Over on the fanfiction writers community page I've started doing some brit picking posts to explain how Hogwarts works for those overseas fans who are trying to write authentic fics and are baffled by the system as it appears in the stories. And as this is a marauders blog, I figured I might as well cross post it here. This is info specifically for people trying to write a fic set in Hogwarts so it feels authentic.
During my time on the internet I have discovered that there are vast swathes of people from around the world who are confused as to if something is "actually British" or "magical" and made up for the books.
As a British person who is old enough to have been in high school while the books were coming out, I got all the references and understood all the systems and I can't emphasise enough how like Hogwarts my school was (down to having a James Potter on our list of "fallen scholars" who died in WW1 and a previous headmaster called Tom Riddle). I sometimes see people discuss how what JKR wrote didn't make sense and trying to "improve" it and...nope, she was writing the English system as she (and I) experienced it (and it really isn't that far removed from what a lot of kids are still experiencing today).
So this is just some in advance Brit picking for any authors trying to get their heads around authentically writing Hogwarts without yanking their British readers right out of the fic.
First up, starting simple - school years and ages:
Obviously, iconically, Hogwarts students return to school to start the new year on September 1st every year.
This is true of the English school system (not necessarily the 1st, but early September) - though Scotland break up earlier in the summer and go back in August. JKR is English (though she lives in Scotland and Hogwarts is in Scotland) and she is using the English system.
School starts in September. There is a two week break around Christmas, a two week break around Easter and then school breaks up in July for the summer holidays - which are also called "the six week holidays" as that is (roughly) how long they last.
In real schools there are also "half terms" which are week long breaks from school which take place in October, February and May/June, though Hogwarts seems not to bother with these.
Students attend Hogwarts for 7 years (in real schools it is more complicated, as students have the option to leave after fifth year and take exams at "sixth form colleges" or get apprenticeships but essentially there are 7 compulsory educational years in the secondary system and many students go all the way through in one place). So starting at 11 and leaving at 18 isn't something JKR made up for Hogwarts but is the basic English High School system (some educational authorities also have a middle school system... but that is over-complicating things and not relevant here).
The correct ages for students in each year are:
First year - 11/12
Second year - 12/13
Third Year - 13/14
Fourth year - 14/15
Fifth year - 15/16
Sixth year - 16/17
Seventh year - 17/18
Students start high school the September before they turn 12. So in Harry's year the students will have been born between September 1st 1979 and August 31st 1980.
A student born a day later - on September 1st 1980 - would be in Ginny's year.
Harry is one of the babies of his year group, his birthday is after the school year ends every year. So he was never 12 when he was in first year, he spent the whole of his time in Philosopher's Stone being 11 and did not turn 12 until it was almost time to go back to second year. He is unusual in this respect. Both Ron and Hermione turn 12 during Philosopher's Stone.
Harry being so young can cause confusion for those who are not familiar with the system JKR is writing. Because Harry is (for example) consistently referred to as 13 throughout POA (and Dumbledore himself says something about "the words of three 13 year old wizards" - when Ron and Hermione are actually 14) people tend to write their own characters as being (for example) 13 throughout the whole of third year. But depending on where their birthday is, they could be 14 for most of the school year.
Students who we know have their birthday in the first term and thus are older than most of the classmates, are Hermione (September) and (for Marauders era) Sirius (November).
In the second term (after Christmas) is Lily and Snape (January) Remus and James (March) and Ron (March)
Fred and George would most likely have their birthdays in the Easter holidays most years as it falls on April 1st - however if Easter was late, they would have their birthday at the tail end of the second term - about 2/3rd through the year.
The summer borns - and the youngest students in the year - are Draco (June) Harry and Neville (July) and Ginny (August)
Most students will celebrate a birthday during the school year, and so most of your characters will change age throughout a year long fic. The important thing to remember is that Harry (whose age is mentioned most often in the books) is always at the younger possible age for his year group and so when mentioning those in the same year you can make them older, or the same age, but never younger eg if Harry is 12 they can be 13 but not 11.
I know this can all seem really self explanatory to some of you, but for others whose schools work on totally different systems and whose calendars are totally different it can be confusing and counter intuitive. So I hope this helps for those who don't have an instinctive grasp of how Hogwarts school years work.
This was fun to put together and there are loads more "how the system works" tips, so I will do some more later - but if anyone has any specific questions please put them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer.
