House Points: Relative Values

House Points: Relative Values

How many points should Snape deduct from Neville for blowing up his cauldron? How many points should McGonagall award Hermione for successfully transfiguring her desk into a llama? For fan fiction writers who want to keep as much canon flavour in their stories as possible, details like this are important. Let's start with an examination of how many points are awarded or deducted in the books.

In the books, House points are only awarded in multiples of five, with one single exception. The exception is the very first scene in which House points are used, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone (PS/SS): Professor Snape twice deducts one point from Harry, once "for cheek", and once for not helping Neville¹. After that, however, every other mention of House points in all six books published to date involves a multiple of five, and, in fact, above ten points, they are awarded or deducted only in multiples of ten. Thus, we would never expect to find an award of three or seven points, or even of fifteen or twenty-five. It is tempting to surmise that Snape's deduction of single points is an anomaly; it is the only example of its kind in all six books, out of fifty-seven mentions of House points being awarded or deducted. And after all, of all the teachers, Snape would certainly deduct the maximum amount of points he thought he could get away with, especially from Harry Potter. Perhaps the single points in that one scene were an artefact of an early draft, before Rowling settled on the five/ten-point-based system. This is a attractive thought for those who wish to see a symmetry to the system.

However, House point totals at the end of Harry's first year at Hogwarts are not multiples of five. At the end of PS/SS, the House point totals are: Gryffindor: 482 ; Slytherin: 472; Ravenclaw: 426; and Hufflepuff: 352². Clearly, points during that year were awarded in amounts other than multiples of five: at the very least, single points were awarded or subtracted, and not just that one time by Snape. For the subsequent years, though, we are not told the final House point totals, and never again are single points mentioned. It is thus left open as to whether single points were awarded or subtracted in later years, or whether the five/ten-point system that we see is really all there was during Harry's second through sixth years.

Now that we are fairly certain in what multiples points are dealt out or taken away, it would be useful to move on to the scale of those awards and deductions. In general, five or ten points is the amount taken for most minor infractions, such as being late to class³, fighting⁴, or making too much noise in the Great Hall⁵; and it is also the amount given for most minor bonuses, such as knowing the right answer in class⁶.

Whether five or ten points are taken (or given) seems to depend largely on the whim of the instructor. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (PoA), Lupin, a benevolent teacher by all accounts, awards each student in his class five points for tackling the boggart⁷. On the other hand, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (CoS), Professor Sprout awards Hermione ten points for knowing the properties of mandrake, and another ten points for knowing why mandrakes can be dangerous⁸. It seems to this author that defeating a boggart should be worth more than reciting knowledge from a book, leading to the conclusion that there is no standard amount which teachers are allowed to give or take, but that some teachers are simply more generous than others. There may actually be guidelines which the instructors follow that we are not privy to; we simply don't have enough evidence to draw any further conclusions.

After the five-and-ten point range, of which there are numerous examples, there are three instances in which twenty points were awarded or deducted, and they all seem quite unique. The first one occurs in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (OotP), when Professor Sprout awards Harry twenty points for passing her a watering can. The actual reason for the bonus was because she was happy that Harry had spoken out in The Quibbler, but she was banned from saying so directly by one of Dolores Umbridge's Educational Decrees⁹. As we've already seen, Professor Sprout may be a bit more magnanimous anyway than other professors in doling out those House points.

The second twenty-point incident occurs in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (HBP), when Snape deducts twenty points from Harry for not having changed into his school robes¹⁰. Since this followed hot on the heels of a fifty-point deduction for arriving late for the start of term, once again it comes in exceptional circumstances and is out of relation to the normal scale of point deductions.

Based on the fact that five or ten points is the usual amount to award or deduct, twenty seems exaggerated in both of these cases, and shows in the first case the unbridled enthusiasm with which Sprout endorses Harry's endeavours to bring out the truth, and in the second the limitless contempt which Snape feels for Harry.

The third case involving twenty points occurs in Chapter Fourteen of PS/SS, when Professor McGonagall catches Draco out of bed after curfew¹¹. This is more than a minor rule infraction; we know that it is truly dangerous to roam the halls of Hogwarts unsupervised (think Fluffy and Quirrell/Voldemort in that year). In this case, the twenty-point deduction seems to be more justifiable, and shows both what a serious breach Draco's actions were, as well as how concerned McGonagall is about safety.

After twenty, we have to jump to fifty to find the next set of point deductions and awards. Here, the incidents can be classified into two sets. In the first set, we see awards given for extraordinary feats and deductions being taken for behaviour which incites danger. The second class of fifty-point incidents are all deductions, taken in order to show the extreme contempt which the authority figure feels for Harry (since in every one of these cases, it is Harry Potter who loses the points for his House).

Such extraordinary acts as earned fifty points were: helping Harry get to the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone¹² and "alerting the world to Voldemort's return." ¹³ Dangerous acts deserving of a fifty-point deduction were luring another student out of bed after curfew¹⁴ and impersonating a Dementor¹⁵. In these cases, the fifty points served not only as a reward or punishment in and of themselves, but also as an incentive (or deterrent) to encourage (or discourage) similar acts, and finally to underscore the importance or seriousness of the act.

The second group of fifty-point deductions would appear to be completely unreasonable, to the impartial observer. Harry was docked fifty points for being disrespectful¹⁶; for being late¹⁷; and for giving an interview to The Quibbler¹⁸. In all cases, there was no danger involved, and no consequences came of Harry's actions. The deductions would seem solely to express Snape's (in the first two incidents) and Umbridge's (in the third incident) dislike for Harry. The reasons are slightly deeper, though. Snape and Umbridge alike cannot stand insubordination. They both thrive on rules and making sure they are followed. One reason for both of their deep dislike of Harry is that they feel that he breaks rules and gets away with it. They both know there is little they can do to stop him from continuing to break rules, other than giving him detention, which they supervise. And fifty points seems to be the maximum they will deduct; most likely that is the maximum amount that a Hogwarts teacher is allowed to award or deduct. Certainly, only Dumbledore goes higher.

And even he only goes higher twice in all six books. The first time is in PS/SS, when he awards Harry a whopping sixty points for "pure nerve and outstanding courage" in getting to the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone¹⁹. And the other is in CoS, when both Harry and Ron receive two hundred points for dealing with the basilisk (and Tom Riddle) ²⁰. In comparison to everything else, those two hundred points stick out like a sore thumb. They are way beyond any other awards, and lead one to the conclusion that of all the great feats accomplished in the first six books, that was the most difficult and/or the most important, at least in Professor Dumbledore's judgment. Note that even Harry's expelling Voldemort from Quirrell, and resisting Voldemort's possession of Harry in the Ministry, did not gain Harry more than fifty points.

For the meticulous Harry Potter fan fiction writer, several pertinent points therefore should be kept in mind when using House points in a story. First, award or deduct House points only in multiples of five or ten. (Exceptionally, in a classroom setting, a single point could be given or deducted.) Use five or ten points for everyday, common incidents. Use twenty points either to show the teacher's exaggerated emotional state, or to underscore the seriousness of an infraction (or bonus). Use fifty points only for extraordinarily brave acts, or for foolishly dangerous ones. Teachers should never give or take more than fifty points; amounts above fifty are reserved for the Headmaster (or Headmistress). And any awards above fifty points (or deductions, although we never see any deductions over that amount) should be used exceedingly sparingly, and for acts on the order of well and truly defeating a dangerous monster.

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¹ PS, p. 104-105.

² PS, p. 220-221.

³ -10 points, PoA, p. 184.

⁴ -5 points, PS, p. 144.

⁵ -5 points, OotP, p. 285.

⁶ various, e.g. +10 points, OotP, p. 394.

⁷ PoA, p. 152.

⁸ CoS, p. 102.

⁹ OotP, p. 513.

¹⁰ HBP, p. 153.

¹¹ PS, p. 175.

¹² PS, p. 221.

¹³ OotP, p. 751.

¹⁴ PS, p. 178.

¹⁵ OotP, p. 286.

¹⁶ GoF, p. 263.

¹⁷ HBP, p. 153

¹⁸ OotP, p. 512.

¹⁹ PS, p. 221.

²⁰ CoS 18, p. 355

Page numbers are from the following editions of J.K. Rowling's works:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, London: Bloomsbury, 1997 (37th printing, softcover).

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, London: Bloomsbury, 1997 (5th printing, softcover).

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, London: Bloomsbury, 1999 (12th printing, softcover).

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, London: Bloomsbury, 2000 (1st edition, hardcover).

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, London: Bloomsbury, 2003 (1st edition, hardcover).

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, London: Bloomsbury, 2005 (1st edition, hardcover).