The Hogwarts Professor Who's Stronger Than You Think In Harry Potter

In the world of Harry Potter, witches and wizards prove their power in a number of different ways. Some, like Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) or Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), are clearly very powerful spellcasters, whose skills with magic are readily apparent. There are others, like Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), who are clearly talented magicians, but whose greatest powers come from their qualities as an individual. 

Magic in the Harry Potter universe isn't always rigorously defined, but what's clear is that, for the most part, the witches and wizards who teach at Hogwarts are among the most skilled in the world. It's unclear whether the job of Hogwarts professor is one that is widely sought after, but in Dumbledore's era as Headmaster, it's clear that he was able to attract enormous talent to the various open positions at the school. 

One of the most underrated of these professors is Filius Flitwick (Warwick Davis). Though he never gets a ton of attention, Flitwick eventually proves himself to be one of the teachers at Hogwarts with the most remarkable hidden talents — because while charms, his area of expertise, might sound fairly trivial, it's actually a subject that proves to be hugely useful during the climax of the series. 

The climactic battle at Hogwarts meant that many of the teachers we'd come to know over the course of the books got to show off their chops in new ways. For several books, we'd already seen what witches and wizards were capable of outside the classroom, but we hadn't gotten a firm sense of what the school's teachers could do themselves. 

That all changes when these experienced wizards and witches must attempt to defend the castle from Voldemort and his Death Eaters. For his part, Flitwick successfully casts Snape out of the castle, with help from Professors Sprout and McGonagall. Then, Flitwick casts a protective spell over the castle that's designed to keep Voldemort and the Death Eaters from entering. The spell proves to be so effective that Voldemort himself has to step in to break it so that the battle can actually begin. Basically, Flitwick's spell was so sophisticated that only the most powerful dark wizard in history was able to get through it.

Even after Voldemort has broken through Flitwick's initial defenses, he proves that he's a capable wizard in close combat, as well. During the climactic battle, Flitwick battles with Antonin Dolohov, and ultimately overpowers him. While Dolohov isn't one of the most infamous Death Eaters in Voldemort's army, he's talented enough to justify several mentions over the course of the final book. 

Flitwick's contributions to the Battle of Hogwarts are numerous and enormously consequential. In the end, they serve as proof that he was a talented wizard throughout the series, but was overshadowed by other, more prominent teachers. Charms may not be the most glamorous subject, especially when you compare it with something like Defense Against the Dark Arts — and Flitwick himself might not always employ the same flashy techniques as his colleagues — but Flitwick's skill within the discipline proves to be crucial at the time when it matters most.