Hogwarts Teachers Narcissistic Personality Disorder Explainer

The Five Types of Narcissistic Teachers At Hogwarts

People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) are particularly dangerous to children. Not surprisingly, teachers with narcissistic traits have been shown to be damaging to students. It is important to identify narcissistic abuse in the classroom and this Harry Potter Glossary of NPD helps explain what to watch for.

Grandiose Narcissist

The Grandiose Narcissist hides their inner insecurity with arrogant displays of vanity compelling admiration from an adoring audience. This type of Narcissistic Personality Disorder is common among successful people and public figures who bask in the glory of often underserved adulation.

Professor Gilderoy Lockhart has the superficial charm and charisma of an extroverted narcissist whose bombastic self-promotion hides an inner lack.

Fragile/ Covert/ Vulnerable Narcissist

The Fragile Narcissist by contrast can appear weak, needy, and anxious. People with this form of NPD are likely to suffer from depression or secret addiction. Covert Narcissists can have poor boundaries, often feel isolated, and look to draw others into their emotional black hole as caretakers or enablers.

Professor Trelawney is a covert alcoholic and Fragile Narcissist who is hyper-sensitive, fearful, and withdrawn from the rest of the faculty. She uses her students to fulfill her emotional needs.

Seductive

The Seductive Narcissist is usually agreeable and not necessarily a braggart or extroverted egoist like the Grandiose Narcissist. Instead, the Seductive Narcissist seems intent on cultivating people to reflect their desired importance and power. This Narc uses flattery and attention to draw in their victims whom they often shower with gifts.

Professor Slughorn is vain, but he is not a celebrity like Gilderoy Lockhart. Slughorn wants to attach himself to famous people and use them for his own ends. He collects his favorite students in a “Slug Club” and brags about his famous connections.

Communal Narcissist

A Communal Narcissist believes they have the best interests of others at heart and that their special skills and abilities are truly exceptional. It is easy for this type of Narc to convince themselves that the ends justify the means in Machivalian games. The Communal Narcissist is usually a much stronger and more competent person than the Seductive or Covert Narcissist, and they believe they can use their powers as they wish.

Albus Dumbledore manipulates students and teachers alike in elaborate schemes which are often harmful to those involved. He uses complex psychological manipulation to get people to do his bidding and act out his plans, all while conveying that he is an exceptionally moral, empathetic, and intelligent leader.

Malignant Narcissist

By contrast to the Communal Narc, the Malignant Narcissist does not make a convincing show of benign power. Unmistakably ambitious, controlling, and dictatorial, the Malignant Narcissist demands obedience to their twisted schemes. The person with this type of NPD has a strong sense of their entitlement to power over others and is ruthless in pursuit of their goals.

Delores Umbrage takes no prisoners. She does not practice the art of seduction, empathic manipulation, or emotional enmeshment. Instead, she uses the raw force of her position of power to enact a regime of psychological terror. The Malignant Narc can have some psychopathic tendencies, as is the case with Umbridge.

Dictionary of Dark Triad Manipulative Behaviors by Hogwarts Teacher

Albus Dumbledore

Narcissistic Injury

A core childhood experience of trauma, rejection, or humiliation leaves NPDs with a permanent Narcissistic Wound, a black hole that can never be filled.

Dumbledore’s Narcissistic Wound was the murder of his sister and the responsibility he felt for it, along with the childhood trauma of having a father in jail and a mother who died young.

Triangulation

Abusers use triangulation to pit two people against each other and route all communication through the abuser. The abuser gains control over both people they are manipulating and prevents the others from bonding together. Triangulators can report secret information from one person to another, betraying trust. Or triangulators can circulate lies, undermining trust. Either way, the triangulator benefits from controlling both parties for their own ends and fostering competition and rivalry.

Dumbledore channels information between Harry and Snape, manipulating them both to his own ends, while stirring up bad feelings between them giving him more power over both.

Dark Empath

Someone who is a Dark Empath uses their powers of perception to find their weaknesses and use them against you.

Dumbledore sees Snape’s deep childhood hurt and uses it to get him to do his bidding.

Future Faking

When someone makes elaborate false promises for the future to get something from you in the present. Future faking is basically an emotional con, where you think you will get something in return for what you give now.

Dumbledore secures Harry’s loyalty in the present in exchange for the false promise that he will soon tell Harry all his secrets. “When you’re ready, you will know.” That moment is continually delayed as Dumbledore asks more and more of Harry.

Machiavellianism

Machiavellianism is the third in the Dark Triad of personality disorders along with Psychopathy and NPD. Machiavellian traits can manifest in NPD and Psychopathy as well. Machiavellianism is a tendency to be calculating, manipulative, and strategic in personal interactions, with a cynical disregard for morality.

Dumbledore’s use of students and teachers as part of his strategic plotting makes everyone a pawn in his game. He is willing to lie and manipulate for his own deeper ends such as when he uses famous student Harry to bait fame-seeking Professor Slughorn to come to Hogwarts so he can get information on Riddle from the teacher.

Parentification

When a child is asked to take on adult responsibilities and cares for irresponsible adults it is parentification. A child is made into a parent instead of being cared for by a parent.

Although Harry is just a kid, and an orphan at that, Dumbledore manipulates him into taking on the very adult job of defending Hogwarts against monsters and competing in a dangerous tournament when he is underage.

Trauma Bonding

When a victim becomes emotionally attached to their abuser through the shared experience of the trauma the abuser inflicts, it is a trauma bond. The intimate experience you share with an abuser paradoxically connects you, especially if the abuser then comforts you.

When Dumbledore brings Harry to get the Horcrux in Book Six, Harry bonds with Dumbledore over the traumatic events even though they are Dumbledore’s doing.

Breadcrumbing

When an abuser gives their victim just enough affection, information, or time to feel like there might be some hope of a future relationship, but not enough for the victim to feel secure.

Dumbledore breadcrumbs Snape by giving him just enough information about Harry to get him to tutor Hary, without revealing the truth about the Horcruxes. He tells Harry just enough to get him to defend Hogwarts but doesn’t tell him about the prophecy.

Fauxpology

Dark Triad personalities find it almost impossible to admit fault or offer a genuine apology because it is too damaging to their fragile ego. Instead, Dark Triads will give a partial, conditional, or passive-aggressive apology.

Dumbledore doesn’t truly confess or apologize when Voldemort kills Harry but gives a partial explanation.

Professor Slughorn

Narcissistic Supply

Someone with NPD has a deep, childish need for constant attention and admiration. The Narc seeks out vulnerable people to supply this need for validation.

Professor Slughorn has a vampiric need to feel admired and important. He relies on his students to feed his ego and collects famous students to reflect and magnify his imagined importance.

Love Bombing

A narcissist often draws in a new victim through excessive displays of premature affection, exaggerated approval, or intense attention. These over-the-top displays rush the target into a relationship without time for reflection. Once the love bombing stops, and it always does, it is too late to easily extricate from the abuser.

Professor Slughorn wanted to benefit from a connection to Harry Potter and showered him with attention in the hope of drawing him into his “Slug Club.”

Idealization/ Devaluing/Discarding

Abusers often move quickly from idealizing a target to devaluing and discarding them when they are no longer of use or challenge the abuser’s sense of self.

In the Love Bombing phase, Harry was Professor Slughorn’s Golden Child and he idealized his Potions abilities. But once Harry attempts to extract his guilty secret, Slughorn discards Harry.

Low Contact

Low Contact is a strategy to pull away from an abusive relationship without triggering an explosive response. It can be dangerous to break with a Narcissist and when they are rejected they can create dramas to draw you back in. If it does not feel safe to walk away from a Narc, either because they have power over you or are part of your social/family network, slowly limiting contact can be the easiest option.

Harry can’t entirely break with Slughorn because he is an adult with authority over him at Hogwarts. Instead, Harry tries to go Low Contact and avoid as many events with him as possible.

Professor Umbridge

Gaslighting

When someone makes you feel crazy when you don’t believe their lies or when they tell you the truth is a lie.

Umbridge tells Harry there’s nothing out there that would hurt a child at Hogwarts, even though his friend Cedrick Diggory has just been killed.

Narcissistic Mirroring

In order to ingratiate themselves with you, people with NPD will sometimes make a calculated attempt to imitate you which creates a false sense of intimacy and connection.

Umbridge pretends to be a caring teacher concerned with the welfare of students, but it is all an act to gain trust and power.

Scapegoat/ Black Sheep

The Narcissist chooses a Scapegoat or Black Sheep to take the blame for their problems. The Scapegoat is often the target of a larger Smear Campaign in the family, school, or workplace. All of the Narcissist’s shame, rage, and anger get projected onto the Scapegoat who, since they are not really to blame, can never vindicate themselves.

Umbridge scapegoats Trelawney, belittling and making fun of her. Trelawney is not in fact a fraud, and her most important predictions were correct. But when Umbridge fires her in front of the whole school Trelawney is so beaten down she cannot effectively defend herself.

Narcissistic Rages

The Narcissist has a perpetual feeling of injury and responds to even small slights with a sense of emotional entitlement which can result in childish rages.

When Umbridge encounters the Centaurs in the forest she upbraids and insults them as inferior beings whom she treats as unruly children who will not obey her capricious commands.

DARVO Deny/Attack/Reverse Victim and Oppressor

An abuser will often manipulate a victim by first denying they have done anything wrong, then attacking the victim and reversing the entire dynamic of victim and oppressor. The acronym for this technique is DARVO.

Umbridge makes the Centaurs out to be attackers when really she is to blame.

Gray Rock

Going “Gray Rock” is a technique for dealing with manipulative people by being non-reactive. Instead of getting drawn into their dramas, you try to make yourself so boring to the Narc that they lose interest in you.

Professor MacGonegal attempts to deflect Umbridge’s baiting of her by calmly ignoring her provocations and going Gray Rock.

Professor Lockhart

Golden Child

The Grandiose Narcissist often chooses a “Golden Child” to reflect their own inflated sense of importance. This child is manipulated into doing the Narc’s bidding and providing their Narcissistic Supply of attention and admiration.

Lockheart’s favoritism toward Hermione flatters her into accepting his fraudulent claims and servicing his ego. By publicly rewarding the Golden Child, the Grandiose Narcissist hopes to motivate others to compete for approval.

Cultivated Perfectionism

The ideal victim for a Narcissist is highly motivated to succeed at doing the Narc’s bidding. While the Narc is likely to target someone with a tendency to perfectionism, a Narc teacher or parent also cultivates and fosters perfectionism. The victim blames themselves if they cannot please the Narc and is continually driven to work harder to meet the Narc’s demands.

Professor Slughorn saw the perfect target in Hermione, who is hard-working and has high expectations for herself. He uses praise to motivate her to work for his ends.

Cultivated People Pleasing

Much as the Narc benefits from the services of a perfectionist who will internalize the demands of the Narc, the Narc seeks out People Pleasers who will do anything to serve them. Enmeshment with a Narc can groom a young person to become a People Pleaser always looking to gain the Narc’s approval.

Hermione becomes hooked on the public approbation she gets from Professor Slughorn in class and he plays on her need to please.

Narcissistic Word Salad

When a Narc is exposed or challenged they will try to create a verbal distraction to draw you back in. Narcissistic Word Salad is a confusing, circular conversational style characterized by random accusations, irrational reversals, blame-shifting projections, histrionics, and crazy-making lies.

When Professor Lockhart is humiliated by Snape at the dueling contest, he pretends that it was all staged. When Harry and Ron find Lockhart trying to flee Hogwarts, Lockhart comes up with a crazy story that blames Ron and Harry. His Word Salad becomes psychotic rambling when he accidentally curses himself and loses his mind.

Professor Trelawney

Flying Monkeys

The Narcissist often enlists others to draw a victim back in or to engage in a smear campaign against the victim. Flying monkeys do the dirty work of disparaging and manipulating the victim for the Narc.

Delores Umbridge appoints an Inquisitorial Squad of Slytherin students with a sadistic bent who spread her message and inflict her will on other students.

Hoovering

When a Narcissist attempts to suck you back into a toxic relationship it is called “Hoovering” after the vacuum cleaner brand.

Professor Trelawney sees that she has little hold on Harry, but tries to draw him in by constantly harping on her prediction that he will die.

Enmeshment

An enmeshed relationship is one where you lose autonomy.

Professor Trelawney attempts to violate Harry’s emotional boundaries and blurs the student-teacher relationship with her personal comments about Harry’s life.

Narcissistic Projection

People with NPD cannot accept their own flaws or feelings and instead project them on others. The Narc is always looking for someone to carry their negative emotions for them.

Professor Trelawney suffers from depression and anxiety which she attempts to pass on to her students with manipulative predictions of doom. Trelawny then positions herself to comfort the students she has projected her fears onto, distancing herself from her own externalized anxiety.

Invalidation

The Narcissist will attempt to invalidate anyone who challenges their power.

When Professor Trewlawney realizes that Hermione does not respect her, she brutally invalidates Hermione for not being a natural seer. The public humiliation of a Black Sheep or Scapegoat is designed to warn anyone who attempts to challenge the Fragile Narcissist even, or especially if, that person is a child.

Keeps Narcs Out of Teaching?

Psychology Today has suggested that high school guidance counselors can play a role in steering psychopaths, narcissists, and Machiavellians away from the teaching professions. The suggested objective is to match people with personality types that fit their careers. But a larger goal would be to protect children from the outsized influence of Dark Triad personality types on vulnerable young people.