Do Hogwarts teachers have lives? [Spoilers to Book 6]

[The Pelagic Argosy]

I'm in the process of designing a "magic school" for my own future best-selling novel, and it got me thinking about Rowling's world. I noticed that none of the Hogwarts professors seem to have spouses, or children, or lives of their own.

Of course, most of them are such minor characters that we don't know much about them. (One is a ghost.) So who knows? I'm thinking of the four major ones here: Dumbledore, when he was alive, McGonagall, Snape, and Hagrid.

So, I ask...Do Hogwarts teachers have lives?

I simply can't imagine Dumbledore or Snape with wives or girlfriends, being too eccentric and icky respectively. (One of the wild theories that Rowling put to rest on her website was that Luna could be Snape's daughter.) The same for Hagrid, until Madame Maxime came on the scene. *shudders* Is there, or has there ever been, a Mr. McGonagall? Maybe Minerva is a widow, having henpecked the poor man to death long ago.

We don't learn until the HBP that Snape has his own place. I guess I had been under the impression that the Hogwarts teachers lived in the castle, possibly year round. They are always conveniently (or rather inconveniently) there when Harry and the gang go prowling around at night.

I also seem to remember McGonagall insulting Trelawney over a Christmas dinner at the castle. Here, I found the scene from POA: "At lunchtime they went down to the Great Hall to find that the House tables had been moved against the walls again, and that a single table, set for twelve, stood in the middle of the room. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout, and Flitwick were there, along with Filch, the caretaker..." Trelawney soon joins them. So, apparently, these people have nowhere to go on the Christmas holiday? I guess you could argue in this case -- this was during the Sirius Black crisis -- that Harry needed extra protection. But still...Sprout, Flitwick, and Trelawney? This is the muscle? Please. I say they always spend holidays at the castle, because they have nothing better to do.

Of course, this is children's fantasy. The Hogwarts teachers are caricatures. They have appropriately metaphorical pets, rather than families. (In the case of McGonagall, she is the metaphorical pet.) Besides heading to Hogsmead occasionally for drinks or some shopping at Diagon Alley, their lives revolve around Hogwarts. Anything else would be outside the scope of a series already overburdened with subplots. (Yeah, I said it.)

And the wizarding world has been in a state of crisis for at least the past, oh, seventeen years or so. Especially since the Tri-Wizard Tournament debacle. This is no time for anyone to take off on a wizards' cruise to the Bahamas for the summer.

Dumbledore, when he was alive, certainly had little free time. Being headmaster is a full-time job, even without a Dark Lord to worry about. Still, I imagine that he was a light sleeper. I think he frequently got soused in the middle of the night and ate a lot of candy.

We're actually pretty familiar with Hagrid's life. He has a full time job also, looking after a forest filled with dangerous mythical creatures. Whenever he does take off on a trip, he brings back souvenirs...dragon eggs and giants.

I don't know if McGonagall has her own place or not, but, wherever she lives, I think I can guess her decorating scheme. I'm afraid that Dumbledore's old office will soon be cleaned out to make way for cat figurines.

What does Snape do in his free time? That's actually one of the great mysteries. I'm sure he does whatever Deatheaters do, either because he is a deatheater, or because he has to keep up appearances. At the beginning of HBP he was hiding, and tormenting, Wormtail. Otherwise, he must spend his time glowering into the distance, mixing potions, and, of course, some light gardening.

(Hey, I have to wonder about something between now and July 21, besides Harry's impending doom.)

 

[Joel007]

Re: Do Hogwarts teachers have lives?

Wahey, spoilers warning!

anyway, the teachers are probably just like any other teachers at a boarding school, they set up lodgings there or nearby and either bring any family that they have with them, or visit during the (extremely long) school holidays.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Re: Do Hogwarts teachers have lives?

Apparently, as mentioned in one of the numerous 'rumours' that Rowling has let slip (you know, as she does ) Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth (remember he's mentioned around the time when Hagrid is hiding from the world because he's found out to have a giantess as a mother? The one who possibly can't read and was mixed up in a dodgey situation involving goats and charms) is a lot closer than anyone suspected, and has been alluded to in the books (in a rather obscure way, I reckon).

Tired of me beating around the bush? OK, here's where he's hiding:

He's the bartender in The Hog's Head. He's been mentioned a few times, although rarely by name, I think. In the Order of the Phoenix, Harry notices a goat-y smell around the bartender, and how he seems familiar somehow. Apparently he's made an appearance in various other places, as mentioned on a wikipedia page about him

 

[kythe]

Re: Do Hogwarts teachers have lives?

I don't think it's unbelievable that Hogwarts professors could have families, or have had them in the past. We are introduced to information as it becomes relevant to the storyline, but not just for the sake of description. It apparantly hasn't been important to know about the families of the Hogwarts staff.

 

[PTeppic]

Re: Do Hogwarts teachers have lives?

Not sure why the Spoiler warning Joel... but I would have said exactly the same thing anyway. Rowling has used the very traditional boarding school format, partly because so many (especially in England) can relate to it (though these days mostly not through experience). The staff can therefore have wives, husbands and partners as much as staff at other similar schools.

Something else to bear in mind, only the heads (and perhaps deputy heads) of house actually need to be resident on school property, to look after their charges. The rest of the staff could reside elsewhere in the grounds (in married quarters) or down in Hogsmead etc.

There are clearly large gaps in what Rowling has told us about the school. For instance, how many classes, in which subjects, are available every year. Only some of them can have been mentioned, for example, to account for all of Percy Weasley's OWLs. Also to cover each of the required groups of classes filling each period on the time-table (years 1-5 have c. 40 pupils in each, which is 2 or 4 classes worth [exacerbated by "options"] for each period, meaning 10-20 classes required with teachers for just years 1-5).

 

[Culhwch]

I added a spoiler warning because, well, there are spoilers. Not everyone may have read all the books yet - I only read book six in the last couple of months, after originally losing the impetus when I had Dumbledore's death spoilt for me on this very forum.

I must say, the classes are something that always bugged me, too, being the practical person I am.

 

[Joel007]

I mentioned the spoilers so a mod would add the tag to the thread
ty cukhwch

 

[areader]

unlikely that they do to any great extent and certainly not from the Hogwarts student's perspective.

 

[The Pelagic Argosy]

I mentioned the spoilers so a mod would add the tag to the thread
ty cukhwch

Doh! Thanks, Joel.

(Btw, what is the statute of limitations on spoilers? Just hurry up and see The Crying Game already.)

About the classes, the thing that always bothered me is how the kids learn the basics. Rowling explained on her website that wizard children are home schooled before they start at wizard schools. I guess learning algebra in the wizarding world, just like in the real world, isn't necessary. Presumably the elective "muggle studies" covers everything else.

 

[kythe]

Rowling explained on her website that wizard children are home schooled before they start at wizard schools. I guess learning algebra in the wizarding world, just like in the real world, isn't necessary. Presumably the elective "muggle studies" covers everything else.

"Muggles studies" seems more a study of muggle life and artifacts, not a basic reading and writing course. I think it might fall into the category of humanities, or cultural studies.

I did always wonder how wizards do learn to read and write. Since they seem so separated from the regular world, how is it that their language and basic skills remain so similar? Or maybe wizard parents use the same textbooks and learning materials as muggle parents in order to homeschool their kids in the basic subjects. Otherwise, I think a lot would be lost over time.

 

[Erin99]

I think Rowling would have planned the characters' lives thoroughly before she began writing. It's just that the books are so large anyway, the plotlines couldn't fit in (and they're not relevant to the immediate storyline; when you're an author, anything irrelevant has to be removed).

 

[PTeppic]

Given that anyone who attends Hogwarts only does so from the school year after they turn eleven, they are beginning what in the UK is "year 7" (first year of secondary/high/comprehensive school). They should therefore have already completed, as Harry had, 6+ years of normal Muggle schooling.

As a genealogist I suspect there's a plot hole somewhere here. I'm assuming that wizarding families use St Mungo's, or local equivalent, rather than the local NHS hospital for pre-natal and birth arrangements.... so do they bother with all the normal Muggle legal stuff like registering their children with birth certificates and so on. And, extrapolating, if they haven't registered the birth, they wouldn't need to school their kids, since their places wouldn't be reserved for them etc. The opposite will be true for double-Muggle parents, with essentially normal kids until the bizarre letter arrives out of the blue (I've always assumed they must get slightly more informative letters, or some sort of chaperone, to begin with.) Anyway, this leads to two obvious questions: since Harry is pure-Wizard, would he have been registered (and thus was his place at the local comprehensive easy to arrange) and, what do half-and-half do about such things. It is clearly assumed that all students from first year can read and write sufficiently well to study - perhaps they have remedial classes for those who can't...

Edit: and what about normal Muggle medical steps, like immunisations?

 

[Lenny]

Given that anyone who attends Hogwarts only does so from the school year after they turn eleven, they are beginning what in the UK is "year 7" (first year of secondary/high/comprehensive school). They should therefore have already completed, as Harry had, 6+ years of normal Muggle schooling.

I guess they tack Sixth Form onto the normal five years they'd have at a Secondary school.