An Hogwarts'-House Points

> While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour.
>
> Minerva McGonagall to first-years on 1 September 1991, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

**House points** were awarded to students at Hogwarts and that did good deeds, correctly answered a question in class, or won an inter-house Quidditch match. They could also be taken away for rule-breaking. The points were stored in House point hourglasses that showed the point totals at the bottom with stones the main colour of their house (rubies for Gryffindor, sapphires for Ravenclaw, emeralds for Slytherin, and yellow diamonds for Hufflepuff). Each student earned points for his or her House, and at the end of the year, the House with the most points would be awarded the An House Cup. Teachers, as well as librarians, matrons, and caretakers could award or deduct points from students. ***Prefect***s, the Head Boy, and the Head Girl could deduct points as well, but not from other Prefects.

 File:House points hourglass.jpeg

## Behind the scenes

* It is stated that ***prefects*** are allowed to dock points from students in *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film). However, this idea is diminished in Template:OOTP when it is stated that prefects are in fact not allowed to do so. In later editions, however, it seems that, with the exception of the ***Inquisitorial Squad***, prefects *can* dock points only from their own house.
* Exactly how points are tabulated and recorded is not explained in detail. It is implied in several books that simply stating the addition or subtraction of points magically adjusts the score accordingly. It is not certain if this occurs in all cases, such as when Dumbledore adjusts the scores at the end of *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (film). The four giant hourglasses, however, seemingly adjusts their contents accordingly to the house points granted or retracted by the teachers' wordings.
* In *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film), when Minerva McGonagall was about to determine punishment for Harry Potter and Ron Weasley for crashing the ***Flying Ford Anglia*** into the ***Whomping Willow***, Harry advised her that Gryffindor should not lose any house points as this misdemeanour occurred before term started, which she accepted (though she gave them detention).
* In Template:HBP, Severus Snape takes seventy points from Gryffindor before term starts, saying that Gryffindor would have negative 70 points, but in Template:OOTP, Snape was unable to take points from Gryffindor when they had no points left. It is possible, however, that Snape's next words after "In that case, Potter, we will simply have to..." would have been to send to Gryffindor into negative points, but he was unable to get them out before being interrupted by Professor McGonagall. It can also be assumed he was being sarcastic or joking cruelly about the situation. Also, in *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film), Minerva did not take any points from Gryffindor when Harry and Ron took the Flying Ford Anglia, since it was before term started, which shows Snape's deduction of seventy points four years later as unorthodox.
* In the films and video games from Template:OOTP, the house points are earned and counted in the Great Hall to the right of the staff table. However in the first video games, they are also counted in the Great Hall, despite the hourglasses being located in the Entrance Hall.
* In *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (film), Severus Snape deducts one point from Gryffindor for Harry's statement that Hermione could answer his questions and suggestion that he ask her. This, and the point that he takes for Harry's supposedly setting Neville Longbottom up for failure, are the only instances shown in the books of a single point being deducted for a transgression. In the extended cut of the Film, this is a straight 5 points. In the original version of the Film, it's omitted entirely. They are normally deducted at eitherf five or ten points for small infractions, and multiples of these numbers for greater ones.
* In the films, the role of house points is almost exclusively limited to the first film. The other seven films make almost no mention of them outside of Pomona Sprout awarding Hermione 10 points for identifying both the properties and dangers of the Mandrake Root (as opposed to 20 for both in the books) in *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, Professor Snape deducting 5 points from Hermione being an "insufferable know-it-all" during *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban* and a deleted scene of *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* during the Yule Ball when Snape deducts ten points each from Fawcett and Stebbins (Potter-era) when they were caught in a Hogwarts carriage. The films make no mention of the House Cup or point totals is mentioned in any film outside of *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*.
* In a trailer for SOD, Professor Dumbledore gave Newton Scamander three points to Hufflepuff. It was likely he did it to be funny because Newt was an adult and had been expelled over ten years earlier.

## Appearances

* *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (film) (First appearance)
* *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film)
* Template:POA
* Template:OOTP
* Template:HBP
* Template:DH

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (film), Chapter 7
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `OOTP38`
3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `OOTP28`
4. ↑ Twitter conversation with J.K. Rowling (Official) where she confirms what gem is in the Hufflepuff Hourglass.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 , Chapter 8 (*The Potions Master*)
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (film), Chapter 10
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (film), Chapter 14
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (film), Chapter 15
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (film), Chapter 17
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film), Chapter 6
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film), Chapter 9
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film), Chapter 18