Defence Against The Dark Arts Teachers:
Defence against the dark arts is definitely the most controversial subject taught at Hogwarts as every year there is a new professor teaching the subject. According to legend, it is believed that when Tom Riddle was rejected for the job of teaching this subject by Albus Dumbledore, he cursed the job forever which is the reason that there has never been a teacher who would stay for more than a year. This has led to many different types of teachers who have been appointed for a year and Harry got to experience six of them.
6. Dolores Umbridge
There is no doubt as to who is the worst DADA teacher or a teacher in general at Hogwarts and the title easily goes to Dolores Umbridge. The fact that she took pleasure in torturing students and even applied extremely stupid teaching methods is enough proof to support our ranking. She took no interest in practical teaching which is extremely important for the subject and simply stuck to bookish learning and theoretical knowledge which would never teach the students how to protect/defend themselves in the real world.
5. Professor Quirell
The fact that he had Voldemort’s face attached to the back of his head does make him the creepiest and he loses all his credibility. Quirinus Quirell was a death Eater and more than that a faithful servant of the dark lord who tried to kill Harry at the Quidditch match and put other students in danger as well by letting a troll in the dungeon. He also tried to frame Snape for his actions and was a loyal servant of Voldemort. On the other hand he just like Umbridge didn’t believe in practical knowledge and stuck to theory.
4. Gilderoy Lockhart
The most vain and narcissictic person to have ever set foot at Hogwarts was the fraud and phony professor Lockhart who may seem charming at first but was completely fake and a big fat liar. Lockhart hardly ever taught anything worthwhile to the students and only landed the job because of his false achievements and accolades. He was probably the most harmless out of all the bad DADA teachers and got ended up in the St. Mungo’s hospital with a twisted mind and lost memory.
3. Alastor Moody
It is true that in his fourth year, the person who taught DADA to Harry was actually Barty Crouch Jr and not Alastor Moody himself. This makes it tricky to rank him but it obviously brings him lower on our list. Even though he was an imposter, Moody did teach some valuable lessons to the class and taught them to always be vigilant and focused mainly on the practical aspects of the subject. This makes him better than some other people on the list for sure. Also, if Alastor Moody had himself taught the class, we are sure he could have been extremely good even though kids would still be scared.
2. Severus Snape
Snape as a teacher has always been controversial seeing how he was clearly biased towards some students. However, we cannot deny that Snape was very well versed in both the subjects he got to teach. It is common knowledge that Snape wanted to teach DADA from the beginning and when he finally got his chance in Harry’s sixth year, he was assigned the toughest curriculum as compared to the other teachers on the list as he was teaching a more advanced class. Snape balanced between practical and theoretical teaching quite well and wanted the students to understand the dangers and sufferings the dark arts can bring.
1. Remus Lupin
It should come as no surprise that Professor R.J. Lupin is at the top of our list and the best defence against the dark arts teacher of all the movies. Remus Lupin came in with his old-world charm and polite conversation and taught the students with his effective teaching methods. Lupin believed in both practical and theoretical knowledge and made sure to balance both in his classroom. He taught Harry that there is no shame in being afraid and that our fears don’t make us smaller. He was crucial in Harry’s character development and confidence-building which is what a teacher should do.
