At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. Spoilers will be present within the article.
House points were awarded to students at Hogwarts and Ilvermorny 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 House Cup. Teachers, as well as librarians,[1] matrons,[2] and caretakers[3] could award or deduct points from students. Prefects, the Head Boy, and the Head Girl could deduct points as well, but not from other Prefects. During the 1995–1996 school year however, members of the rather short-lived Inquisitorial Squad were permitted to do so. The squad was stopped after Dolores Umbridge's departure from Hogwarts.
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's 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. The four giant hourglasses, however, seemingly adjusts their contents accordingly to the house points granted or retracted by the teachers' wordings.
In the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Severus Snape takes 70 points from Gryffindor before term starts, saying that Gryffindor would have negative 70 points, but in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 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, 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 70 points 4 years later as unorthodox.
In the films and video games from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 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, 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 either 5 or 10 points for small infractions, and multiples of these numbers for greater ones, though in the earliest Harry Potter video game, certain individuals, such as a particular Hufflepuff prefect, deducted them in unusual amounts, such as 6.
In the films, the role of house points is almost exclusively limited to the first film. The other 7 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, and Professor Snape deducting 5 points from Hermione being an "insufferable know-it-all" during Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 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 the GBA version, Professor McGonagall, instead of awarding 10 points to Harry and Ron and deducing 5 from Hermione, awards 50 points to Gryffindor for saving Hermione.
In the first film, during the potions lesson, Professor Snape deduces five points for cheekiness instead of just one.
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