Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video we’re going to be
discussing Hogwarts, the role of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, and none other than
Gilderoy Lockhart.
Defence Against the Dark arts was perhaps one of the most important parts of the curriculum
at Hogwarts- a course that focused on teaching students how to defend themselves against
aspects of the dark arts. During the time that the trio attend Hogwarts, Voldemort and
his followers were very much on the rise. Some doubted it (Fudge), but others knew that
it was inevitable, and fortunately one of the people who knew it was going to happen
was Dumbledore. A resurgence of Voldemort and the death eaters
meant a resurgence of dark magic, and so it made sense that students would need to be
able to properly defend themselves against such magic. Avada Kedavra, Crucio, Imperio-
the students needed to know about these spells so that they could defend themselves- at a
certain point understanding these spells became a matter of life or death. But, this just
makes the question even more potent- why on earth was Gilderoy Lockhart ever hired? Let’s
take a look at the man that became the 92-93 school year’s defence against the dark arts
professor.
Gilderoy Lockhart was a british half-blood wizard born in the year 1964 to a witch mother
and muggle father. His parents had two other children, two girls, but Lockhart proved to
be the only one that was magical, which (whether she would admit it or not) made him his mother’s
favourite child. Lockhart was a clever, good-looking boy, and when he realized quite early on that
he was magical it only went to his head, and inflated his already massive ego even further.
In 1975, Lockhart began attending Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, 4 years
after notable characters like Severus Snape, Sirius Black and James Potter, to name a few.
When Lockhart first walked through the doors of the school, he was met with disappointment,
as he came to the crushing realization that at a school for witches and wizards- he was
just another magical young boy. In the muggle world, Gilderoy was exceptional, but here
he didn’t stand out, and that’s all he ever longed for. It’s been expressed that
as a young boy, Lockhart did possess slightly above-average abilities, but nothing particularly
noteworthy, and his lack of attention only fuelled the fire inside of him to be successful.
Lockhart was eventually sorted in to Ravenclaw house, which is not entirely befitting of
him in my opinion, and narrowly avoided being sorted in to Slytherin.
Even in school, Lockhart loved to brag and inflate his own ego, even going as far as
to blatantly lie if it meant that it would positively change someone’s perception of
him. It was ingrained in him since childhood- he wanted to be great- he wanted to be the
man that people talked about in legends.
In 1982, Lockhart finally graduated from Hogwarts, and it was at this point in time that he began
travelling all around the world. Shortly after graduating, Lockhart began to build prominence
as an author- telling his readers tales of his heroism and illustrious magical ability.
He was a dark wizard catcher, a dragon tamer, a troll conqueror - if there was a dark and
powerful presence in the world, Lockhart had vanquished it all by himself. The catch? Only
he was there to witness it. After each and every time that Lockhart travelled, he would
return home with a new book, filled with self-promotion, heroism and extravagance, and it really left
a positive impression on the magical population. He began to receive genuine praise for what
he was doing- he received an ‘order of merlin’ third class, a very prestigious award, and
was even invited to join the Ministry of Magic’s Dark Force Defence League. Lockhart’s old
professors at Hogwarts even began to question whether they had misjudged the confusing young
boy while he attended the school. He’d hold book signings all over the magical world,
and people loved to be near Lockhart- it was everything that he had ever dreamt of.
However, there was actually quite a sinister side to Lockhart that I feel wasn’t addressed
to the extent that it should have been in the books/films. You see, Lockhart was a memory
charm master, and this was one of the reasons that he had been able to falsify his..well..existence.
Lockhart actually wasn’t a troll conqueror or dragon tamer, he was a phony, and all he
did when he travelled around the world was hear the stories of genuinely accomplished
wizards, wipe their memories, then claim the accomplishment as his own. Though Lockhart
is eventually found out and stripped of his titles, I don’t think that the severity
of wiping people’s memories without their consent was ever properly addressed to the
extent that it should have been. However, Lockhart paid his dues when his own memory
charm backfired on him- effectively erasing all of his memories and causing him to become
a permanent resident of St.Mungos Hospital.
So, this man, this phony. How could he have ever become a professor at Hogwarts- surely
Dumbledore must have been able to see right through him, right?
Part of the reason that Lockhart ended up with the position was the fact that the Defence
Against the Dark Arts role was cursed. The role was subject to much instability, and
noone seemed to be able to keep the role for more than a year. Dumbledore explains this:
"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."
You see, Voldemort was spiteful because he had been denied the role on numerous occasions.
When a young Tom Riddle first graduated from the school, he asked (then) headmaster Armando
Dippet for the position. However, given that Riddle was only 18 years old at the time,
Dippet cordially rejected Riddle, but did encourage him to apply again in a few years.
Fast forward a bit later, Riddle did re-apply to the school, and at this point in time Dumbledore
was the headmaster. However, Dumbledore knew of Riddle’s dark side, and likely felt that
no good would come from his placement. For that reason, Riddle’s application was denied
once more. Furious with the fact that he had been denied a placement at the school on 2
occasions, Riddle cursed the role, and ever since that day, no professor seems to have
been able to stay in the position for more than 1 year.
When Harry first starts at Hogwarts, Quirrell holds the position, but as we know, that didn’t
last. And when he shows up in second year, he’s met with none other than Gilderoy Lockhart.
We’ll let him introduce himself:
"Me, Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence
League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award — but I don’t
talk about that. I didn’t get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"
After Lockhart was hired, many of the staff were baffled with the decision that Dumbledore
had made. Many of them taught Lockhart first-hand, and knew of his ostentatious tendencies- entirely
unimpressed by the chronicles of heroism that he had since published. However, it’s later
revealed that Dumbledore strategically hired Lockhart for a number of reasons. You see,
Dumbledore knew that Lockhart was a fraud, or at least suspected it- and the following
excerpt from Pottermore supports this:
“Albus Dumbledore’s plans, however, ran deep. He happened to have known two of the
wizards for whose life’s work Gilderoy Lockhart had taken credit, and was one of the only
people in the world who thought he knew what Lockhart was up to.”
As we can see, Dumbledore personally knew two people that Lockhart had stolen potential
fame and valour from- and so he must have known that Lockhart’s stories were falsified
because he knew the actual witches and wizards that had accomplished these feats. Dumbledore
wanted to expose Lockhart for what he had done, but he wanted it to come out naturally,
he wanted to put Lockhart in a vulnerable position so that he would effectively expose
himself. You see, talented wizard though he was, Lockhart had spent so many years perfecting
memory charms, that his ability in other aspects of magic was very unimpressive.
“Dumbledore was convinced that Lockhart needed only to be put back into an ordinary
school setting to be revealed as a charlatan and a fraud. Professor McGonagall, who had
never liked Lockhart, asked Dumbledore what he thought students would learn from such
a vain, fame-hungry man. Dumbledore replied that ‘there is plenty to be learned even
from a bad teacher: what not to do, how not to be’.”
Ahh Dumbledore...So wise.
So, Dumbledore wanted him there for a couple of reasons. The first reason being that Hogwarts
was the perfect environment to expose a fraud that had capitalized on the lives of others.
And the second reason was simply that, Hogwarts needed a Defence Against The Dark arts professor,
and no one was applying. Rumours had began circulating about the curse on the position,
and no one wanted to take it. Dumbledore knew, however, that if he was able to leverage Harry
Potter, he could get Lockhart to accept the role.
“Lockhart might not have been keen to return to Hogwarts, given how well his career of
stolen glory was progressing, had Dumbledore not dangled the promise of Harry Potter over
his fame-hungry head. By subtly suggesting that teaching Harry Potter would set the seal
on Lockhart’s fame, Dumbledore had set a lure that Lockhart could not resist.”
So, as we can see, the placement of Lockhart at Hogwarts was always fully intentional.
Dumbledore wasn’t caught up in the hype of Lockhart’s name or endeavours- he knew
what he was all along, but brought him to Hogwarts so that he could set an example for
the students. In Dumbledore’s own words, an incompetent professor was a good lesson
in and of itself of ‘what not to do’ and ‘how not to be’.
And that’s it for this video! Why did you guys think Lockhart was hired? Did you always
know that Dumbledore did it strategically? Or did you think that it was just a glimmer
of incompetence shining through in Dumbledore’s character? Let me know down in the comment
section below.
Until next time
YER A WIZARD ARRY