system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Harry Potter] Why doesn't Ravenclaw win every House cup?

It mentioned in the first book that Slytherin had consistently won the House cup for many years before Harry's first year. If the main thing you get House points for is answering questions right in class, and the main thing you lose them for is breaking rules, why wouldn't Ravenclaw consistently dominate, since the most intelligent and academically inclined are (mostly) sorted there?
gpt
So, you ask: "why don't the Ravenclaws win every time?"

But the real question we must consider to answer that question is: "Why does the point system and the house cup itself exist?"

They exist to act as both a carrot and a stick to students, in order to generate peer pressure to act better in class as a form of collective reward or punishment. We see this effect *directly* when our Heroes are shunned for losing a large number of points early on.

In other words, the house point system exists in order to leverage house-based competitiveness for the purposes of making students more engaged in classes.

Several conclusions can be drawn from these statements:

1. The system is not designed to deal with Ravenclaws. Ravenclaws are the students for whom academics is *already* their number one focus. Regardless of point gains or losses, standing within the house and acceptance within the house is already dependent on actually fulfilling the ideals of the house. That is: the house is defined as being a bunch of overachieving swots.

2. Because the system is not designed to deal with Ravenclaws, and will have little effect on a Ravenclaw's inherent swottyness, the professors are *intensely* aware that actually apportioning points based purely on student-swot-levels will inevitably lead to Ravenclaws winning every time.

3. Ravenclaws winning every time defeats the purpose of the entire point system, as it would quickly become apparent that no one else can win. If no one else can win, then there is no point in caring about the House Cup (as one can never win it) and thus there is no point in caring about house points. This is also why quidditch points feed into house points. To prevent Ravenclaws from dominating.

4. Therefore, Professors use the house point carrot and stick approach on the three houses that actually will respond to it. They may award Ravenclaw some points, but as everyone *expects* Ravenclaws to do well in class, them actually answering correctly is expected of them. When you are at the top of the Academic tower, the only place to go is *down.* Ultimately, the professors don't give Ravenclaws many points, because the other houses must always at least have the impression that they *could* be in the running for the point system to remain viable.

5. Ravenclaws are likely aware of this fact. Their only options are basically: Accept it and move on, or become less of a bunch of swots. Becoming less of a bunch of swots means becoming un-Ravenclaw. Therefore, the only real option is accept it and move on.

6. The above points are likely clear to at least older Ravenclaws, who likely explain it to the younger ones. The point system and the house cup are like someone putting a gold star next to your name: pure emotional manipulation without any actual reward. And it isn't even all academic: The only way Gryffindor and Slytherin are in the running is that they are better at Quidditch. The biggest reward a Ravenclaw can strive for is to **RUTHLESSLY CRUSH THE OTHER HOUSES ON THE O.W.L AND N.E.W.T EXAMS** because then we will show all these merlin damned mouth breathing idiots who is *truly* the better student *and* the better house. ^Morons ^taking ^the ^house ^point ^system ^seriously... *ahem.* Moving on.

Gryffindors like house points because they are competitive. Slytherins like house points because Gryffindors like house points, and damned if they are going to let Gryffindor have anything without a fight. Hufflepuffs enjoy the tiny bursts of endorphins from someone actually acknowledging their existence.

Or, to put it another way: Remember how the entire castle fell into anarchy and the point system lost all meaning when Umbridge was around and Slytherin was the only house with points? *That* is why you can't let one house dominate too much.

**TL;DR:**Ravenclaws accept that they will never win the House cup, because the entire system exists as a form of childish encouragement for the three houses where the children who have traits other than "smart" go.