Join hosts Ev, Irvin, and Sierra, for our annual Valentine’s tradition of discussing fandom’s favorite ships: we dish on Draco Malfoy’s love life and potential pairings from the Harry Potter fandom.
In this episode:
- Draco would look great in a periwinkle blue dress!
- Ev gets a Fanfiction Theory Godmother
- In Draco’s love life, the Grass is always Greener
- We get Ginny’s Valentine for Draco
- Draco is a secret fan of Madam Puddifoot’s
- Who’s going to tickle this sleeping dragon?
- Any other Weasley!
- Canon but Nott
- The only rock bottom we want to hit
- Drapple, IYKYK
Resources/Fanfiction: Draco Malfoy and the Goblet of Fire by AllWordsAreMagic
Pub’s Jukebox: Draco Malfoy by Swish & Flick
Fair warning, not a “ship” comment. While the hosts discussed the relative intelligence of Draco compared to Harry and Hermione, it reminded me of the OWLs conundrum of how Hermione needed time turner to get her 10 OWLs, but other students (Barty Crouch Jr., Bill, and Percy) got 12. Did they have time turners? I don’t know if this theory has ever been proposed, but I thought of an alternative.
It is assumed that you must take the class at Hogwarts to be able to take the OWL exam, but if that isn’t true, then it makes it a lot more plausible for 12 OWLs with no time turner. There is not any textual evidence that contradicts that a student can take an OWL exam if they didn’t take the class. Granted, passing said exam would be difficult, and likely a waste of time if one didn’t take the class. But it’s possible if the student is truly gifted or studied the subject on their own. For instance, i can’t see anyone telling a 15-year-old Dumbledore that he couldn’t get an OWL in a subject just because he didn’t take the class. I think its reasonable to conclude that the students listed previously likely took this route as well.
Finally, the question that must be answered is why Hermione didn’t take this option. Well, to me, that is clear. Hermione wouldn’t even consider going into the first day of class without being fully prepared, so sitting for an exam on a subject she didn’t take would be out of the question. Textual support for this comes in the form of Hermione reading all her textbooks before the year even starts (think Lockhart’s quiz and her repeating verbatim text in Umbridge’s first class) and how appalled she is when Harry uses the HBP’s potions book instead of the “official” instructions. I can see the conversation with McGonagall in my head now. Her telling Hermione that she can study on her own and take all the OWLs her little heart desires, but Hermione almost having a nervous breakdown at the very thought of such an atrocity. This would then justify the “extreme circumstances” that lead to a time turner being issued.
Again, sorry for the tangent, great episode 🙂
I’ve heard this proposed quite often, but I don’t think it eliminates the need for a time turner to make it work. Because when is someone supposed to study for those exams in addition to a full class load? It’s not like this is a language exam, where you can take it from having a native proficiency. Arithmancy and Ancient Runes are meant to be very difficult and complicated, Bill and Percy certainly wouldn’t learn adequate Muggle Studies at home. Even if one read Fantastic Beasts religiously, it seems like a subject where you’d want some hands on experience instead of seeing the creatures for the first time at the exam, though I’ll concede CoMC and Divination are the ones it might be possible to learn out of a book.
And there’s also the question of “why” beyond bragging rights. You need the OWL for the NEWT class, but what’s the rationale behind taking less classes at OWL level and more at NEWT? And they can’t all be required for careers – Bill doesn’t need any of the electives except Ancient Runes and CoMC, maybe give or take arithmancy.