Harry Potter: The Professors, Ranked By Likability | ScreenRant
The Hogwarts professors are some of the most memorable parts of the Harry Potter series. With their eccentric fashion choices, elusive personal lives, and varied teaching styles, neither the books nor movies would be the same without them.
Some we love to hate, and some hold special places in fans' hearts. Some are morally complex with unpleasant personalities, or terrible people who put on a charming face. From Umbridge to Dumbledore, Snape to McGonagall, here are fans' and Hogwarts students' favorite and least-favorite magical Professors.
10 Dolores Umbridge
Professor Umbridge is easily one of the most disliked characters in Harry Potter. Not only was she responsible for Harry's encounter with Dementors at the beginning of The Order of the Phoenix (and his subsequent legal trouble), but she also wreaked havoc at Hogwarts, earning the ire of students and faculty alike.
As a teacher, she's unparalleled in her cruelty to students and also fails to teach practical defense magic, spawning Dumbledore's Army. When she starts manipulating the rest of the school, she gets harmless professors like Trelawney and Hagrid kicked out, further angering the Hogwarts community.
9 Gilderoy Lockhart
Lockhart, as a celebrity author in the wizarding world, has an energetic and charming personality. But even before he's revealed as a fraud, he comes across as overly cocky and self-obsessed, and could even be called the worst teacher at Hogwarts.
When the trio drags him into the Chamber of Secrets with them, his true cowardly nature is revealed.
8 Severus Snape
Professor Snape is widely agreed to be a complicated character: he arguably does some good with his status as a double agent. However, whether he's a good or moral person isn't up for debate: the question is whether he is likable compared to other Hogwarts professors, to which the answer is a resounding "no."
He routinely bullies students he doesn't like, including Neville and Hermione, and shows clear favoritism towards Slytherin students. Fans are split on whether his love for Harry's mother Lily is romantic or creepy, and finally, his decision to become a death eater in the first place doesn't do him any favors.
7 Slughorn
Professor Slughorn is described as jolly and friendly and a better Potions teacher than Snape by far. He also eventually agrees to help Harry by providing his memory of young Tom Riddle. On the other hand, his favoritism and self-importance lead to hurt feelings among students he excludes.
It's also questionable whether he actually cares about students beyond what they can do for his reputation. The fact that he favored and even helped young Voldemort learn about dark magic puts him low on the list of likable Professors.
6 Sybil Trelawney
The divination professor is mostly portrayed as gloomy and overdramatic, with questionable gifts in seeing the future. It's difficult to like someone who so often predicts death and doom with seemingly terrible accuracy. However, as the series progresses it becomes clear that she has some kind of talent: several of her famously inaccurate predictions turn out to have some truth to them, after all.
It's hard to fault her for being a fraud when at worst, she's guilty of some exaggeration and misinterpretation. When Professor Umbridge attempts to kick her out of Hogwarts, there weren't many who didn't feel a little bad for Professor Trelawney. If "pitiable" overlaps with "likable" at all, she can't be too far down on the list.
5 Mad-Eye Moody
Moody presents the opposite dilemma as Snape: technically a murderous death eater in disguise, he was an effective and well-liked teacher who helped Harry out on multiple occasions and whom nobody suspected until the end, even if there were a number of clues.
Furthermore, when he reappears for real, his eccentric personality that drew people to Crouch Jr.'s fake version of him is mostly unchanged (besides an extra helping of paranoia).
4 Albus Dumbledore
Dumbledore spends most of the series as a wise and brave mentor, welcoming Harry into the wizarding world and affording him the respect that others don't. He is arguably one of the best father figures Harry encounters.
However, he turns out to also be distant and callous in some of his attempts to shape Harry's destiny and shows favoritism as a headmaster towards Harry, his friends, and Gryffindor in general. He's likable enough to remain an immensely popular and charismatic figure but has a few fatal flaws that keep him from the top spot.
3 Rubeus Hagrid
Hagrid is nothing but caring and loyal throughout the series. Even if he's not always as well-spoken or academically intelligent as other professors, he's still one of the best friends Harry has.
The only things keeping him from the top spot are his quick temper and occasionally impulsive and irresponsible decisions. Even so, these "flaws" contribute to the fun and humorous personality that fans love.
2 Minerva McGonagall
Professor McGonagall is strict and reserved, presented as fairly intimidating in the first few installments. However, she always has the Hogwarts students' best interests at heart and possesses a strong sense of justice that she isn't afraid to exercise.
She confronts Professor Umbridge's unfair and cruel actions when few others are willing to, and fights valiantly at the Battle of Hogwarts. There's even an argument to be made that she would be a better headmaster than Dumbledore.
1 Remus Lupin
Lupin is consistently a kind and responsible mentor. He helps Harry deal with Dementor attacks in The Prisoner of Azkaban and talks to him about his parents; he's more accessible and open with the kids than other professors like McGonagall or Dumbledore, sometimes more of a friend than an authority figure.
On the other hand, he offers wisdom and safety that other students can't. Many fans would say he's the most tragic death in The Deathly Hallows; for the above reasons, he's also the most likable Professor seen at Hogwarts.