Smeltings

[crana285]

No: HPFGUIDX 41787

Felinia wrote:
> 1)	are there any schools that have such hideous school color 
combinations as 
> maroon and orange, or is JKR simply playing up how gauche and tacky 
the 
> renowned Smeltings really is?

I can't think of any schools that do, but quite probably. Most 
schools have fairly horrible combinations - maroon and orange sounds 
quite nice by comparison. A school near me has red and green and all 
the pupils look like Christmas trees... brown and yellow is another 
nasty-looking yet popular combination. I've noticed that private 
schools tend to have worse uniforms - state (public to you in the US) 
schools have to try and make their uniforms affordable to all. This 
means, usually, going with fairly standard uniforms that can be 
bought from most places, for example white shirt, black trousers and 
maroon/green/red/blue sweater is pretty common. Smeltings being a 
private school fits in with this - but yes, I think part of it is 
that it's so horrible it's funny! :) 

> 2)	Are the knobbly sticks standard school issue along with the 
uniform, do 
> you think?

I have no idea! What happens usually I think is not that you 
are "issued" with uniform, but that you are given a list (like 
Harry's book list) and can fulfil the requirements however you want - 
although some items might only be available from school (like ties or 
something). So maybe you can buy a stick of your choice as long as 
it's knobbly! Who knows? 

> 3)	Is it the intention of the Smeltings administration for the 
corporal 
> "training for later life?to take place, or is this simply one of 
those "old 
> school trads?

Well... corporal punishment in *any* kind of school is actually 
illegal in the UK. I don't remember if the students are actually 
beaten by the teachers or if they just hit each other.. in which case 
maybe it's a case of "turning a blind eye" and the sticks are 
actually "walking sticks" or something! 

I think an analogy could be (have I got this right) hazing in 
American colleges and universities. It's banned, but still happens, 
and things like Fresher's Week can be changed (sort of) into 
hazing/initiation. Ok, this isnt a very good analogy.

Rosie