Hogwarts during the summer

[Equinox Chick]

Some of the teachers seem old enough to have already had families and their children might be old enough to live their own lives whilst seeing their parents occasionally but then, Neville becomes a teacher quite young in comparisson so starting a family would probably be quite hard there too.... hmmm interesting.

Not all teachers would have to live at Hogwarts. I imagine they're given the option - althought the Heads of Houses would have to stay. Remus would have stayed because it was free lodgings.

Jo says that Neville lives above the Leaky Cauldron when he marries Hannah Abbot. Remember they could Apparate to Hogmeade, or take the Floo very easily to get to work.

Hmmm, now have a teeny tiny plot bunny about Septima Vector on maternity leave for some reason... (shoos bunny away)

Carole
xxx

[Karaley Dargen]

I don't think all Hogwarts Teachers stay during the holidays. Now, I might be horribly wrong here, so tell me if I am, but if I remember correctly, there was a scene in PoA, when Trelawney comes down for Christmas Dinner, and claims that she can't sit down, because then there would be 13 people sitting there, and the first to get up dies.

1 Arithmancy
2 Astronomy
3 CoMC
4 Divination
5 DADA
6 Flying
7 Herbology
8 History
9 Muggle Studies
10 Potions
11 Runes
12 Transfiguration
13 Headmaster

So - there are 13 subjects, and Harry and Ron weren't the only students there (if I remember correctly).
Everyone seems surprised that Trelawney turns up - so obviously she usually stays in her tower on Christmas Eve. Probably her connection to the rest of the staff isn't strong enough, but I am sure that she actually does live at Hogwarts.
So if any of the other teachers a) don't have a strong connection to the castle/the staff, b) have family or c) don't have any tasks at school (eg something Dumbledore told them to do; "Watch out for ... during the holidays") I think they'd go home.
I don't think it makes much sense for about 5 teachers to miss dinner just because they don't like the other teachers (I always thought the staff were quite friendly towards each other).
So I suppose there are some teachers that go some place else, although probably especially the older teachers feel strongly connected to the castle, and the staff are their friends.

I would also assume that many teachers have a house/flat somewhere, even if they stay at Hogwarts most of the time. I don't think a lot of teachers stay there the entire summer, but at least some definitely sleep there. Take Snape for example. He's a HoH, so he probably has to sleep at Hogwarts, and we see him in his nightgown eg in GoF. But he also has his place at Spinner's End (his parent's house, I assume).
Probably every teacher has some sort of room close to their office where they sleep (or they turn their office to a bedroom at night) and can choose for themselves whether they want to use it or not. I guess Trelawney gets her whole own tower and a comfortable room where she isn't disturbed, because she doesn't have that choice.

[gryffindor_chica13]

I agree with what has been said about teachers having the option to stay at Hogwarts. Interesting that the teachers' children should be brought up, since grandchildren have a very important place in my story...

Great ideas so far! Thanks!

[grimlysirius]

As most people before have said, the teachers probably live off of the Hogwarts grounds, with the option of staying at the school. As with Trelawney, she says that Hogwarts is her only home, so I think she probably lives there during the summer. Remember that Hagrid lives on the grounds in his hut.

Being a teacher's child, I know that they go back to the school throughout the summer. Reasons can be fixing up their classroom for the new year, preparing for their classes, and the like.

All I got for now.
--Lauren

[Karaley Dargen]

Being a teacher's child, I know that they go back to the school throughout the summer. Reasons can be fixing up their classroom for the new year, preparing for their classes, and the like.

But the child could also stay with the other parent (if they aren't teachers too) until term starts and go by Hogwarts Express with all the others...

Edit: Argh, sorry, I misread -__- I read something like "now as for being a teachers child", as in "About the teacher's children, I think they go back during the summer, because their parent would, too". very sorry..

[grimlysirius]

I never said that the child had to go with them during the summer.

[lupins_girl2006]

Carole
I hadn't thought about Snape being at Spinners End

Haha. Not really surprised about that Carole.

Evie
I always got the impression that Snape hated teaching

I agree with this as well, but I think it's more because he just started teachers a few years after leaving the school. He would have had to be strict and harsh to teach the 'dunderheads' that were once classmates and probably saw the scene from SWM.

Evie
I think also they could come to the school early, but that's not always the case - because Remus actually came on the train along with all the students, so I think it's really up to the indivdual personalities.

True, Remus did come to Hogwarts on the train, but I think he was just given the role like the week before term started. And, as DADA teacher, he was more hands on then text book Umbridge. He wouldn't have worried too much with planning everything from the books and he probably had little responsibility other than his classes to worry about.

But for the other teachers, like Flitwick, Sprout, McGonagall, and Snape, it wouldn't be unnormal for them to come in a few weeks early. As HoH, each would have more responsibilities than any other staff member, other than Dumbledore. They would have to plan their lesson, which no matter how hard a teacher tries it will never happen to just fall into place. They would end up changing something in the lesson plans and going with the flow. Also, as a HoH, they would have to pick, or so I assume, a male and female Prefect, as well as give their input to the Headmaster of who should be Head Boy and Head Girl.

leahsm2
I would assume though, that Hagrid was allowed to stay on after he was expelled

I believe it was said that Hagrid stayed after being expelled. He was an orphan at that time. His mom left him and his father, and his father had died when he was twelve. But, he was only allowed to stay because he was given a chance to work with kettleburn, I think. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.

leahsm2
hopefully that would extend to other students as well whose home situations were even more unhealthy than Harry's or Tom's

If you think about it, Snape's home life could be seen as considerably worst than Harry or Tom's. He had an abusive father, a mother who was the victim most of the time from what we can tell with one of Snape's memories, and he was abused at times as well. He was told to go home though. Harry and Tom were orphans, Tom had no where to go but back to the orphanage, possibly, and Harry had three relatives who didn't give a crap about him, but he wasn't abused the same was Snape was.

Carole
Hmmm, now have a teeny tiny plot bunny about Septima Vector on maternity leave for some reason... (shoos bunny away)

Ok, this is a random note, but Carole, you always have a plot bunny (I would usually say badger, but it's Easter) in your head. :P

Karaley Dargen
Everyone seems surprised that Trelawney turns up - so obviously she usually stays in her tower on Christmas Eve. Probably her connection to the rest of the staff isn't strong enough, but I am sure that she actually does live at Hogwarts.
So if any of the other teachers a) don't have a strong connection to the castle/the staff, b) have family or c) don't have any tasks at school (eg something Dumbledore told them to do; "Watch out for ... during the holidays")

While I agree with everyone who said that they probably have a choice, don't forget that it would depend on the holiday. The Christmas holiday is different than the Summer holiday. Christmas, the staff would most likely go home for a week or so to spend Christmas and New Years with their family, considering if they have family to visit. The rest of the staff would stay at the school since the holiday is only a few weeks long. The Summer holiday is completely different. It's around two months long. That's a pretty lengthy time to stay at the school with or without family. They wouldn't be obliged to start planning for the term in Summer as soon as in Winter when the students come back from Christmas break.

Ok. So this is a really long post. Probably the longest I've ever done, but there were just a few things that I thought about while reading what everyone said. *points to above quotes and responses*

So, I'm gonna go before the rotten tomatoes come after me...

~Allieatrix Black

[Karaley Dargen]

While I agree with everyone who said that they probably have a choice, don't forget that it would depend on the holiday. The Christmas holiday is different than the Summer holiday. Christmas, the staff would most likely go home for a week or so to spend Christmas and New Years with their family, considering if they have family to visit. The rest of the staff would stay at the school since the holiday is only a few weeks long. The Summer holiday is completely different. It's around two months long. That's a pretty lengthy time to stay at the school with or without family. They wouldn't be obliged to start planning for the term in Summer as soon as in Winter when the students come back from Christmas break.

Actually, you got me 180° turned-around-wrong I meant: Some even leave during the Christmas Holiday, so they'll definitely leave for the summer.

[Racing Co]

The books probably don't give a proper representation of which professors come or go during the holidays. After all, Harry's years at Hogwarts were pretty unusual times, what people getting petrified, a mass murderer breaking into school, ect. I think there would be more pressure for the professors to stay at the school to keep a look out during the Easter and Christmas. They probably even spent a good amount of time during the summer at school in preparation for the Triwizard Tournament.

I'm guessing things might be fairly different under normal (for Hogwarts) circumstances.

[Karaley Dargen]

Not sure how reliable, though :-(

Not very, I'm afraid:

Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his
pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet, and was
chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read
him.
Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy
nearly broke his teeth on a silver sickle embedded in his
slice. Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in
the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor
McGonagall on the cheek, who, to Harry's amazement,
giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided.

I can't give you the page right now, as I haven't got the English version with me, but this is the "Christmas Scene" from the first book. At least McGonagall and Flitwick are there...

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, who had taken off his usual brown coat and was wearing a
very old and rather moldy- looking tailcoat. There were only three other students, two extremely nervous-looking first years and a sullen-faced
Slytherin fifth year.[...]As Harry was helping himself to roast potatoes, the doors of the Great
Hall opened again. It was Professor Trelawney, gliding toward them as
though on wheels.

So here we can see that it's the HoHs, Dumbledore, Filch and Trelawney (I think this is what we discussed earlier. Neither she nor the HoHs actually have that choice. I mean, what if a Gryffindor gets into trouble and McGonagall isn't there? The HoH has responsibility for the students in their house.). I assume that Madam Pomfrey is staying, too. After all, Hermione lands in the Hospital Wing during the Christmas holiday in their second year.