JKR did not always appear to think things through

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 189431

  Bart:
Over the years (I think I joined this list around the time of HBP), I 
and others have brought forth a number of examples where JKR took her 
ideas to a certain point, but didn't take them beyond (comparing 
Dumbledore's age to the RW during the time he grew up is a good 
example). In any case, another one (addressed in a couple of the current 
questions) is the necessity, or lack thereof, of a Hogwarts education 
for children. The regulations on underage wizardry are useful for plot 
reasons, but frequently forgotten. To give the biggest example: there 
are numerous references to playing/practicing Q (I'm too lazy to look up 
how many d's there are in it) during off-season. But this is clearly the 
practice of magic by underagers. The explanation is given that it is 
magic practiced in the household, not the student. But that means that 
students who come from wizarding families have a huge advantage over 
those who don't; notably, an opportunity to practice skills over the 
holidays.

A secondary question is if some children are homeschooled, then how the 
hell can they be if they can't practice magic outside of Hogwarts? It 
does seem that some of the "lower class" wizards (like Stan) were 
homeschooled. Are there other magic schools in England? The apparent 
underuse of Hogwarts seems to imply not.

Finally, of course, there is the strongly Anglocentric worldview in the 
books. Morty does conquer the British WW, but it is known that there are 
wizards in other countries. Is it that Britain has an unusually high 
concentration of wizards, that make them pre-eminent in the WW? Now, 
mind you, if that is the case, given the demonstrated level of 
competence at the MoM, one begins to understand WHY the wizards haven't 
taken over the world.

     Bart