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Horace

Horace Slughorn, Head of Slytherin House as of the 1997–1998 school year

The Head of Slytherin House was a Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who was in charge of looking after and disciplining the students of their House, Slytherin. The Head of House also served as the teacher of one of the subjects taught at Hogwarts.

The first Head of Slytherin House was the famous co-founder of Hogwarts, as well as the Houses namesake, Salazar Slytherin.[2]

It is unknown how a professor was elected to the post, but it's most likely that the Headmaster or Headmistress chose the professor who embodied all the qualities Salazar Slytherin himself valued: ambition, resourcefulness, cunning, and who was sorted into Slytherin House when he or she was a student at Hogwarts.[3][4]

Known Heads of Slytherin[]

  • Salazar Slytherin (c. 1000) - Salazar Slytherin established the Slytherin House. He had a very strong belief that only pure-blood witches and wizards should be trained at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Because of his convictions, he often had disagreements with the other founders to the school, particularly Godric Gryffindor.[2]
  • Abraham Ronen (late 19th century) - Abraham was the Charms Master during the late 19th century and was regarded by many students as their favourite teacher.[5]
  • Horace Slughorn (between the 1920s and 1981) - Horace was the Potions Master and was well-known for his "Slug Club", a group of talented, well-connected, or famous students he favoured.[6][7] Partly through the Slug Club, Horace developed a very close relationship with Tom Riddle. He told Tom about Horcruxes, believing the information he gave out would purely be used for educational purposes.[8] When later incidents proved otherwise, Horace retired from his position, presumably because he felt ashamed of himself for the mistake he had made.[9]
    Severus Snape Profile

    Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin House from 1981 to 1997 and later Headmaster

  • Severus Snape (between 1981 and 19901997) - Severus was the Potions Master at Hogwarts,[10] and served as a Death Eater for a while. When Snape learned of Voldemort's plan to kill the Potter family, likely including Lily Potter whom Severus had romantic feelings for, Snape served as a double agent, secretly working behind Voldemort's back for Dumbledore even after his death.[11] His career ended when Voldemort killed him in the hopes of gaining the full allegiance of the Elder Wand.[12] Snape was a difficult teacher, and was disliked by many students outside of Slytherin House.[10][13] He had a special dislike for Harry Potter because of a grudge against Harry's father.[14][15] It was also well-known that Snape deeply desired the Defence Against the Dark Arts position, but he never got his chance to teach that class until 1996.[16]
  • Horace Slughorn (1997–Pre 2016)[1] - Horace, after being convinced by Dumbledore and Harry Potter, returned to Hogwarts as the Potions master.[6] After Severus killed Dumbledore and became headmaster of Hogwarts, it was decided that Horace was to become the Head of Slytherin House once again.[17] Following his second retirement, a portrait of Slughorn was placed in the common room.[1]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies, Chapter 3 (Horace Slughorn)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 9 (The Writing on the Wall)
  3. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 7 (The Sorting Hat)
  4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 11 (The Sorting Hat's New Song)
  5. Hogwarts Legacy, Description of the "Charms Professor Gloves" item (see this image)
  6. 6.0 6.1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 4 (Horace Slughorn)
  7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 7 (The Slug Club)
  8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 23 (Horcruxes)
  9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 22 (After the Burial)
  10. 10.0 10.1 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 8 (The Potions Master)
  11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33 (The Prince's Tale)
  12. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 32 (The Elder Wand)
  13. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 5 (The Whomping Willow)
  14. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 14 (Snape's Grudge)
  15. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 28 (Snape's Worst Memory)
  16. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 8 (Snape Victorious)
  17. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 29 (The Phoenix Lament)

See also[]

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