No canon!! Re: Dumbledore in Gryffindor?
justcarol67
justcarol67 at yahoo.com
Tue Dec 13 19:24:07 UTC 2005
No: HPFGUIDX 144677
Potioncat wrote:
> > <snip> The Lexicon states that DD was Head of Gryffindor and that
would confirm that he was in Gryffindor. But I can't find the canon
for that.
> > The only canon I could find in CoS was that he was the
Transfiguration teacher. <snip>
Ceridwen responded:
> I guess I'm a victim of 'it seems like', too. I thought that, since
Minerva McGonagall took both the Transfigurations position, which was
Dumbledore's, and became Head of Gryffindor, that Dumbledore vacated
both posts the year he became headmaster and Minerva therefore
inherited both.
>
> No canon, of course, just my take. But I think it could be
supported by Snape being both Potions Master and Head of Slytherin,
which we see in canon were both Slughorn's positions. We don't know
when Slughorn retired, or at least I don't remember the cite. But we
do know he was there at least through the Marauders', Lily's and
Snape's sixth year. It isn't hard to stretch it out, that Snape took
both positions upon Slughorn's retirement, which is when Dumbledore
would have hired him on. <snip>
Carol adds:
I'm sure that JKR says in an interview somewhere that DD was a
Gryffindor--as all her favorite characters, including Hagrid, were.
Even without that statement, we can deduce the likelihood that he was
from other evidence: Hermione's statement in Book 1 (how likely is she
to be wrong on that count?); DD's attitude toward Gryffindor ("Only a
true Gryffindor could have pulled that sword out of the hat, Harry");
the very fact that he put the sword of Gryffindor into the Sorting Hat
as an aid for those who were loyal to him (anticipating, no doubt,
that the person who needed it would be Harry); the red and gold
plumage of his Phoenix, Fawkes; and the "griffin door" knocker on his
office door--which right away told me that Gryffindor had been his
house. All circumstantial evidence, I realize, but it adds up.
I agree with Ceridwen that McGonagall would have become both
Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor House when she took
over from Dumbledore (who presumably hired her) and that the same
thing happened with young Severus Snape, who applied for the always
vacant DADA position but was giving Potions, which was most
conveniently vacant because, presumably, Slughorn had just retired.
The HOH position would also have been vacant and was given to Snape,
despite the fact that he was only twenty-two years old, either because
there were no other Slytherin teachers or because DD wished to place
the young man in a position of responsibility to demonstrate his
trust. I don't think there's a *necessary* link between the Potions
position and the Head of Slytherin House position since Snape was
still HOH after he was transferred to the DADA position, but I think
there's a thematic link--Potions and Slytherin go together, as do
Transfiguration and Gryffindor (note that the Marauders, even
Pettigrew, excelled at Transfiguration, whereas Sevvie excelled at
Potions--and DADA, which is not associated with a House). If the
analogy holds, Herbology would be associated with Hufflepuff and
Charms with Ravenclaw. Herbology does at least seem, erm, rooted in
the earth, and Charms involves (among other things) making objects
hover or zoom through the air. (Weak, I know, since conjuring objects
out of thin air is a form of Transfiguration.)
At any rate, I think there's no question that DD was a Gryffindor
(though he exemplifies traits of all four Houses) and it's likely that
McGonagall and Snape became Heads of their respective Houses
immediately after being hired for their respective teaching posts.
They were in essence filling the shoes of their predecessors--a very
big responsibility, especially in the case of twenty-two-year-old
Severus Snape.
Carol, hoping she's associated the proper elements with the Houses but
short of time to check on details!
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