How was James Head Boy without being a Prefect?

[ghinghapuss]

No: HPFGUIDX 76899

Melis wrote:
> > Plus he's Dumbledores favorite which will help, providing Harry 
> gets over Dumbledores behaviour towards him from year 5.
> 
> Golly wrote:
> It is simple let us just ask someone who is British and went to a 
> school with a house system. Anyone go to Eton?   
> 
> Obviously this system is modeled after a real system with a little 
> magic sorting thrown in.  
> 
> How does the real system work?


Hi,
I'm British and went to Private school.  It wasn't Eton (as I'm 
female and Eton is boys only) but we did have Prefects, Headgirl and 
Houses. 

>From what I remember you do not have to have been a Prefect to be a 
Headgirl but it is unusual. The Headboy/girl is the equivalent to 
Valedictorian intelligence, which James had, leadership qualities, 
again James had that to, and sporting achievement, again James wins. 
The only thing he was lacking was compassion, understanding, patience 
and respect for those below him.
So if James is supposed to have had this 360-degree personality 
change that Sirius and Lupin hinted at in his 6th year I imagine it 
could have happened.

It seems to me that James would have not been suitable for the role 
of Prefect in the 5th year, as he was already a bully and extremely 
arrogant and no sane teacher would give a child like that a Prefect 
badge.  Why Malfoy got one I will never understand.  Does Lucius 
influence reach into Hogwarts too? To Snape possibly but doesn't 
Dumbledore choose the Prefects?  If James showed a remarkable change 
in year 6, perhaps he just grew up, but it seemed to have convinced 
Lily as well as the faculty he could have been given the Headboyship.
Mandy