So, Hogwarts.
Nov. 3rd, 2005 04:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
What do they do if the non-wizarding parents don't want their child to go to Hogwarts? Is the kid still subject to Ministry laws regarding the use of magic? What if the parents have a good reason (unlike the Dursleys) to prevent their kid from learning magic? Maybe a religious reason, or something...?
And Hagrid! We know there's Kwikspell catalogs used by squibs. Why can't he now study to pass a few OWLs, even some NEWTs and become a qualified wizard? Be allowed to do magic, y'know? Are there age restrictions on those tests or something?
And why exactly doesn't the wizarding world have primary schools? Do they have universities? Is there any option for those who want their children to go to school and have a bit more of a well-rounded education than Hogwarts offers, without having to leave the country...?
Edit: And how many students are in Hogwarts, anyway? We know JKR says about 1,000, which is possible if Gryffindor is the smallest house, but there's a lot of other evidence against this. Carriages hold 3 - 5 students, and it only takes around hundred of them to take all the students into the castle (which sets the school's population at no more than about 600). During the DADA OWL that Harry saw, there's only about 100 seats (which makes the population about 700). Does JKR, in fact, possess basic math skills? Should we converge upon her house with tutors and calculators, and, failing that, decent editors for both her books and her site?
And Hagrid! We know there's Kwikspell catalogs used by squibs. Why can't he now study to pass a few OWLs, even some NEWTs and become a qualified wizard? Be allowed to do magic, y'know? Are there age restrictions on those tests or something?
And why exactly doesn't the wizarding world have primary schools? Do they have universities? Is there any option for those who want their children to go to school and have a bit more of a well-rounded education than Hogwarts offers, without having to leave the country...?
Edit: And how many students are in Hogwarts, anyway? We know JKR says about 1,000, which is possible if Gryffindor is the smallest house, but there's a lot of other evidence against this. Carriages hold 3 - 5 students, and it only takes around hundred of them to take all the students into the castle (which sets the school's population at no more than about 600). During the DADA OWL that Harry saw, there's only about 100 seats (which makes the population about 700). Does JKR, in fact, possess basic math skills? Should we converge upon her house with tutors and calculators, and, failing that, decent editors for both her books and her site?
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no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 09:45 pm (UTC)No.
Should we converge upon her house with tutors and calculators, and, failing that, decent editors for both her books and her site?
Yes.
I've always thought there should be wizarding primary schools. I mean, I'm sure some of the parents would be capable of homeschooling their children, but there have to be wizarding families in which both parents work. What do they do? Muggle born students seem to have the advantage here, because they at least get a basic education in reading, writing, maths, history, etc.
And I've seen a lot of fanfic where Hermione goes off to do a graduate program somewhere (or is tutored by Prof. Snape, which very quickly turns into a different sort of fanfic). But it doesn't seem like most people do that. Considering you're 17/18 when you graduate from Hogwarts, that does seem a little young to be going straight off to work, especially since wizards seem to have slightly longer lifespans than many Muggles.
What happens to children whose families can't afford the tuition at Hogwarts? Is there another option, or do they just not get to go to school? For wizards, that seems unfortunate, because then I think you'd be cut out of a lot of jobs. And would you be allowed to do magic? How would someone function in the magical community who couldn't afford Hogwarts? Because I'm assuming if you can't afford Hogwarts, you can't afford Beauxbatons or Durmstrang. What if that child was from an extremely poor Muggle family? Would they be subject to the restrictions on magic?
I have so many questions. It's a shame I can't think of this many for my essay. :/
no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 09:51 pm (UTC)Which raises *another* question: Why the hell are the Weasley's so damn poor?
Oh, I know, boo-hoo, seven kids, and Molly's not making any income, despite the fact that none of her kids are home during the year.
But wait! There haven't been seven kids to pay for in years. Bill and Charlie and Percy and the Twins are all making good incomes - the only two left are Ron and Ginny. Surely, the Weasleys can afford a bit better now that they only have two children to support! And anyway, when Bill and Charlie got their cool jobs, didn't they shell out a little to help the rest of the family? I know my mom'd be upset if I got a job and, if my mom were in a tight spot, didn't help out, just like if *I* were in a tight spot, I could go to her or my sister for help.
But I just don't like the Weasleys, so....
no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 10:18 pm (UTC)Well in CoS and PoA, the Weasleys were paying tuition for Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny. Did they get any assistance?
I'm sorry if this sounds insensitive, but really, why couldn't Molly have a job? Even a part time job would give the family a little extra spending money. At least enough to get Ron a half decent set of dress robes. I still find it hard to believe that she couldn't find anything less horrible. Or, you know, FIX IT WITH MAGIC.
But yeah, I could understand her wanting to stay home with her kids and maybe sacrifice a few material things, because they have enough money to eat and buy clothes and stuff. But if her children are away at bording school or have moved out, why could she not work. Ginny's not at home after SS. I just don't get it.
We know that Harry has a vault chock full of gold. Was that all inherited money from James' family or did James have a really good job?
So many questions...
no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 10:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-04 10:09 am (UTC)There are about 40 students in Harry's year. We know this without a shadow of doubt - JKR's made that pretty clear.
Allowing for fluctuations a bit (a baby boom sometime after the first defeat of Voldemort seems likely, for instance) that gives us 7 years x 40ish = somewhere in the region of 280 and almost certainly less than 300 students.
Expanding that to the wizarding population, if the average wizard lives for something like 150 years - as has been implied - and there are 40 wizarding births a year (or at least ones that survive long enough to start at Hogwarts - insert theory on the fate of disabled children here) that gives us a rough magical population of about 6000 in the country, including a small number of Muggleborn children who haven't yet started at Hogwarts and so made themselves 'known' to the wizarding world.
What that essentially means is that population density all over the country is so incredibly low that it'd be financially impossible to run specific, local, wizarding primary schools. Hogsmeade, the only all-magical village in the UK, is just that - a village. A small village, it sounds like. Assuming it has an equal spread of ages, and a population of, say, 200 perhaps, that's only going to produce 9 or 10 primary school aged children.
This comment is threatening to turn into an essay, so I'll stop here...
Cheers. :)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-04 11:34 pm (UTC)Where? *is curious*
What that essentially means is that population density all over the country is so incredibly low that it'd be financially impossible to run specific, local, wizarding primary schools.
These are people who can teleport wherever they like by stepping into fireplaces. Why not run one primary school for wizard-born children, where they floo there in the morning, floo home when they're done?
no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 09:45 pm (UTC)No.
Should we converge upon her house with tutors and calculators, and, failing that, decent editors for both her books and her site?
Yes.
I've always thought there should be wizarding primary schools. I mean, I'm sure some of the parents would be capable of homeschooling their children, but there have to be wizarding families in which both parents work. What do they do? Muggle born students seem to have the advantage here, because they at least get a basic education in reading, writing, maths, history, etc.
And I've seen a lot of fanfic where Hermione goes off to do a graduate program somewhere (or is tutored by Prof. Snape, which very quickly turns into a different sort of fanfic). But it doesn't seem like most people do that. Considering you're 17/18 when you graduate from Hogwarts, that does seem a little young to be going straight off to work, especially since wizards seem to have slightly longer lifespans than many Muggles.
What happens to children whose families can't afford the tuition at Hogwarts? Is there another option, or do they just not get to go to school? For wizards, that seems unfortunate, because then I think you'd be cut out of a lot of jobs. And would you be allowed to do magic? How would someone function in the magical community who couldn't afford Hogwarts? Because I'm assuming if you can't afford Hogwarts, you can't afford Beauxbatons or Durmstrang. What if that child was from an extremely poor Muggle family? Would they be subject to the restrictions on magic?
I have so many questions. It's a shame I can't think of this many for my essay. :/
no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 09:51 pm (UTC)Which raises *another* question: Why the hell are the Weasley's so damn poor?
Oh, I know, boo-hoo, seven kids, and Molly's not making any income, despite the fact that none of her kids are home during the year.
But wait! There haven't been seven kids to pay for in years. Bill and Charlie and Percy and the Twins are all making good incomes - the only two left are Ron and Ginny. Surely, the Weasleys can afford a bit better now that they only have two children to support! And anyway, when Bill and Charlie got their cool jobs, didn't they shell out a little to help the rest of the family? I know my mom'd be upset if I got a job and, if my mom were in a tight spot, didn't help out, just like if *I* were in a tight spot, I could go to her or my sister for help.
But I just don't like the Weasleys, so....
no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 10:18 pm (UTC)Well in CoS and PoA, the Weasleys were paying tuition for Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny. Did they get any assistance?
I'm sorry if this sounds insensitive, but really, why couldn't Molly have a job? Even a part time job would give the family a little extra spending money. At least enough to get Ron a half decent set of dress robes. I still find it hard to believe that she couldn't find anything less horrible. Or, you know, FIX IT WITH MAGIC.
But yeah, I could understand her wanting to stay home with her kids and maybe sacrifice a few material things, because they have enough money to eat and buy clothes and stuff. But if her children are away at bording school or have moved out, why could she not work. Ginny's not at home after SS. I just don't get it.
We know that Harry has a vault chock full of gold. Was that all inherited money from James' family or did James have a really good job?
So many questions...
no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 10:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-04 10:09 am (UTC)There are about 40 students in Harry's year. We know this without a shadow of doubt - JKR's made that pretty clear.
Allowing for fluctuations a bit (a baby boom sometime after the first defeat of Voldemort seems likely, for instance) that gives us 7 years x 40ish = somewhere in the region of 280 and almost certainly less than 300 students.
Expanding that to the wizarding population, if the average wizard lives for something like 150 years - as has been implied - and there are 40 wizarding births a year (or at least ones that survive long enough to start at Hogwarts - insert theory on the fate of disabled children here) that gives us a rough magical population of about 6000 in the country, including a small number of Muggleborn children who haven't yet started at Hogwarts and so made themselves 'known' to the wizarding world.
What that essentially means is that population density all over the country is so incredibly low that it'd be financially impossible to run specific, local, wizarding primary schools. Hogsmeade, the only all-magical village in the UK, is just that - a village. A small village, it sounds like. Assuming it has an equal spread of ages, and a population of, say, 200 perhaps, that's only going to produce 9 or 10 primary school aged children.
This comment is threatening to turn into an essay, so I'll stop here...
Cheers. :)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-04 11:34 pm (UTC)Where? *is curious*
What that essentially means is that population density all over the country is so incredibly low that it'd be financially impossible to run specific, local, wizarding primary schools.
These are people who can teleport wherever they like by stepping into fireplaces. Why not run one primary school for wizard-born children, where they floo there in the morning, floo home when they're done?