Re: What is the purpose of the portraits in the Headmasters office?

In article <1126538969.217550.52770@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
scenario_dave <scenario_dave@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>dicconf wrote
>> Since the school has been run essentially the same way for almost a thousand
>> years (since Slytherin left some time after the founding, a thousand years
>> ago), being a mere 50 years out of date doesn't matter. Besides, they
>> seem to be able to keep up with current events; in fact, the castle
>> portraits seem to spend most of their time gossiping. After all, there
>> isn't much else for a portrait to do. They're a kind of living file
>> cabinet and book of reminiscences.

>No school stays the same for 1000 years. Attitudes change. When the
>fake Mad Eye turned Draco into a ferret, Professor McGonigol told him
>you can't do that anymore. I'm quite sure if he did stuff like that 20
>years ago, no one would have cared. If he does that all the time now,
>he would be fired.

I believe that change came when DD became headmaster, so it was a little
more than 20 years ago. But up to that time, the old rule had been
the same for a long time. The old style boarding schools that Hogwarts
is modeled on really are run pretty much the same way. Hogwarts has
had an upgrade on the physical facilities - better plumbing and
more comfortable beds - but the way classes are organized is unchanged.

>I think that your idea that they're a "kind of living file cabinet and
>book of reminiscences" is on target. I think they can learn new facts
>but they think basicly the same way they always did. If they could
>really think and learn, why not let one of the portraits be Headmaster,
>you'd have a thousand years of experience to pick from.
>
>The gossip is probably the same now as it was a hundred years ago,
>just change the name of the teachers and students involved.

True, because students and teachers tend to do the same things.
So the wizards see no need for major reorganizations.

>I feel that a new Headmaster would really be behind if the newest
>portrait was 50 years out of date, especially if it had a totally
>different style than the current one. If the newest portrait was
>recent, it would be more likely to understand the new Headmasters
>position, even if he didn't agree with it.

But the new headmaster might be over 100 years old, like Dumbledore.
Hogwarts has a much slower turnover in normal times. A mere 50 years
won't make much difference in analyzing character types, because
students and teachers are much the same. Hogwarts didn't go through
the educational system changes of the twentieth century.

>For example, 50 years ago was 1955. Japan and Germany were the
>conquered enemies of England. If the new Headmaster wanted to welcome
>the new head of the German or Japanese school of magic, he might get
>some very inappropriate advice from a 50 year old portrait. The
>portraite would still think in the mindset of 1955.

The portraits don't have a vote, they only advise. It can be very
useful for a person just learning how to do the headmaster's job
to have advice from a wide variety of headmasters, so as to get
all viewpoints. The Hogwarts headmaster has advice from the last
thousand years available, though I suspect that the older portraits
have been put out into the hallways to sleep away the centuries
until someone needs advice in medieval French on how to deal with
a student who has challenged another one to a duel on horseback
with lances.

=Tamar
.

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