The Harry Potter series introduced Hogwarts School as the main backdrop for the story, with Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw vying for the House cup. Gryffindor was the only house shown to win the cup during Harry’s time at the school, but that’s probably because he didn’t lose points when he deserved to.
Due to Harry’s habit of frequently breaking the rules, there were several times where Gryffindor should have been slashed points for his behavior. Of course, this is exactly what happened on a few occasions, with Severus Snape generally being the one to do so. All in all, there were both instances where Harry lost points as he deserved and where Gryffindor should have been punished but wasn’t.
For Attacking Neville
Dumbledore’s decision to allow Gryffindor to win the House cup from under the Slytherins’ noses wasn’t exactly the right thing to do, especially since he rewarded bad behavior. After all, Harry was a party to assaulting another classmate and wasn’t reprimanded for it.
This happened when Neville attempted to stop Harry, Ron, and Hermione from sneaking out, for which Hermione cast a petrifying charm on him. Since Harry was the leader in this scenario, the blame should also fall on him for allowing for this to happen and Dumbledore should have taken points for his attack on another student.
For All The Times He Sneaked Out At Night
Harry got away with sneaking around a lot after hours, something that was said to be bad enough for students to even potentially get expelled for. Although he slipped by unnoticed a few times, he was caught on a number of occasions as well by the likes of Snape, Lupin, Slughorn, McGonagall, and the fake Mad-Eye Moody.
While McGonagall did take points from Gryffindor, Harry managed to get off lightly by the other teachers even though they should have also punished him by deducting points. Harry stopped caring about getting detentions, so cutting points should have at least done some damage.
For Taking A Library Book Outside The Castle
In Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry took a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages with him out into the school grounds. Snape deducted house points over this, something that Harry saw as unfair and thought Snape did just to antagonize him.
However, the fact is that Harry was indeed breaking the rules since library books weren’t allowed to be taken outside of the castle. Even if Snape was being spiteful, he wasn’t wrong to take points since he had a legitimate reason to do so.
For Assaulting Crabbe & Goyle
In order to get close to Malfoy and learn if he was the Heir of Slytherin, Harry and Ron decided to impersonate his goons, Crabbe and Goyle. They then went ahead with assaulting the two and knocking them out before yanking some of their hairs out to take on their appearance using the Polyjuice potion.
At the end of Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore acknowledged that Harry and Ron had to break rules to stop Tom Riddle by handing them 200 points in gratitude. However, he should have also deducted points for the two causing harm to Crabbe and Goyle, since assaulting someone shouldn’t be overlooked.
For Attacking Snape In The Shrieking Shack
In the Shrieking Shack during the climax of Prisoner of Azkaban, Snape ordered Harry and the others to take Sirius Black back to the castle, only for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to stun him altogether, which even made Snape bleed due to injury.
On this occasion, Snape deliberately didn’t take points from Harry, as he was looking forward to a greater sense of satisfaction of seeing Sirius’s soul sucked out by the dementors, but there’s no doubt Harry deserved to be slashed points for attacking a teacher, if not expelled for it.
For Nearly Killing Malfoy
When Harry confronted Malfoy about his cowardly attempt to kill Dumbledore and followed him to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom, Malfoy started attacking him and almost used the Cruciatus curse on Harry until the latter used the Sectumsempra curse that lacerated Malfoy.
Snape realized that Harry had come across his Half-Blood Prince Potions book to learn about the spell and punished him for it. While Malfoy also deserved to reprimanded for attempting to torture Harry, it’s a wonder that Snape didn’t take points from Gryffindor for a student from its house nearly killing another on the school grounds.
For Going To The Restricted Section Of The Library At Night
Harry’s first move after getting the Invisibility Cloak was to enter the restricted section of the library to gather information on Nicholas Flamel. He ended up evading Filch and Snape, who were both on the prowl, although Dumbledore revealed he knew about Harry’s nighttime activities.
Even if Harry wasn’t reprimanded for going out at night, he did deserve to get points cut for going into the restricted section, as this was sealed off for students of all ages and required a teacher’s approval to enter.
For Going To Hogsmeade When He Wasn't Allowed To
Harry broke through security in Prisoner of Azkaban by using secret passageways out of Hogwarts to get into Hogsmeade. He managed to evade Snape’s suspicions and make it appear as if he never went there, but Dumbledore and Lupin were well aware of his entry into Hogsmeade.
This represented the sense of entitlement that Gryffindor personalities are known to show, as Harry felt proud of getting away with breaking the rules. For this, Gryffindor should have had points taken for Harry not only breaking security but evading the Dementors the Ministry of Magic had placed as security.
For Driving A Car To Hogwarts
Harry and Ron made the grandest of entrances in Hogwarts history when they arrived with a flying car after they missed the Hogwarts Express. The euphoria of this entrance was short-lived, as Harry and Ron were caught by Snape who attempted to have the boys punished, only for McGonagall and Dumbledore to be too light on them.
McGonagall even reassured Harry that she wasn’t going to deduct house points from him and Ron, and merely gave them detention and wrote to their families. While Ron got his comeuppance through Mrs. Weasley’s howler, McGonagall should have taken points from Harry since she knew the Dursleys wouldn’t care about the letter.
For Taking His Friends Outside Of Hogwarts Without Permission
The ending of Order of the Phoenix saw the Death Eaters take on the Order of the Phoenix, but that was only possible due to Harry leading his friends to the Department of Mysteries. He ultimately paid the price when Sirius was killed in the battle.
It’s understandable that no one took points from Harry since it would’ve been too much of a low blow, yet looking at it according to the rules shows that Harry was in the wrong. After all, he did gather up a number of students to use Thestrals, who belonged to Hogwarts, to escape from the school. As far as deserving to lose points go, Harry certainly did qualify here.