filch v : make off with belongings of others [syn: pilfer, cabbage, purloin, pinch, abstract, snarf, swipe, hook, sneak, nobble, lift]

English

Verb

1. To steal.

   Hey! Someone filched my noggin.

Translations

The following fictional characters are teachers and staff of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books written by J.K. Rowling. The characters of Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape and Rubeus Hagrid have their own articles. Remus Lupin and Alastor Moody are listed under Order of the Phoenix, while Barty Crouch, Jr (who impersonated Moody), and siblings Alecto and Amycus Carrow are listed under Death Eater.

Cuthbert Binns

Cuthbert Binns teaches History of Magic and has the distinction of being the only teacher at Hogwarts who is a ghost. It is said that he was so old when he took a nap in a chair in the teachers’ lounge/staff room that he died in his sleep and simply got up to go and teach his next class as a ghost. Characters and readers speculate that he is unaware of being dead, but this is contradicted by the fact that in Harry's first class with him, Binns "floated through the blackboard".

His classes are infamous for being dreadfully boring. Binns does not engage with his students at all; rather, he drones interminable rote lectures about "The International Warlock Convention of 1289", or "a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers" in a monotonous voice described as sounding "like an old vacuum cleaner". So tied is he to his dull routine that he barely seems to notice he has students. On the one occasion when his class does attempt to quiz him on a historical subject, he cannot remember any of their names, and seems surprised that there is anyone speaking to him. Because of this attitude, he succeeds in teaching none except the most dedicated students.

His forename is derived from a hidden item on the author's official website, deemed a sheet of scribbles; it has never been used by the author in any up-to-date source. However, it unquestionably derives from Rowling.

Binns has not appeared in the films. His explanation of the legend of the Chamber of Secrets is instead given by Professor McGonagall in the film. In the related video game, Flitwick gives the explanation.

Phineas Nigellus Black

Phineas Nigellus Black is the great-great-grandfather of Sirius Black, and a former headmaster of Hogwarts. Sirius claims that Phineas Nigellus was the least popular headmaster Hogwarts ever had. Phineas' portrait hangs in the head master's office along with the portraits of the other ex-headmasters and headmistresses. Like the other portraits in the headmaster's office, the painting of Phineas helps the current headmaster. He does not seem to enjoy doing this. Dumbledore addresses the portrait as if it were the living Nigellus himself.

He does not get along well with his great-great-grandson, young people, or most people for that matter. He did seem somewhat upset to find out Sirius, the last male member of the Black family, was dead, for dynastic or emotional reasons. He is unusual in being a character who openly criticises Harry's often rash behaviour in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. A second portrait of Phineas hangs in the Black family home at 12 Grimmauld Place. Like other characters in portraits in the wizarding world, Phineas can travel between his portraits.

In Order of the Phoenix, Harry uses the bedroom where a portrait of Phineas is hanging, and Phineas gives him messages from Dumbledore. His voice can sometimes be heard coming from the frame when he is not in it, making sarcastic comments. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Hermione Granger removed the portrait from 12 Grimmauld Place and took it with the trio in their quest for Horcruxes. It was kept in her beaded bag so that Phineas could not see where they were. Phineas Nigellus is upset by the lack of respect with which he is treated by the trio, but he does provide them with information about events at Hogwarts, and how Dumbledore destroyed a Horcrux. It is revealed through Snape's memories that Phineas Nigellus had been aiding Snape and Dumbledore so that they could find the trio. After Voldemort's fall, Phineas said that the Slytherin's contribution in the cause should not be forgotten, referring to his own contribution and also the participation of Snape, Slughorn, and the Malfoys.

Argus Filch

Argus Filch is the caretaker of Hogwarts in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of books. While he is not a wholly evil character, he is certainly both short- and ill-tempered, which has made him very unpopular with the student body. His knowledge of the secrets and shortcuts of the castle is almost unparalleled. The only people who have known more were the Marauders and the Weasley twins. He has been known to almost sadistically favour harsh punishments, leading to his alliance of himself with Dolores Umbridge when she imposes such, and to have an obsessive dislike of mud, animate toys, and all other things that might interfere with his creation of an immaculately clean Hogwarts.

Filch is revealed to be a Squib in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Harry accidentally discovers he is trying to teach himself basic magic from a Kwikspell correspondence course. His inability to use magic in a setting where it would greatly help his duties and the fact that students are learning magic all around him are likely causes of his bitterness. Nonetheless, Filch is at least able to use wizarding devices that have their own innate magic (such as the Secrecy Sensor used in Book 6). Filch appears in the seventh book to complain that students are out of bed – evidently his principal complaint throughout the series. He is promptly informed that the students are on the move because the school is readying for war and is told to find Peeves. He is then ordered to oversee the evacuation of younger students.

Filch owns a cat named Mrs. Norris to which he has a particular and possessive attachment; perhaps his only such attachment. She acts as a hallway monitor or spy for Filch: if she observes students engaging in suspicious activity or out of bed after curfew, Filch arrives in seconds. She has been known to follow Hagrid everywhere when he goes about to the school, apparently under Filch's orders. According to Rowling, there is nothing particularly magical about Mrs. Norris, other than her being "...just an intelligent (and unpleasant) cat." It is the ambition of many Hogwarts students to "give [her] a good kick". In the Chamber of Secrets case, Mrs. Norris was petrified temporarily by the Basilisk. This caused Filch great distress.

Filch's first name derives from that of Argus, a figure in Greek mythology notable for having one hundred eyes. His family name comes from the informal verb "filch", which means to steal or obtain in an irregular manner.

David Bradley has portrayed Filch in all five of the Harry Potter Films as of 2007, and is slated to appear in the sixth movie. The movie of Goblet of Fire shows Filch lovingly dancing with Mrs. Norris - a scene not in the book.

Firenze

Firenze is a Centaur and later a teacher at Hogwarts. He is described in the book as a blonde centaur with astonishingly blue eyes. He also has a muscled upper body, like all centaurs. Supposedly, he is quite good-looking, as many of the female population of Hogwarts are attracted to him. Parvati Patil describes him as gorgeous. His first appearance comes towards the end of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in which he rescues Harry from Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. Having carried Harry to safety on his back, Firenze is involved in an altercation with the other centaur residents in the forest, who object to the symbolic suggestion that centaurs are subservient to humans. They argue further about the responsibility of centaurs to read the future in the stars and whether it is correct to intervene in the unfolding of that future. Firenze remains with his herd but he is clearly at odds on some issues.

The character does not make another appearance until Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, in which he is appointed by the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, to teach Divination at Hogwarts in place of Sybill Trelawney, who had been sacked by the High Inquisitor, Dolores Umbridge. When Harry sees Firenze in class, it is obvious that Firenze has been attacked, and it emerges that he was indeed cast out of the centaur herd for agreeing to answer Dumbledore's request for help. Firenze ignored the centaurs' taboo on assisting humans because he felt he had an obligation to contribute to the struggle against Lord Voldemort. At the end of the fifth book, Firenze remained a member of the teaching staff, and in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince he shares teaching duties with a reinstated Professor Trelawney, a situation which she finds distasteful. Dumbledore keeps him on because Firenze would have no place left to go, as he is an exile from his herd.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he is seen near the end of the book fighting alongside the other professors of Hogwarts, helping to defend the school against Voldemort and his Death Eaters; it was mentioned that he was wounded on his flanks by the Death Eaters but ultimately survived the battle. Although not mentioned in the series, according to a J. K. Rowling web chat Firenze's herd is later forced to acknowledge that Firenze's pro-human leanings are not shameful and allow him back into the fold.

The character is based on Steve Eddy, Rowling's former English teacher who attempted, unsuccessfully, to discourage her from writing mythical, fantasy tales in favour of ones with grittier topics.

Filius Flitwick

Filius Flitwick is the Charms Master at Hogwarts and the head of Ravenclaw. Apart from his posts, Professor Flitwick has served Hogwarts in many ways outside of the classroom. He used his magical skills to help decorate the Great Hall at Christmas time in the first book, as well as help guard the Philosopher's Stone by putting charms on a hundred keys so they can fly, making it difficult to find the key to the door of the next chamber. During Harry's second year, Flitwick helped Professor Sinistra carry a petrified Justin Finch-Fletchley to the hospital wing. He taught the front doors to recognise a picture of Sirius Black after his second break-in in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He helped patrol the perimeter of the maze for the third task of the Triwizard Tournament held in Harry's fourth year. He eventually removed most of the swamp that had been created within the school by Fred and George Weasley in the fifth book in a couple of seconds, though he had previously left the swamp untouched. He chose to leave a small patch of it because he said he thought it was "a good bit of magic," but it is possible that it was left as a tribute to the legendary Weasley twins.

Near the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Flitwick is summoned by Minerva McGonagall to ask Professor Severus Snape to come to the aid of the Order of the Phoenix against the Death Eaters (Battle of The Tower). However, he is unable to do so, since Snape has stunned him. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows he helps to put protective charms around the castle to hinder Lord Voldemort and his oncoming Death Eaters, and later fights in the Battle of Hogwarts against Voldemort's intruders, battling Yaxley and later defeating Antonin Dolohov (Hermione states that Flitwick was once a duelling champion).

In the film adaptations, Flitwick is portrayed by Warwick Davis. In the third film, Davis plays a music conductor, credited simply as "Wizard". J. K. Rowling said: ''"I must admit, I was taken aback when I saw the film Flitwick, who looks very much like a goblin/elf (I’ve never actually asked the filmmakers precisely what he is), because the Flitwick in my imagination simply looks like a very small old man." However, Rowling mentions on her official website that Flitwick is human, with "a dash of goblin ancestry."'' His appearance on screen noticeably changes in the later films, taking the appearance of the Wizard conductor. He takes on a more human look, and many of the elf-like looks he had in the first two films are gone.

Gilderoy Lockhart

Gilderoy Lockhart is a narcissistic wizarding celebrity who has written many books on his fabulous adventures encountering dark creatures. In Chamber of Secrets, Lockhart is appointed as Hogwarts' new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor. In his first lesson, he gives the class a quiz that centers around himself rather than the subject. He is unpopular amongst the staff, particularly Professor Snape. Hermione develops a crush on Lockhart, much to Ron's disgust. Harry dislikes him, in part after Lockhart believes that Harry flew to Hogwarts in a car to seek further attention, and that he was later handing out signed photos of himself. Lockhart is exposed as a fraud when he attempts to avoid entering the Chamber of Secrets by revealing to Ron and Harry that he never performed the amazing feats documented in his books, instead stealing other wizards' experiences and erasing their memories. His attempt to use the Obliviate Charm on Harry and Ron backfires due to his use of Ron's broken wand, and he suffers the loss of his own memory as a result.

In Order of the Phoenix, Harry comes across Lockhart in St. Mungo's while visiting Mr. Weasley at Christmas. Lockhart is slowly regaining his memory and childishly proud of being able to write in "joined-up letters." He still receives fan mail, although he has no idea why, and still enjoys signing autographs. Lockhart never fully recovers, despite all efforts to the contrary. He is harmless and guileless, yet still a danger to himself as he wanders aimlessly and cannot remember his identity or his location.

Rowling has said that Lockhart is the only character she has ever based on a real-life person. Lockhart was inspired by an (unrevealed) acquaintance who was "even more objectionable than his fictional counterpart" and "used to tell whopping great fibs about his past life, all of them designed to demonstrate what a wonderful, brave and brilliant person he was."

Lockhart appeared in the film version of Chamber of Secrets, and was played by Kenneth Branagh.

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall is Deputy Headmistress, head of Gryffindor House, Transfiguration professor, and later Headmistress at Hogwarts, where she began teaching in December 1956. McGonagall considers Transfiguration to be amongst the most complex and dangerous magic taught at Hogwarts. McGonagall is first introduced in the opening chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, when she meets Albus Dumbledore at Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey (the home of Harry Potter's aunt and uncle).

McGonagall is described as a tall, rather severe-looking woman, with black hair typically drawn into a tight bun, only letting her hair down at the Yule Ball. She wears emerald green robes, a pointed hat that is cocked to one side, and always has a very prim expression. She is, according to Rowling, a "sprightly" 70-year-old. McGonagall wears square spectacles that match the markings around the eyes of her Animagus form of a silver tabby cat; she has the distinction of being the first Animagus introduced in the series and as one of the few registered (legal) Animagi of the century. Harry's immediate impression of her is of someone who is not to be crossed. Rowling has said McGonagall's birthday is October 4.

McGonagall is very keen on the success of the house Quidditch team. In the first book, after seeing Harry fly masterfully his very first time on a broom, she recommends him to fill the position of Seeker, even though first years are normally disallowed from playing. Furthermore, although a strict disciplinarian, she often assists Harry indirectly with activities that are not strictly within the rules of Hogwarts; for example, she allowed Harry and his friends to use the Transfiguration classroom to practice for tasks in the Triwizard Tournament. She promised Harry she would do everything in her power for him to achieve his goal of becoming an Auror, and she kept her promise. Despite her stern front, McGonagall has been known to display a range of emotions, which can often be a shock to her colleagues and students. Indeed, Harry claims that one of the worst sounds he ever heard was Professor McGonagall's scream at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on learning of Harry's apparent death.

It is revealed in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that McGonagall is a member of the Order of the Phoenix. She and Dolores Umbridge seem to have a mutual dislike for each other, as Umbridge continuously usurps more and more power from the staff and from Dumbledore and McGonagall in particular. This dislike manifests itself in both small ways, such as when McGonagall instructed Peeves in how to unscrew the bolts of a chandelier to cause it to fall and create another problem for Umbridge to solve. When McGonagall attempts to stop Umbridge and her fellow Ministry officials from unjustly taking Hagrid away by force, she pays for it when she is hit by four Stunning Spells. Taken to St Mungo's, McGonagall returns to the school towards the end of the book, though she temporarily uses a walking stick to support herself. However, McGonagall is an exceptional duellist, capable of holding her own against much younger and more agile Death Eaters, as seen in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and her many duels in the last book.

After the death of Dumbledore at the hands of Severus Snape in Half-Blood Prince, she again becomes the acting Headmistress of Hogwarts. In the series finale, she did not become headmistress at the start of term as expected; Snape was appointed by new Minister for Magic Pius Thicknesse, who was actually under the Imperius Curse and acting for Voldemort. Despite the many changes, she is kept as head of Gryffindor House. Before the Battle of Hogwarts, she goes to the Ravenclaw tower and finds Alecto Carrow stunned and her brother Amycus searching for Harry. When Amycus suggests hurting the students to compensate for his sister's state, McGonagall immediately intervenes. In response, Amycus spits in her face. Harry, who was present and hidden under his invisibility cloak reveals himself and uses the Cruciatus Curse on Amycus. Harry then informs McGonagall that Voldemort is on his way and she sends three of her Patronus' — which manifest in her Animagus form — to warn the other three Heads of House. When on her way to meet the heads of house, she meets Snape who questions her about Potter's whereabouts. Not knowing Snape was actually still following Dumbledore's orders and has important information for Harry, she attacks him, engaging in a fierce duel. With help from Professors Sprout and Flitwick she succeeds in driving Snape away.

McGonagall then takes charge of the school again and proceeds to secure it against Voldemort to ensure Harry can fulfil his mission from Dumbledore. She also organises the evacuation of the school's underage students to ensure their safety. She then leads the remaining students, the staff of Hogwarts, and members of the Order of the Phoenix in the fight against Voldemort. She is seen during the battle with a large gash on her cheek and commanding a herd of charmed desks to charge at Death Eaters. Finally, McGonagall ends up duelling Voldemort alongside Kingsley Shacklebolt and Horace Slughorn. Though this is not explicitly stated, McGonagall would presumably have become Headmistress of Hogwarts after the Battle of Hogwarts and Snape's death; however, in an interview J. K. Rowling says she would not have the job by the time of the Deathly Hallows epilogue (19 years after Deathly Hallows), as she is "getting on in years."

Her given name comes from Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom. Her surname comes from that of a 19th century Dundee eccentric, William Topaz McGonagall, considered one of the worst poets in the English language.

McGonagall is played by Dame Maggie Smith in the Harry Potter film adaptations. Smith has described her role as "Miss Jean Brodie in a wizard's hat" and as becoming smaller in the films, noting Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as her favourite thus far.

Poppy Pomfrey

Madam Poppy Pomfrey is a magical healer who is the matron in charge of the Hogwarts hospital wing, and is known to be very strict regarding the rules of her infirmary and to have a high opinion of any teachers who are competent in healing. She considers both Dementors and dragons to be detrimental to students' health.

Ron goes to Madam Pomfrey after being bitten by Norbert in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. After Harry defeats Professor Quirrell in the dungeons, he spends three days unconscious in the hospital wing. In Chamber of Secrets, Madam Pomfrey regrows the bones in Harry's broken arm after Gilderoy Lockhart accidentally removes them following Gryffindor's Quidditch win over Slytherin. Hermione ends up in the hospital wing for a month after a mishap with the Polyjuice Potion that left her half-feline, then is again hospitalized after she is Petrified along with several other students.

After Umbridge stunned McGonagall in Order of the Phoenix, Madam Pomfrey said she would resign in protest were she not afraid of what would become of the students without her presence. In Half-Blood Prince, she takes care of Ron dutifully after he was poisoned and tended to Harry after his skull was cracked in a Quidditch match. She burst into tears when she found out about Dumbledore's death, and in Deathly Hallows, she and Argus Filch oversee student evacuations from Hogwarts before the Death Eaters attack, and later helps the injured.

Madam Pomfrey appeared in the film version of Chamber of Secrets, and was played by Gemma Jones.

Quirinus Quirrell

Quirinus Quirrell was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during Harry's first year.

Prior to his employment at Hogwarts, he is said by Hagrid to have had a "brilliant mind", and was a fine teacher while studying from books; some time before Harry's arrival at Hogwarts, "he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience". There were rumours that he encountered vampires in the Black Forest and one in Romania. Upon his return, he appeared perpetually nervous and had developed a stutter and nervous tics. Hagrid was able to say even before the beginning of the autumn term that he was "scared of the students [and] scared of his own subject".

Harry first meets Quirrell at the Leaky Cauldron, a hidden pub in London, while being escorted by Hagrid to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies. Quirrell's manner is timid and unassuming. Quirrell is next seen at Hogwarts conversing with Potions master Severus Snape at the start-of-term banquet, and then regularly while teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. Quirrell's attire includes a new purple turban which he claims to have received as a reward from an African prince for getting rid of a zombie. During the school's Halloween banquet, Quirrell appears in the Great Hall to warn staff and students of a troll in the dungeons, and then promptly faints. Harry, Ron, and Hermione come to suspect that Snape is on a mission from Lord Voldemort to steal the Philosopher's Stone from a secret chamber in Hogwarts, where it is hidden. When Harry finally arrives in the chamber, he discovers that it is not Snape, but Quirrell who is the real villain.

During the climax of the story, as Harry and Quirrell struggle to recover the stone from the Mirror of Erised, Voldemort reveals himself on the back of Quirrell's head (formerly concealed by the turban, which was presumably obtained for this purpose) and speaks directly to Harry, threatening to kill him if he did not assist Voldemort in recovering it. After Harry refuses, Voldemort orders Quirrell to attack Harry, who holds off Quirrell long enough for aid to arrive, at which point Voldemort flees, in his non-physical form. Voldemort's departure, as well as the agony suffered by him because of his contact with the morally pure Harry, causes Quirrell to die, hence Dumbledore's comment that Voldemort is as merciless to his followers as to his enemies. In the film, Quirrell's death is much the same, although there are some minor differences. When Quirrell starts choking Harry and the latter tries to pry Quirrell's hand off, the hand crumbles into dust. Quirrell then tries to grab the Stone, but Harry grabs Quirrell's face, which begins to dissolve. His body then crumbles into a pile of dust and he dies. Voldemort's non-physical form rises from the ashes and knocks Harry insensate before retreating.

J. K. Rowling stated in a live web chat on July 30, 2007 that Quirrell had worked at Hogwarts as Muggle Studies teacher for a certain length of time, before taking the cursed Defence Against the Dark Arts position in the same year that Harry joined.

Ian Hart played Quirrell in the film version of Philosopher's Stone.

Horace Slughorn

Sybill Patricia Trelawney is the professor of Divination at Hogwarts. She first appears in the third book of the series, when Harry, Ron and Hermione start divination lessons. The friends generally believe Trelawney is a fraud, an opinion with which the teachers (particularly Minerva McGonagall) are inclined to agree. According to McGonagall, her credibility as a Seer is undermined by her habit of erroneously predicting, each year, the death of one of her students. Trelawney is the great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated seer Cassandra Trelawney, and, in fact, has inherited some fraction of her ancestor's talent, although it is, indeed, only a fraction and she cannot control her gift, nor does she use it with any sort of frequency. However, from time to time she makes predictions within the books, which come true.

Trelawney is portrayed as wearing many gaudy bangles, cloaks, and shawls, many of them covered with shining sequins. She is said to wear thick glasses, which causes her eyes to appear greatly magnified. Her classroom, in the North Tower of Hogwarts, is scented so heavily that students often fall asleep during class.

Prior to the events of the Harry Potter books, Trelawney falls into a prophetic trance while in an interview with Albus Dumbledore, saying: "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..." This prophecy was partly overheard by Severus Snape, who relayed what he heard to Lord Voldemort. This led Voldemort to attack the Potter family, believing that Harry was the child named. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Trelawney prophesises to Harry about the events of the book's climax.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, she is seen aiding in the fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters by magically accelerating her crystal balls at them. One knocks out the werewolf Fenrir Greyback after he attacks and wounds Lavender Brown (but does not have time to bite her, thanks to Hermione's quick use of a Stunning Spell). Lavender is one of Trelawney's favoured students.

In the British editions of the books, her name is consistently spelled as "Sybill". In the American editions, from her first appearance in Prisoner of Azkaban through Order of the Phoenix, her name is spelled as "Sibyll". However, in the American edition of Half-Blood Prince, it is re-spelled as "Sybill", matching the UK edition. The name "Sybill" alludes to the Sibyls of classical Graeco-Roman tradition, who were oracles that made cryptic predictions about the future which often could not be understood until they had already come to pass.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Trelawney is portrayed by British actress Emma Thompson.

Dolores Umbridge

Dolores Jane Umbridge is the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry's fifth year. She is a short, squat woman described in the book as resembling a large pale toad. She has a broad, flabby face, little neck, and a wide, slack mouth. In Order of the Phoenix she has "short, curly, mouse-brown hair" and often wears a black velvet bow (or pink Alice band) in her hair that reminds Harry of a fly about to be caught.

Umbridge is first presented as an interrogator at Harry's trial for underage use of magic in the opening chapters of Order of the Phoenix. It is later revealed that Umbridge herself had ordered Dementors to attack Harry. Umbridge is subsequently installed at Hogwarts as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor by order of the Ministry of Magic in Educational Decree Number Twenty-two. The Ministry of Magic is said to have stationed Umbridge to provide on the ground feedback and address what the Ministry believes are falling standards. Her teaching consists only of defensive magical theory, due to Fudge's paranoid fear that Dumbledore intends to use his students as an army to bring down the Ministry. She is soon appointed the first (and only) "Hogwarts High Inquisitor", by Educational Decree Number Twenty-three, in which position she is given extraordinary powers over the students, teachers, and curriculum. Umbridge creates the "Inquisitorial Squad", which rewards some students for reporting on others and sanctions them to act as enforcers of Umbridge's rules. She later fires Sybill Trelawney as a teacher and deposes Albus Dumbledore, ultimately becoming Headmistress. Towards the final chapters of Order of the Phoenix, Umbridge tries to attack Rubeus Hagrid, but her attempt is thwarted. Hagrid escapes Hogwarts, and Minerva McGonagall is severely injured and is sent to St. Mungo's hospital, clearing the way for Umbridge to assume complete control of the school. When Fred and George Weasley escape as well, a riot breaks out. Eventually, she is led into the midst of a herd of misanthropic centaurs, who beat her severely.

Umbridge's time at Hogwarts is characterised by cruelty and abusive punishments against students; she shows signs of Schadenfreude by forcing Harry, Lee Jordan and other students who get detention from her to write lines using a quill that magically causes the words to be cut into the skin on the back of the writer's hand and uses their blood as ink. Umbridge even uses or attempts to use the potion Veritaserum and Cruciatus Curse in order to extract information from students. Her hatred for non-wizards and semi-human beings such as vampires, werewolves and centaurs also is made prominent. It is in fact she who provokes the beating mentioned above, by speaking derogatively of the centaurs to their faces. She later makes a cameo appearance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, where Harry is disgusted to hear that she is still working for the Ministry and that she attended Dumbledore's funeral. Her hair had turned "iron-coloured".

Umbridge plays a smaller role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as the head of the Muggle-born Registration Commission, and appears to have written a leaflet called "Mudbloods and the dangers they pose to a peaceful pure-blood society", indicating her full support of Voldemort's regime, whether or not she knew the truth about who was running it. She had somehow obtained Mad-Eye Moody's magical eye after his death, and used it to spy on the other Ministry workers from her office. She had also taken Slytherin's locket as a bribe from Mundungus Fletcher after he stole it from 12 Grimmauld Place. She uses the trinket to solidify her pure-blood credentials, claiming the "S" on the locket to stand for "Selwyn", her ancestral name, rather than "Slytherin". The recovery of this locket forms a major plotline in Deathly Hallows. Despite Harry being unable to conjure a Patronus while wearing the locket, Umbridge manages to do so. Rowling explains this by Dolores being a "very nasty piece of work" and having an affinity for the locket; the object aiding her instead of hindering her. She is attacked by Harry and his friends, who recover the Horcrux while Harry takes Moody's eye. Following Voldemort's demise and the de-corruption of the Ministry, Umbridge is arrested, interrogated, put on trial, and imprisoned for her crimes against Muggle-borns.

Novelist Stephen King, writing as a book reviewer for the July 11, 2003 Entertainment Weekly, noted the success of any novel is due to a great villain, with Umbridge as the "greatest make-believe villain to come along since Hannibal Lecter...". Umbridge was portrayed in the fifth film by British actress Imelda Staunton. The Daily Mail described Staunton's portrayal of Umbridge as a "refreshing addition", with the character herself described as "a cross between Margaret Thatcher and Hyacinth Bucket".

Others

• Charity Burbage: identified as the Muggle Studies teacher in the final book. Because she taught a favourable study of Muggles, evidenced by an editorial article in the Daily Prophet, she was in direct opposition to the Death Eater philosophy of the supremacy of pure-bloods. She was a prisoner of Lord Voldemort, who tortured her, killed her, and fed her to Nagini.
• Armando Dippet: the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who preceded Albus Dumbledore, during the time that Minerva McGonagall, Rubeus Hagrid, and Tom Riddle were students and the latter opened the Chamber of Secrets. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it is noted that Rita Skeeter has written a book titled Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?
• Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank: a substitute Care of Magical Creatures teacher. She first appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, taking lessons when Hagrid is unable to teach, and again in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Hagrid is away on a mission for Dumbledore. The character was played by Apple Brook in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
• Rolanda Hooch: taught broomstick flying to Hogwarts first years and was the referee of intramural Quidditch matches. She was described as having short grey hair and "yellow eyes like a hawk". The character was played by Zoë Wanamaker in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
• Neville Longbottom: revealed to be the Herbology professor in the epilogue of Deathly Hallows.
• Irma Pince: the librarian of Hogwarts, compared to an "underfed vulture". She tries to protect her books from students by placing odd jinxes on them. The character was portrayed by Sally Mortemore in the film adaptation of the second book.
• Aurora Sinistra: the Astronomy Professor. Her classes are held at midnight on the tallest tower of Hogwarts. Even though Harry does attend Astronomy, no astronomy class has ever been described in the series, and thus, very little is known about Sinistra. She attended the Yule Ball in Harry's fourth year with Mad-Eye Moody (who was at the time Barty Crouch Jr. posing as the real Moody).
• Septima Vector: the Arithmancy professor, known to give her students large amounts of homework.

References

External links

hpw Professor

• The Harry Potter Lexicon's page on the Hogwarts Staff

abstract, and, annex, appropriate, bag, boost, borrow, cop, crib, defraud, embezzle, extort, hook, lift, make off with, nip, palm, pilfer, pinch, poach, purloin, run away with, rustle, scrounge, shoplift, snare, snatch, snitch, steal, swindle, swipe, take, thieve, walk off with