sj reminds me--I meant to say much earlier that I really hope that H, R, & H do finish their education. It bothers me that the entire series was built around the seven years of Hogwarts and yet there was no closure for their time at Hogwarts at the end. At the least I would have liked to have seen them being honorary graduates with their class since the magic they were doing was so advanced. I can't see Hermoine being satisfied without her diploma, either.

My feelings here may be my own teacherly "finish school" issues, but given that millions of students read the series...well, I just would have liked some acknowledgment that finishing your education is important.

Plus, I think it would have kept a lot closer to the spirit of the series and brought us nicely back to the first book. Yes, I know that we ended with the trio's kidlets heading to Hogwarts, but...it's just been bugging me.

Since Ron and Harry go on to become Aurors (according to interviews with JKR) and Hermione moves up very high in the Ministry, I expect they had to go back to school.

I can't believe the Hermione would actually quit and I'm sure that Ron's parents wouldn't allow him to quit either.

Plus, it's more Harry's home than anywhere else.

I'm sure that Ron's parents wouldn't allow him to quit either.

The twins quit before their last year, didn't they? I think it is more likely Hermione that wouldn't let them quit. I'd like the think that they had a nice, quiet, no life in peril, 7th year at school, finishing their education.

How does the 7 year thing work in Britain? I had the impression that the last two years were sort of optional, although I, like Kristin, would like to see kids finish school just on principle.

Yeah, my impression was that the first five years are the mandatory ones, so it's not really analogous to high school students dropping out before 12th grade. From [link]

Secondary school is compulsory from 11 to 16 years old. At the end of this period, pupils take their GCSE (General Certifiate of Education) examinations, which generally take 2 years to prepare. After this, pupils can stay on for another 2 years and then sit their A Levels, which are necessary to continue to university level.

Also, I've heard that the whole graduation ceremony thing is mostly an American invention, at least for secondary school. I don't know how much of this is strictly true, but that's the impression I've gotten from... well, mostly from reading British fans making fun of American-written HP fanfiction, really.

My favorite was the story where Hermione talks about the Civil War -- you know, the one with Lincoln.

We didn't have a graduation at my high school (in England). There was a ceremony at the beginning of the next school year where certificates were given out for achievements in the past year, but that wasn't just for graduates.

Hmmph. That reminds me that I won one (a book token, IIRC) and never picked it up because by then I was at university in Canada.

You can get into US/Canadian schools on the strength of GCSEs (well, you could on the strength of O levels, which were replaced by GCSEs after I left). I got almost a year's worth of credit for my A levels taken off my degree. I had to take Bio 101 to make up my pre-reqs.

Thing is, British students specialise after GCSEs, so that one bio class was something I'd decided not to pursue two years earlier, and wanted to dive straight into my degree.

Which is really so much more than the question asked...

How does the 7 year thing work in Britain? I had the impression that the last two years were sort of optional

Yeah, but that's just in the *Muggle* world....

The last paragraph before the epilogue has Harry heading for his four-poster in Gryffindor tower. I think that implies a return to finish out the N.E.W.T.S. in his future.

The academic organisation shown at Hogwarts is very much patterned on the Muggle world.

Or perhaps it's the precursor--do Muggles do anything useful, ever?