Squibs? Or no qualifications?

[bluesqueak]

No: HPFGUIDX 92454

Sylvia wrote:
> I've always blithely assumed that the people like the witch who 
> brings round the trolley on the express or the barman in the 
> Leakey Cauldron  are all squibs, since they are plainly part of 
> the WW but are doing rather mundane jobs.  However, someone has 
> suggested to me that they may actually be people who, for some 
> reason or other, have failed their OWLS and have left school 
> without qualifications.Is this possible?  Would they have been 
> chosen in the first place if their magical potential is so weak?  


Failing your OWLs doesn't mean you have weak magical potential. For 
one thing, the OWLs have a theory and a practical - it would be 
quite possible for someone to pass the practical and fail the 
theory. Also, there are always students like the twins, who have the 
potential to pass but just don't care; they know they don't want a 
career where they'll need exam results, they want to open a joke 
shop. 

If the WW exam system is like the English/Scottish exam system, it 
would also be possible to re-take exams later if you discover that 
you made a dreadful mistake leaving school without qualifications 
:-) This happens all the time in the UK - the exams themselves are 
standardised, so no one really cares whether you took them at school 
or later - so long as you have, at some point, passed.


> And where does that leave people like 
> Madam Rosmerta, who is strong and capable in her job and doesn't 
> appear to need magic (or does she?)

She probably does need magic. Right up to the nineteen thirties it 
was not unknown for publicans to sell one beer they'd brewed 
themselves. Given that the WW split in the 17th Century, I wouldn't 
be at all surprised if Madam Rosmerta brewed some of the products 
she sold (using magic). She may also use charms to move the barrels 
around, preserving spells for the food, etcetera, etcetera.

Tom the barman probably uses similar spells - and may use loads 
of 'housework' spells to clean the bedrooms and bar. The Leakey 
Cauldron is an old style public house with accommodation as well as 
a bar. He may be owner/manager as well as barman.

Pip!Squeak