Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
In today’s video, I’m going to be discussing a bit of a controversial topic.
It’s something that pertains to both the students AND professors of Hogwarts, and it’s
definitely not something positive.
I am of course talking about corporal punishment.
If you don’t know already, corporal punishment is an old system of punishment that was actually
surprisingly common in the school system- that is, until it was banned in 1986 (in the
UK at least).
Other countries went on to ban it at different points in time, and I think that it may actually
still be allowed in some places.It’s also worth mentioning that corporal punishment
also exists outside of the school system, however the school system will be the focal
point of this video.
Corporal punishment involves inflicting physical pain upon someone- and in a school setting
it would be administered when students failed to pay attention, or gave professors flak.
Though not restricted to these methods, common methods of inflicting pain would involve spanking
or paddling- both of which are completely unacceptable.
Interestingly enough, however, we do actually see instances of corporal punishment in the
Harry Potter story.
Most notably- this style of punishment is exercised by Severus Snape, who would routinely
smack students that were taking the mickey or failing to listen to his instructions.
But- I wonder, was Snape actually ALLOWED to do this?
Surely the magical school of Hogwarts doesn’t condone this sort of behaviour?
Right?
Let’s dive in a bit further.
The truth is, the regulations involving corporal punishment at Hogwarts seemed to be at the
discretion of whoever was headmaster.
For example- there is evidence in the text to support that Dumbledore was against it:
“Professor Umbridge seized Marietta, pulled her round to face her and began shaking her
very hard.
A split second later Dumbledore was on his feet, his wand raised; Kingsley started forwards
and Umbridge leapt back from Marietta, waving her hands in the air as though they had been
burned.”
"I cannot allow you to manhandle my students, Dolores," said Dumbledore
There is also evidence in the Goblet of Fire to support that McGonagall was against it
as well:
"Teach ...­ Moody, is that a student?"
shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms.
"Yep," said Moody.
"No!"
cried Professor McGonagall, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment
later, with a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor
with his sleek blond hair all over his now brilliantly pink face.
He got to his feet, wincing.
"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly.
"Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"
"He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody, scratching his chin unconcernedly, "but I
thought a good sharp shock ...­"
Umbridge on the other hand was ALL for it- as clearly shown in the ‘I will not tell
lies’ segment from Order of the Phoenix.
She also planned to introduce a few educational decrees that would allow hitting students,
much to the delight of filch:
“I've been telling Dumbledore for years and years he's too soft with you all,' said
Filch, chuckling nastily.
'You filthy little beasts would never have dropped Stink Pellets if you'd “known I
had it in my power to whip you raw, would you, now?
Nobody would have thought of throwing Fanged Frisbees down the corridors if I could've
strung you up by the ankles in my office, would they?
But when Educational Decree Number Twenty-nine comes in, Potter I'll be allowed to do them
things…'”
This quote also gives us an important bit of information - educational decree twenty
nine.
So, what does educational decree twenty nine actually state?
Apparently, this decree would have given Argus Filch proper permission to physically punish
students for misbehaving.
Fortunately, this decree never came to pass- however, there was something almost as bad-
a form called the ‘approval for whipping’ form.
This form would effectively give Filch the same power that the decree would- and would
allow him to hit the students- a dream come true for someone like Filch.
"Approval for Whipping…
Approval for Whipping…
I can do it at last… they've had it coming to them for years…"
He pulled out a piece of parchment, kissed it, then shuffled rapidly back out of the
door, clutching it to his chest.
Filch elbowed his way closer to Umbridge, almost crying with happiness.
"I've got the form, Headmistress," he said hoarsely, waving the piece of parchment Harry
had just seen him take from her desk.
"I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting…
oh, let me do it now…"
Filch had been wanting to physically hurt students for years, but under Dumbledore’s
administration never got the chance.
This is reflected in the following excerpt:
“A highly polished collection of chains and manacles hung on the wall behind Filch's
desk.
It was common knowledge that he was always begging Dumbledore to let him suspend students
by their ankles from the ceiling.”
However, when it came time for Filch to exercise his ‘approval for whipping’ with Fred
& George , they clearly weren’t having any of it:
"Very good, Argus.
You two are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."
"You know what?
I don't think we are.
George, I think we've outgrown full-time education."
"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself."
I think they made the right move at the right time.
However, it wasn’t JUST Umbridge that was a proponent of punishing students physically.
When Hogwarts was taken over, and Snape assumed the role of headmaster, the Carrows - Amycus
and Alecto, effectively had free reign over Hogwarts students.
Given that they are, well, EVIL death eaters - I’m sure you can imagine that they would
have been JUST FINE with physically hurting students.
In perhaps one of the WORST displays of corporal punishment I’ve heard of, apparently their
preferred method of administering pain was the CRUCIATUS CURSE if you can believe it:
‘Do you know about the Carrows?’
‘Those two Death Eaters who teach here?’
‘They do more than teach,’ said Neville.
‘They’re in charge of all discipline.
They like punishment, the Carrows.’
‘Like Umbridge?’
‘Nah, they make her look tame.
The other teachers are all supposed to refer us to the Carrows if we do anything wrong.
They don’t, though, if they can avoid it.
You can tell they all hate them as much as we do.
‘Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defence Against the Dark Arts, except
now it’s just the Dark Arts.
We’re supposed to practise the Cruciatus Curse on people who’ve earned detentions
–’
I would say that administering the Cruciatus curse is probably the pinnacle of corporal
punishment, so it’s fortunate that the Carrows weren’t in power for long or Hogwarts would
have had some seriously disturbed graduates moving forward.
However, one thing that IS worth mentioning is that it appears that in the olden days-
that is, the days before Harry began attending the school, corporal punishment was far less
frowned upon.
This is conveyed in the following quote from Filch in the Philosopher’s Stone:
“Follow me,’ said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.
‘I bet you’ll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won’t you, eh?’ he
continued, leering at them.
‘Oh yes … hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me … It’s just a pity
they let the old punishments die out … hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a
few days, I’ve got the chains still in my office, keep ’em well oiled in case they’re
ever needed … Right, off we go, and don’t think of running off, now, it’ll be worse
for you if you do.”
So it looks like corporal punishment wasn’t too far gone by the time Harry had started,
as Filch himself seems to have participated in it.
My guess is that it was actually Dumbledore that finally a put a stop to it when he took
over as headmaster.
Generally, it’s argued that Dumbledore took over properly sometime between 1956 and 1964.
So, it looks like when Snape hit Ron he was certainly in the wrong- however, Snape is
Snape, so I’m sure that it wouldn’t have surprised the other professors very much.
What do you guys think?
Did you ever wonder if this sort of behaviour was actually allowed?
Let me know in the comment section below
Until next time
It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness- nothing more.