Hey everyone
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. Today we’re going to be
discussing Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it’s student population,
how students are selected for the school, and how muggleborns are told that they’re magical!
Since the tenth century, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
(located in the Scottish Highlands) has been the PREMIER destination for you*ng
witches and wizards to learn magic. At least, in THAT part of the world.
And since the school was founded, it’s been filled year after year with new
batches of promising youn*g witches and wizards. Over the centuries the
school has produced copious amounts of talented witch and wizard alumni.
“The finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world”
But my question is- how are these students chosen to attend this famous wizarding institution? How
do they find out that they’ve been chosen? We know they get an acceptance letter- but
who decides that THEIR NAME gets put on that letter? And how does this process differ for
muggle-borns- youn*g witches and wizards with no prior knowledge of the vast wizarding world?
Students who come from a magical background are most likely already somewhat privy to
Hogwarts- as it’s likely that someone in their family attended Hogwarts
before them. This makes the delivery of their acceptance letter less surprising.
However, the families of muggle-borns would have no concept of magic at all, i.e,
Hermione, and that is why there are different procedures for different types of students.
But one thing that’s universal for ALL students is HOW they are chosen for the school.
Enter- the Quill of Acceptance:
“In a small locked tower, never visited by any student at Hogwarts,
sits an ancient book that has not been touched by human hands since the four
founders placed it there on completion of the castle. Beside the book, which is bound
in peeling black dragon-hide, stands a small silver inkpot and from this protrudes a long,
faded quill. These are the Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance and they constitute
the only process by which students are selected for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”
The book and quill were put in place by the founders of Hogwarts to aid with and automate
the Hogwarts selection process. They knew that for centuries they would need students
to be selected for the school, and there’s no way that they would be able to manage it
manually. One of the main parameters put in place for detecting students is as follows:
“At the precise moment that a chi*ld first exhibits signs of magic, the Quill,
which is believed to have been taken from an Augurey, floats up out of its
inkpot and attempts to inscribe the name of that chi*ld upon the pages of the book.”
This means that as soon as a chi*ld shows any form of magic, it is immediately set
in writing that they are a magical being. No chi*ld would be able to perform magic,
undetected, without this magical book and quill taking note of it.
And how exactly this quill operates is anyone’s guess.
“If anybody understands what powerful and long-lasting magic causes this book and quill
to behave as they do, nobody has ever confessed to it, doubtless because (as Albus Dumbledore once
sighed) it saves the staff tedious explanations to parents who are furious that their chi*ldren
have not been selected for Hogwarts. The Book and Quill’s decision is final and no chi*ld
has ever been admitted whose name has not first been inscribed on the book’s yellowing pages.”
One thing that is worth mentioning, however, is that sometimes the book
and the quill don’t quite agree on what constitutes ‘magical’ activity.
“A mere whiff of magic suffices for the Quill. The Book, however, will often snap shut, refusing to
be written upon until it receives sufficiently dramatic evidence of magical ability.”
In the case of Neville Longbottom, for instance, the quill was eager to
write his name in the book right at his birth. He came from a magical family,
and exhibited faint signs of magic right away, BUT at the same time no one really
seemed to notice- the book included. It wasn’t until he was eight years old and was able to
survive a fall that should have killed him that the book finally accepted him.
The main reason for the book’s sternness is to keep out Squibs:
“Non-magic chi*ldren born to witches and wizards occasionally have some small,
residual aura of magic about them due to their parents, but once their parents’ magic has
worn off them it becomes clear that they will never have the ability to perform spells. The
Quill’s sensitivity, coupled with the Book’s implacability, have never yet made a mistake”
With HOW these students are chosen out of the way,
let’s next look at how the students themselves are notified.
For students coming from a magical family- the first step is the Hogwarts acceptance
letter. The Hogwarts acceptance letter informs new students of their acceptance
to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and provided along with the letter is a list
of required textbooks and materials required for the upcoming school year. When a witch or wizard
from a magical family receives this letter, things are fairly straightforward. When the
time comes for them to go to school, they’re simply brought to platform 9 ¾ and sent off.
The procedure for Muggle-borns, however, is a little bit different. As I’m sure you can
imagine, mailing a letter like that to a MUGGLE family without any context would
be undoubtedly viewed as some sort of hoax or trick. To remedy this,
Hogwarts letters sent to Muggle-born students are hand-delivered by a member of staff.
The books don’t actually acknowledge which staff member is directly responsible for this,
however, as Mcgonagall is in charge of the registrar-
it makes most sense that it would be her responsibility.
Prospective muggle-born students end up with the same letter as everyone else,
it’s just HOW it’s delivered that differs. By visiting, it allows the staff member to
explain the unique nature of their chi*ld’s magical abilities, as well
as provide the family with an opportunity to ask questions. I know I’d have a few.
I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it would be to explain ‘magic’ to a muggle,
a real monster of a task, however, if it’s going to be anyone - I think that either
Dumbledore or McGonagall would be most convincing.
Hermione Granger discusses her reaction to the news in the books:
"Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter,
but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of
witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart,
of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"
And so does Muggleborn Colin Creevey:
“It’s amazing here, isn’t it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was
magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad’s a milkman,
he couldn’t believe it either. So I’m taking loads of pictures to send home to him.”
Whether or not Hermione was already cognizant of her magical abilities BEFORE the Hogwarts
staff member visited is anyone’s guess, as this greatly varies from student to student.
Even though Harry Potter hailed from a wizarding family, he was raised by muggles,
which meant that the news was just as shocking to him as it was to Hermione.
We also know that Harry had his fair share of unusual accidents before ever finding
out that he was a wizard- things like growing his hair back quickly after unwanted haircuts,
and talking to snakes. Things that were simply NOT NORMAL occurrences for a muggle boy.
So, did Hermione have similar things happen to her?
Based on how the Quill of Acceptance works- detecting magic- we can derive that she
must have performed SOME involuntary magic at one point or another. However,
whether she was aware of it or not is a completely different story.
And that’s it for this video! If you enjoy the content,
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Until next time,
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live