House points are awarded and taken away based on IC decisions. Therefore the staff requests that all point giving and taking appeals be directed to either your House Head or failing that: Dumbledore. Remember that art attempts to approximate life, and while we all like to think that life is fair it generally isn't. We do strive to help balance the Houses at school, but at the same time we do not wish to ruin things by putting too heavy of a hand into IC affairs.
Trying to lose lots of points for your House may result in unpleasant IC consequences for your character. If we find that you are actively trying to change the point balance by being totally out of line with a character in one house, but a perfect angel in another you really are cheating.
House Heads may not take more than 50 points from a student at a time, Teachers may not take more than 40 points, Associates and Assistants are limited to taking 35 and Prefects and Head Boy/Girl may not take more than 25. Dumbledore can of course do whatever he likes, but remember he never actually overturned point giving or taking in the books.
Point giving and taking may vary from teacher to teacher, and that is expected. Some are more generous and some are biased. Prefects are expected not to be overly biased. For example, giving one's girlfriend 10 points for saying "good morning" is clearly an abuse of point-power and therefore is frowned upon.
Maximums:
House Heads: 250 (no more than 50 per student in one scene)
Teachers: 225 (no more than 40 per student)
Associates/Assistants: 150 (no more than 35 per student)
Lecturers/Prefects: 100 (no more than 25 per student)
Note: You can both add and subtract this number of points. For example a prefect could give 100 points and remove a total of 100 points to one student in the same 30 day period.
The following is a rough guideline for IC actions and their point values. It is meant as a suggestion more than hard and fast rule set, since many Professors/Prefects will have an IC disposition towards generosity or stinginess with points. This variation is fine, but we do ask that it be kept within reasonable limits.
Also note, we are asking everyone to follow existing precedents. If points have been given/removed for something in the past, they should be consistently handled later in the term.
Adding Points
1 point - Overall credit for doing well in class. Answering a question well. Reward to a struggling student making an effort. Politeness. Other 'small' things.
2-3 points - Answering a question exceptionally well. Some extra credit work. Exceptional politeness. Assisting a teacher or fellow student with some small task.
4-6 points - More in-depth extra credit. Assisting a teacher or fellow student with a non-trivial task. Mid-level tasks deserving of reward. Offering help without being prompted, etc.
7-10 points - Major help to a teacher or fellow student. Fairly significant assistance to another without being prompted. Excellent and successful completion of a large project in class. Other major tasks deserving of a reward.
10+ points - With the exception of Quidditch (See below), any action given more than 10 points will be something exceptional which is deserving of special notice and attention and must be considered on a case-by-case basis.
25 points (exception) - Losing a game of Quidditch.
50 points (exception) - Winning a game of Quidditch.
Removing Points
1 point - Minor reprimand. Inattention in class. Being a little bit late for a class. Slight impoliteness.
2-3 points - Being very late for class. More significant impoliteness. Refusal to follow instructions.
4-6 points - Minor to mid-level disruption of class. Extreme impoliteness. Violation of fairly-minor school rules. Exceptionally rude refusal to follow instructions.
7-10 points - Fairly major violation of school rules. Minor fighting (without wands/weapons).
10+ points - As with adding points, any case requiring the removal of more than 10 points should be considered on a case-by-case basis, but by and large reprimands of this degree will be things along the line of major violations of school rules. Fighting (With wands, or weapons), etc.
Anything above 50 points is worth considering as grounds for expulsion.