When Harry Potter first arrives at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, he discovers many new and exciting things about the wizarding world, magic, and the enchanted castle in which he will live.
Among these new magical concepts is that of the Hogwarts’ House Points System. Meant to help the staff moderate students’ behaviour while at school, the Points System is a large part of Harry’s experience during his first couple years at Hogwarts.
But, despite being a significant part of both The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets, the actual workings of this system remains somewhat murky. This is especially true if you’ve only ever seen the films.
So, in today’s article, we’ll be taking a look at how the Hogwarts’ House Points System REALLY works. Read on to learn more!
What Is the Hogwarts’ House Points System?
The Hogwarts’ House Points System is a reward-based practice that gives points to the associated Houses of students who do well. It also provides for the deduction of points when students perform badly.
Throughout the series, “doing well” translates to everything from answering a question correctly in class to winning a Quidditch match. Points are most often taken away when students disobey school rules.
“Your triumphs will earn you points, any rule-breaking and you will lose points.”
Professor McGonagall, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Awarded or deducted points are then tallied up by House. At the end of the school year, whichever of the four Houses has the most points, wins.
What Does the Winning House Get?
The House who accumulates the most points throughout a school year at Hogwarts wins the House Cup, which is supposedly a great honour.
How Are House Points Recorded?
Each point within the House Points System is represented by a gemstone that corresponds to its House colour:
- Rubies for Gryffindor
- Sapphires for Ravenclaw
- Emeralds for Slytherin
- Yellow diamonds for Hufflepuff
The stones are kept in four separate hourglasses, and each time a student earns his or her House a point, a gemstone of that House’s colour falls through to the bottom. Presumably, a gemstone is then removed when a student loses a point for their House.
At the end of the year, points earned by the Houses are calculated by tallying up the number of stones within each of their corresponding hourglasses.
Who Can Award House Points?
While students are the ones who earn and lose points, those who can award and deduct said points are made up of a more diverse group. They include:
- Professors
- Prefects
- Head Boys or Girls
During the school year that took place between 1995 and 1996, Dolores Umbridge’s Inquisitorial Squad also had the ability to award and deduct points from students.
3 Cons of the Hogwarts’ House Points System
While all of this seems fairly straightforward, the Hogwarts’ House Points System does present a few issues.
1. Points can be awarded/deducted outside of school
Throughout the series, it appears as though points can be taken off during the holidays, before the start of term, as well as after a school year has ended.
This seems unfair if not a little odd. Why would you be praised or reprimanded on behalf of your school’s House when you’re not even there?
2. Professors can give points to their own house
Examples of this run rampant throughout the series with Professor Snape, Head of Slytherin, frequently awarding Malfoy and other Slytherin students points, and McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor, often giving points to Harry and other Gryffindors.
This is clearly a direct conflict of interest. For, with power like this, couldn’t Snape just go ahead and award 1,000 points to Slytherin students for some unnamed “good deed” if he wanted to?
Not to mention the fact that Snape seems to frequently deduct points from Gryffindor simply due to Harry’s existence…
3. It’s all a little (okay, a lot!) random
There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to how points are awarded or deducted. This is actually proven quite a few times throughout the series.
For example, in The Philosopher’s Stone, Ron and Harry are awarded a mere five points each for saving Hermione’s life from the Troll that breaks into Hogwarts. But just ONE year later, Harry and Ron are awarded 200 points for saving Ginny’s life in The Chamber of Secrets. Now, either the professors at Hogwarts are A LOT more keen on Ginny Weasley, or the Points System runs on arbitrary, in-the-moment decision-making.
What do you think? Does the Hogwarts’ House Points System make sense to you? Share your thoughts in the comments below!