Prefects paid/Ron & Hermione Marrying in School/Prime nos. (was: Ginny (SHIP))

[blpurdom]

No: HPFGUIDX 37687

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "finwitch" <finwitch at y...> wrote:
> Hermione's going to be a prefect. That already means she has her 
> *own* private bedroom. (Percy said something to the effect of 
> prefects having their own rooms in book #1...) 

Could you please find this reference?  I don't believe it actually 
says that.  Percy indicates that there are compartments on the 
Hogwarts Express that have been set aside for prefects, but there 
has always been every indication that even when a student is 
appointed a prefect, he/she continues to live the same dorm-mates 
they've had since first year.  Which only makes sense; if the 
prefects are supposed to augment the instructors by being their eyes 
and ears when the instructors can't be present, it would be 
difficult for them to do that if they are not in the same dorm.  
There are numerous fanfics that put prefects and especially Head Boy 
and Head Girl in separate quarters, but we should remember that 
we're discussing canon here, not fanon.

> Prefects might get *paid* for all I know(10 Galleons a week?), and 
> Ron might take on teaching job(teaching first-years things wizard-
> borns take for granted) or work at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. And 
> Harry would give them quite a Wedding Gift to live on for 
> starters...
 
Now, I'm afraid this is getting more and more unlikely the longer 
this goes on.  Prefects being paid?  I believe if that were true 
Percy would have been paid as Head Boy as well, possibly paid more 
than prefects, which would have been something else he could have 
lorded over the other people he knew, as he lorded over them the 
fact that he was a prefect and then Head Boy.  The Weasleys being 
rather cash-poor all the time, Percy getting paid for going to 
school would have been a topic of conversation, especially if Ron 
stood a chance of borrowing money from him.  None of this happened.  
I'm afraid that when you propose a theory, you have to be prepared 
for all of the implications of the theory, and this just does not 
wash at all.

It really is extremely, extraordinarily unlikely that anyone--let 
alone Ron and Hermione--will get married while in school.  In 
addition to the other excellent reasons people have cited (and I do 
NOT include such responses as "Eeewww!" and "Ick!") JKR just would 
not DO that.  It would completely disrupt the entire dynamic of the 
books.  On top of that, I cannot think of a less likely candidate 
for a child bride than Hermione Granger.  There could be the outside 
chance that some students could leave school after taking the 
O.W.L.s and potentially marriage could follow after that, but that 
is still somewhat unlikely.  We have yet to hear of someone not 
completing the entire seven years.

And also--the prime number theory is kind of cute, but also wildly 
unlikely, in spite of the preponderance of primes in wizarding 
currency.  The wizarding age of 17 being important is no doubt for 
the previous reason mentioned having to with a) a parallel in the 
Muggle world with being able to drive and b) giving the seventh-year 
students more autonomy and freedom.  (If there are certain kinds of 
magic you cannot do until you are of age and you do not become of 
age until after you finish school, how are you supposed to learn 
these spells?).  I doubt, for instance, that the British government 
gave much thought to prime numbers when making the driving age 17.<g>

--Barb

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HP_Psych
http://schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb