Trelawney / Incompetent teachers/Binns theory

[finwitch]

No: HPFGUIDX 110614

> Sue:
> 
> Er - exactly how do you fire a teacher who's dead? Exorcise him? 
> Tell him to go off and play with the other ghosts? :-)And 
> personally, I think he was hired long, long ago and just never 
> bothered to change his teaching methods, then died and kept right 
on 
> teaching - a wonderful send-up of the kind of teachers who lurk 
> around expensive private schools, doing the same thing every year 
> for thirty years and being the joke between parents and children -
>  "Oh, do you have Binns for History? Useless, isn't he? We had him 
> too."

Finwitch:

Yes, and as it's history - Binns lived during times considered 
history. Besides, it's possible that Binns was hired before 
Dumbledore was headmaster - hmm... by Phineas Nigellus, perhaps? And 
well, Dumbledore's not the sort to fire people (because doing so, 
he'd had to 1) find a new teacher and 2) tolerate selected comments 
of the former headmasters... I don't think he wants to do that!)

Sue: 
> I have often wondered, anyway, just how Professor Binns marks all 
> those essays he gives his students, without being able to touch 
> anything.

Finwitch: Well, maybe he has someone else do it for him? A prefect 
maybe, another teacher (like Trelawney who rarely (never, they say, 
but she DID come down for christmas dinner) leaves her tower, but 
seems to know quite a LOT about things), Dumbledore, Peeves? And then 
again, there's magic. Maybe the exam papers magically mark 
themselves, or there's some checking Quill? (Really, if they have 
Quills charmed against cheating, Quick Quotes Quill that writes nice 
gossip out of 'Er', and that horrible Blood Quill, why not teacher's 
help like that?)

Sue: 
> I also wonder how come we're constantly being told that the DADA 
> post is hard to fill - it isn't. Snape wants it. DD doesn't want 
him 
> in the job. He'd rather give it to that idiot Lockhart. But it's 
> still wanted by more than one applicant.
> 

Finwitch:

I think there are reasons for not hiring Snape for the DADA post.

1) Snape is a Potions' master, and is good enough in that. I suppose 
it'd be difficult for Dumbledore to find someone teach Potions.

2) It is possible that the DADA post IS sort of jinxed. Anyone who 
has taught DADA has had his darkest secret revealed; incompetent/evil 
ones get themselves hurt. Dumbledore would NOT want Snape's Dark Mark 
leak into the public...

3) Severus Snape knew more curses than most learn till their seventh 
year (which is a small credit to James&Sirius IMO, picking on a 
challenge rather than a weakling), he was a DE... I think Severus 
is/was a Dark Arts addict, possibly before his Hogwarts years, and as 
such, he must NOT take post as DADA teacher. (he knows Dark Arts in 
and out, but I don't know how well he *defends* himself against 
them...). No more than for alcoholic to be in charge of a bar or 
something...

I only wonder who's going to be the next one. We don't necessarily 
know the new professor, but as I think it's a bit too late for any 
new characters to be introduced, maybe... Andromeda or Nymphadora 
Tonks? Aberforth Dumbledore and Things You Cannot Learn Out Of Books, 
and Beware Of the Cursed Books? The real Moody and the lessons of 1)
Elementary Wand Safety 2)Poisons and how to avoid them 3)disguises 
and invisibility (Some use to Invisible Book of Invisibility and the 
Invisibility Section of Hogwarts Library)?

Finwitch