A Dumbledore thought

[rja.carnegie at excite.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 19533

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., dasienko at e... wrote:
> The only remote hint that there could be other schools is in GoF when 
> we learn that Harry's mane had been put in the goblet under the name 
> of a different school. 
> 
> Dumbledore may have gone to another school, and this is what makes 
> him a little more lenient towards outsiders.

I thought it was at Steve Vander Ark's HP Lexicon site that I read,
surely on the best cited authority (JKR interviews?) - yes -
"JKR says that Hogwarts is the only Wizarding school in Britain
for kids eleven and up."  But I gather (without reading GOF)
that the contest is international; there are no doubt other
schools overseas for teenaged wizards.

That younger children may be educated in magic at home or in
something like a "dame school" (my choice of word) seems to be
conjecture on Steve's part; I think "prep schools" are also possible. 
I'll take the chance of citing, without asking leave:
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/hogwarts_academics.html

It seems to me that Dumbledore must have had secondary education
_somewhere_ in order to perform as head teacher.  (Does he actually
teach any classes now?  Should he?)

Steve perhaps takes Hermione's word by placing Dumbledore as a student
in Gryffindor, "c. 1851".  Otherwise, he may be an immigrant to
Britain - if he's that old, he's had plenty of time to lose any
accent - having been educated elsewhere.

What's this about Grindelwald, or shouldn't I ask - that's a place
name in Switzerland, isn't it?

Robert Carnegie
Glasgow, Scotland

"I read them all when I was seven and I hated them" - unnamed American
office worker on the Harry Potter books (www.dilbert.com, List of
Stupid Things Overheard)