Potions Master and later Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. Cold, sarcastic, and openly hostile towards Harry from their first meeting. A deeply complex figure whose true loyalties are one of the series' central mysteries.

Charms teacher at Hogwarts and Head of Ravenclaw house. Tiny, enthusiastic, and an exceptionally skilled wizard. A former duelling champion.

Herbology teacher at Hogwarts and Head of Hufflepuff house. Short, dumpy, and usually covered in earth. Kind and practical.

A retired Potions Master who returns to teach at Hogwarts. Vain, comfort-loving, and a collector of famous and talented people, Slughorn is nevertheless a genuinely gifted teacher.

Divination teacher at Hogwarts. Draped in shawls and enormous spectacles, Trelawney is widely considered a fraud by most of the staff, though she has made genuine prophecies.

Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, and later Professor of Care of Magical Creatures. Half-giant, enormously strong, and possessed of a deep love for dangerous animals. One of the first people to show Harry genuine kindness.

The caretaker of Hogwarts. A bitter, suspicious Squib (non-magical person born to a magical family) who patrols the corridors with his cat Mrs Norris, desperate to catch students breaking rules.

Yellow-eyed Hogwarts flying instructor and Quidditch referee; teaches the first-years their first broomstick lesson.

Vulturine, severe Hogwarts librarian; ferociously protective of the books in her care.

Brisk, fussy matron of the Hogwarts hospital wing; capable of mending almost any injury overnight.

Droning ghost-professor of History of Magic at Hogwarts; the only teacher who failed to notice he had died.

Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry's second year. Vain, self-obsessed, and a bestselling author. His dazzling smile conceals a fundamental incompetence.

A werewolf and one of Harry's father's closest friends. Lupin serves as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry's third year. Gentle, wise, and deeply self-conscious about his condition.

Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic. Umbridge's simpering, saccharine manner conceals a petty tyrant who delights in cruelty and the exercise of power. Her love of cats and pink does not make her any less dangerous.

Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry's first year. Nervous, stuttering, and apparently terrified of his own subject. Wears a distinctive purple turban.

Palomino-bodied young centaur who breaks with his herd to rescue Harry Potter from a hooded attacker in the Forbidden Forest.

Hogwarts Muggle Studies professor; suspended above the Malfoys' table and murdered by Lord Voldemort as the war breaks open.