House Points

The Hogwarts House Point system represents a classic example of rule enforcement through peer pressure as used in the educational profession. Students of each house are responsible for earning points, applicable towards the annual inter-house competition, the winners of which are awarded the House Cup. The way the system works is quite simple:

In the Great Hall, near the teachers dais, hanging on the wall can be found four large hourglasses. At the top of each sit a store of precious gems, each one a different colour in accordance with the house it represents. When a student performs well in a class, volunteers
to help out, or vanquishes a Dark Lord, they can be awarded a certain number of house points. The value of the award is up to the discretion of the individual handing it out - some teachers award points on a whim, whilst from others they are so difficult to earn they could be worth more than the value of the gems that represent them.

When the points in question are awarded, an enchantment on the hourglasses causes the gems to fall into the bottom portion of the glass. All Hogwarts students have to watch their behaviour, however, as House Points can be deducted just as easily as being awarded, and certain teachers will not hesitate to start removing points if they happen to be in a bad mood. Just as when they are awarded, the hourglasses will amend themselves to show the new house totals when this happens.

In addition to teachers, the Headmaster, Head Boy, Head Girl, Prefects, and of course the High Inquisitor and her Inquisitorial Squad all have authority to take away or give house points. Other staff members (such as Argus Filch and Hagrid during his gamekeeper days) have no authority over points. While the caretaker may huff and puff about students causing messes, he himself cannot even assign them detention, let alone take away points. He could, of course, tell Professor Snape about his complaint however, which would no doubt result in a quick loss of points as long as the students in question were not in Slytherin.

The one other way to accrue house points is through inter-house Quidditch matches. It is unclear how many points each Quidditch victory is worth, but it is clear that it is enough to have a significant impact on the totals. For this reason, the house that wins the Quidditch Cup has a good chance of taking the House Cup as well.

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