Percy's age

[bluesqueak]

No: HPFGUIDX 80371

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, alicit at a... wrote:
> *Shakes off the dust*  Ahh, sweet delurk.  

Welcome, Scheherazade. May this be the beginning of 1001 posts. ;-)

> This is a very exciting discovery for me, so please bear with me.  
> ready?
> 
> Percy is one year younger than everyone else in his year. (like 
Hermione) (or me! yeay!)  

<snip>
you must be of age to take the apparition exam.  However, in GoF, 
Percy had just taken his apparition exam, and was being showoffy 
about it :. Therefore, Percy must be born a year before everyone 
else in his grade.
> 
> -Scheherazade, still has faith in the Perce

It also would make sense if Percy has a birthday *after* the start 
of the autumn term (like Hermione).

That would have meant that, unlike Gred and Forge, he couldn't take 
his Apparition exam in the summer holidays before his seventh year.

If his birthday is somewhere in late September/early October, then 
by the time he legally *could* take the Apparition exam, he would 
have been studying like mad for his NEWTS.

It's possible that apparition isn't a Hogwarts subject. The 
equivalent, Drivers Ed, is *not* taught in most British schools. You 
take private lessons outside school hours. If that's the case, it 
would cut into Percy's NEWTs study time.

Since we know he needed top grades for the career he wanted, he 
might well have decided that he'd rather concentrate on the NEWTs, 
and timetable apparition for the summer holidays after the exam.

So he might well not be a full year younger than the rest of his 
year - a couple of months would do it. He'd be one of the youngest 
in the class, but not an 'advanced placement' student.


Pip!Squeak