Hogwarts Professors Ranked By How Much You Want To Take Their Class

For people who were fans of the "Harry Potter" series growing up, there was always the dream that one day your very own Hogwarts letter would arrive in the mail, welcoming you to that magical school you desperately hoped was a real place.

One of the reasons fans of the series so badly wished they could attend Hogwarts themselves is that the school just looks so darn fun. Despite the fact that it seems to put its students in mortal danger nearly every week, Hogwarts is full of delicious food, thrilling pastimes, and, most importantly, spellbinding classes. While not every class at Hogwarts is beloved by students, they're very rarely dull.

Hogwarts encourages its students to find their passion, while also endeavoring to give them a well-rounded magical education. Some students might find that their interest lies in Herbology, others in Divination, while the athletically gifted might excel at quidditch. Regardless of where one's interests might lie, some classes are undeniably more popular than others. Certain professors have a real passion for education, while others — ahem — are just Voldemort's lackeys. Read on to discover how we've ranked every Hogwarts professor by how much you want to take their class.

If there's a professor at Hogwarts who you'd second-least want to take a class from, it's got to be the guy who literally has Voldemort's face on the back of his head. Originally hired as a Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts, he takes over as professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts during Harry's first year. Power-hungry and desiring recognition, Quirrell goes in search of Voldemort before the start of the school year. Only when he finds him, Voldemort possesses his body in order to infiltrate Hogwarts. 

We don't know what Quirrell was like as a professor before hooking up with Voldemort, but his teaching abilities really go down the drain after he returns from his "sabbatical." During his time as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, he often appears nervous and trips over his words, proving himself to be a thoroughly incompetent teacher. At least Snape, though often unnecessarily cruel, has a handle on the material and is capable of controlling his class. Quirrell demonstrates neither of these skills, which also means his students lose faith in him as a teacher. Part of his behavior is undoubtedly due to the pressure Voldemort puts on him, but this is no excuse. Even if you didn't know this guy had Voldemort hiding under his turban the whole time, you still wouldn't want to take a class with Quirrell, because he's just straight-up incompetent.

It's not really fair to judge Mad-Eye Moody on the basis of his teaching skills, but we've got to include him for the sake of accuracy. First of all, after agreeing to take over as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," Moody is kidnapped by Barty Crouch Jr., which means that whenever we see him in his professorial capacity, it's actually Crouch disguised as Moody. To give credit where credit is due, Crouch does actually teach the students some valuable skills, which is more than can be said for some of the other Defense Against the Dark Arts professors.

It's difficult to say how the real Moody would have fared as a professor, but he probably wouldn't have been a terrible teacher. At the very least, Moody wasn't a Death Eater, and in his career as an Auror — basically a magical law enforcement official — he is doggedly committed to capturing the bad guys. Plus, he fights valiantly in the wizarding wars (during which he loses his eye), meaning he could teach the students a thing or two about defending themselves. All of this is to say that maybe Moody would be higher up on the list if we actually got to see him teach, but unfortunately, we'll never know.

Poor Charity Burbage: We hardly get to know her before her untimely death. Burbage is a professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts and has a passion for promoting equality between muggles and wizards, arguing that both groups should be treated with equal amounts of respect. Burbage thinks the decline of full-blooded wizards would ultimately lead to more tolerant attitudes all around, and she teaches these beliefs to her students. 

Unfortunately, her deeply-held views eventually lead to her death at the hands of Voldemort, who murders her himself after she writes an article expressing her views in the wizarding newspaper. It's certainly admirable that Burbage holds on to her beliefs so strongly, but we would be a little afraid to take a class from someone who is at the top of Voldemort's hit list. Plus, we don't really get to see Burbage teach, so it's hard to say if her classes would be as exciting as her political views.

After Snape leaves Potions to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Horace Slughorn is convinced by Dumbledore to come out of retirement and take over the course. Though Slughorn is generally good-natured, he also has a penchant for "collecting" the students he finds most promising, hoping to ride on the coattails of their success. In fact, the prospect of being able to "collect" Harry Potter is the main reason he comes out of retirement in the first place. 

Slughorn has an exclusive club called the "Slug Club" for his best students, and tends to ignore everyone else. Nevertheless, Slughorn is a fairly engaging teacher — especially compared to his more dry and humorless predecessor, Snape — and does at least know what he's doing. Though he certainly has his faults, he's on the whole basically harmless, and can even be a great teacher and mentor when he chooses to be.

Remus Lupin is one of the few Defense Against the Dark Arts professors who isn't evil or actively trying to harm his students, so if you want to learn to fight against the Dark Arts, he's probably your best shot. In addition to being, you know, not evil, Lupin proves himself to be a very capable professor. His biggest flaw, of course, is the fact that he's a werewolf. Or, rather, it's not that being a werewolf is the biggest problem, but the prejudice he faces for having such a condition in the wizarding world.

Perhaps because of this, Lupin has a lot of compassion and patience for his students. He's very perceptive and intuitive, which makes him a good mentor to students like Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom, who might need more support. He has a great sense of each individual student's needs and implicitly knows how to help them improve as wizards and witches. We only get to see him teach for one year, but he definitely has a positive impact on Harry's life during this time — we only wish he could stay at Hogwarts longer.

Filius Flitwick is the head of Ravenclaw at Hogwarts, as well as the Charms Master. Charms, more than most subjects at Hogwarts, is incredibly practical and can come in handy in many different circumstances. As such, Flitwick teaches students the building blocks of magic that are essential for any witch or wizard to know. Plus, Flitwick's class gives us one of the most important magical moments in the films: Hermione performing Wingardium Leviosa properly for the first time. What "Harry Potter" fan didn't walk around the house practicing that spell as a kid? 

Most importantly, Flitwick seems like a fun teacher to take a class with. He has a mischievous side that would make his classes very entertaining. At the same time, he also comes across as very forgiving and understanding towards his students, rarely punishing or disciplining them. His kindness and cheer are certainly a welcome change from professors like Snape, who seem to think it necessary to scare their students into learning. Moreover, Flitwick is an even more capable wizard than you might have imagined, having actually been named a dueling champion in his youth. And to seal the deal, he's in charge of one of the coolest groups at Hogwarts: The Frog Choir. How can you argue with that?

We'll be honest, the main reason Madam Hooch is so high up on the list is that we all want the same thing — to be able to fly. Unfortunately, Madam Hooch doesn't get very much screen time in the movies, but it's undeniable that the discipline she teaches is an invaluable one. In fact, Harry wouldn't realize his extraordinary flying ability if it weren't for Hooch (even if he only discovers his skills because she leaves the class unattended in order to take Neville Longbottom to the infirmary).

Despite her limited screen time, it's clear that Madam Hooch is very dedicated to her duties as a teacher and is committed to keeping her students safe from harm (even if quidditch is a rather dangerous game for teenagers to play). An important part of keeping the students safe is teaching them the rules and modeling good sportsmanship, something Hooch does as a teacher as well as a quidditch referee. But basically, we just really want to learn how to fly.

Just because Harry Potter doesn't seem to like Herbology doesn't mean we have to agree with him. Herbology at Hogwarts is taught by Pomona Sprout, who is very passionate about the plants that occupy Hogwarts' many greenhouses. As evidenced by her role as the head of Hufflepuff, Sprout is a very nurturing, compassionate individual who cares about her students deeply. It's hard not to love her cheerful attitude, and it's even harder not to love the fact that she makes tiny scarves and socks for her Mandrake plants so they can comfortably survive the winter.

Though she might come off as a little bit too soft, Sprout also knows how to stand her ground, and is not afraid to lightly scold her students when they need it. She is extremely dedicated to her job and is staunchly opposed to the school being closed following Dumbledore's death, maintaining that "if a single pupil wants to come, then the school ought to remain open for that pupil." 

She even contributes to the Battle of Hogwarts, attacking the Death Eaters with poisonous plants when they besiege the school. It's clear that she's a wonderful teacher too, as she lovingly mentors the often overlooked Neville Longbottom and teaches him everything she knows, leading him to eventually become an Herbology professor at Hogwarts years later.