Little Questions Answered v.18

[SadiraSnape]

Originally Posted by GingerCat1

Harry got informed that he was a wizard and that he was going to Hogwarts by his 11th birthday as this seems to be the general policy. With this in mind does anyone else think that Hermione was informed on her 11th birthday (19th of September) that she was a witch and going to Hogwarts because that would have given her 11 months of warning?

Hogwarts probably operates on the principle of enrolling students that will turn 11 during the calendar year they start first year. So she was 10 when she got her visit and started at Hogwarts.

No doubt, given her excitement and intelligence, she pestered her parents to take her to Diagon Alley and get her books as soon as she got the book list, and read them all before September 1. I was that kind of kid.

[cardinalguy]

Originally Posted by SadiraSnape

Hogwarts probably operates on the principle of enrolling students that will turn 11 during the calendar year they start first year. So she was 10 when she got her visit and started at Hogwarts.

No doubt, given her excitement and intelligence, she pestered her parents to take her to Diagon Alley and get her books as soon as she got the book list, and read them all before September 1. I was that kind of kid.

Hogwarts actually operates with a cutoff date of September 1. If you are 11 years old on that date, you start Hogwarts. As a result, Hermione (whose birthday is Sept 19, IIRC) was just a couple of weeks shy of turning 12 when she first boarded the Hogwarts Express.

[BurrowGhoul]

Originally Posted by cardinalguy

Hogwarts actually operates with a cutoff date of September 1. If you are 11 years old on that date, you start Hogwarts. As a result, Hermione (whose birthday is Sept 19, IIRC) was just a couple of weeks shy of turning 12 when she first boarded the Hogwarts Express.

Yes, I believe this was confirmed by JKR somewhere.

[willfitz]

Originally Posted by BurrowGhoul

Yes, I believe this was confirmed by JKR somewhere.

It was confirmed in canon both by the fact that she and Ron are both eligible to take apparition tests earlier than Harry, and that fact that they are of age earlier than Harry.

[BurrowGhoul]

Originally Posted by willfitz

It was confirmed in canon both by the fact that she and Ron are both eligible to take apparition tests earlier than Harry, and that fact that they are of age earlier than Harry.

See, told ya!

[gelowo93]

Originally Posted by willfitz

Letters do not get sent on a student's birthday. Harry's first letters were sent at least a week before his 11th birthday.

That was why I said he started receiving the letters just before his birthday

[willfitz]

Originally Posted by gelowo93

That was why I said he started receiving the letters just before his birthday

Ah, I see. Well, I don't know if base on that, we can call it standard practice. We saw in the Prince's Tale that Sev told Lily that their letters would be coming soon, even though I don't think there was any way for him to know her birthday. I would find it quite unlikely that all three of Sev, Lily and Harry would have birthdays in mid- to late summer.

[BurrowGhoul]

According to the Lexicon, both Snape and Lily were born in January.

[merrymarge]

I don't think Hermione had nearly a year to practice magic. Her birthday is Sept. 19, so to me, she didn't get notified right away. Or it is possible, if she was notified when she turned 11, someone came out to the Grangers and they took their time explaining about the magical world. then it wouldn't be covered in just one visit but several, spread out through the year.
As for Snape and Lily, they were close to 11 when they met. If their birthdays are in Jan., then they probably met in the fall, just prior to their 11th birthdays.

[GingerCat1]

Originally Posted by merrymarge

I don't think Hermione had nearly a year to practice magic. Her birthday is Sept. 19, so to me, she didn't get notified right away. Or it is possible, if she was notified when she turned 11, someone came out to the Grangers and they took their time explaining about the magical world. then it wouldn't be covered in just one visit but several, spread out through the year.
As for Snape and Lily, they were close to 11 when they met. If their birthdays are in Jan., then they probably met in the fall, just prior to their 11th birthdays.

Well i don't think Hermione had nearly a year to actually practice magic but there is a definite possibility that she was aware of the magical world and the fact that she was a witch for nearly a year as that would certainly go a way to explaining why Hermione knew so much about the magical world right from the start as it would mean she would have 11 months to read as many books as she can on the subject.

[willfitz]

Originally Posted by BurrowGhoul

According to the Lexicon, both Snape and Lily were born in January.

Right, and the scene in the pensieve during the Prince's Tale is, I believe, set in summer, right?

[gabriele87]

Originally Posted by Baddee

I was reading another thread and it got me thinking. How did Lily's letter to Sirius get Grimmauld Place? Sirius left when he was 16. Do you think he could have kept that letter with him all these years?

Could we not assume that Sirius' parents were dead by the time he graduated from Hogwarts and that he took up residence/hiding in Grimmauld Place? If he had been living there, Lily would have sent that letter to him there and that's why it was in the house.

[SadiraSnape]

Originally Posted by merrymarge

I don't think Hermione had nearly a year to practice magic.

Not to mention she wouldn't have been "practicing" magic, due to the underage restriction...

But reading about it? And naturally going to Diagon Alley and getting what books she could? Obviously, since she could spout chapter and verse on day 1...

As for Hermione being almost 12 when she started Hogwarts, I had never really considered that. Thanks for clearing it up, cardinalguy...

[twinsrule26]

I was thinking the date of when the letters are sent out could be a fixed date for all the students that are going to start that year. Say maybe on the 15Th. of July, or some other date in July ,that gives all the new students the time to go to Diagon Alley ,to buy their supplies . Harry getting his in mid July could just be when all the kids got them.

[GingerCat1]

Originally Posted by twinsrule26

I was thinking the date of when the letters are sent out could be a fixed date for all the students that are going to start that year. Say maybe on the 15Th. of July, or some other date in July ,that gives all the new students the time to go to Diagon Alley ,to buy their supplies . Harry getting his in mid July could just be when all the kids got them.

To me it just seems like to much of a coincidence that Harry began getting his Hogwarts letters a few days (possibly a week) before his 11th birthday and that Hagrid was actually sent to give Harry the letter on his 11th birthday (to make sure he got it).

I can't prove this but to me it seems like Hogwarts start sending letters a week or so before a muggleborn child's birthday and at the latest that child should have received their letter on their 11th birthday (hence why Hagrid was sent on Harry's birthday to give Harry the letter).

[willfitz]

Originally Posted by GingerCat1

To me it just seems like to much of a coincidence that Harry began getting his Hogwarts letters a few days (possibly a week) before his 11th birthday and that Hagrid was actually sent to give Harry the letter on his 11th birthday (to make sure he got it).

To me, it is too much of a coincidence that all of the letters we see come in the summer. I would agree with you if Harry had gotten his first letter on his birthday, or if his birthday was at some other point during the year, but the fact is, Harry's reception of the letter was not supposed to coincide with his birthday at all. In fact, no one was supposed to come to visit him in person, either, as Hogwarts had assumed that Harry knew about magic and Hogwarts.

[SadiraSnape]

If this is the wrong place for this, I sincerely apologize.

Okay, we know that in JKR's WW that bones can be regrown, teeth can be fixed, minor and major injuries can be fixed with potions and charms.

So can someone please explain why Harry still wears glasses and has bad vision? If it were me, I'd "reparo" my eyes in a heartbeat. And laser surgery has been around since before James Potter was in Hogwarts, so it's not like there wasn't a Muggle option to explain why Harry suddenly isn't wearing his glasses anymore...

Ideas?

[Googlie]

Originally Posted by gabriele87

Could we not assume that Sirius' parents were dead by the time he graduated from Hogwarts and that he took up residence/hiding in Grimmauld Place? If he had been living there, Lily would have sent that letter to him there and that's why it was in the house.

I've thought about this and I do agree with you. Also, given the fact that it is so well protected being the ancestral house of the Blacks it would have been the safest option for him, how much ever he might have loathed it.

Given that he was a free man then, he would have spent most of his time over at the Potter's and so it wouldn't too bad.

[captive_lolita]

Reading the above comment about broken bones and Harry wearing glasses, I think the only answer I can come up with is that Harry never ever ever even thought about it. There are a lot of questions anyone would ask but Harry for some reason doesn't.

On the other hand, I always think "Just because it hasn't been menioned doesn't mean it didn't happen", and perhaps Harry DID have his eyes done sometime later in life, but thought the glasses made him look "Indie".


It's brought up another question, though. In "The Chamber of Secrets", Harry breaks his arm, Lockhart attempts to mend it and fails, vanishing the bones completely instead and turning Harry's arm into a flexible mass of skin and tissue without bones.

To this, Madam Pomfrey says she can MEND bones very easily, but regrowing them is a whole different matter, and subsequently Harry takes Skele-gro to solve the problem.

Why does Griphook, who only had BROKEN bones, need to take Skele-gro? After all, as long as all the pieces of the bone are present, however tiny and shattered they may be, it should be fixed by a skilled witch or wizard with an easy "Episkey". Skele-gro is only necessary if the bones is completely GONE.

Did JKR make a mistake here?

[Harry23]

Reading the above comment about broken bones and Harry wearing glasses, I think the only answer I can come up with is that Harry never ever ever even thought about it. There are a lot of questions anyone would ask but Harry for some reason doesn't.

On the other hand, I always think "Just because it hasn't been menioned doesn't mean it didn't happen", and perhaps Harry DID have his eyes done sometime later in life, but thought the glasses made him look "Indie".

I think they just don't want to mess with their eyes. If a spell or potion went wrong it could cause permanent damage to their eyes. They'd rather just not risk it. I know I wouldn't, unless it was as easy and risk free as mending bones.