More Apparating Lessons

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 129495

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "fridwulfa" <yutu75es at y...> wrote:
> ... both 
> Percy and the twins took their tests during the summer, even though 
> they could have tried right after they turned 17 if they were 
> learning in Hogwarts, but it seems they had to wait until the
> holidays, which made me think it was not something related to 
> Hogwarts, that's all. 

bboyminn:

Well, of course, I am just making all this up, and I admit I have a
very strong prejudice for things to go my way, but I am trying to
reach a /logical/ conclusion. 

We can't really use Percy as an example because he waited a full year,
until he was out of school, before he took is test. So, let's look at
the Twins. 

Their movements, and the comings and goings of all students, seems to
be restricted while they are at Hogwarts. There are only certain times
that they are allowed to leave school, and those times are governed by
definite parameters. So, Fred and George couldn't just wander off the
minute they turned 17 and take their test. First, if Apparation is NOT
taught at school, turning 17 is irrelevant because they haven't yet
learned how to Apparate, which in turn means they are not ready to
take the test. 

Yes, Fred and George may have dabbled a bit on their own, but I don't
think with magic as dangerous and complex as Apparation, a little
dabbling is going to be enough. Given all this, then they would have
had to learn it after school during the summer holiday. Either way,
whether they learn at school or during the summer holiday, summer
holiday would be the first time they would have had to take the test.
That explains why most characters take the test during the summer.

Next, Harry sees Fred and George roughly mid-summer, which you should
remember is only two months long, and given the level of annoyance
their Apparating is causing, they must have been doing it for a while
when they meet Harry. So, we could infer from that, that Fred and
George took their test 2 to 3 weeks after the end of the school year.
Does Apparation sound like something that can be learned in two or
three weeks of quick study? Maybe, maybe not, my view it that it takes
extensive study; though I certainly can't prove that...yet.

So, it appears that regardless of when you turn 17, the first
available opportunity to test is over the summer. Further, you likely
need to set up an appointment to take the test, since is seems that
the bulk of the requests for testing would occur during the summer.
Getting an appointment time and date would logically create a delay
which explains why Fred and George didn't test until somewhere between
the second and forth week of summer.

So, again, while students are at school, they are generally not
allowed to leave. So if you turn 17 during the school year, your first
available opportunity to take your Apparation test would still be
during the next summer holiday. Now we must ask, is there enough time
in the first few weeks of summer holiday to fully learn a complex task
like Apparation? If not, then those students must have learned BEFORE
summer holiday, which means, they learned during the school year.



> Fridwulfa:
>
> I can't see them spending that much time learning to apparate in 
> their final year, what with NEWTs, and all that, even if apparating
> wasn't a compulsory subject. ...
> Anyway, even if apparating IS something you can study at Hogwarts, I
> don't think we'll see it in book 6, they have to be 17 to take the 
> test, so my  guess is it would be a subject for the 7th year.
>
> Cheers.
> Fridwulfa.

bboyminn:

First, I'm not saying I'm right, only that I've been thinking about
this for a long time and have a strong interest in it. I've tried my
best to do an indepth analysis, and allow for every factor I can think
of. Naturally, a lot of my conclusions are based on suppositions; I
assume this, so I conclude that, but I try to be reasonable and
logical about it. I could still be wrong, but I've tried hard to
analyse it in a logical way, and consider all factors. However, you
are more that free to disagree.

The biggest spanner in the works (wrench among the gears) is that, so
far, in the books, no one has really talked about Apparation lessons.
Percy, Fred, and George all seem to think Apparation is a big deal,
and are very excited and proud about getting their license; showing
off right and left. Yet not one of them, or anyone else for that
matter, has even talked about learning how to do it. 

Certainly they all learned somehow, but it's very strange that not one
of them ever mentioned learning something that is such an obviously
big deal. On this, the only conclusion I can reach is that the author
simply left it out to keep from cluttering the book with details that
didn't have anything to do with the immediate plot, or she was saving
the details for a later book. I think the absents of lessons so far
has more to do with external (author/publisher) factors than internal
(story/plot) factors.

In my scenario, they don't learn Apparation in their final year, they
learn in 6th year. Further I completely agree that adding Apparation
to the stress and strain of NEWT tests would be a burden. 

But, during 6th year, a majority of the students are going to turn 17.
Only a small few like Harry will turn 17 over the following summer;
the summer between 6th and 7th years. So, to me, it make sense to
teach them during the year that they are turning 17, so they can take
the test over the summer, and be ready to concentrate on NEWTs in
their final year. 

I am saying that it make sense to start in 6th year so that they are
all ready to test when they turn 17. Your idea of the strain of NEWTs
7th year just re-enforces my belief that it occurs in 6th year. As I
pointed out before, the fact that the students are only age 16 doesn't
matter because you have to be age 17 to freely perform any magic
regardless of the type. However, an exeption for general magic is made
for student in school where they can be properly taught and
supervised. I see no reason to exclude difficult advanced magic like
Apparation from the other advanced magic they will be learning.

Perhaps, it will be part of Charms or Transfiguration class, though I
lean more toward a class specifically for Apparation. It may be taught
by a Hogwarts Professor, or an outside instructor may come in for that
specific purpose. This outside instructor may or may not be a member
of the Ministry. 

Given that Fred and George turned 17 in April of their 6th year, and
took their Apparation test in the summer between their 6th and 7th
years, I think we can conclude that this is standard for most
students. Percy is the exception to the rule. That means they either
learn Apparation in the first few weeks of summer holiday, or they
learned while they were at Hogwarts. 

Now we must ask, how complex and difficult is Apparation, is it a full
course of study, or just a quick few weeks of review? Obviously, I
lean toward a full course of study. Note, while I said they learn
while /at/ Hogwarts, that doesn't necessarily imply that they were
taugh /by/ Hogwarts, as you said, it may be the Ministry's
responsibility to teach them. None the less, I still feel it will
occur during 6th year. Ron and Hermione can take their test in July,
and Harry can take his in August.

Again, I don't demand that everyone agree with me, but I have given
this some serious long hard thought, and all signs point to 6th year
at Hogwarts, which of course is exactly what I want.

Steve/bboyminn