Also: Is it at all associated with the post of potions master?
Is the transfiguration professor, for instance, always head of Gryffindor, or vice versa?
Posted Aug 9, 2021, 2:25 AM UTC
Yes, Snape was head of house in HBP. Off of the top of my head, when Draco was caught sneaking around Slughorns party and gets caught, Slughorn wants to let him stay, but Snape says something to the effect of, "I'm his head of house, so I'll decide his punishment".
However, Slughorn took the post back over when Snape became headmaster.
JK seems to associate houses with different classes, but that's not set in stone. Before McGonagall, Dumbeldore was also the transfiguration as well and head of Griffindor. Hufflepuff seems associated with herbology, and ravenclaw with charms. But I don't think that's a hard rule- first of all, it doesn't seem like you are the head of a house that you weren't originally sorted in. Also, Neville becomes the herbology teacher, and I think it was implied (but not confirmed) that Neville was head of Griffindor after McGonagall retired.
Nice. Neville as head of Gryffindor feels right.
"I am his Head of House, and I shall decide how hard, or otherwise, to be," said Snape curtly. "Follow me, Draco." (Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 15: The Unbreakable Vow)
Wonder if that secretly rankled Slughorn a bit, to be older than Snape and a potions master and still have Dumbledore nope him like that.
I think if the Head of House left hogwarts and they had a new DADA teacher instead of Snape, Slughorn would've been head of Slytherin in HBP, but since Snape was still teaching (and not a headmaster), Snape was still head of Slytherin.
Do you think Slughorn remembered Snape as a student?
When he finds out Snape killed Dumbledore he says something like "I taught him. I thought I knew him" and he mentions earlier in in HBP how Harry's draught of living death was possibly the best he'd ever seen at first attempt and better than snape's
Snape was still Head of House in HBP and Slughorn only regained the position after Snape killed Dumbledore and went in the run.
Snape was still head of house, I believe. EDIT: He was. “Harry glanced quickly at Snape, who also looked annoyed, though Harry strongly suspected that this was less because of Malfoy’s rudeness than the fact that McGonagall had reprimanded one of his House.”
It’s annoying that in the books the transfiguration teacher is always head of Gryffindor, and the potions master is head of Slytherin. I don’t think that has to be the case though. We know Neville takes over for Professor Sprout, but he wouldn’t be the head of Hufflepuff.
Thanks for the page grab lol
Also yeah I figured it probably wasn't the case but it had a nice feel to it.