Heads of Houses

[c_voth312]

No: HPFGUIDX 42023

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "laureng58" <lauren58 at s...> wrote:
> Now, with all the rereading I've been doing of all four books
> (I've been reading the series to my son, who is too young to read
> it on his own, and I have been trying to be prepared to discuss any 
> difficult parts with him) I am *really* enjoying Snape as a 
> character, but still, I would be very upset to see him as the only 
> Head of a House to take a personal interest in his students. From 
> what I've been reading in this listserv (I'm new here, can
> you tell?) most posters put Snape's age as mid-thirties and as
> one of the younger teachers at the school, which might ordinarily 
> make a teacher more accessible to his students. However, Snape's
> sadistic treatment of certain weak students, such as Neville, his 
> scary looks, and his almost constant bad temper make it really hard 
> to believe that any students would want to get to close to him, 
even 
> his favored Slytherins.
> 
> Any thoughts?

I wouldn't go so far as to say that.  Snape is certainly the most 
blatant and biased in his regard for his own house, but I think it 
manifests elsewhere as well.  McGonagall also shows a strong house 
bias, though tempered with a better sense of discipline and in a more 
covert manner--in CoS, for example, when Snape suggests Harry should 
be punished by suspension from the Quidditch team, McGonagall 
instantly decries that as an overreaction.  Also in CoS, Snape says 
something about not being able to properly punish Harry and Ron since 
he isn't the head of their house, and McGonagall charges the house 
heads with getting their students organized when it seems Hogwarts 
will have to be closed down.
So the house heads do have some responsibility as far as discipline 
and guidance are concerned--it would seem to follow that they might 
be responsible for more intimate council, although we haven't seen 
much of that as yet.  And certainly, the inter-house rivalry is 
reflected on the faculty level.  So I think being the head of a 
household is more than just bragging rights.