O.W.L. exams/Prefects

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 45437

At 16:16 16/10/02 +0000, wpfositpoi wrote:
>Does anyone think that the O.W.L. exams will play an important part
>in Book 5?  Remember the kids will be taking them in their fifth
>year.  JK Rowling must have created them for a reason and she put a
>lot of effort into reminding us about them in Book 4.

I would think it's self-evident that they will. In the Real World 
(wassat??) GCSEs (or O Levels as they used to be) are the focus, focal 
point and ultimately the ONLY think English 15 year-olds think about. Or at 
least *should* be the only thing they think about, which isn't necessarily 
the case as their hormones are going somewhat haywire, and they have other 
things on their minds. :-)

Assuming JKR will take her own school experiences (both as pupil and 
teacher) as a guide (and there's no reason to expect she won't judging by 
the books to date),
selecting which subjects the Trio will be taking, LONG cramming sessions, 
mock exams and then the exams themselves towards the end of the year, will 
be the academic central points of Book Five. It'll be interesting to see 
how the pressure of his forthcoming exams will impact on Harry's 
extra-curricular activities, and vice-versa.

There'll also be the additional subject of Prefect selection, a topic Fyre 
Wood has also raised - canon indicates that one Fifth year boy and girl 
from each House will be selected, and there are several directions JKR 
could take this. We have no canon on the basis for prefect selection 
(appointment?), but again Real World (huh?) parallels could be an indication.

Different schools have different processes and different selection 
criteria, but *usually*, some degree of academic achievement is involved. 
Frequently (but very far from universally!) the brightest kids are the 
prime candidates.  It's important that the teachers (Head of House in 
particular) trust the Prefects, so a (relatively) clean sheet in terms of 
misbehaving or breaking school rules is required. A good prefect is a 
confident prefect, preferably with some leadership qualities (and/or a 
thick skin). In an ideal world, a prefect would also be liked and respected 
(or at least feared), so that the younger kids will do what they're told.

As a result, from the available candidates, Hermione's a fairly safe 
shoe-in for Gryffindor girl, but as for the boys, there are no ideal 
candidates. Harry has a chequered past when it comes to breaking school 
rules (besides, as has been stated before, it would be dramatically 
unfulfilling for him to have yet another feather in his cap!); Ron is 
probably seen more as a follower than a leader (although I would submit 
that his leadership qualities surpass Harry's). Neville is considered a bit 
of a pushover and not too good academically (not to mention having a 
notoriously bad memory), and Seamus is a bit of a blur.

I propose to play my wild card and suggest my favourite shadowy Gryffindor 
Fifth Year-to-be, Dean Thomas. As I never stop pointing out, we know next 
to nothing about him and he's always in the background. He's not as closely 
aligned to Harry and his adventures as Harry's other dorm-mates and making 
him prefect would be a good way to give us some (undoubtedly bangy) 
information about his past.

As for the other houses, we don't really know many Fifth Years-to-be, so 
JKR could either go down the route of introducing us to those we don't know 
very well (or at all), but my preference is that she'll go with people 
we've already met, to reduce the number of new characters. As I've said in 
other discussions in other contexts, I would expect that now we're past the 
series' half-way point, we've already met (if briefly) all the characters 
who will have an important part in the remaining plot.

--
GulPlujm AKA Richard, who can't stop wondering about Dean's significance...