I'm assuming OWLs won't be an issue. It seems to me that Durmstrang doesn't need to use them to determine what students will be allowed into NEWT level classes so there's no reason for Harry to take OWLs before he's suppose to in his 5th year.

I do think Voldemort will be revived on schedule. It just seems like something that needs doing to me. It doesn't really matter how it's done. As long as it's done the stage is set for the DoM.

I also wonder how the students are going to keep up with their studies while away.

 

Possibly attend Hogwarts classes? Harry completely blowing away the Hogwarts teachers and students sounds fun to me! :awesome

 

OWLs could be an internation standard... and even if he doesn't need them to get into NEWT classes at Durmstrang, I imagine he would want them (or perhaps just the NEWT themselves) for credential purposes - if it's something that future employers might look for in the British Wizarding community.

There hasn't yet been mention of a Durmstrang-specific accreditation and if you think about the variety of nationalities that attend it, there would have to be some sort of international standard. Plus you have people at smaller schools & who are home schooled, they'd need the standard too.

It would be silly for him to wait until he is the same age as his peers normally would be to write the OWL, if he himself has an education able to write the NEWT in the subject. Sure he'd get a really high mark, but it would be a joke. Plus by staggering them, he doesn't have to worry about all of them in the same year - he can review the material (first to fifth year) and then concentrate on the more complex magics needed in the NEWTs. Also, he isn't the first to be in an advanced grade - Durmstrang probably has some kind of precedent.

 

He'd have to be in advanced classes for there to be any point to it. Their refusal to do so is why he left. Even then Hogwarts' classes move slower than Durmstrang ones.

....I don't see how getting a really high mark is silly. So what if they're pathetically easy? All the better if you ask me. I'd also like to point out that Hogwarts' students sit all their exams at once as well. If they can do it I don't see why Harry would have problems. Especially since it's all old material to him.

 

I'm not saying that he'd have problems, but there is more advantage in taking them as he passes that 5th year point. The OWLs concentrate on early material (first to fifth) and the NEWTs are concerned with the material that comes after that. If he takes it when his classes have just covered the material it will be fresher in his mind. Otherwise he has to review & study old material for the OWL at the same time as taking 7th year Charms & Transfiguration (and a bunch of 6th year courses) and worrying about those upper year projects. This is especially true with something like History, which he might not want to take past the OWL point, he's not going to take the test a year after his last class.

If he takes them with his peers at Durmstrang, then he only has to worry about two this year; Dark Arts, Herbology, History & Potions next year; Charms & Trans NEWTs & Spell Creating, Astronomy, COMC OWLs the next, ect.

 

Or the material will be second nature to him by then and he owns the exams with lots of extra credit for his advanced knowledge and skill.

 

No doubt his practical work would be second nature at that point, but what about the theory? Needing to remember 'The fifteen characteristics of...' type of information and other minor tidbits of the theory that might show up on the OWL isn't easy. He doesn't have a eidetic memory & Santi's occlumency doesn't give perfect recall, so he'd be better off taking the tests when that kind of material is fresh.

His studies would have progressed into more complex & specific magics in the later years and I doubt his professors would be re-hashing old material. I think that it would take more overall effort to have to review that old material at that point.

For example, I know I'd have a hell of a time studying to take a 2nd year economics test, even as I'm taking 4th year. I'd be able to do it, but not without more effort (studying) than it would have taken two years ago.

 

This topic has already been discussed, including whether OWLs and NEWTs are tested at Durmstrang, are in any way relevant beyond the British isles, etc. It's a long thread, but try to skim through it.

Outside of the ridiculous strings of posts on animagi and Jigokuno, there's actually been some insightful conversation regarding canon and how it might apply to The Santi's fic.

edit: the tl;dr version is that it's very unlikely that OWL and NEWT testing is part of the Durmstrang education process.

A summation of the case is this: Beauxbatons doesn't follow OWLs in canon [we know that they have standardised exams in their 6th year], so Durmstrang probably doesn't either. And in all of the explanations of Durmstrang's curriculum and post-7th year education in the fic, the OWLs and NEWTs have never been mentioned.

 

I wouldn't be upset if Voldemort's resurrection happened a bit later. I've always thought that this universe would lend itself to more than a simple seven year fic, especially since no matter how prodigious Harry is he's still only going to be a 17 year old student at the end of the story if The Santi sticks to the canon time frame. That's far too rushed for a Dumbledore/Grindelwald/Voldemort-esque Harry to emerge onto the scene in any meaningful way.

 

I always pictured Harry as a wetworks guys. The guy that gets his hands dirty taking the extra step most people in Britain wouldn't. At least that's how I pictured he'd end up. Not a genocidal twisted disfigured human being. Grindelwald-esque would be more along the lines than a Voldemort imho.

 

Why would he? All he has to do is slap down the article saying how he broke Grindelwald records and he's set.

 

Which could possibly backfire on him, with the way the British magical press if he went around bragging about how he broke Grindelwald's records he'd more than likely be labeled as an up and coming dark lord or something equally stupid.

 

And why would he put up with their shit? Dude packed and left because Hogwarts was getting in his way, Harry can just as easily get a job in other country.

That's beyond the point though. I meant to say that he does not need a test to prove he's awfully good with magic, by beating Grindelwald's records he pretty much showed that already. While on the subject, he is performing magic way beyond what is needed to get his OWLs what with animagi and occlumency. The NEWTs could be required, yea, but only if they are show to be extremely difficult, like one person every couple years is lucky to score an O in the subject.

 

Why does he need to take the NEWTs or the OWLs, can't he just take the diploma he earned from Durmstrang, show his report card, and get a job? He can also just apply for a practical examination to get into whatever job he wants i.e. show fancy wand trick and get hired. There are countless ways for people to get hired for whatever job they want, even in magical England.

 

I think Santi has some foreshadowing on Harry traveling after school and getting an apprenticeship to "feel" magic or something.

 

Not quite true. Durmstrang's classes start easier but get exponentially harder and in the end they even exceed Hogwarts' level.

With a system like this, the average Durmstrang student is almost bound to drop a few subjects to focus his time and resources on his remaining classes. This will lead to Durmstrang producing highly trained specialists in their chosen fields, while Hogwarts graduates are more jacks-of-all-trades.

 

That wasn't exactly my point. The classes move faster at the higher grade levels. At the point where Harry would be at Hogwarts he'd be taking 5-7 classes in all but electives. The classes at Hogwarts should then be at a slower pace that wouldn't cover all of what he'd need to pass at Durmstrang. Now that I think about it though, Hogwarts' classes may speed up themselves after eliminating people with OWLs.

 

I've got a small suggestion regarding the living/non-living switching experiment in Chapter 7, Pushing Boundaries.

By this point I'd forgotten that the pillow was an animated, carnivorous pillow. There are a lot of necessary paragraphs prior to this explaining the hypothesis of Harry's experiment, and buried in there only once is a line mentioning that the pillow would "try and eat anyone who laid their head on it."

I'm not suggesting that you add in a line about wrangling the ferocious pillow, but perhaps just add a suitable adjective to remind us less attentive readers of the animated effects of the botched enchantment. Despite reading this series several times, I've never once visualised the pillow at the beginning of this experiment as anything other than a boring, lifeless pillow with an ineffective half-enchantment applied to it.

Suggestions:
"the carnivorous pillow had become a small fluffy white rabbit." [there's a small Monty Python reference]
"the ferocious pillow had become a small fluffy white rabbit." [less Monty Python]

edit: Another minor quibble which really doesn't need fixing at all: Shouldn't a Semi-permanent Enchantment Receptacle be more properly called a Semi-permanent Charm Receptacle? The receptacle holds a charm and makes it semi-permanent. This feels like a little like arguing against "ATM machine" or "near miss," and can be easily ignored as a Wizarding World naming quirk. I didn't even notice it until this read through. It doesn't bug me, but I thought I'd bring it to light in case you hadn't noticed.

 

Could Harry's animagus form be a primate? Chimpanzee maybe. They are supposed to be intelligent for animals.

In the fic so far Harry comes across more a follower than a leader. He has had to depend on Rosier and Krum in the beginning but he is still reliant ONLY on them and has no other friends/acquaintances. His character seems more like canon Hermione.

James Potter is father of BWL and a pureblood (Not sure how prominent House of Potter is in Canon). Sirius Black is the heir/lord of an Ancient, Noble and more importantly filthy rich house of Black. Together they would wield a considerable political clout. So how come Malfoy puppet Fudge is the Minister of Magic?

As for speculation on triwizard... Karkaroff will never agree to age limit which will disallow his best magical prodigy (Harry). Harry will definitely enter and be selected. Nathan will be entered as in Canon. Harry will be on the odds with his parents all year due to his friendship with Rosier coming out. Relations getting worse as Harry uses questionable (by hogwarts/british standards) magic to overcome Triwizard tasks.

If the graveyard scene happens as in canon, it will likely be Nathan and Harry both transported there, however I cannot imagine the pitiful wretch Pettigrew besting a well trained Harry. Maybe both will be knocked out by the portkey. Voldemort will reveal to Harry that he was Quirrel. The revelation will cause Harry more grief since his family chose not to trust him all the way back in first year. At least thats how Harry would see it. What will Harry choose at that point????

That said, Santi is much more creative than anything I could come up with. So will patiently await further updates (hint hint)

 

...:facepalm