Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing Hogwarts keeper of keys and grounds- Rubeus Hagrid- and his role at Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. More specifically- we’re going to deep diving in to his role
to uncover what he actually did day to day. What were his tasks? Responsibilities?
Before becoming a Hogwarts employee, Hagrid first went to the school as a student. He
began his studies in the year 1940- just 2 years after Voldemort himself, and initially
proved to be quite a promising young wizard. However, unfortunately for Hagrid, Voldemort
or Tom Riddle attending the school meant that the school was in a bit of a state of chaos.
This was because Tom had opened up the chamber of secrets, releasing the basilisk within-
leading to the petrification of students. Unable to point the finger at anyone else,
Hagrid was eventually blamed for the attacks on the students as he was known to have a
pet Acromantula named Aragog- which headmaster Armando Dippet felt was responsible. Hagrid
was subsequently expelled, however he was allowed to continue WORKING at the school
at the request of Albus Dumbledore. It was in the year 1943 that Hagrid began his formal
training for the position of Gamekeeper at Hogwarts- at that time working under the existing
senior gamekeeper ‘Ogg’. Ogg worked as gamekeeper before Hagrid, and we know that
there was some overlap because in the text Molly Weasley reminisced about Ogg working
at Hogwarts.
Mrs. Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping Willow, which had been planted after she had
left school, and reminisced at length about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, a man called
Ogg.
Molly would have begun studying at the school in the early 1960s- nearly 20 years after
Hagrid’s expulsion. This time frame would have put Hagrid in his 30s- which means that
he was likely a ‘junior’ gamekeeper for quite some time. So what, you might ask, are
the actual responsibilities of a gamekeeper? Besides raising gigantic animals and sitting
around the fire in his hut- what did Hagrid get up to? Well- as it turns out- quite a
lot.
First and foremost, Hagrid was responsible for looking after all of the schools keys:
"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."
Another one of Hagrid’s LARGE responsibilities was doing odds and ends for Dumbledore- tasks
related to official Hogwarts business:
"He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him."
He was also responsible for escorting first year students on the boats to the castle-
helping to familiarize them with their new territory:
Hagrid, of course, was still fighting his way across the lake with the first years
Hagrid was certainly a man who wasn’t short of things to do, and in addition to the above
tasks it has been expressed that he also:
-Tended to the Hogwarts gardens (likely under the guidance of Pomona Sprout)
-Looked after magical beasts on the school grounds
-Looked after matters in the forbidden forest -Defrosting the school brooms during winter
-Bringing 12 Christmas trees to the great hall during December
And even growing the pumpkins for the halloween feast:
In the small vegetable patch behind Hagrid's house were a dozen of the largest pumpkins
Harry had ever seen. Each was the size of a large boulder.
So as you can see- Hagrid had plenty to keep him occupied. I imagine that while he was
working under Ogg, Ogg would have been more responsible for the larger tasks- like going
on official Hogwarts business- where Hagrid, the junior gameskeeper, would have been more
in charge of actually groundskeeping.
And that’s it for this video. Did you guys ever wonder what Hagrid actually DID day in
and day out? Did you know about OGG? Let me know in the comment section below
Until next time
If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors,
not his equals.