Hogwarts Homework -- Practicing Spells Away From School

[Bex]

No: HPFGUIDX 114328

Matt wrote:
> Possibly students only do written homework over the summer, and no
> spell practice. (We certainly have not seen Harry doing any 
> practical homework.) Possibly there is an exception for homework, 
> but the assignments get communicated to the Ministry so that they 
> know that the spells are permitted. Possibly the Ministry 
> conflates the two rules (as Harry sometimes seems to do) and only 
> punishes underage magic if it is done in front of Muggles.  

Yb on the ball:
>From what we've seen, a lot of Hogwarts HW is essays, and I think 
all the holiday work is written, not practical.

"This separation from his spellbooks had been a real problem for 
Harry, because his teachers at Hogwarts had given him a lot of 
holiday work. *One of the essays...* " PoA, AmVer, p.3, emphasis mine

This quote implies that *all* the holiday work is written. Plus, the 
notes handed out at the end of PS/SS don't mention anything about 
exceptions for homework.

Matt again:
> On the other hand, Fred and George are pretty secretive about the
> magic they do over the summer before Book 5. And then in Book 5 
> Molly comments that they are magicking everything about as they 
> revel in their newfound freedom to do whatever magic they wish, 
> implying that they were not free to do so before they came of 
> age. Fred and George were getting away with things when they did 
> magic, not taking advantage of an exception that Harry doesn't 
> know about.

I think I have some sort of canon support that they are getting away 
with it, not using a loophole. Fred and George get the notices too, 
because they [F&G] hope they [school admins] forget to hand them 
out. I think this implies that the twins are not exempt from the 
rules. Perhaps it's a combination of being from a magical family, 
thus only being around magical areas and people, and the fact that 
their father works in the ministry, and can take care of 
any "issues" that arise with the Improper Use office and Underage 
Wizard statutes, that lets them get away with all their pranks and 
practices.

~Yb