An OotP Question (sorry non-Hp reading friends)

[vivien]

So I am puzzling out something. We find out in Phoenix that George and Fred are qualified wizards in the summer before their 7th year. They've passed their Apparation exam, they technically don't need to go back to school. How old are they? In GoF, they are a few months away from 17 when the goblet is first set out - around Oct, right? So is 17 the age of "adulthood"? Or the summer after there 17th birthday? This is vital news for many of us with 7th year stories, I'm thinking. Any comments or insights?

At least we find out about career choosing processes, higher level classes, and training for some careers that occurs after Hogwarts, even though it miserably josses a lot of Regaining and all of Endings and Beginnings. Woo hoo! The revision begins!


Another unrelated thought: this is a sad, weighty, and dread-inducing book, isn't it? Not just for Sirius's death, but jeez, did anyone else get shivers when you read the last chapter title. The Second War begins, indeed.

Comments

[adjudicated.livejournal.com]

In Britain, teens learn to drive at age 17, so the Apparation license is the wizarding equivalent of a driver's license. As far as whether being a "fully qualified wizard" means one just reaches the age of 17, or actually has to graduate from Hogwarts, I am not clear on.

[alchemine.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, in Britain you can choose to stop going to school after the fifth year, once you've taken your first set of exams, and still be regarded as having finished your education. My guess is that it's similar in wizard society - taking the O.W.L.s is the minimum required to be qualified to perform magic once you reach legal age. Doing another two years would be highly desirable, but not mandatory. [/semi-informed speculation]

[luthien.livejournal.com]

I believe it's been made clear before (I think in interviews done by JKR in the past)that wizards come of age on their seventeenth birthdays, so this wasn't a completely new revelation. God, this is SO not a kid's book. Really, really not. I wonder how all those excited little kids waiting in the queue outside the bookshop with me yesterday are reacting to the content of the book they've been waiting for so eagerly.