Hogwarts Graduation

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 37570

"Vicky D" <vdegroote at w...> wrote:

> Has anyone ever noticed or have ideas on what happens when a student
> "graduates" from Hogwarts?  There doesn't seem to be any mention of 
a
> ceremony.  Maybe it takes place prior to the End of Year Feast?  
Noticed in
> the flick-which-must-not-be-mentioned that the only itme the 
students were
> wearing the pointy hats was at last feast-could this indicate
> formal/official function/ceremony.  We see things through Harry's 
eyes, so
> perhaps since graduation hasn't been of significance to him, we 
don't hear
> about it.  Or maybe it's just attended by graduates.  I've always 
been a bit
> curious about this.  It seems it would be a bit sad after 7 years 
to just be
> done, nothing special happens, feast and go home like any other 
year. :(

My main pet peeve in fanfic is any mention of the word "graduate" - 
the first mention of that word usually sends me off in search of 
another. Just for the record, in British English, the 
word "gradutate" refers EXCLUSIVELY to tertiary education. Fanfic 
authors please take note.

As the Hogwarts system is based on the English school system (the 
Scottish system is very slightly different) the whole notion 
of "graduation" from secondary education is entirely foreign. Inter 
alia, the Twins and Percy get their exam results in the middle of the 
summer (just like English pupils) and thus it would be premature to 
have any kind of celebration before then. Also, JKR has explained 
that Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain, did his final year 
twice - he would not have known about this for certain until he 
received his results in August - so any kind of end-of-school 
celebration would have been out of place for him. Incidentally, this 
wouldn't be because he had a bad year per se, but because he thought 
he'd deserved better results in his NEWTs.

Much as this may seem strange to most non-British ears, English kids 
just "leave" school, and in most cases there's absolutely no fanfare 
about it. Some schools (but more usually the pupils themselves, 
independently) might have an "end of exams" party, and I'd expect 
Hogwarts to be no different. But there is no big celebration, no 
speeches, no silly costumes, etc. 

Finishing one's compulsory education is perhaps the biggest anti-
climax in any English person's life. I expect the end of Harry's 
seventh year will be just a little more exciting, but that's only 
because it'll be the end of the story (and presumably, of 
Voldemort...). If they have any celebrations, it won't be because 
they're leaving Hogwarts, but because the war's over.