No, Dumbledore Didn't Bully Poor Slytherin Students by Having Gryffindor Win the Cup

Summary:

• Many Potterheads accuse Dumbledore of humiliating Slytherin students in the finale of The Sorcerer’s Stone.
• For seven years, Slytherin won the House Cup thanks to Snape deducting points from other Houses at every opportunity.
• The Headmaster was right to award Gryffindor students additional points for defeating Lord Voldemort and announce their House as the winner.

For too long has Albus Dumbledore been slandered for “bullying” and “humiliating” Slytherin students when he announced Gryffindor as the winner of the House Cup in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It’s about time someone stood up and said it out loud: the Headmaster did nothing wrong, and the Slytherins had it long coming.

What’s the Most Ignorant Take in Harry Potter? In the finale of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Albus Dumbledore, as usual, announced the winner of the annual House Cup — the internal competition between the Hogwarts Houses that took into account every student’s work throughout the year. However, that time, there was a trick up Dumbledore’s sleeve.

The ceremony started as usual, with the Great Hall draped in Slytherin banners, but the Headmaster swiftly put an end to the Snake House’s excitement. Dumbledore addressed the most recent events revolving around the Sorcerer’s Stone and awarded four Gryffindor students last-minute points, turning the tides dramatically.

The banners in the Great Hall changed from green to red, and Gryffindor was announced as the winner of the House Cup. This was a tough blow for Slytherin students and a massive win for all three other Houses, really, since before that, Slytherin had been dominating the House Cup for seven years straight.

Many Harry Potter fans blame Albus Dumbledore for humiliating Slytherin students. Many claim that he was in no position to award those last-minute points. Many say that the House Cup was about studies, not extracurricular activities like fighting Lord Voldemort and all that. But they’re all blatantly wrong, and we’ll tell you why.

Why Is the Most Ignorant Take in Harry Potter Wrong?

By the time The Sorcerer’s Stone’s events happened, Slytherin had won the House Cup seven (!) times in a row. Clearly, that was thanks to the students’ efforts and knowledge, right? Absolutely not — in fact, it was quite the opposite.

The key to understanding it is Severus Snape, the Head of Slytherin House.

Professor Snape was a hypocritical Potions Master who only cared about two things: awarding his students the most points and deducting the most points from other Houses’ students. Snape took every opportunity to deduct points from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, and was pumping Slytherin with points, instead.

For almost a decade, Slytherin won the House Cup thanks to his actions; no other Hogwarts teacher was ever shown to do the same. Snape singlehandedly manipulated the points balance, to his students’ joy, and ensured his House’s win.

Slytherin students were not better: they played foul in Quidditch, bullied their peers who had too muddy a blood for their tastes, and enjoyed being handed the points by their Head of the House. Those students did not deserve the Cup as it wasn’t thanks to their efforts that they had so many points but thanks to Snape’s hateful nature.

When Albus Dumbledore announced Gryffindor’s win, he didn’t “humiliate” or “bully” Slytherin students. The Hogwarts Headmaster finally taught the actual bullies a lesson about playing dirty — and awarded the real heroes of the school and the Wizarding World. It was a justified, wise, and morally correct decision on his part.

After all, even if you still think Slytherin students were the real victims at Hogwarts, riddle us this: is brewing a decent potion more important than saving Magical Britain from the Dark Lord’s return?.. Though, we could see why House Slytherin was upset with those events — those guys always had quite a soft spot for Lord Voldemort.