Questions on the Heads of Houses

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

So, a couple of questions I wanted to toss out about the Heads of Houses.

First, Snape, the Head of Slytherin, seems to be much younger (31 when we and Harry meet him) than the other Heads of House.  But, at (by?) that time he seems to have the support of his students (as well as supporting/defending them).  In particular, in second year we see Draco Malfoy sucking up to him by suggesting his father (who is on the Board of Governors) would support Snape's possible candidacy to be Headmaster.  

On the other hand, someone (Jodel?  Whitehound?  Swythyv? Oneandthetruth?  I'm not remembering at this time) suggested that Snape might have been installed as Head of Slytherin to weaken the house (given his dependence on Dumbledore).  (And that the loss of the Slug Club funnelling fresh talent into the Ministry did fatally weaken it to the point Voldemort found it possible to topple it with one blow.)

So.

Do we have canon how much Snape's house supported him?

Do we have canon when he was actually installed as Head?  I always assumed he replaced Slughorn as Head of Slytherin and Potions Master simultaneously in 1981, but that's an assumption.  So my assumption Snape was to credit for that long string of Slytherin House Cup victories might not be correct.

And... the Board of Governors has something to say about the headmastership.  What about House Heads?  Was Snape, whatever year he was installed as Head of Slytherin House, installed with their approval, against their will, or what?

Comments

Re: Thankless

[sunnyskywalker]

Oh, now that is an interesting question. After all, the school originally had four heads, working in concert, and no headmaster over them. Maybe originally the House Heads appointed a Headmaster just to mediate between them! The position wasn't Head Master, it was Master of the Heads. Slightly different. The Board of Governors probably came later, or grew out of some lesser, pre-existing liason with the government. And possibly the Headmaster gained power over the centuries.

Okay. Dumbledore says he could have eliminated Divination, as Oryx points out. But Divination is an elective (as is Alchemy). Could the Headmaster eliminate Transfiguration or Potions or another core subject? Somehow I suspect not. (Well, maybe Astronomy, after a couple more decades of its importance in ceremonial magic being downplayed to the point where most wizards think it's pointless.)

He also controls the protections of Hogwarts, again as Oryx notes. He can lift the anti-Apparition enchantments at will, do whatever he did when he and Harry flew across the walls, and possibly influence the "don't hurt the students" spells from his office, if such exist. These are notable powers, but they are also what you would expect for a position designed to keep the four Heads from fighting each other for supremacy. The Hufflepuff Head can't get mad at the Ravenclaw Head and remove the anti-Apparition enchantments in Ravenclaw Tower so the 'puffs can invade and trash their common room, or whatever. And for that matter, we don't know whether the four Heads in concert might not have the same powers over the Hogwarts protections. That would be an important check against a power-hungry Head, one might think.

The Keeper of the Keys also has the power to admit people to Hogwarts, as I think you hashed out a few years back. Another check on the Headmaster.

I just looked at the arrival of the Beaxbatons and Durmstrang delegations, and it's interesting. Hagrid is "with other charges"; the kids think with the skrewts, but for all we know he's lurking out of sight with his pink umbrella doing... something. Dumbledore is standing in the back row, and the kids probably wouldn't know if he'd lifted any enchantments or not. He does specifically tell Maxime "Welcome to Hogwarts." Karkaroff seems to have been there before. And who knows whether there's a magical difference between "being allowed onto the grounds/castle by the Headmaster" and "being admitted to Hogwarts by the Keeper of the Keys"?

Hiring, okay. That was probably done by the four Heads in committee originally. Once they got a Headmaster, maybe that person initially hired for electives, with the Heads' approval, and there was just... mission creep over the years, plus influence from Muggle culture. Maybe Phineas was so unpopular because he claimed more powers for the Headmaster, which have never been given back. Dippet probably kept to the status quo. But Dumbledore has claimed even more. We might look at him as not doing much, but maybe he's the headmaster with the most executive power in Hogwarts history.

What DOES he do most of the day, though? Are those little silver instruments Dumbledore's, or the Headmaster's? What do most of them do?

McGonagall seems to make the schedules and other admin work, so whatever Dumbledore does, it probably isn't that. Maybe he really is managing the money.