Prefects

Prefects at Hogwarts take on exactly the same role as those at any school: they act as a halfway house between ordinary pupils and teachers, taking on a certain amount of responsibility for maintaining order, and in return being given minor disciplinary powers. In practice these are limited to docking House Points from misbehaving students (and some Prefects – Ron for example – seem to have forgotten that they’re allowed to do even this). They certainly can’t hand out detentions or send anyone to see the Headmaster, and it’s doubtful whether they have the power to award points as well as removing them. One thing that’s for sure, though, is that they have the ear of their respective Head of House, and so a quick word with the teacher in question will go a long way to getting any action they want taken carried out.

Prefects are students in the fifth year and above, who are appointed by the Headmaster at the start of that year. It is not stated explicitly anywhere, but it can be assumed that Prefects keep their title through the 6th and 7th years. It’s hard to imagine wayward 18-year olds being brought into line by a little 5th year.

When choosing a Prefect, the Headmaster will usually look for someone respected by both the students and staff. They should have good leadership qualities, and be good enough students to be able to keep up with their school work in addition to their Prefect duties. This may sound like something of a burden, but the duties of any one Prefect should not be too onerous – best estimates suggest there are about 70 students per House at any given time, 6 of which will be Prefects. That is likely to be quite enough to maintain order without too much fuss (except perhaps if Fred and George Weasley happen to be in your House).

At the start of the 7th Year, a Head Boy and Head Girl for the school are chosen. In practice these titles are likely to fall to those who are already Prefects, but as James Potter demonstrated, it isn’t necessarily the case. If any other non-Prefects have ever been given the title except James it can’t have happened very often though. Percy Weasley and Lily Evans were also Head Boy and Head Girl respectively in their time, and they both graduated from the Prefect ranks.

The roles of the Head Boy and Head Girl are basically to be in charge of the Prefects, and of course to be a shining example of what the other boys and girls at the school should aspire to be (although why anyone would want to be just like Percy Weasley is a mystery). Whether it’s Head Boy/Girl or just Prefect, however, the appointment is always seen as an honour and is much sought-after by the students. And in the case of certain Slytherin students, it also gives them a chance to get their first taste of real power to bully other students and get away with it. Oh, and you get to use the nice bathrooms as well.

---

MuggleNet is an unofficial Harry Potter fan site. Please email us if you have any questions or concerns. MuggleNet's original layouts were designed and created by Navy. All subsequent layouts by Dylan Spartz.

© 1999-2009 MuggleNet.com. All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy | COPPA Policy | Feedback | Credits
Random Addresses

727 muggles currently online