Other Schools

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 47114

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "James P. Robinson III" <jprobins at i...> wrote:
> 
> >Corinthum wrote:
> >"Hogwarts isn't just the best school in
> >England.  It's the only one.  Yes, I know some people don't think
> >this, but to this point we have absolutely no evidence to the
> >contrary."

> JAMES:
> As to both this issue and the corollary question of whether all
> wizards attend Hogwarts, I think it is fair to say that there is no 
> conclusive (or even really persuasive) evidence either way.  It 
> depends more on each individual's general perceptions of the WW.  
> That is what makes these such interesting issues.
> 
> Jim (who is undecided about other wizard schools comparable to 
> Hogwarts in Britain, but believes that other schools for wizards do 
> exist in Britain and that not all British Wizards attend Hogwarts).
> Jim

bboy_mn:

Once again, someone (although, perhaps unwisely) has extended an
invitation to explain my theory. Most people try to avoid doing that
at all costs.

If you only read the book and accept what you read, then the wizarding
world in Britain is relatively large and Hogwarts is the only school.
BUT when you try to reconcile the numbers, nothing adds up. People
have done extensive analysis in this group trying to estimate the size
of the wizard world based on the number of students. I know how many
students are in my home town school and I know how many people are in
my home town. Expand that to Hogwarts and I get an estimate of the
size of the wizard world. If you do that, you discover the wizard
world is tiny, way too tiny to support the obvious economy in the
story. Of course, you can only do that, if you figure out how many
students are at Hogwarts which hundreds of people sweating for hours
at a time have yet to do. 

Next, if you 'best guess' the size of the wizard world, there doesn't
appear to be enough students at Hogwarts for that many wizards. So
neither the size of the school nor the size of the wizard world can be
reconciled, and therefore can't be used to reconcile the size of the
other.

The size of the economy appears to in indicate a fairly large wizard
population. If we accept that as true, then we have to figure out
where all these missing students are, if they are not at Hoqwarts.

Now to my theory-
I model my theory to some extent on the actual educational system in
Britian as I know it (I live in the US). 

There are three general levels of schooling; 3 year, 5 year, and 7
year. Three year being the absolute minimum need to function in the
wizard world. At year five, you talk your OWLS and that documents your
qualifications. At this time as in the muggle world (O-Levels), you
are qualified to go out and get a job, and the same is true of the
wizard world. The OWLS are your proof of your ability as a wizard. 

Now in Britian, students usually stop what I call secondary school or
high school at year five, and if they go beyond year five, they go to
college. College, in this case, is not the university, but advanced
high school (or maybe closer to Junior College).

So, since Hogwarts is a SEVEN year school, it, in a sense, is a
College, although, It is referred to as a *School* of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. At normal secondary school and even the first five years at
Hogwarts are simply Schools of Magic. To study advanced course and go
for you NEWT quailifications, you take Hogwarts 6th and 7th year
college level classes.

So, there is only one College of Witchcraft and Wizardry and that is
Hogwarts. But there are other Schools of Magic that have 3 and 5 year
course, but offer nothing beyond year five.

Can I prove that? Not if my life depended on it. But it is reasonably
modeled on the regular school system in the UK, and I does allow
Hogwarts to be the only school of it's kind, and at the same time
account for all those apparently missing students.

Very marginally magic students, may reach level 3 through
apprenticships rather than course study. But the only way to reach
level 5 is to take the OWL test and have those to certify your
qualifications. You may reach level 5 by apprenticship or specialized
trade school, but you still must take the OWL tests and have your OWLS
certfications for it to be recognised.

Just one man's opinion.

bboy_mn