Pre-Hogwarts ed/Snape and DADA

[ourobouros_1999 at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 14632

-> 
> You would think that little magical kids must either go to muggle 
> elementary schools or get homeschooled by their parents to learn 
> their ABCs, but maybe there is a magical way to do the basics.

Would doubt this, just because then Hermione or someone would have 
mentioned it by now. Harry probably could not avoid noticing this as 
well. Plus, I suspect they must be teaching advanced math in the 
context of other courses, because you do need more math when dealing 
with say, astronomy. (Of course, if you really want to get meta and 
nitpicky here, you could argue that wizards wouldn't need higher 
math, because they seem to have split off in the middle ages, and 
don't use physics and other things which would involve it, because 
they have magical solutions to the tech problems that prompted more 
complex math. Literature, if we're discussing the Hogwarts 
curriculum, is the far more puzzling omission. )

> 
> For example, the wizarding community MUST have a magical way to do 
> arithmetic.  There is simply no way any group of people could use a 
> monetary system where 29 Knuts = 1 sickle and 17 sickles = 1 
galleon 
> without magic.  Humans are just not capable of doing that kind of 
> arithmetic in their heads.

Well, think of the archaic British money system and measurement 
system. People managed to keep that in their heads. Granted, that 
didn't use prime numbers, so this system is harder. Think also of how 
people must have managed commerce before standardized measurements, 
when things were based on arbitrary, non multiplication friendly 
things like the king's forearm. Plus they were using different 
coinage systems at the same time to do trade, and dealing with 
fluctuating gold composition. 

Re:  Snape and DADA. I have long been an advocate of either two 
theories. :) Red herring, Snape doesn't want the job. He never goes 
and says it, and he does love those potions, and what Hagrid says 
goes against it. Or the alto sax theory, finding a good potions prof 
is even harder. With someone of Lockhart level incompetance teaching 
potions, things would be even more hazardous. 

Alternate theories include the probation theory, where Dumbledore 
decides it's a bad idea to let Snape near Dark Arts, which to me 
doesn't make much sense because the course doesn't include teaching 
people the actual Dark Arts, just reading about them and learning 
counterspells. And then there's the theory that others just seemed 
more qualified. 

Charmian