Prefects Becoming Heads

[MerryD]

I was wondering what happens when a Prefect becomes a Head.

Lily Evans was a Prefect and then Head Girl. Would some other Gryffindor girl become a Prefect to replace Lily, or would there just be an odd number of Prefects that year?

-Mere

[Kcharles]

You could go either way, we have no idea from cannon, but I think that they would chose a new prefect from the seventh year.

[jecleaver2]

I always thought that it was that the Prefect who turned Head Boy/Girl was still a Prefect in his or her own house plus all the other houses.

[Black_Dust]

I agree with kcharles, it's really up to you. I think they probabaly would replace the missing prefect as well just to keep things equal and in balance.

~~Kasey :eek:

[megan_lupin]

You could probably go any way on this, since, as kcharles said, canon doesn't say one way or the other is correct. However, I'm more inclined to agree along the lines of jecleaver2's answer.

The way I see it is that a Head student, if they were a prefect, now sort of hold two roles - they're still the prefect from their House, yet they now also have the additional role of being a Head student.

Take Lily, since that's who were using here. If she was a prefect before becoming Head, I think she'd still be considered as a Gryffindor prefect, yet she's ALSO the Head Girl. Being a prefect isn't 100% necessary for being a Head student (since we know James was Head Boy, yet wasn't a prefect), however, it's just more likely that a Head was a prefect.

But I don't think they STOP being a prefect once being made Head; they're just filling two roles now, rather than just the one of prefect that they'd been doing before.

~Megan

[Elmindreda]

Another question regarding Prefects... How many are there, at any given time? If there's just one per house, then does that mean that Prefects get chosen only once every three years?

I mean, if Ron and Hermione were chosen Prefects in their fifth year, then did no one get chosen when they moved on to year six?

*hopes that makes sense*

[Ravenclaw_Soprano]

As for your first question, I am inclined to agree with jecleaver2's answer, for the reasons that have already been given.

I don't know that your second question was ever directly addressed in the books. However, we do hear Mrs. Weasley criticizing Fred and George for not being prefects, even though they were only 2 years behind Percy. This suggests that prefects are chosen every year-- which also makes sense because they need to give the chance for that honor to everyone that comes through Hogwarts.

There are 2 prefects per year per house, then, a total of 2 prefects * 4 houses * 3 years = 24 prefects at a time? 2 of those are the Head Boy/Girl.

*hopes that helps*

~Lauren

[Evester]

I also agree with the theory that a Head would retain Prefect status, or whatever. And for your second question, I asked this same thing in a different thread, and the general consensus seemed to be that there would be two per year. So yeah, 24, six from each house.

-Eve

[megan_lupin]

Yes, prefects are chosen in fifth year, so for every class, once they reach their fifth year, there will be prefects chosen among them.

So, there would be two fifth-year prefects, two sixth-year, and two seventh-year from each House, making a total of six prefects for each House. Since there are four Houses, that makes a total of 24 prefects at any given time. (Two of those 24 would be Head students, unless the Head IS NOT a prefect (like James), but has "prefect status", like Harry managed to after making Quidditch captain.)

~Megan