''' "''Well, at least I learned something in Lockhart's class: Rictusempra.''

->'''Dumbledore''': "''Keep an eye on Quirrell for me, won't you?"''"

* ContinuityCameo: Sally Mortemore plays her in the second film, though you'd only know her nonspeaking character is meant to be Madam Pince from the credits. She has no role and doesn't appear in any of the other films.

* Asshole Victim- After he is killed, no one mourns him.