Harry Potter: 10 Unanswered Questions We Still Have About Being A Hogwarts Professor

Like many aspects of the Harry Potter world, the details of teaching at Hogwarts are never properly explained.

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There is no school without teachers, but Hogwarts would literally fall apart at the seams if the professors didn’t hold it together with every ounce of strength in their possession. They are clearly among the most skilled witches and wizards of their generation, as nobody with mediocre abilities would get themselves hired at Hogwarts anyway.

Several other known magical institutions such as Ilvermorny, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons have their own versions of Hogwarts professors, but this list will only consider the position from the perspective of the main school (as it is the most central in Harry Potter.)

10 How Are They Selected?

The position of Hogwarts Headmaster/Headmistress is decided by the Board of Governors, a dozen people who basically manage the administration of the academy. However, as far as the narrative explains, it looks like teaching positions are left to the Headmaster to fill.

Dumbledore, for instance, designates Hagrid as the Professor of Care of Magical Creatures, Professor Sybill Trelawney to provide Divination lessons, Gilderoy Lockhart for Defence Against the Dark Arts, and many more. Does this also mean he can also fire them at will?

9 What Are Their Non-Teaching Duties?

Aside from chaperoning the students everywhere, from their dorms to classes and back, professors also maintain decorum within the school and its surrounding estate. Any infractions are severely penalized, mostly by having a few House points docked on behalf of the offending pupil.

Also, it is clear that most of them are incredibly talented duelists, and can hold their own in a fight. In fact, during times of danger, professors have been known to patrol the labyrinthine hallways for any sign of danger, but this surely cannot be included in their contract?

8 Do They Need Higher Degrees?

Considering they teach subjects that are highly volatile (making them prone to go horribly wrong when applied incorrectly), professors ought to have gone through considerable educational levels, earning at least a Master’s degree or its equivalent in the Wizarding World.

But apparently this rule isn’t set in stone, given that some of the teachers barely seem comprehend the nuances in their own subject, let alone acquire a detailed resume with sparkling credentials. Do they at least do background checks?

7 How Can A Professorship Be “Cursed”?

Immediately after graduating, Tom Riddle requests the then-Headmaster, Professor Armando Dippet, to hire him as a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, but is considered far too inexperienced to handle the job.

Several years after this, he returns to Hogwarts, his Voldemortesque visage beginning to show, and makes the same query of Albus Dumbledore (receiving another rejection). In revenge, it is claimed, he “curses” the position itself, a vague concept at best, such that nobody would be able to teach it for longer than a single school year.

6 Do They Have Private Lives?

Not a lot of narrative heft is spared for the academics’ socializing skills, if they even possess any, being surrounded by inept teenagers for most of their lives. Very few professors even embark on romantic relationships, with most of them considering themselves to be “married to their job.”

But have they been married at some point in time? Do they have children? Where do they go to have fun, aside from Hogsmeade, obviously? Then again, nobody really thinks that their teachers can have a life beyond academic boundaries, do they?

5 Are They Involved In Magical Research?

Dumbledore was definitely a scientist, as the stories have made clear, but what about the others? Snape is known for inventing his own murderous spell while he was but a teenager, which certainly proves his scientific ability. A few others, such as Bathilda Bagshot, one of the most acclaimed historical researcher of her time, have been mentioned.

Does Professor McGonagall dabble in a bit of playful transfiguration experimentation on the side? Has Professor Sprout a secret garden filled with complicated and highly dangerous plant life? Do any of them get their work published in academic journals?

4 Where Do They Live?

After Neville Longbottom begins teaching Herbology at Hogwarts, he marries Hannah Abbott and moves with her to the Leaky Cauldron (or the home built above it, to be more specific.) Hagrid, as the Gamekeeper, gets to stay in his cozy little hut on the school grounds. So do the other professors live in the castle itself?

If so, are all of them given their own living spaces like the Heads of Houses are, or do the junior teachers have to bunk with each other just like students do in their Common Rooms? It’d probably be cheaper than renting a place outside, anyway.

3 What Is Their Salary?

The movies don’t discuss much about the bureaucratic workings of Hogwarts, and this includes the finances required to run the whole place. Nobody even knows what the exact school fees are (or how the Weasleys manage to afford it even though they can’t seem to buy new clothes for their children), let alone how much professors are paid.

Hit Wizards are supposedly provided a rather luxurious starting package of 8400 galleons every year, so one would assume that someone in charge of molding young minds would get at least this much, if not more, right? Or does the Board take its cues from the Muggle world and pay its teachers next to nothing?

2 How Much Authority Do They Really Have?

The life of a teacher is hard enough without magic coming into the picture — at Hogwarts, there is as much a chance of accidentally dying (à la Professor Binns) as there is of dying on purpose (à la Professor Quirrell.) Nevertheless, the skill they are expected to wield is quite high; imagine all the times they have to get some or the other student out of a sticky magical mess.

Although professors are strictly forbidden from hurting students under the excuse of disciplinarianism, many of them are confident enough in their status to bully their charges — Snape being the primary example in this case.

1 Do Hogwarts Professors Have Tenure?

Many academic institutions in the real world offer their instructors a permanent-ish contract known as tenure: under this, their positions are permanently established at the respective school or university, and they cannot lose their jobs for any reason (with a few extreme exceptions.)

It’s unlikely that Hogwarts would extend this amount of support towards its professors, at least partially because there is no real certainty if they will still be around next year. And yet, some of them, like Professor McGonagall, have been Hogwarts stalwarts for several decades, so perhaps some sort of unofficial tenure situation exists?

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