Hogwarts staff

The following is a list of Hogwarts staff in the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling.

The staff and their positions

Character	Subject/Position	Background
Albus Dumbledore	Transfiguration Deputy Headmaster Headmaster	The Headmaster of Hogwarts since a few decades before the creation of The Order of the Phoenix. He was awarded many titles, most of which were removed by Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge after he accused Dumbledore of conspiring to take over the Ministry.
Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody	Defence Against the Dark Arts	Moody is appointed as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. A former Auror, he gained his nickname for the magical eye he wears to replace one he lost in the line of duty. At the end of the book, Moody is revealed as an impostor, Bartemius Crouch Junior, who had captured the real Moody one day before the start of term as part of a plan to deliver Harry to Voldemort to help his resurrection. Moody reappears in the series as an active Order of the Phoenix member but never actually teaches. He is killed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Alecto and Amycus Carrow	Muggle Studies Deputy Headmaster and Headmistress Dark Arts	Sibling Death Eaters, posted as Deputy Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress to Hogwarts to keep control over the school, maintain a reign of fear and to take charge of punishment under Severus Snape's regime as Headmaster in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Alecto Carrow taught Muggle Studies, now a required course; however, instead of encouraging understanding of Muggles, she taught ideologies that Muggles were no better than animals. Amycus Carrow taught Defence Against the Dark Arts; however it is noted that there was no defence involved because they had changed the name to Dark Arts, so Amycus frequently taught students the Unforgivable Curses and openly encouraged them to practice these on their classmates who earned themselves detention. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Alecto Carrow is stunned by Luna Lovegood in the Ravenclaw common room. Harry Potter then uses the Cruciatus Curse on Amycus Carrow after he spat in McGonagall's face.
Argus Filch	Caretaker	The Squib caretaker of Hogwarts for the entire series. He owns a cat named Mrs Norris, who seems to possess certain magical abilities. He hates all students and he is bitter about not possessing magical abilities.
Aurora Sinistra	Astronomy	The Astronomy teacher during the entire series. Sinistra assists Professor Flitwick in moving a petrified Justin Finch-Fletchley to the hospital wing in Chamber of Secrets and is mentioned sporadically throughout the series.
Bathsheda Babbling	Ancient Runes	The Study of Ancient Runes teacher for at least the time Hermione Granger takes the class. Professor Babbling does not appear in any of the films.
Charity Burbage	Muggle Studies	The Muggle Studies teacher before Harry's seventh year; she does not appear until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (as Harry has no need to take the class). Because her teachings about Muggles gave an overall favourable impression of them, going so far as to write an editorial praising Muggles in the Daily Prophet, she runs afoul of the Death Eaters, whose philosophy asserts the supremacy of pure-bloods. She becomes a prisoner of Lord Voldemort in the seventh book; he tortures and kills her before feeding her to Nagini. The character (played by Carolyn Pickles) appears briefly in the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.
Cuthbert Binns	History of Magic	The History of Magic teacher for the entire series, Cuthbert Binns has the distinction of being the only teacher at Hogwarts who is a ghost. It is said that one day he took a nap in a chair in the staff room and died in his sleep because of a fire; later, he simply got up to go to teach his next class and "left his body behind". His lessons are notoriously boring and it is mentioned that the most exciting thing that ever happens in his class is his "entering through the blackboard". As a ghost, he seems unaware of his change from living to dead. In the second book, it is he who describes the legend of the Chamber of Secrets when asked by the students, but in the film version, it is Minerva McGonagall, as Binns does not appear in any of the films.
Dolores Umbridge	Defence Against the Dark Arts Headmistress	The Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts). She was appointed by the Ministry of Magic to address the rumours concerning Voldemort's return that extended from there the previous summer. Umbridge extracted control, becoming Hogwarts' first and only High Inquisitor, and briefly Headmistress after Dumbledore took responsibility for Dumbledore's Army.
Filius Flitwick	Charms	The Charms teacher and Head of Ravenclaw House for the entire series. He is also shown to be the director of the school's choir in the film adaptation of Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix.
Firenze	Divination	A centaur, he previously lived with his herd in the Forbidden Forest. In the Order of the Phoenix, after Sybill Trelawney is fired by Dolores Umbridge, he is hired by Dumbledore to teach Divination in her stead. The other centaurs found this dishonourable and banished him from the herd. By Half-Blood Prince, Trelawney was reinstated as Divination teacher, but due to Firenze's situation with his herd, Dumbledore had them teach Divination concurrently until Firenze returns to the Forest after the Battle of Hogwarts.
Gilderoy Lockhart	Defence Against the Dark Arts	The Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry's second year at Hogwarts). He is adored by the female students for his charm and popularity in the wizarding world but is actually a coward and a fraud who took stories from other wizards and then erased their memories. He loses his own memory when a spell backfires on him and is subsequently hospitalised for long-term care.
Horace Slughorn	Potions	A former Potions master and Head of Slytherin for several decades before Harry's birth, Slughorn agrees to come out of retirement and return to these functions at the beginning of Half-Blood Prince. He stays in the job after Voldemort's takeover but sides firmly with the Hogwarts staff against him in Deathly Hallows.
Irma Pince	Librarian	The librarian of Hogwarts during the entire series. She is compared to an "underfed vulture", and is very possessive and protective with the library books, many times screaming at Ron and Harry. Dumbledore relates that while she agreed to allow the Hogwarts copy of Quidditch through the Ages to be used for a special facsimile copy, handing over the book ran so counter to her nature that she was struck by an unusual form of paralysis and he had to prise her fingers from the book manually.
Minerva McGonagall	Transfiguration Deputy Headmistress Headmistress	The Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor House during the entire series. Deputy Headmistress during the first six novels. Temporary Headmistress when Dumbledore was sacked in Chamber of Secrets. Temporary Headmistress after Dumbledore's death in Half-Blood Prince. Revealed to be the Headmistress in Cursed Child.
Pomona Sprout	Herbology	The Herbology teacher and Head of Hufflepuff House during the entire series. She held the job for years, and she carried the position after the Battle of Hogwarts until she retired and was replaced by Neville Longbottom who, by the time of the epilogue, is said to be the Herbology teacher.
Poppy Pomfrey	Matron	The Matron and nurse in charge of the hospital wing during the entire series, being on the position for decades. It was mentioned once that she worked at St. Mungo's before transferring to Hogwarts. She has a reputation for strictness, but when faced with Dolores Umbridge's and later the Death Eaters' abuse of the students, she admits that she never even considered resigning, refusing to leave the students when they needed her most.
Quirinus Quirrell	Muggle Studies Defence Against the Dark Arts	The Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry's first year at Hogwarts). He later turns out to be possessed by Voldemort and is dead by the end of the book.
Remus Lupin	Defence Against the Dark Arts	The Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry's third year at Hogwarts). He is loved by most students (except for those in Slytherin house) for being the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He resigns at the end of that year after Snape reveals that he is a werewolf. His nickname from the Marauders Map is Moony.
Rolanda Hooch	Flying	The Quidditch referee during the entire series, and flying instructor for first-year students. She is described as having short, spiky, grey hair, with piercing yellow hawk-like eyes, usually hidden behind goggles. Her expertise is called on along with Professor Flitwick's to test Harry's Firebolt broom for dark magic.
Rubeus Hagrid	Care of Magical Creatures Grounds Keeper	The Half-giant gamekeeper, Keeper of Keys and Grounds, and, from Harry's third year at Hogwarts, the Care of Magical Creatures professor.
Septima Vector	Arithmancy	The Arithmancy professor during the entire novel series, known to give her students large amounts of homework.
Severus Snape	Potions Defence Against the Dark Arts Headmaster	The Potions master from Harry's first to fifth years, head of Slytherin House from Harry's first to sixth years and Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts). Snape serves as Headmaster in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, having been appointed by the Minister for Magic, Pius Thicknesse (who was controlled by Voldemort), until he is killed by Voldemort in the final chapters of the novel.
Silvanus Kettleburn	Care of Magical Creatures	The Care of Magical Creatures teacher since Armando Dippet (Dumbledore's predecessor) was headmaster. He eventually retires to "spend time with his remaining limbs", and his place is eventually taken by Hagrid in Prisoner of Azkaban.
Sybill Trelawney	Divination	The Divination teacher from 1980 (Harry's birth year) until Order of the Phoenix, when she is fired by Umbridge. Trelawney returns to the work in Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows, sharing the position with Firenze.
Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank	Care of Magical Creatures	A substitute Care of Magical Creatures teacher. She first appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, taking lessons when Hagrid is unable to teach, and substitutes again in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Hagrid is away on a mission for the Order of the Phoenix. A number of students in Harry's year prefer Grubbly-Plank, as unlike Hagrid, she is quite happy to teach them about creatures that do not have poisonous fangs or deadly talons. Despite Harry's initial distrust of her abilities compared to Hagrid, she is a competent teacher – recognising the cause of Hedwig's injuries and healing her with little difficulty.

Teachers and staff members

The following teachers and staff members do not have their own articles or are not listed in other articles.

Argus Filch

"Filch" redirects here. For the act of stealing, see Theft.

Argus Filch is the caretaker of Hogwarts. He is ill-tempered, which makes him unpopular with the student body, and occasionally causes tension or exasperation with teachers and other staff. His knowledge of the secrets and short-cuts of the castle is almost unparalleled, except perhaps by the users of the Marauder's Map and Voldemort himself. He tends to favour almost sadistically harsh punishments, and gleefully allies himself with Umbridge when she prescribes such punishments on students. He has an obsessive dislike of mud, animate toys, and all other things that might interfere with his desire for an immaculately clean and orderly Hogwarts. He is also portrayed as having a constant antagonism towards Peeves the poltergeist and often tells Dumbledore that Peeves should be thrown out of Hogwarts. He also likes to wander Hogwarts' corridors at night, presumably in the hope of catching a student breaking a curfew. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry discovers that Filch is a Squib.

Filch has a cat named Mrs Norris who acts as a spy for Filch. According to J.K. Rowling, there is nothing particularly magical about Mrs Norris, other than her being "just an intelligent (and unpleasant) cat." In Chamber of Secrets, Mrs Norris is temporarily petrified by the Basilisk.

Filch is portrayed by David Bradley in the Harry Potter films. Mrs Norris is played by three Maine Coon cats named Maximus, Alanis, and Cornilusa.

Filius Flitwick

Filius Flitwick is the Charms Master at Hogwarts and the head of Ravenclaw house. He is a very short, dwarf-like man. During Harry's second year, Flitwick helps Professor Sinistra carry a petrified Justin Finch-Fletchley to the hospital wing. He teaches the front doors to recognise a picture of Sirius after his second break-in in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and to instantly lock down if he tries to break in. He helps patrol the perimeter of the maze for the third task of the Triwizard Tournament held in Harry's fourth year. He eventually removes most of the swamp that is created within the school by Fred and George in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, though he previously leaves the swamp untouched to annoy Umbridge. He does however choose to leave a small patch of it behind, because he thinks it is "a good bit of magic" and a tribute to the Weasley twins. Near the end of Half-Blood Prince, Flitwick is sent by Professor McGonagall to ask Professor Snape to come to the aid of the Order of the Phoenix against the intruding Death Eaters. He collapses after requesting Snape's help at the battle.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Flitwick insists that Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem is lost, and he is described by Harry (along with Dumbledore) as having been a "model student" who supposedly never entered the Room of Hidden Things, and so it never occurred to him that the diadem could be hidden there. Before the Battle of Hogwarts, Flitwick helps to chase Severus Snape out of the Hogwarts castle alongside professors McGonagall and Sprout, and to put protective charms around the castle to hinder Voldemort and his oncoming Death Eaters, and later fights the intruders in the battle, battling Corban Yaxley and later defeating Antonin Dolohov.

In the film adaptations, Flitwick is portrayed by Warwick Davis. Rowling said: "I must admit, I was taken aback when I saw the film. Flitwick, who looks very much like a goblin/elf (I've never actually asked the film-makers precisely what he is), because the Flitwick in my imagination simply looks like a very small old man." Rowling mentions on her official website that Flitwick is human, with "a dash of goblin ancestry." His on-screen appearance changes noticeably in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, in which he takes on a more human and less elf-like look, with slicked-down dark hair and moustache. According to Davis, the moustachioed character was originally not supposed to be Flitwick; Flitwick was absent from the script for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but "the producer" (presumably David Heyman) added the new character (as the conductor of the school choir and orchestra, credited as "Choir Master") so that Davis could still appear in the film. Goblet of Fire director Mike Newell preferred the new look, "and from that moment, the character became known as 'Flitwick'." Flitwick was born on 17 October.

Gilderoy Lockhart

Gilderoy Lockhart is a popular author and wizarding celebrity who has written many books about his adventures encountering dark creatures and serves as the Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor for Chamber of Secrets. He is unpopular with most of the staff, particularly Snape, for his endless self-promotion and penchant for publicity stunts. He is greatly admired by many others, particularly women (including Hermione and Molly Weasley) due to his intense charisma. Harry dislikes Lockhart for a number of reasons: his arrogance, his belief that Harry flew to Hogwarts in Mr. Weasley's car to seek further attention, his constantly forcing Harry to partake in his antics, and the trouble he has with simple magic such as healing Harry's broken arm (he accidentally vanishes Harry's arm bones instead). Lockhart is exposed as a charlatan and a coward when he attempts to avoid entering the Chamber of Secrets by revealing to Harry and Ron that he never performed the amazing feats documented in his books; he simply passed off the feats of other wizards and witches as his own and erased their memories to hide the truth. He attempts to do the same to Harry and Ron, but Harry disarms him. Lockhart then steals Ron's damaged wand, but the Memory Charm he casts backfires and leaves him with permanent amnesia; arrangements are made for him to be institutionalized until his memory can be fixed.

In Order of the Phoenix, Harry comes across Lockhart in St Mungo's while visiting Arthur Weasley at Christmas. Lockhart has not recovered any of his memories but is childishly proud of being able to write in "joined-up letters". He still enjoys signing autographs and continues to receive fan mail, although he has no idea why. For his part, Harry feels a slight twinge of guilt for Lockhart's amnesia (especially since it becomes clear that St. Mungo's has given up on trying to undo the damage) but he consoles himself with the fact that it was Lockhart's own fault that he is now reduced to a child-like mentality.

Rowling has said Lockhart is the only character she has ever based on a real-life person. Lockhart was inspired by an unrevealed acquaintance who was "even more objectionable than his fictional counterpart" and "used to tell whopping great fibs about his past life, all of them designed to demonstrate what a wonderful, brave and brilliant person he was."

Kenneth Branagh portrayed Lockhart in the film version of Chamber of Secrets. In an end-credits scene, his latest book is on sale in Diagon Alley; titled Who Am I?, it displays a picture of him humming distractedly to himself and wearing a straitjacket.

Poppy Pomfrey

Madam Poppy Pomfrey is the Healer of the Hogwarts hospital wing. She is portrayed by Gemma Jones in the film adaptations of Chamber of Secrets, Half Blood Prince, and Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

Quirinus Quirrell

Quirinus Quirrell is the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor in Philosopher's Stone. He has a stutter and nervous tics, and wears a purple turban. Near the end of the novel, as Harry and Quirrell both try to recover the Philosopher's Stone, it is revealed that Voldemort has possessed Quirrell's body. Voldemort's face, formerly concealed by the turban, becomes visible on the back of Quirrell's head. Harry holds off Quirrell long enough for Dumbledore to arrive, at which point Voldemort departs Quirrell's body and Quirrell dies.

Although Quirrell's first name is never mentioned in the novels, he was given the first name "Quirinus" in the Harry Potter Trading Card Game. Quirrell is portrayed by Ian Hart in the film adaptation of Philosopher's Stone.

Horace Slughorn

Horace Slughorn is the long-serving Potions teacher and Head of Slytherin House since at least the 1940s, until his retirement after the 1981–82 school year. Following his retirement and the resurgence of Voldemort, Slughorn goes into hiding, concealing all knowledge of his whereabouts from both sides in the growing conflict in the wizarding world. After moving Snape to Defence Against the Dark Arts, Dumbledore locates Slughorn and uses Harry as incentive to convince him to return to teaching Potions. Slughorn is described as preferring to be a "back-seat driver", obtaining things he desires by using his contacts, particularly students whom he has invited into the "Slug Club", a group of students favoured by Slughorn, based either on their connections to important people (a type of cronyism) or on his belief that they have talents that will make them important and famous themselves when they leave school (meritocracy). He is one of the first Slytherin characters to defy the house's stereotype and being portrayed in a somewhat positive light: while he is self-serving and not above bending rules, he lacks the near-amorality and underhandedness that had, until that point, been a hallmark of the house. He does not resent blood status in general, and admits a pleasurable surprise when he comes upon a talented Muggle-born, such as Hermione or, years before, Harry's mother Lily Potter, one of his all-time favourite pupils. Also, Slughorn notably displays not pride, but shame at having helped a young Tom Marvolo Riddle perform some of his most noted and impressive feats of magic, as Riddle had questioned Slughorn about Horcruxes. Students he deems unimportant he ignores, as though they were not there.

In Half-Blood Prince, Harry is invited to the first meeting of the Slug Club held on the Hogwarts Express. Slughorn sets less-stringent entry criteria for Advanced Potions than his predecessor, lowering the required grade from a perfect O (Outstanding) to the above-average E (Exceeds Expectations). This last-minute change enables Harry and Ron to take Potions at NEWT level. Since Harry had not expected to be allowed to join the course, he has none of the necessary materials, and Slughorn lends him an old textbook until Harry can procure his own. Later, Harry does buy a new copy of Advanced Potion-Making from Flourish and Blotts, but switches the covers and gives back the new book. During his first class, Slughorn offers a small amount of Felix Felicis to the student who brews the best cauldron of the Draught of Living Death. Harry wins with the help of handwritten notes in the borrowed textbook, which, unbeknownst to him, had once belonged to Snape. When Ron falls victim to a high-strength love potion, Slughorn administers an antidote, but then nearly kills him with a drink of poisoned mead, not knowing that the bottle had been planted by Draco Malfoy in an attempt to kill Dumbledore. Harry later uses the Felix Felicis to help retrieve a memory from Slughorn that details the conversation between the professor and Riddle about Horcruxes as well as the possibility of creating more than one Horcrux.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Slughorn briefly appears with other teachers assembling to fight Death Eaters. As Snape is now Headmaster, Slughorn has again assumed the post of Head of Slytherin. Though he is initially hesitant to join in the Battle of Hogwarts and is assumed to have evacuated with his house, he returns to the fray later on. It is revealed that he has not fled, but has recruited a large number of reinforcements to fight for Hogwarts. He then summons up the courage to duel Voldemort, alongside McGonagall and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Slughorn is played by Jim Broadbent in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

Pomona Sprout

Pomona Sprout is Professor of Herbology and the Head of Hufflepuff House. She is described as a dumpy little witch with flyaway grey hair who wears a patched, frayed hat and shabby robes, often covered in dirt due to the time she spends tending plants in the Hogwarts greenhouses. Sprout is introduced in Philosopher's Stone, but she plays no active role until Chamber of Secrets, in which she teaches her second year students to work with Mandrake plants. She is responsible for raising the Mandrakes to full maturity, at which point their juice is used to revive the petrified victims of the basilisk.

Sprout subsequently appears in Goblet of Fire in which, as the Hufflepuff Head of House, she comforts Amos Diggory and his wife after the death of their son, Hufflepuff student Cedric Diggory, whom she knew well. In Order of the Phoenix, Sprout is a non-vocal supporter of Harry's story about Voldemort's resurrection. Like many teachers at Hogwarts, she detests Umbridge's presence and does her best to disobey her. After the raid of Hogwarts in Half-Blood Prince, Sprout is a staunch advocate of keeping Hogwarts open. She also supports the suggestion that Dumbledore should be laid to rest at Hogwarts. Sprout attends Dumbledore's funeral, where she appears cleaner than she has ever been seen before.

In Deathly Hallows, she chases Snape away from Hogwarts with Professors McGonagall and Flitwick. Informed that Voldemort and his Death Eaters are coming to besiege Hogwarts, she uses her knowledge of magical plants by improvising offensive botany, and, with the help of several students, throws Mandrakes, Snargaluff pods, and Venomous Tentaculas off the castle walls at the approaching Death Eaters. The epilogue of Deathly Hallows reveals that Neville has become the new Herbology teacher at Hogwarts. The circumstances of Sprout's departure from the job are not revealed.

Sprout was portrayed by Miriam Margolyes in the film adaptation of Chamber of Secrets and Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

Sybill Trelawney

Sybill Patricia Trelawney is the Divination teacher. She is the great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated Seer, Cassandra Trelawney, and has inherited some of her ancestor's talent. Trelawney is described as a slight woman resembling an insect, draped in a large spangled shawl and many gaudy bangles and rings. She speaks in a whispy voice and wears thick glasses, which cause her eyes to appear greatly magnified. Her odd classroom in the North Tower of Hogwarts is a cross between "someone's attic and an old-fashioned tea shop"; it can only be reached by climbing to the top of the stairs and then up a ladder through a trapdoor set in the ceiling. This dim, heavily scented, and "stiflingly" warm room often affects students' wakefulness.

Trelawney first appears in the third book of the series, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione start Divination lessons. The friends generally believe Trelawney is a fraud. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown are very fond of and impressed by her. According to Professor McGonagall, her credibility as a Seer is undermined by her habit of erroneously predicting, each year, the death of one of her students, she uses it as a greeting for her class. Her more profound predictions seem only to happen when she is in a trance and unaware of what she is saying, with no memory of it afterward. Almost all her predictions were later shown to be true in the books even if she was not in a trance.

Before the events of the Harry Potter books, Trelawney falls into a prophetic trance during an interview with Dumbledore at the Hog's Head, making a prophecy about the birth of a wizard "with the power to vanquish" the dark lord, Voldemort. This prophecy is partly overheard by Snape, who relays what he heard to Voldemort. This leads Voldemort to attack the Potter family, believing that Harry was the child named.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Trelawney erroneously predicts that Harry was born around Midwinter, even though he was born on 31 July, with it later being revealed that this slip-up was because Trelawney was unknowingly reading the piece of Voldemort's soul within Harry. She also accurately prophesies to Harry about the events of the book's climax, including Peter Pettigrew's return to Voldemort's side.

In Order of the Phoenix, Trelawney is first put on probation by Umbridge, and later fired. Dumbledore intervenes to allow Trelawney to stay in the castle, as he believes that she would be in danger outside Hogwarts due to the prophecy she made during her interview, and recruits Firenze from the centaur herd in the Forbidden Forest to replace her as a way of spiting Umbridge. Dumbledore later reveals that the prophecy is why he keeps her employed as a Divination teacher. After Umbridge is ousted, Trelawney returns to teaching in Half-Blood Prince, but has to share classes with Firenze, as he was cast out by his fellow centaurs when he agreed to replace Trelawney after she was fired, which she thinks is an outrage. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, she is seen aiding in the Battle of Hogwarts by magically accelerating her crystal balls at Death Eaters. She uses one of these crystal balls to defend an injured Lavender against an attack by Fenrir Greyback. In the film adaptation, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, she is seen covering someone's body, with the aid of Padma Patil.

In the British editions of the books, her name is consistently spelled as "Sybill". In the American editions, from her first appearance in Prisoner of Azkaban through Order of the Phoenix, her name is spelled as "Sibyll". However, in the American edition of Half-Blood Prince, it is re-spelled as "Sybill", matching the UK edition. The name "Sybill" is a reference to Greek and Roman prophet priestesses, while Cassandra refers to the Trojan seer Cassandra, whose doom was that her prophecies would never be believed.

Professor Trelawney is portrayed by Emma Thompson in the Prisoner of Azkaban, Order of the Phoenix, and Deathly Hallows Part 2. In the movies, Sybill Trelawny wears many accessories like scarfs, bracelets, and bangles. Trelawney tries to appear as mysterious, but often ends up seeming dramatic. She keeps giving vague prophecies to students such as Lavender, whose rabbit dies, and Neville, who often breaks cups and is late to class.

Hogwarts ghosts

House Ghosts (from left to right): Bloody Baron, Fat Friar, Nearly Headless Nick, Grey Lady.

Hogwarts houses have at least twenty ghosts,^[HP1] but when people in the novels speak of the ghosts at Hogwarts they usually refer to one of the four resident ghosts of the Hogwarts houses: Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington (or, as the students refer to him, Nearly Headless Nick), the almost beheaded ghost of Gryffindor house; the Bloody Baron, who is the ghost of Slytherin house; the jovial Fat Friar, who is the ghost of Hufflepuff house; and the Grey Lady, who in life was Helena Ravenclaw, the ghost of Ravenclaw house. These ghosts seem to act as something like advisers and aides to the students; Nick frequently helps Harry during moments of uncertainty or crisis.

Despite animosity between the houses, their respective ghosts get along well with each other. Nearly Headless Nick is respectful of the Bloody Baron and claims that he cannot imagine starting a fight with him, while the Fat Friar pleads on behalf of Peeves the Poltergeist to allow him to come to the welcome feasts despite his past wrongdoings. During The Deathly Hallows, Nick is protective of Helena and only reluctantly tells Harry how to find her.

The Bloody Baron

The Bloody Baron is the Slytherin House ghost. He is the only person besides Dumbledore and Fred and George Weasley who can exert any control over the poltergeist Peeves; Peeves is terrified of him for some unknown reason, referring to him as "Your Bloodiness" and "Mr Baron".

The Baron's nickname comes from the fact that he is covered with blood, which appears silvery on his ghostly form. When Nearly Headless Nick is asked in the first book why the Baron is so bloody, Nick delicately comments that "he has never asked". In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Helena Ravenclaw (the Grey Lady) explains to Harry that the Baron had been in love with her when the two were alive, and when she ran off with her mother's diadem, Rowena Ravenclaw sent the Baron after her, knowing he would not stop until Helena was found. When Helena refused to return with him, the Baron killed her in a fit of rage, and then, in remorse, killed himself with the same weapon. He has thus haunted Hogwarts ever since, wearing his ghostly chains as a form of penance.

Terence Bayler portrayed the Baron in the first film. In contrast to his book counterpart, the Baron is mirthful in the film, playfully swiping through the Sorting feast with his sword, much to the amusement of those within his house.

The Fat Friar

The Fat Friar is the Hufflepuff House ghost. He is a jolly man and very forgiving, frequently suggesting that Peeves be given another chance, or forgiven for any mishaps.

Simon Fisher-Becker appeared as the Fat Friar in the film adaptation of Philosopher's Stone.

The Grey Lady

The Grey Lady is the Ravenclaw House ghost. According to a letter written by Rowling to Nina Young, the actress who played the Grey Lady in the first film, she is "a highly intellectual young lady .... She never found true love as she never found a man up to her standards".

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows reveals that the Grey Lady is Helena Ravenclaw, daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, making her the only house ghost known to be related to one of the Hogwarts founders. She informs Harry that she stole the Diadem of Ravenclaw from her mother, in an attempt to become smarter than her, and then went into hiding in Albania. It was a dying Rowena Ravenclaw's wish to see her daughter again, and so she sent for the Bloody Baron to look for her, knowing that he would not rest until he brought her back, partly because he was in unrequited love with her. However, she refused to come with the Baron and, in a moment of blind rage, he killed her with a single stab-wound to the chest. Overcome with remorse, the Bloody Baron killed himself using the same weapon in turn and wears chains as penitence, "as he should", the Grey Lady says. The diadem remained in the hollow of a tree in an Albanian forest until Tom Riddle managed to charm the story out of the Grey Lady. Riddle, who had been seeking historically significant objects to make into Horcruxes, later retrieved the diadem from Albania and hid it in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts while visiting the castle years later.

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Nina Young played the Grey Lady, and in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, she was played by Kelly Macdonald.

Nearly Headless Nick

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington KG, often referred to as Nearly Headless Nick, Nick, or Sir Nicholas, is the Gryffindor House ghost who in life was sentenced to death by beheading after a teeth-straightening spell went awry on Lady Grieve. However, the executioner's axe was blunt and Nick's head was still attached to his neck by a thin strip of skin after 45 chops. Harry becomes friends with Nick when he attends his "deathday" party (the 500th anniversary of the event) in a Hogwarts dungeon. Nick's death date (31 October 1492) had the distinction of having served as the basis for the entire chronology of the Harry Potter stories, until the timeline was confirmed by James and Lily's headstone in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. His greatest wish is to become a member of the Headless Hunt, as mentioned in the second book. He is excluded due to the fact that he is not actually headless ("he is nearly headless") and would never be completely able to participate in the activities (such as "Head Polo").

In Chamber of Secrets, Nick is a victim of the Basilisk that Ginny Weasley unleashes under the influence of Tom Riddle. The stare of the Basilisk is lethal to anyone who looks it directly in the eye. All of its living victims meet its gaze indirectly, either from a reflection or by seeing it through something else, and are only petrified rather than killed. Nick is the only one to look directly at the Basilisk, but he too is petrified since he is a ghost and cannot die again. Nick also protected Hufflepuff student Justin Finch-Fletchley from death after Justin saw the basilisk's eyes through Nick's transparent body, thus only petrifying him as well.

The character appears again in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Harry has been looking for comfort upon Sirius' death, hoping he can see him later as a ghost. Nick explains that only witches and wizards who fear death and refuse to go on can become ghosts, dashing Harry's hope of communicating with Sirius. He appears briefly in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when Harry asks Nick to bring him to the Grey Lady.

The character also appears in the 2023 video game Hogwarts Legacy as a non-playable character.

The character was portrayed in the film series by John Cleese, though he only appears in the first two films.

Hogwarts founders

Hogwarts was founded a millennium ago (the exact date unknown) by "four of the greatest witches and wizards of the age":^[HP2] Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. The founders served as Hogwarts' first teachers, and each of the Hogwarts houses is named after one of the founders.

Godric Gryffindor

Godric Gryffindor was one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was good friends with Salazar Slytherin but they had conflicting ideas as Salazar believed no Muggle-borns should be accepted into Hogwarts. "Godric Gryffindor was the most accomplished dueller of his time and an enlightened fighter against Muggle-discrimination".

His known relics are a goblin-made sword adorned with rubies, known as The Sword of Gryffindor; and the Sorting Hat. The two items share a particular bond: whenever a Gryffindor student is in a time of need, the sword will present itself within the Sorting Hat. In his second year, Harry Potter pulled the sword out of the hat when he was in need of a weapon in the Chamber of Secrets. Gryffindor is said to have praised courage, determination and strength of heart above all other qualities. He also was the most accepting of allowing Muggle-borns into the school.

Helga Hufflepuff

Helga Hufflepuff came from a broad valley. The Sorting Hat describes her as "good Hufflepuff" or "sweet Hufflepuff". She favoured loyalty, honesty, and dedication. In Goblet of Fire, she is said to have considered "hard workers almost always most worthy of admission". Elsewhere, she is described as taking "all the rest" of the students after selection by her colleagues. She was a good friend of Rowena Ravenclaw; their friendship is used to emphasise the failed friendship between Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin.

"One of the four celebrated Founders of Hogwarts, Hufflepuff was particularly famous for her dexterity at food-related Charms. Many recipes traditionally served at Hogwarts feasts originated with Hufflepuff." Her wizard card, penned by Rowling, describes her as having "brought people from different walks of life together to help build Hogwarts", and being "loved for her charming ways". According to an interview between Rowling and staff from The Leaky Cauldron, Hufflepuff introduced house-elves to Hogwarts, where she offered them refuge. Both the wizard card and the illustration on Rowling's website depict her as a plump woman with red hair.

One relic of Hufflepuff, a small golden cup emblazoned with her symbol of a badger, is inherited by her distant descendant, Hepzibah Smith. This cup is stolen by Tom Riddle and made into a Horcrux. The Hufflepuff Cup was destroyed by Hermione who stabbed it with a basilisk fang in Deathly Hallows.

Rowena Ravenclaw

Rowena Ravenclaw was a witch noted for her cleverness and creativity, and she was described by Xenophilius Lovegood as beautiful. The Sorting Hat introduces her as "Fair Ravenclaw, from glen", suggesting she was from Scotland. Ravenclaw devised the ever-changing floor plans and moving staircases in the Hogwarts castle, and coined the proverb "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." Ravenclaw is described by the Sorting Hat as having selected students according to intelligence and wisdom. "Rowena Ravenclaw was the most brilliant witch of her time." It is revealed in the Deathly Hallows that the broken heart contributing to her untimely death was most likely the loss of her daughter, Helena Ravenclaw, who is, in fact, the Ravenclaw House Ghost (nicknamed The Grey Lady), and the lost diadem, the very relic to which Ravenclaw's astounding wisdom was attributed.

The lost diadem granted enhanced wisdom to its wearer. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry learns that it became a Horcrux. The Ravenclaw Diadem is destroyed near the end of the book as a result of exposure to Fiendfyre summoned by Vincent Crabbe, who is killed in the process while trying to control the fire. In the film, Harry stabs it with a basilisk fang and kicks it into the burning Room of Requirement.

Salazar Slytherin

Salazar Slytherin is described as power-hungry by the Sorting Hat, and he was known as "shrewd Slytherin from fen". Salazar Slytherin was one of the first recorded Parselmouths, an accomplished Legilimens, and a notorious proponent of pureblood supremacy. The pureblood supremacy angle may have been exaggerated over a thousand years. Slytherin is the only founder whose physical appearance is described in any detail; his statue in the Chamber of Secrets depicts a man "ancient and monkey-like, with a long thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of his sweeping robes." According to Albus Dumbledore, the qualities that Slytherin prized in his handpicked students included the rare ability to speak Parseltongue, resourcefulness, and determination. He also selected his students according to cunning, ambition, and blood purity. Slytherin's first name is a reference to the mid-20th-century Portuguese dictator's surname; Rowling's 1990–1993 stay in Portugal inspired this name choice.

Slytherin's background is first discussed by Professor Binns in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (and by Professor McGonagall in the film version and Professor Flitwick in the computer game). He describes the founding of the school and the schism which developed between Slytherin and the other founders, and he mentions that the castle was founded far from Muggles because, at that time, common people feared magic and persecuted suspected wizards and witches. Slytherin wanted magical learning restricted to all-magical families, as he believed Muggle-born students to be untrustworthy and he disliked teaching such students. According to legend, Slytherin was responsible for the construction of the Chamber of Secrets, a chamber with contents including a Basilisk, a giant serpent that can kill by looking people directly in the eyes, susceptible to control by the Heir of Slytherin, and left there to purge the school of all Muggle-born students. Another hypothesis suggests the basilisk was meant to fend off an invading Muggle force. This occurred shortly before infighting among the four founders occurred which resulted in Slytherin's departure.

Salazar Slytherin's locket, passed down to his family, was turned into a Horcrux by his descendant Voldemort and destroyed by Ron Weasley using the Sword of Gryffindor in Deathly Hallows.

In June 2016, J. K. Rowling revealed on Pottermore that Slytherin's wand contained a fragment of basilisk horn, and was taught by its creator to "sleep" when instructed, which meant that it could place others who possessed the wand in a sleep from which they could only be awakened by the cries of the person's children. This secret was handed down through the centuries to each member of Slytherin's family who possessed it. By the 1600s it belonged to the Irish witch Gormlaith Gaunt, though in about 1620 it was stolen by her then-17-year-old niece Isolt Sayre, who fled to where Massachusetts, United States is today. There, she founded the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She buried the wand outside the school grounds, and within a year, an unknown species of snakewood tree grew from the burial spot. It resisted all attempts to prune or kill it, but after several years the leaves were found to contain powerful medicinal properties.

See also

• List of Harry Potter characters

Further reading

• "J. K. Rowling Webchat Transcript". Bloomsbury Publishing. 30 July 2007. Archived from the original on 6 January 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2019.