Would Dumbledore and Severus really expel Harry?

Question

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry and Ron fly Arthur's flying car to Hogwarts. They get into severe trouble, and both Dumbledore and Severus tell them that they could be expelled. (Severus being rather nasty about it)

Severus:

Most unfortunately, you are not in my house and the decision to expel you does not rest with me[...]

Dumbledore:

I must warn you that if you do anything like this again, I will have no choice but to expel you.

Would Severus expel Harry, despite the fact that he told Dumbledore that this was all for Lily?

Would Dumbledore expel Harry, despite the fact that he was the Boy Who Lived, one of the most important people in their time?

I really doubt that Dumbledore would expel them, however, would Severus?

Answer 1

Snape would not. But in order to convey the seriousness of the situation he has to threaten them with expulsion.

From Chamber of Secrets chapter The Whomping Willow

“Professor Dumbledore, these boys have flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, caused serious damage to an old and valuable tree — surely acts of this nature —”

If Snape was really serious about expelling the boys he would have raised a stink and escalated the issue to the Ministry.

Answer 2

I don't think there's any chance Dumbledore would have, unless Harry did something completely out of line that put other students in danger. Apart from him knowing that Harry would be returning to a bad life with the Dursleys if he weren't attending Hogwarts (the Weasleys could potentially take him in, but that would break Lily's protection of him prematurely) Dumbledore knew of the prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort, and that Harry was thus key to defeating Voldemort. Denying him an education in magic and casting him out into the world would have virtually ensured Voldemort's victory upon returning.

Snape, in a particularly emotional state, seeing in Harry only James and not Lily, might have tried to expel him. Dumbledore didn't tell Snape of the full prophecy, he only knows what he overheard the night that Trelawney made it. However, even if Harry was in Snape's house or Snape had the power to expel him, I think it's safe to say that the Headmaster can overrule a Head of House in a decision such as this, and that if Dumbledore couldn't convince Snape to back down, he could still just put his foot down and say, no, we aren't expelling him.

edit: Meant to add in that at the time, Harry is 12 years old, and has only been at Hogwarts for one year. Despite the fact that he's already had an encounter with Voldemort, he doesn't really understand how important he is to fighting Voldemort in the future, and I would guess that he is only just starting to grasp how important he already has been. If you tell a 12-year-old kid that you're going to kick him out of the only place he's been happy in the world as quickly as he discovered it, it's going to spook him and get him to be (a little) more in line.

Answer 3

Severus, in his admittedly biased viewpoint, thought Harry was in desperate need of humility and cutting down to size.

So yes, Severus would have expelled Harry.

Knowing what he knows, and desperate to cling to the last vestige of Lily he has, I doubt his education would simply be left to chance. I forsee strict personal tutelage in Harry's hypothical future; really, Severus would think Harry needs the hard knock lessons he himself had to go through, and his opinion of Harry would make that very easy to arrange and carry out.

Answer 4

It could be a bluff. Easy to make threats when you have no intention of following through, and in Severus' case can deflect responsibility onto Dumbledore. Severus and Dumbledore have to impart the seriousness of what has been done in order to encourage Harry to think carefully about future actions. Worth mentioning also that this incident put Harry in grave danger with the Whomping Willow. This just months after he put himself in danger tracking down and facing Quirell alone. They need to discourage Harry from such actions to try to protect him from himself, at the very least. Dumbledore at least recognised how important Harry would be in stopping Voldemort at this time.