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

[linda-lupos.livejournal.com]

Remus also mentioned that parents could chose to have their kids homeschooled or send abroad (but that they now couldn't anymore because going to Hogwarts was now compulsory). So it's definitely canon, even for those who only read the books.
And besides, I can definitely see the more Pureblood-surpremacy wizards deciding to have their kids be taught at home, perhaps by a private tutor (how 19th century!) instead of having them socialise with halfbloods or - ghasp! - muggleborns. Compare fundamentalist christians in America. ;) (Or even here in the Netherlands!)

Yeah, there are no wizarding universities. I'm getting the feeling that learning an occupation is very much an on-the-job thing (that's nice if you want to be a teacher O_o). Bit medieval really! Or perhaps there are no wizarding universities in the UK but there are abroad? I do wonder where, say, Madam Pomfrey or the healers at St Mungo's learned their healing. Wouldn't be something I'd assign a random 17-year old. And Hogwarts doesn't have any Healing Magic classes, does it..?

I suppose American transfers are possible! Although maybe not with third-years because it's so far away. :p But seventh-years who want the experience... sure, why not? You'd have to work something out with the NEWTs though...

How does homeschooling work in America, anyway? I know some people homeschool their pre-Highschool kids and then let them go to Highschool, or even teach their highschoolers and then let them go to college. Are there any standarised tests or a standarised curriculum they have to keep to? Because that could also work for British magical kids. The only problem would be, of course, having a kid who's interested in or talented at a subject the parent doesn't know, but that also goes for a Muggle kid who's mightily interested in, say, Chemistry, but is homeschooled by a Chemistry-impaired parent.

Yep, homeschooling is definitely possible. I just think most parents send their kids to Hogwarts because it's easier. :)

[katieay.livejournal.com]

Do we know for sure that Harry didn't finish Hogwarts?

[dirigibleplums.livejournal.com]

This isn't terribly on topic, I'm afraid, but this reminded me of how bothered I was by the GoF movie depicting Durmstrang as all-boys and Beauxbatons as all-girls. I guess Eastern Europe is exclusively male and France is made up entirely of women, veela, and Mr. Delacour! Learn something new every day.

More on-topic: perhaps I was reading in, but I got the idea that there was special training for certain careers, particularly in established institutions like the Ministry or in Healing. So, the Auror Training Camp in fanon is pulled from comments that several people have made, particularly Tonks about nearly failing "stealth and tracking" and how well she did in disguises. I'd imagine that Healing draws on information learned in Potions, Herbology, and maybe Charms, Defense, and Arithmancy for something like an internship, or whatever. It'd be fun to see an internship-focused Healing-training fic. (Though I don't know who the characters would be).

[talimeeka.livejournal.com]

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?!

It probably could be canon...if the girl wasn't a veela/vampire that was smarter than Hermione.

[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.