The Thirty-Six DADA Professors from 1955-1991: What Happened to Them?
Foreword
As we know, in 1955 twenty-seven-year-old Tom Riddle applied to Albus Dumbledore for the post of DADA professor, and was refused. In doing so, Dumbledore indicated very plainly his disapproval of Riddle's chosen path. He also showed far more awareness of Riddle's movements than Riddle was comfortable with. Thanks to Aberforth's information, Albus knew that Riddle was staying at the Hog's Head and who his companions were. He knew – but firmly refused to follow suit – that Riddle was now calling himself Lord Voldemort. He knew that Riddle and Lord Voldemort were one and the same. And it must have been ever-present in Riddle's mind that Dumbledore was the only person who knew all of his early history. Indeed, it was probably Dumbledore's ability as a Legilimens which had prompted Riddle to learn Occlumency and then Legilimency himself. Only thus could he keep anything secret from the perceptive gaze of his old teacher.
It is likely that Riddle hid the diadem horcrux in the Room of Requirement prior to his interview with Dumbledore. He must have known that, were he to be refused the post he sought, it would look suspicious if he didn't leave the castle directly afterwards. He might well have also feared the potential for Dumbledore to be able to spy on him while in the castle. However, his anger at Dumbledore's perspicacity led him to linger long enough to take his revenge on the headmaster by jinxing the position he had coveted – and he may have hoped, in the process, to reduce the effectiveness of DADA instruction and his subsequent opponents.
In 1996 Dumbledore told Harry, "Oh, he definitely wanted the Defence Against the Dark Arts job. The aftermath of our little meeting proved that. You see, we have not been able to keep a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor for more than a year since I refused the post to Lord Voldemort." In 2018 I made an idle comment on a fan forum – that JKR should write the story of the thirty-six DADA professors who held the post between Voldemort's curse and Harry's arrival at Hogwarts in 1991. Several people said they'd like to read a fanfic of that, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's been fascinating, but quite a challenge to come up with a sufficient variety of causes for their departures, without leaving the post so notorious that only people with huge egos or total stupidity would apply. I hope readers enjoy my imaginings.
1955-56 – Professor Augusta Seward, b.1917, attended Hogwarts 1928-1935, Ravenclaw.
The professor whom Dumbledore hired after refusing Riddle's application for the post had been a fine scholar during her time at Hogwarts, and was keen to work under Dumbledore's direction. As a result of his defeat of Grindelwald ten years earlier, Dumbledore had consolidated his reputation as an extremely powerful wizard and accomplished duellist, and there were many witches and wizards who were eager to work in close contact with him.
Professor Augusta Seward was comparatively young, and was an enthusiastic teacher who built an excellent rapport with her students. Muggleborn, she had gained experience in the art of fencing from her parents, both fencing experts who had competed at the Paris Olympics in 1924. In her DADA lessons Professor Seward included instruction based on many of the principles of swordplay. Under her tuition, Hogwarts students learned not only a wide range of defensive and offensive Charms, but also duelling tactics and psychology. Students learnt how to anticipate an opponent's moves by careful observation of their body language, how to manage adrenalin levels during a duel so as to maximise their power, and how to select which Charms would be likely to be most effective against a given opponent based on the opponent's character and past actions.
It was Professor Seward's love for the Muggle sport of fencing which led to her untimely death. She maintained her involvement in the sport throughout her life, and her experience with magical duels gave her added skill (although, of course, as a matter of principle she never used magic in a Muggle fencing bout). She was highly regarded in the Muggle world as a fencing tactician, and was involved in coaching the British Olympic fencing team for the 1956 Olympics. In a practice bout in August 1956 her opponent's blade broke and pierced her mask and eye, and she died before medical aid could arrive.
1956-1957 – Professor Gentlin Timoraneous, b.1910, attended Hogwarts 1921-1928, Hufflepuff.
Professor Timoraneous was in a difficult position from the very beginning of his tenure as DADA professor. Stepping into the role at short notice after Augusta Seward's death, his insecurity about his lack of teaching experience was compounded by the outpouring of grief and praise for Seward from all the Hogwarts staff and students. Comments such as "Seward was a magnificent teacher; no-one else could possibly measure up," and "If only Augusta was still here!", which he couldn't help hearing, caused him such ongoing distress that on several occasions he begged Dumbledore to fill his position with someone else and allow him to leave. Dumbledore, however, maintained his belief in Gentlin's capabilities and encouraged him to persevere.
Timoraneous became a moderately successful teacher despite his initial lack of confidence. In his first months in the position he had sought to follow Seward's lesson notes, which he found in her office while he was settling in. However, the dissonance between his and Augusta's personality was too great, and his knowledge of duelling psychology too little. After a few months of misery and a growing sense of failure, he realised that his only hope of succeeding was to be himself, instead of trying to be another Augusta Seward. He tore up Seward's notes and developed his own lesson plans, and found his classes proceeded better thereafter. His kindly nature and gentle style in the classroom brought out the best in his quieter students, although he occasionally still struggled to control the rowdier elements.
Toward the end of Timoraneous's year as DADA professor, his consciousness of his lack of courage still irked him. He felt that no-one could be a good dueller and defend themself properly against Dark Magic if they were frightened. As a result, he became determined to prove to himself and everyone else that he wasn't a coward. After considering a variety of methods, he decided that the most feasible choice would be to venture alone into the Forbidden Forest and do battle with whatever creatures he encountered there. On 11th June 1957, Timoraneous was seen entering the Forest at around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. What followed was never fully known, but a little over five hours later Hagrid found him lying unconscious on a narrow path not far from the centaurs' patch, his clothes torn and a huge gash in his shoulder. Marks in the leaf litter showed he had dragged himself more than 200 metres in an attempt to reach the edge of the forest. He was carried up to the hospital wing, where Madam Salvia Salixis (Poppy Pomfrey's predecessor) was able to ascertain that he was suffering from the effects of Acromantula venom, although there were no signs of bite marks. Despite Madam Salixis' best efforts the delay in treating him proved fatal; Gentlin never regained consciousness and he died shortly before midnight.
1957-1958 – Professor Aubrey Clair-Ombré, b.1901, attended Beauxbatons 1913-1920, Papillonlisse.
Professor Clair-Ombré was a second cousin once removed of Lucius Malfoy on his paternal side. When Armand Malfoy came to England with William the Conqueror, other branches of the Malfoy family remained in France. In 1767 Marguerite Malfoy married Étienne Clair-Ombré, the younger son of the Duc de Montenoy. The English branch of the family continued to set great store by their French connection and its links to European royalty and aristocracy, but the French Malfoys and Clair-Ombrés were far less obsessed with cultivating power and status. Many of the English Malfoys married their French cousins in order to strengthen these aristocratic connections, but when Aurelia Malfoy married Philippe Clair-Ombré in 1893, their children mostly took after their kindlier Clair-Ombré ancestors.
Aubrey Clair-Ombré, the second son of Aurelia and Philippe, grew up in France but later spent some years as Chargé d'Affaires in London during the second Muggle world war. He spoke fluent and almost unaccented English, and had served his country well in his position. Although a good diplomat and negotiator, his skills were more apparent in social settings than in the seat of government. A tendency to spontaneous decisions and hasty judgements at times when careful thought was needed had prevented his promotion to the role of Ambassador. He was highly artistic, a lover of animals, and capable of great intensity of emotion and dedication.
Clair-Ombré and Dumbledore had known each other for many years. They held each other in deep respect and shared many similar interests. After the death of Timoraneous, Dumbledore pleaded with Clair-Ombré to take up the post of DADA professor on a short-term basis, in order to allow him more time to seek a suitable longterm solution. Clair-Ombré had been considering leaving his diplomatic position in order to travel, and so decided to accept his old friend's request.
Clair-Ombré's diplomatic skills made him a tolerably good professor, but his heart was never in the job. He was intrigued by Hagrid's fascination for all manner of fantastic creatures, and was frequently to be found down at the hut assisting with various aspects of animal care. In the summer of 1958 he was working hard grooming the unicorns, which were being extremely skittish, when he unthinkingly turned his back on a Hippogriff nearby, mopped his forehead with his handkerchief and said (of the unicorns), "They'd be far less trouble if they weren't part-horse!" The Hippogriff apparently took this as a deep personal insult, and immediately slashed at his back with its beak and then ripped at him with its talons. By the time Hagrid arrived, the Hippogriff had brutally savaged Clair-Ombré to death and was pecking at his vital organs. The animal was subsequently executed.
Note: This incident was told and retold throughout the Malfoy family as an example of why never to trust magical beasts, and is the real reason why Lucius Malfoy was so determined to see Buckbeak executed after his minor injuring of Draco.
1958-1959 – Samuel Poppinhall, b.1886, attended Hogwarts 1899-1904 after being home-schooled by his father in first and second year, Gryffindor.
Samuel Poppinhall was the child of a well-meaning but opinionated father and a meek mother. Samuel Poppinhall senior was convinced that he could educate his son better than Hogwarts could, and proceeded to attempt it. Samuel's mother, Violet, always accepted her husband at his own valuation and, in any case, was too meek to object. After two years of this Samuel senior died, and Violet thankfully sent her increasingly-conceited son off to Hogwarts.
Young Samuel never really settled down at Hogwarts; his academic standard was by no means as good as his father had always proclaimed, and his patronising tone toward his fellow-students did not endear him to them. He was, however, a useful asset to the Quidditch team, where his rather solid build enabled him to swing his Beater's club with a great deal of force. Once seated on his heavy-duty Bristlewhack Major broomstick he was a force to be reckoned with, and it wasn't only his opponents who nicknamed him "the Poppinhall Peril".
When Albus Dumbledore, somewhat disconcerted by the series of disasters which had removed the previous three DADA professors, considered whom he might employ this time, he decided that Poppinhall was self-absorbed enough not to fear the danger and uncongenial enough not to be too sorely missed should the worst befall him.
Throughout the previous six years, Samuel Poppinhall had been involved in a long-running correspondence with the then-Minister of Magic, Wilhelmina Tuft, about the arrangements at Azkaban. The 1950s had been characterised by a great sense of freedom and optimism following the defeat and imprisonment of Gellert Grindelwald, but at the same time many feared that Grindelwald's "for the greater good" philosophy could lead to a security threat from other countries who might adopt it. Opinion was divided as to whether maintaining Azkaban – and particularly the Dementor guards – was a wise choice or not. Tuft believed it was, and was riding high on the popularity of that choice. Poppinhall hotly disputed her decision, but had been frustrated by his lack of ability to sway her. He saw in the DADA professorship an opportunity to establish his standing as a Dark Arts and Creatures expert and thereby to increase his influence with Tuft.
During his year at Hogwarts, Poppinhall struggled to win the approval of students and fellow professors. His students mocked his dumpy figure and whispered that he'd never win a duel because he was too fat to dodge his opponent's fire. His colleagues found him conceited and interfering, and treated him with marked coolness. In his desperation to gain some liking he hit on the idea of a Staff vs Students Quidditch match. His memories of his success on the Quidditch pitch in his schooldays led him to believe that once the school saw his prowess on the pitch, they would respect him and listen to his opinions.
After much persistent nagging of both the school Quidditch captain and Professor Dumbledore, Poppinhall cajoled them into agreeing to arrange – or rather, letting him arrange – the match. It was scheduled to take place the day after the last exam of the year. Poppinhall was, of course, playing in his old role of Beater. The staff team also contained a brilliant Chaser: a much younger Minerva McGonagall.
What Poppinhall had failed to take into account was that he was seventy-three years old and had not played seriously for more than twenty years. He found the broomstick far less comfortable than he remembered it being in the old days and himself much clumsier in dodging his opponents. Little more than an hour into the match, with the scores at Staff—90, Students—130, and the attention of the players and spectators drawn to where the Snitch had just appeared at the other end of the pitch, Poppinhall took an awkward swing at a Bludger, lost his balance and fell off his broom. He landed on the pitch head first, and was dead when the referee reached him. In an unguarded moment Professor McGonagall was heard to mutter, "Well, at least it wasn't a student."
1959-1960 – Cuthbert Ethelind, b.1914, attended Hogwarts 1925-1932, Slytherin.
By 1959, Dumbledore was becoming seriously alarmed by the misfortunes attending the post of DADA professor. He spent many hours pondering ways to avert the threat, and concluded that if the disasters had been caused by some form of curse placed on the role by Tom Riddle, it was possible that Riddle had made an exception for members of his own house. For this reason, Dumbledore's next choice was a former Slytherin.
Cuthbert Ethelind was a member of a very old Saxon family which claimed to be able to trace its lineage back to a Saxon invader who fought against King Arthur in the 6th Century. The family had a name among the magical community for being extremely eccentric, and Cuthbert certainly lived up to that reputation. He was frequently seen stalking imaginary Dark intruders along the castle corridors, and it was not unusual for him to break off his instructions to a class in order to exhort his pupils to form ranks to fight the invaders he imagined were entering the room.
Naturally, under such conditions his pupils learnt very little in the course of the year, and only three students in the entire school attained pass marks in their end-of-year DADA exams The hailstorm of Howlers which arrived on Dumbledore's desk the day after the results were known compelled him to sack Ethelind and seek a replacement.
1960-61 – Gloria Belleisle, b.1939, attended Hogwarts 1950-1957, Slytherin.
Although Professor Ethelind's tenure as DADA professor had been a spectacular failure, Dumbledore was heartened by the fact that Ethelind was the first DADA professor not to die since Riddle's unsuccessful application. The headmaster was tentatively hopeful that he might have bypassed the apparent curse by his choice of a Slytherin. Thus he resolved to continue in that course of action, and his next choice fell on Gloria Belleisle.
Belleisle was an ambitious and successful young witch whose training as an Auror had been interrupted by her decision to care for her ailing mother. Mrs Belleisle had grown up in Hogsmeade, married a Guernésiase and lived with him in Guernsey until his death in 1953, when Gloria was in her third year at Hogwarts. Longing to be closer to her daughter and the friends of her childhood, Gloria's mother had bought a small cottage in Hogsmeade and settled there. However, she had never really recovered from the grief of her husband's death, and ten years later she was suffering from a wasting disease. Gloria wanted to stay close to her mother, but was also keen to keep herself occupied when her mother didn't need her.
Professor Belleisle turned out to be an excellent teacher. She was as ambitious for her students as she was for herself, but she was also realistic about their capabilities. She encouraged her advanced students to complete extension work, and gently coached her struggling students until they could perform all the simpler jinxes and hexes.
Three days before the end of year exams in June 1961, Mrs Belleisle died. Gloria subsequently resigned from Hogwarts in order to return to her Auror studies, and later became a key figure in the first wizarding war.
1961-1962 – Odo Standish, b.1904, attended Hogwarts 1915-1922, Slytherin.
After Gloria Belleisle's resignation, Professor Dumbledore was becoming cautiously optimistic that Slytherins were exempt from the DADA misfortunes, so naturally he chose another Slytherin to succeed her.
Odo Standish, although a Slytherin, seemed to have no particular ambition to succeed in academia or in the halls of power. This, however, was only outward appearances. His secret dream was to invent a compact jet propulsion system for brooms, thereby enabling broom travel time to be reduced by sixty percent. He was sure that those who preferred not to Apparate, or who were travelling to somewhere outside the Floo Network, would welcome such an innovation.
Standish's early prototype had been partially successful, but had uncovered a difficulty with temperature. Normal broomstick flight could be quite cold, particularly if flying through fog or rain. The increased speed of Odo's jet-propulsion scheme exacerbated this drawback, and he had been considering ways to channel the heat from the propulsion exhaust up toward the rider. At the time Dumbledore approached him, lack of funds had called a temporary halt to his experiments, and consequently he welcomed the opportunity to earn some extra money as DADA professor.
As a teacher he was fairly ordinary. It was not, by any means, his greatest skill, and the students sensed his lack of interest and engagement. Perhaps some would have accorded him more respect had they known about his invention, but Standish had kept the information very quiet.
During the Easter holidays in 1962, Odo managed to affix his modified heat-returning jet-propulsion system to his broom and took off from the school Quidditch pitch on a short test flight, watched by a select few of the staff. Emboldened by the flight's success and their enthusiasm, he embarked on a longer trip around the grounds and then up to the nearby hills. As he climbed toward the clouds, something appeared to malfunction. The watchers saw sparks fly from the engine, and heard four loud backfires. Standish's broom wobbled and its flight path became erratic. A few seconds later, with Odo clearly still struggling to regain control of his broom, the entire propulsion system blew up. The force of its explosion shattered both the broom and Professor Standish, and his remains were never found.
During the final term of the year, the other Hogwarts teachers shared out the DADA classes amongst them all, as a tribute to their lost colleague.
1962-1963 – Baron Stephen Fitzwilliam, b.1933, attended Hogwarts 1944-1951, Gryffindor.
Since it had become apparent that Slytherins were not, after all, universally exempt from the worst effects of the DADA curse, Albus Dumbledore no longer felt restricted to them when selecting a new professor. It was, however, becoming difficult to find suitable applicants, because the string of misfortunes had not escaped the notice of students, parents and the Ministry of Magic, and many who might otherwise have applied chose discretion rather than valour.
Dumbledore's next choice fell on a member of the muggle nobility. Lord Fitzwilliam had inherited his title when he was 10 years old, only a few months before receiving his Hogwarts letter. Muggle-born, his name had been down for Eton, but on receipt of his letter he had insisted to his mother that he attend Hogwarts instead because it was even more exclusive. The Fitzwilliams, descended on the wrong side of the blanket from William, Duke of Clarence (later William IV), were excessively proud of their royal blood, and Lord Fitzwilliam was avid for any increase in social status which might help to erase the century-old scandal always apparent in his name.* Given his ambitious mindset, it was somewhat surprising that the Sorting Hat placed him in Gryffindor, although for Fitzwilliam himself it merely added another item to his list of boast-worthy accomplishments.
Lord Fitzwilliam, who insisted on being addressed as "My Lord" rather than as "Sir" or "Professor", had always been a keen member of his local Hunt and became eager to introduce Thestrals and Unicorns as mounts. Only repeated reminders of the severe penalties for breach of the Statute of Secrecy that such a move would entail served to keep him in check. In the interim, he sought every opportunity of becoming familiar with riding them, and developed into something of an expert on defences against the Dark Arts while mounted.
Shortly after the end of the 1962-63 school year, Lord Fitzwilliam travelled to France to find out if French Thestrals were any different from English ones and whether such differences would make one or the other more suitable as Hunt mounts. Whilst he was there, a brazen French farm labourer sneered at his name and called him "le bâtard" ("the illegitimate one"). Fitzwilliam, furious at the insult to his honour and his mother's virtue, drew his sword and ran the labourer through. He was subsequently tried for murder, convicted and guillotined. Frustrated by the abrupt curtailment of his ambitions, he returned to Hogwarts as a ghost and joined the Headless Hunt, expecting to immediately oust Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore who, as a mere baronet, ranked below him. It was a matter of everlasting resentment to him that the other members of the Hunt voted unanimously in favour of Sir Patrick retaining his position.
*(The surname Fitz… (=son of …) was given to illegitimate sons of unmarried women when acknowledged by their father, usually as a mark of their father's fondness for the child's mother. Fitzclarence indicated the son/s of the Duke of Clarence, Fitzwilliam the son/s of William, etc.)
1963-1964 – Jonathan Heyward, b.1936, attended Hogwarts 1948-1955, Hufflepuff.
Professor Heyward was a mild and unassuming man. Like many others, he had heard the rumours of a curse being attached to the DADA professorship, but it was not so very long since he himself had been at Hogwarts and there had been no talk of any such thing. Consequently he was inclined to think that it was merely a series of unfortunate coincidences that had caused such a rapid turnover of previous professors. In any case, his own life had been so very ordinary that he simply could not imagine falling victim to such striking events as had removed Timoraneous and Standish, and even less that which had removed Fitzwilliam.
Heyward was liked by both staff and students. His pupils did well, although not brilliantly, and his year at Hogwarts was so uneventful that Dumbledore found himself relaxing a little, and even wondering if Jonathan's ordinariness was, in such circumstances, a blessing that might turn out to be proof against the dramas of the past years.
Unfortunately, Heyward didn't really like teaching, and he also found it quite unnerving being aware that everyone was expecting something disastrous to happen to him, so he resigned his post at the end of the school year.
1964-1965 – Isobel Haizey, b. 1934, attended Hogwarts 1945-1952, Hufflepuff.
When Haizey applied for the post of DADA professor, Albus Dumbledore hesitated. He remembered her as having been a somewhat disaster-prone student, and the post seemed disastrous enough without adding to it. However, on further reflection he recalled that Isobel's nemesis had been Potions rather than DADA. Even when Professor Slughorn, then Potions professor, had supervised her on every step of a potion recipe, she could still end up with a greyish-green sludge instead of the twinkling purple or pale clear blue that it was supposed to be.
In any case, she was the only applicant for the post, so Dumbledore reluctantly appointed her.
Professor Haizey was well-liked by her pupils, who found her constant mishaps very entertaining. Her readiness to admit them endeared her to everyone, and her bubbly personality invited both staff and students to laugh with her at her mistakes. From accidentally extinguishing a Hinkypunk's lantern to conjuring up a live fox instead of her corporeal Patronus-fox, Professor Haizey never failed to keep her classes on the verge of laughter wondering what would go wrong next.
The day came, however, when what went wrong was anything but laughable. Professor Haizey was demonstrating to her fifth-years how Apparition could be used in defensive spells, but failed to exercise the necessary deliberation. She splinched herself, leaving one-third of her head on the other side of the classroom. Madam Salixis was called immediately, but because of the seriousness of the splinched body part, she recommended that Professor Haizey be transferred immediately to St Mungo's for specialist healing. Haizey remained at St Mungo's for nearly 3 years, undergoing intense treatment and rehabilitation.
1965-1966 – Gareth Peabody, b.1937, attended Hogwarts 1948-1955, Gryffindor.
By this time, ten years after Riddle's unsuccessful application for the post of DADA professor, there were very few applicants for the post. Dumbledore frequently had to use a judicious mixture of publicity, flattery and subtle manipulation to entice people to apply, and many simply weren't willing to risk it. One who was willing to take the risk was Gareth Peabody.
Peabody had been a student contemporary of his last-but-one predecessor, Jonathan Heyward, but was such a different personality that they had never been at all friendly. There was no open enmity between them, but Gareth's barely-concealed scorn of his classmate's unassuming nature had ensured that they remained at a distance.
Peabody was bold, brash and swaggering. The Sorting Hat had placed him in Gryffindor without a moment's hesitation, and he took immense pride in being a Hatsnap.* Although he was aware of the supposed jinx on the DADA post, he was self-confident enough to believe that he could penetrate and lift it if only he were given the opportunity. He had boasted as much to a group of acquaintances in the Hog's Head, who promptly dared him to prove his claim. In some indignation, he went straight up to Hogwarts and applied for the job.
Professor Peabody was the first to engage in research in an attempt to ascertain what the jinx was, with the hope of finding a way to lift it. In this, he naturally had Albus Dumbledore's full support. He went about the task very methodically, seeking signs of Dark Magic in his office, in the DADA classroom, and among the DADA equipment. He pored over obscure textbooks in the Restricted section of the library, hoping to find a mention of a jinx which would manifest itself in such ways as this one. He also examined history books, both about old curses and about the castle itself, in case there might be some clue in records of the past.
Unfortunately, his pride in his own abilities caused him to refuse advice and information from expert curse-breakers and, indeed, from Dumbledore himself. Without the background information about Riddle which Dumbledore could have provided, Peabody couldn't know that the curse had been set by a Parselmouth. Had he known, he might perhaps have been more aware of the need to look for the key indicator – a snake motif – although even had he seen the clue and realised its significance, not being a Parselmouth himself he still could not have reversed the jinx.
Toward the end of the school year, Peabody became frustrated at his inability to uncover the curse. He was torn between the embarrassment of being found to be wrong if he declared definitively that no jinx on the post existed, or the equal embarrassment of confessing that there was a jinx which he was unable to find or break. To avert either ignominy, he concocted a plan to pretend to break the jinx, calculating that if disaster still followed the position he could make the excuse that the jinx must have been more complex than he was able to discover. Alas, his incantation unexpectedly conflicted with some of the protective measures around the castle and partially backfired. Peabody was seriously injured by the blast and had to be transferred to the Janus Thickey ward in St Mungo's.
*A Hatsnap is when the Sorting Hat decides on the house of a new first-year before the Hat actually touches the student's head – the opposite of a Hatstall.