[HPforGrownups] Age of Starting School/Entry to Hogwarts

[The Crashing Boar]

No: HPFGUIDX 71816

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Random 
  To: HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com 
  <<<snip>
  Well, we're told (i've honestly no clue if it was a book, a movie, or 
  an interview) that at hogwarts is a book and a magical quill that 
  detects _every_ birth of a magic child, and sends off a letter to _all_ 
  of them. <snip>>>>


  I was interested to read this, and it got me thinking - even if there is a list, it must be considered fallible.  My reasoning?  Why did Neville's uncle go to the extremes of throwing him off tall buildings to prove he wasn't a squib? (I have my own theories on Neville's magical abilities, but I'll save them for another thread)  If his name was in the book, he couldn't be a squib, unless the book had been known to screw up in the past.

  I still do not believe every magical child goes to Hogwarts, although I do think the opportunity is open to all.  Somehow, I can't think of the likes of Humdungus as ex-pupils, and if he had been expelled/withdrawn early on, there would have been comments about this when they were discussing his trustworthiness.  Nor were there any comments on Lockhart's time at Hogwarts - he seems to be unknown to the staff (all of whom were quick to indicate his deficiencies, and I couldn't see them missing out on a 'Of course, when he was a pupil...') although he was of an age to have been taught by several of them.  Perhaps Harry and others got an offer of a place(for whatever reason), but other children got a letter asking them to apply for a place, not an automatic entry?

  To bring this back to the age question, I can see no reason to suppose that JKR did anything other than write this based on her own experience of school entry ages - it isn't really a big thing, and I doubt it was a plot device, as I think more would have been made of the age difference from the start.  To give actual examples, my daughter started school when she was 4, the same as the majority of her classmates/year entry.  Her friend Matthew had turned 5 a few days before school started in the September, Catherine was 5 in December, and another friend, Ellie, only turned 5 in July (she isn't a 'gifted' child, before you wonder), which means that it is not unusual to find a British year stream where someone enters it in September at the 'official' age (ie 11) and still have classmates that don't actually reach that age until near the end of the academic year in July.  This is a national standard.

  Dawn


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