CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 31, O.W.L.s

[Barb Fulton]

No: HPFGUIDX 118008



-most of Juli's post snipped

> 1. Why was Draco Malfoy next to Harry during their Charms 
>    exam? If they were called alphabetically, Draco must 
>    have been called long before Harry.

Barb:
I don't think Draco would have been called long before Harry. There 
aren't exactly a ton of students between M and P (that we know of, 
anyway). I also expect that perhaps Malfoy was having trouble with 
his exam, so he might have taken longer than some others.
 
> 3. Will Harry get enough OWLS to continue his career as 
>    an Auror?

Barb:
yes, I think so. I think he did well enough in Charms, 
Transfiguration, Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. He did an 
excellent job in DADA. Divination, Astronomy, and History don't 
matter, although I think he passed Astonomy and History. His only 
hang-up is Potions, and I think he'll either get a high enough 
grade, or there will be a change in staff. Mostly, I think Snape 
will be too prominent in the next 2 books to have Harry never see 
him. I see Harry getting 7 or 8 OWLS, everything except Divination 
and maybe History.
 
> 4. If Fred and George only got about 3 OWLS each, what 
>    classes did they have during their 6th and 7th year?
>    Only 3 classes?

Barb:
I think they probably got OWLs in Transfiguration, Charms, and 
Herbology. I also suspect that everyone takes DADA, no matter what 
their OWL result was. Defense is too important for everyone to 
prevent some students from taking it. Perhaps there is an advanced 
DADA for those who passed their OWL and a remedial-type DADA for 
those who didn't. If students didn't do well in DADA, it's even more 
important for them to keep taking it, I think, or they would be at 
an even greater risk from Voldie and the DE's. (that could be a 
band! Voldie and the Death Eaters! sorry, couldn't resist.)

> 7. Do practical and written exams each count as an OWLS?

Barb:

I always thought that each exam would warrant it's own OWL (so most 
classes would be worth 2 OWLS. But then, even getting 12 would be 
failing a lot of exams, and it seems that 12 is exceptional. So I'm 
changing my mind-students can get 1 OWL for each class they take. 
That would make it 12 if you took every class Hogwarts offers, I 
believe.

Very few students must get all 12 OWLs, though. The required classes 
I can recall are: Transfiguration, Potions, DADA, Charms, Herbology, 
Astronomy, and History of Magic. I also came up with 5 electives (a 
full schedule would include 2 or 3 of these, I believe): Divination, 
Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, and Ancient 
Runes. (Correct me if I missed any.) 

So, to get all 12 OWLs, that must mean that either you can take OWLs 
for classes you didn't take in the 5th year (took in previous 
year(s), that others (at least Barty Jr and Percy) got Time Turners 
(I doubt it), or something else. Another thought...can Muggle borns 
test out of Muggle Studies? By that I mean, can they take the OWL 
without having taken the class, because they have certainly know 
about things like electricity.

-Barb, who didn't realize that her post would be so long. Thanks for 
reading it!