An Hogwarts-Headteachers Portraits

A **headteacher's portrait** referred to a portrait mounted in the Head's office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and which depicted the painted likeness of a previous Headmaster or Headmistress of the school. Though not every person to hold the office was immediately granted a portrait, the headteacher's study housed a private gallery of portraits depicting their predecessors in office, each of which had been especially trained and was honour-bound to serve the current Headmaster at all times. Several of these portraits had counterparts in other prestigious magical institutions, such as the British Ministry of Magic Headquarters, ***St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries***, and the ***Black family*** home at ***12 Grimmauld Place***. This was extremely useful, as the individuals within such portraits might travel freely between them and keep the incumbent headteacher informed on the goings-on elsewhere. A trait shared by many of the portraits was that they spent most of the time asleep or pretending to be asleep, though most of them, with the occasional exception of ***Phineas Nigellus Black***, would immediately awake when addressed.

> A headteacher's portrait is a memoir. It is supposed to be a support mechanism for the decisions I have to make. But I was advised as I took this job to not mistake the painting for the person. And you would be well-advised to do the same.
>
> Minerva McGonagall to Harry Potter in ***2020***, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

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## Knowledge of portraits

> Dumbledore is dead, Harry. And I've told you before, portraits don't represent even half of their subjects.
>
> Minerva McGonagall warning Harry Potter not to mistake a portrait for the living person in ***2020***, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

While the paintings in the wizarding world, such as those mounted on the walls of Hogwarts Castle, had all been bewitched by their painters so that the subjects depicted in them to move, talk and, by extension, interact with each other and those that looked at them, they were typically very limited in what they could say and do. Possessing little knowledge into the lives of the witches and wizards they depicted, the portraits at Hogwarts were typically more or less reducible to two-dimensional representations of their once living counterparts as seen by the painter; capable of using some of their favourite phrases and mimicking their general demeanour, but little else. The gallery in the Headteacher's study, however, was an exception to the rule; as the headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts poured so much of themselves into their painted likenesses that what they left behind in the office following their passing were more accurately described as ***faint imprints*** of themselves than mere pieces of art, and the depth of their insight was unknown to all but the head of the day.
Indeed: Whilst not as fully realised as ***ghosts***, the fact that these paintings were not only capable of considerably more interaction with the world outside their frames than the other portraits in the castle, but appeared so lifelike that even the current Head of the school were sometimes cautioned against mistaking them for the people they depicted, both further illustrated the accuracy of Minerva McGonagall's high praise the abilities of the school's Professors, as a portrait's level of sentience depended not on the skill of the witch or wizard that painted them, but rather the power of the witch or wizard depicted.

## List of Headteacher's portraits

### Identified portraits

Albus Dumbledore Portrait.pngAlbus Dumbledore's portraitAn Severus-S-Snape's Portrait.jpgSeverus Snape's portrait
* Dexter Fortescue

### Unknown if they had a portrait

* First Headmaster of Hogwarts
* Headteacher in 1792
* Eupraxia Mole
* Dolores Umbridge
* Minerva McGonagall

## Behind the scenes

* ***J. K. Rowling*** has stated that all of the portraits in the Headmaster's office (and, in fact, all of the portraits at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry) are of deceased individuals. Thus, though it has never been directly stated, it can be assumed that a Headmaster who left the position for other reasons (retirement or sacking, for example) will not have their portrait installed at all as Headmasters *must* die in office to get a portrait on the wall.
* Rowling has explained that Severus Snape's portrait did not appear in the Headmaster's office immediately after his death in Template:DH because he effectively "abandoned" his post shortly before his death.
* The virtual tour of the Headmaster's office on Disc 2 of the DVD release of Template:COS reveals two portraits of Albus Dumbledore (as portrayed by ***Richard Harris***) on display in the office, one on the wall amongst the other portraits, and the other in the sitting room behind the desk. As Dumbledore was alive at the time, this contradicts J.K. Rowling's above-mentioned statement that all Headmaster portraits depict deceased individuals. However, it can be assumed that neither of these portraits of Dumbledore were the "official" portrait, and that they were only in the office for decoration, or were draft versions of the final portrait which Dumbledore sat for while still alive.

## Appearances

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