DADA class (was Re: Chamber of Secrets)

[zgirnius]

No: HPFGUIDX 150780


> coldsliversofglass:
> The HPLexicon also mentions that this floor holds the DADA classroom: 
> I'm curious just how new the class itself actually is.  From the 
> school's inability to find any good teachers, I didn't really sense 
> that DADA was a well estabilished tradition.  I thought the class was 
> introduced more as a result of Dumbledore's battle with Grindelwald 
> or because of the threat of Voldemort.

zgirnius:
What we know about the DADA position:
Tom Riddle wanted it right out of school. At the time, the course was 
taught by a witch named Galatea Merrythought, who was very old and 
planning to retire. This suggests she had taught the class for some 
time, which would mean it long predates the defeat of Grindelwald 
(which occured in 1945, while Riddle was at Hogwarts).

We also know that Riddle did not get the position initially. He applied 
again in the interview we saw as a Pensieve memory in HBP. This 
interview, according to Dumbledore, occured about ten years after the 
Pensieve memory of Riddle talking to Hepzibah Smith. That would have 
been within a short time after Riddle's finishing of Hogwarts-I can't 
imagine Tom Riddle worked for many years as an employee of Borgin and 
Birke's. 

So, this interview occured in the same general timeframe as the borth 
of Snape and the Marauders. Consequently, the school had been having to 
hire a new DADA instructor every year for something like 30-40 years. I 
think this might help to explain the difficulty of obtaining a highly 
qualified individual to teacvh the class.