[HPforGrownups] Re: If I were invited to HWarts when would my letter arrive?

[Rachel Adams]

No: HPFGUIDX 20931

Hey everybody,

> Would it have come on my 11th birthday (the 16th of October) and then
> I would wait until September the next year before I went to Hogwarts.
> Or would the letter arrive in the summer just before September. Please
> tell me what you think, this one kept me up last night

I think actually it would arrive in the July AFTER your eleventh birthday. I
have a theory that Hogwarts does in fact mirror a lot of things in British
muggle education. Our school terms run from September to July, and one year
group takes in kids born within 1st September  in say, 1979 to 31st August
of 1980. Hence Harry is very young for his year, being 31st July 1980, while
Hermione is one of the oldest (September 19th, as JKR stated in a couple of
web chats I've read over on hpgalleries). So basically, by the time we reach
secondary school, everybody in the year group has turned eleven.

Who do I support this British education parallel? Well, it's mainly based on
both entrance years and OWL and NEWT timings. We take GCSEs in our fifth
year of secondary (high) school, whilst ignoring all the horrible and
hideous changes the government have been making, we take our A-levels in our
seventh year. Therefore I reckon that OWLs are the equivalent of GCSEs and
NEWTs  of A-levels, Certainly in the nauseatingly exhausting bit. We don't
do any form of Graduation here: We just take our exams, go home and wait
until the middle of August for the results to come out. I base the entrance
year as being the equivalent of British kids going up to secondary school
because both Harry and Dudley are described as going onto their secondary
schools after the summer at the beginning of PS/SS. Does that make sense?

Rachel xxx

A relative newbie who a) can't remember if she's done an introduction and b)
is in the middle of her own NEWTs. And they are nauseatingly exhausting,
believe me.