Subjects, Rules and House Points

Now that we have been introduced to all of the Hogwarts Houses, I would like to look at how the students are rewarded and punished for their behavior and how gaining points leads to winning the revered House Cup.

Subjects

When Harry receives his Hogwarts letter, it also contains a list of textbooks for the core subjects of the first year. As we find out in Chapter 8, the compulsory subjects are Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Astronomy. It is not said explicitly if all lessons are split between two houses, but we do know that Gryffindors at least have Potions class with the Slytherins, which would mean that the Hufflepuffs have that lesson with the Ravenclaws. We will find out in later books that Gryffindors study Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, but I can't remember if they share any classes with Ravenclaw?

The first years are also taught how to fly broomsticks - it is debatable, however, how long these lessons last, as after the first lesson which features the face-off between Harry and Draco over Neville's Remembrall, no further flying lessons are mentioned. I would assume that there must have been more lessons, because by the end of the book Hermione is able to fly a broomstick, which is a far cry from her first encounter with a broom in Chapter 9.

School Rules

There are a few clear rules set out from the beginning - students are not allowed to be out in the corridors after curfew (although we aren't told what time that is), students are not allowed to go into the Forbidden Forest (but it is alright for Hagrid to take 4 first-years there for detention), students are not allowed to use magic in the corridors between lessons and the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds.

Presumably, there would also be punishment for being late to class or not handing in homework?

Earning and Losing House Points

Within the story, the first instance of points being removed by a teacher is, unsurprisingly, by Snape in Chapter 8, specifically for Harry's cheek. In the same lesson, Gryffindor loses another point because Harry didn't warn Neville about the wrong order of adding potions ingredients. We are told in Chapter 9 that Hermione earned points in Transfiguration for knowing about Switching Spells -  so we know that students are rewarded for their knowledge and participation in class.

Source

In Chapter 10, Hermione loses 5 points for going after the mountain troll herself, while Ron and Harry earn 5 points each for defeating it. I'm supposing they are rewarded for their bravery here, despite disobeying rules themselves - all students were told to go back to their Common Rooms after all. I find it interesting that defeating a mountain troll appears to be equivalent to taking a library book outside of the school (for which Snape punishes Harry by taking away 5 points from Gryffindor).

It is indicated that winning Quidditch matches helps in the pursuit of the House Cup:

The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the House Championship.

However, it is not explained how the point system works - is there a bulk number of points received for winning? Or does the winning house gain the amount of points they scored in the match?

I find it even more astounding that Draco Malfoy being caught out of bed in the middle of the night is worth 20 points from Slytherin, whereas Harry/Hermione/Neville getting caught loses them 50 points each! I also find it very difficult to believe that this is the first time 4 students were caught out of bed in one night - erm, Marauders?

I suppose in the above case, McGonagall is also punishing Harry and Hermione for what she perceives as them lying to Draco Malfoy in order to get him into trouble. However, I don't think there is justification for the 30 point difference between Draco's punishment and Neville's.

And then there is, of course, the infamous scene at the end of the book where Dumbledore awards Gryffindor House a whopping 170 points at the Leaving Feast. I remember reading this as a child and being overjoyed that Gryffindor had won the House Cup. Now, however, I question the fairness of it - why did Dumbledore wait until the very last possible moment to spring this on everyone? Harry was in the hospital wing for four days, there was ample time for Dumbledore to award points to Gryffindor while they were still in the running for the House Cup. Making the grand gesture so late in the game makes it a clear sign of favoritism. As much as we may not like the Slytherins, they earned all of those points and it cheapened all of the hard work they had done throughout the year.


Until next time,
Lucia