Hermione's ages

[Ebony]

No: HPFGUIDX 27970

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Vicky DeGroote <degroote at a...> wrote:
>  
> Perhpas Hermione was already ahead in school?!  She's obviously 
extremely bright.  She may have been tested in for an early start for 
KG (or whatever in the UK) or maybe bumped up a grade once she was in 
school.  Dumbledoer may have been made aware of this about-to-turn-11-
year-old who is extremely bright, with a future as a powerful witch, 
let's get her in here ASAP...Emma Watson was 10 y/o during the 
filming of PS/SS, maybe this was importtant JKR that it be a younger 
girl playign Hermione just for this reason?
>


You're right IMO, Vicky.  *All* the evidence save the British Muggle 
education system itself points to Hermione being 10 upon starting 
Hogwarts.  I spent the summer studying the British educational system 
when this question came up and asked my tutor if it was possible for 
a child to begin school early or to be accelerated at some point.  
His answers seemed to allow for exceptions to be made.

Another thought:  if Hermione *is* nearly 12 upon starting Hogwarts, 
then during her entire last year at first school she had to keep the 
secret of being a witch to herself.  Hogwarts students get their 
letters shortly before their ELEVENTH birthdays, not their twelfth.  
This just doesn't fit in with the books IMO.

This is now the question that I most want to ask JKR:  "In what year 
was Hermione born?"  Mods, is there some way to add this to the list 
of questions we send in for online chats with JKR?  I am sure there 
may be one around the time of the movie's release.

> On Fri, 19 October 2001, pengolodh_sc at y... wrote:
> 
Regarding school-systems, I see Hogwarts as being very integrated 
into the British system of primary and secondary schools.  If Sept. 
1st is the break-off date in muggle schools in Britain, and Hogwarts 
allows muggleborn/muggleraised students, it will be prudent for 
Hogwarts to adopt the same break-off date.  If it has a break-off 
date that makes Hermione among the youngest in her year, she'd have 
to miss a year of primary school.  I can see muggle parents 
disagreeing to this.  I also fail to see any compelling reasons why  
Hermione should not be among the oldest in her year.

Christian, I adore you, but I'm convinced this is not the case.  We 
were shocked to learn this summer that the American compulsory, free, 
and state-supported educational system predates the British.  
Hogwarts is 1000 years old and you can't even use regular electricity 
in the school.  

Also--since Hogwarts is in Scotland--doesn't Scotland have their own 
formal educational system anyway?  Even so, again that's the Muggle 
side of things that postdates the wizarding by just about a full 
millennium.

--Ebony AKA AngieJ