The Corruption of the House System

[terri_testing]

A funny thing happened on the way to Harry’s sorting. The reputations of the houses got terminally messed with, and even those of us who eventually prided ourselves on objecting to the distortion never fingered either the culprit or the timing of the crime.

Comments

Re: Hogwarts plumbing

[oryx_leucoryx]

Well, Phineas was headmaster probably sometime in the late 19th century possibly until his death in 1925, and was a teacher prior to becoming headmaster. Albus was a student from 1892 to 1899. We do not know when he started teaching but he was there in 1938. Slughorn was younger than Albus, but they started teaching around the same time, if we are to believe Molly who is reporting this from an unknown source. Merrythought taught from 1895 to 1945 (if Phineas taught DADA then she arrived to replace him when he became headmaster). I'm guessing Dippet was headmaster from 1925 to December 1956 and probably, though not necessarily, a teacher earlier. We do not know when Kettleburn started teaching Care of Magical Creatures. There was also a Herbert Beery who taught Herbology according to Beadle the Bard. We do not know when Binns was still alive and more capable of interacting with physical objects. We do not know when Pringle, Filch's predecessor, started working at Hogwarts - he may have been magical.

Regarding understanding Parseltongue - we know Albus understands it when it is spoken by humans. However when snakes speak only Harry can *hear* it, not only understand it. Neither Lockhart nor Hermione or Ron can hear the sound of the basilisk when they are near Harry who does hear it. I tend to think snakes speak in a frequency that only true Parselmouths can hear (they are Parselears as well as mouths). So I don't think Albus heard the basilisk either.