Pince/Filch

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 152571

Deb <djklaugh at ...> wrote:

> Also in OOP during the opening feast Dumbledore 
> says "Mr Filch, the caretaker, has asked me for 
> what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second 
> time, to remind you that magic is not 
> permitted in corridors between classes, nor are 
> a number of other things, all of which can be 
> checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. 
> Filch's office door".  Since DD  makes these 
> announcements during the opening feast each 
> year, does this mean that Filch has been caretaker 
> at Hogwarts for 462 years? Or is DD or Filch merely 
> engaging in hyperbole?

houyhnhnm:

Filch was not there when Molly and Arthur Weasley were in school, but
the old punishments were.  "Your father and I had been for a nightime
stroll," she said. "He got caught by Apollyon Pringle--he was the
caretaker in those days--you father's still got the marks." (GoF31)

This must have been before Dumbledore's time as headmaster.  It seems
reasonable that DD was the one who abolished the old punishments.