[HPforGrownups] Re: More Questions.

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 85076

On 15 Nov 2003 at 9:11, Steve wrote:

> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, nymphadoraotonks at a... wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > ... Hagrid ... tells Harry that his mum and dad were Head Boy and Head
> > Girl. I know we only have one instance (of headboy) in canon- Percy,
> > that we can directly derive any fact. So, if DD made Lupin prefect for
> > his year, why would he derail from this decision ...and appoint James 
> > as Head Boy? 
> >
> > -Tonks, just speculating now with our OoP information
> 
> 
> bboy_mn:
> 
> Pure speculation, we need our Brit school experts to weigh in on this
> one, but I concluded that Head Boy was based on different objectives
> than Prefect.

As I've said before, every school does this differently (and anyone who wants to 
see the material on prefects I mentioned the other day - which looked at the office 
of Prefect in certain British style schools in Australia, please just e-mail me).

Nobody can say entirely how Hogwarts does this - but what Steve describes here 
is certainly possible - at some schools, the criteria for a Prefect and a Head Boy 
girl are similar - at others they may be different.
 
>  Headship is based on general excellences and achievement, whereas
> Prefectship is based on trustworthiness, maturity, and ability to
> command respect and obedience from the other students as well as
> general academic excellences. 

My view - and I have no real evidence for this, it's just something I think works is 
that at Hogwarts, Prefects are appointed by the Head of House - they may very 
well consult with the Headmaster (and I am certain they would) but as prefect 
primarily seems to be a House office at Hogwarts, I would say the major part of 
the decision should be in the hands of the Head of House - perhaps subject to the 
Headmaster's approval.

The only thing against this I can see is Dumbledore's statement to Harry "You 
may, perhaps, have wondered why I never chose you as a prefect?"

But even this may just indicate the Dumbledore was involved in the decision in the 
way I describe.

OTOH, Head Boy/Head Girl are *school* offices. So that may be in the hands of 
the Headmaster - in fact it should be (about the only other alternative I can see is 
an election).

Now, under this system - it would not be at all uncommon for a person to have 
qualities that lead them to be selected as Head Boy or Head Girl, and to be 
selected as a Prefect - but nor would it be impossible for that not to always be the 
case.
 
> Sirius and James were the best student to ever come through the
> school; positively brilliant academically. So they would seem likely 
> candidates for Headship, but they were not much on 'law and order',
> either adhering to it or enforcing it, so their chances of Prefectship
> would have been slim.
> 
> In a sense, Headship is like valedictorian, whereas Prefectship is
> like a hall monitor and related to the functional and orderly running
> of the school.

Personally, I doubt that the position of Head Boy or Head Girl is like a 
Valedictorian - academic achievement is probably fairly important but I'd be 
surprised if its the primary criteria.

The primary criteria to be a Head Boy or Head Girl would most likely be 
something like leadership potential.


Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia