More Questions.

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 85177

Tonks 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? 
 
> bboy_mn responded:
> 
> 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.
> 
>  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. 
> 
> 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. <snip>


I partially agree with bboy-mn, but I was under the impression that
Head Boy and Head Girl were the best students in the school,
automatically awarded the position on the basis of their performance
on their examinations rather than being appointed. Bill and Percy both
received twelve O.W.L.S. and both became Head Boy, but the appointment
had no direct connection to their previous appointment as Prefects.
How do we know? Because James became Head Boy without having ever been
a Prefect and Remus remained a Prefect without becoming Head Boy--as
did the three other male Prefects from his year. We don't have any
evidence for Head Boy and Head Girl being nominated or appointed. If
they are, the criteria can't be the same as for Prefects. If they
were, then the seventh-year Prefects with the best grades would always
become Head Boy and Girl. No doubt that happens fairly frequently, as
in the cases of Percy and Bill, but the case of James and Remus shows
that academic performance, not the ability to set an example and
monitor other students, is what determines the Head Boyship. It makes
sense to me that this position would be automatically determined. That
way the houses won't be in competition with one another and no head of
house will feel slighted if his or her best student is not chosen.

Carol