OotP: O.W.L.'s

[Marie Jadewalker]

No: HPFGUIDX 63260

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Judy" <judy at j...> wrote:

> Hmm, so O.W.L. results were given immediately in PoA, but not until
> July in OoP. I think I have an explanation for this inconsistency!  
> The Ministry of Magic is now micro-managing Hogwarts.  Perhaps 
> before, the Hogwarts teachers administered the O.W.L.s themselves 
> and gave out grades almost immediately. Now that Fudge no longer 
> trusts Dumbledore, these external examiners have been brought in, 
> and have to file all sorts of reports before the grades go out.  
> Maybe even Fudge himself is insisting on reviewing the exam 
> results.  Hey, government insisting on adminsiering school tests 
> has a lot of parallels in the real world, at least in the U.S! 
> 
> -- Judy Serenity, who will go to great lengths to defend JKR from
> allegations of flint-yness

Well, to complicate matters more, Percy didn't get the results of 
*his* OWLs until summer.  In COS we hear that Percy's 12(!) OWL 
results came to the Burrow the day before Harry did, which was in 
August since it was after Harry's birthday.  

~Marie, who has long wondered what became of the letters and cards to 
Harry that Dobby intercepted during the summer between 1st and 2nd 
years.