O.W.L.s and how they're calculated

[Fred Waldrop]

No: HPFGUIDX 90096

"Ali" <Ali at z...> wrote:
I've just bought "New clues to Harry Potter: Book 5, by Galadriel 
Waters. I confess that I haven't yet really tried to read it all 
or understand it, but my eyes were immediately drawn to what IMO is 
a mistake, or at least an assumption dressed up as a fact.
Whenever I have read OoP, I have always assumed that the DADA is 
made up of two parts, the written exam and the practical exam. 
However, Galadriel Waters states that the 

"Written exam for a class is worth one OWL;and the pratical exam is 
worth one OWL; so, each subject is worth two OWLS" p. 109.
Now, it is possible that this is how they're calculated, but it 
seems unlikely.
<snipping>
 
Possible subjects:
 
Divination
DADA x 2
Charms x 2
Transfiguration x 2
CoMC x 2
History of Magic
Muggle Studies
Runes
Arithmancy
Astrononomy x 2
Potions x 2
Herbology
(Apologies if I've forgotten any)
 
The subjects I've multiplied are the subjects which seem to have 2 
separate parts. That would mean Harry could theoretically achieve 
15 O.W.L.s, 3 more than both Bill and Barty Crouch Junior.
=====================================================================
 
Meri here: I always thought that you got you got one OWL for each 
passing grade and that some subjects had two exams, a written exam 
and a practical exam where applicable. For example: 
Divination - practical exam (reading tea leaves, etc.)
DADA - written and practical (theory and actual defense techniques)
Charms - written and practical 
Transfiguration - written and practical 
CoMC - written and practical
History of Magic - written exam (essay questions)
Muggle Studies - written exam
Runes - written exam
Arithmancy - written exam 
Astrononomy - practical and written exam would be almost the same 
here
Potions - written and practical 
Herbology - practical 
By my count, I get sixteen OWLs, and 12 of 16 would be very 
acceptable. Harry could potentially get 13, and, if that is the 
normal schedule of exams and classes, then 12 for 13 is excellent. 

Meri 
=====================================================================

Hello all, Fred Waldrop here;

I have been pondering this myself for a while also.
What I have wondered (using the 2 O.W.L.'s per subject when there is 
2 parts), what happens when someone does great on the practical, but 
totally screws up the written exam? or visa-versa?
Do they take the average of the two grades? and then give a third 
O.W.L. with a final and ultimate grade? (say you got an O in 
practical DADA and a D in the written, how would the person know 
what there final grade was in DADA?) Or does the practical count for 
more seeing as that is when you are actually doing the spell/charm 
or whatever?
It just seems like it would open up too many questions if you gave 2 
O.W.L.'s for 1 class. I just can't see how that could work.
I could see them taking into account BOTH the written and practical 
parts of the test and issue one ultimate grade(O.W.L.) over both
(with a side note on how you did on each), but not a seperate O.W.L. 
for each.
But, hopefully in a year or so, all our little questions will be 
answered. Or at least we will have a few new ones to ponder.

Fred