Filius Flitwick is the Teacher We All Want to Know

As part of its monthly unsung heroes series, Pottermore has delved in more to the importance of the severely underrated Filius Flitwick.

Professors Minerva McGonagall and Remus Lupin frequently receive well-deserved appreciation from the Harry Potter fandom. We love them for being terrific professors and genuinely nice people. But the fandom’s love for them overshadows other professors who were just as terrific and just as nice.

In its unsung heroes series, Pottermore spotlighted one of the most underrated professors, who just so happens to also be the head of the most underrated house after Ravenclaw: Filius Flitwick.

Head of Ravenclaw house and Charms extraordinaire, Filius Flitwick is a bubbly, charming personality, played in the films by the incomparable Warwick Davis. Unlike the equally charming Gilderoy Lockhart, Flitwick is a genuinely warmhearted guy and is the personification of every favorite teacher out there.

Flitwick is the teacher we all want to know

He loves teaching and has a passion for his students. It is something everyone wants in their teacher. While McGonagall often seems to lean more toward her Gryffindors and Snape certainly favors his Slytherins, Flitwick doesn’t discriminate by house. He is genuinely thrilled when Hermione Granger is able to levitate her feather, indicating that he is proud of his students’ accomplishments and doesn’t try to undermine them like Snape.

Furthermore, his door is always open to struggling students, and he doesn’t begrudge anyone extra help. He genuinely loves to help his students learn, and he likes to see them happy. This is shown particularly when he teaches them a bubbly Cheering Charm simply because he can.

His cheerfulness spreads to all areas of the school

Filius Flitwick is just a happy, cheerful guy, who loves Christmas and loves to spread Christmas cheer throughout Hogwarts. He makes Christmas decorations, livening up the otherwise dreary castle. To add to the fun, he even lets his students goof off in class prior to the Yule Ball.

As Pottermore notes, when Fred and George create a disaster area with their Portable Swamp and then vamoose from Hogwarts: “Filius Flitwick took care to preserve a small puddle when charged to remove it, just because it was a ‘really good bit of magic’.” Flitwick appreciates a creative mind, and likely invokes the wrath of Dolores Umbridge because of it – especially when he stands by as Umbridge tries to end the twins’ fireworks, knowing full well he is quite capable to do it himself.

But he still can hold his own

Perhaps the best thing about Flitwick is how easy it is for people to underestimate him because of his cheerfulness and small stature. He teaches the front doors of Hogwarts to recognize Sirius Black should he try to break into the school. He finishes off Antonin Dolohov, the man who killed Remus Lupin and is surely twice Flitwick’s size. Most importantly, he casts several protective charms on the castle to ward off the Death Eaters. He ensures staff and students would have more time to prepare for the final battle.

He exemplifies the traits of Ravenclaw House, and then some 

The students of Ravenclaw are known for being welcoming, unique, intelligent, witty, wise, bold and passionate, creative and original. Along with Hufflepuffs, they may be the most accepting of all four houses.

Next: Sirius Black is my favorite character and I just want to talk about him

Filius Flitwick is the epitome of a Ravenclaw. And the professor that all Muggle teachers should strive to be more like.