So what's the deal with wizard schooling, NEWTS, and getting ahead jobwise?

[author_by_night]

I've noticed a lot of kerlfluffle over the fact that Harry became an Auror after not having technically finished Hogwarts. However, here's the thing - JKR has stated on her site that wizards and witches don't have to go.

Am I the only one who took it to mean that some parents teach magic on their own?

I always figured that an alternative NEWT was provided for those students, somewhere in the MInistry of Magic. Or that they can take a special exam for whatever career they may want to pursue, which might be what the NEWT involves anyway. (They do seem to already be picking out careers in book five.) Plus, there is no University for wizards, although some may choose to go to muggle universities. So why couldn't they just recieve a test? And I feel Harry learned enough through defeating Voldemort... heck, he might not even have had to take the NEWT, although I bet he still did. ;)

My other question is... I was thinking about Mary Sue fics, and the ones where Mary Sue comes to Hogwarts from America. And then a horrible thought came to me...

Is it canon?!

But seriously, I wonder how much wizarding schools do merge. I don't think it's common, but JKR did say they went abroad, and Draco was going to attend Durmstrang. We also know that Eloise, Seamus, Padma and Parvati were going to leave Hogwarts - would one of them have gone to Durmstrang or Beauxbatons?  Not to mention territories that still belong to other countries - do those kids go to the wizarding schools, or have their own little schools?

... and why I think up all these things at seven a.m., I do not know. But there you have it.

Thoughts?

Comments

[tdu000.livejournal.com]

I presumed that training for most magical professions worked as apprenticeships. I get the impression that thses have never been as big in the US as they used to be in Britain. The apprentice gets quite low pay, has to do a lot of dogs-bodying but after the term of apprenticeship leaves, or is given a real job, with a recognised professional qualification. In which case, it would be up to the employer to decide if the witch or wizard was suitable irrespective of their qualifications. If they thought you were the right person for the job, it wouldn't matter if you flunked out of schoool.

Even "white collar" professions often worked like that. My sister-in-law is a registered accountant without even going to university. All her examinations were done whilst she was working for an accountancy firm. I suspect that she would need a degree nowadays but in the 1980s this was still possible. Even University places weren't offered on a flat score in my day. You went for an interview and if they wanted you they would give you an offer that was quite low. A friend of mine only needed to get two 'B's and a 'C' to do medecine, where the standard requirement was at least an 'A' and two 'B's and ofter higher. Of course she was a straight 'A" student so it didn't matter but it shows that British universities had a degree of flexibility that I don't think American ones ever have.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Well, here you can actually work your way up that way too, but it can be a bit harder, and I don't think a lot of empolyers do it.

And yes, there's definitely apprentinceship in the wizarding world - look at Percy and Crouch in GoF. (Which suddenly seems so long ago!)

[princessdot.livejournal.com]

Many union shops have apprenticeships here. You can begin at a low pay and low skill level and work your way up. Taking course or passing tests the union requires along the way.

Also? see things like insurance agents. You have to get certain certificates and the like.

[princessdot.livejournal.com]

Aye, I was going to mention apprenticeships as well. I can certainly see where the Wizarding world was set up in that way. Offering vocational courses in the different guilds [for wont of a better term].