Do we have anyone apart from Fred and George known to have dropped out after OWLs?

NEWTS are said to be very advanced, one would imagin a large number of people would simply leave after the OWLs.

Also is there a minimum number of OWLs needed to pass. The twins got very few yet they were considered adults and kept their wands.

Could an idiot muddle through to 5th year, get a OWL in muggle studies and divination and be allowed a wand?

 

Well, I suppose Harry and Ron and the other resistance fighters who decided not to go back after Voldemort was defeated qualify.

Apart from them however I can't recall anyone specifically noted as a drop out.

However, I think what you're saying is likely and plausible. Hogwarts is supposed to ape a 1950s public school, roughly, with O levels and A levels and we know there's no formal education beyond NEWTs.

Plenty of people would have dropped out at O level, with very few O levels in fact, in that sort of muggle time period and situation. I think imagining that it's similar in the wizarding world is mildly supported by the description of people like Lockhart and Fudge. However, they rose quite high so maybe they did get NEWTs of some sort. Fred and George sell shielding hats to lots of wizards who aren't capable of them and we know that's a 4th/5th year spell.

I don't think there's a definitive answer but I think it's likely that it's as you suggested.

 

In PS Ollivander talked about James' and Lily's first wand's. I know that was never explored more in the books, but did JKR give more information about people changing their wand's either at Pottermore, an interview or similar?

 

The answer to that particular question, I'm afraid, is no. However, as the wand chooses the wizard and not the other way around, JKR expands a bit on wands choosing a different wizard.

So essentially I think we can learn from wands used against their "owners" (or rather previous owners) during battle, and wizards like Ron and Neville who bought a new wand after using a second hand wand. I hope you find this helpful.

 

Is much more known about the currency system beyond how many coins make up the others, and the rather scattered pricing of stuff.

Things like Tax rate, average yearly earnings and similar misc infomation?

 

The standard theory is that the economy in HP is totally broken. An huge number work for the ministry and Hogwarts to the point that any tax rate would have to be like 80% just to pay for it.

My theory is they are communists and no body gets paid and they simply work for the enrichment of the state.

 

Do we know the name of any female non-Potter/Weasley around James Potter Junior's age?

 

What exactly did Lucius Malfoy know about the diary that he passed onto Ginny?

Was he aware of the Horcrux sentience within it? Not that it was a Horcrux, but just that it was sentient.

 

He knew the diary was key to opening the Chamber of Secrets and could be instrumental in getting rid of muggleborns, as Draco admitted it to Harry and Ron when they were disguised as Crabbe and Goyle.

 

Maybe. That's not really evidence of what Lucius knew, merely what he told Draco.

I'd warrant that it's inconclusive and up to you.

 

Does this imply that Horcruxes are an infinite resource?

Could he theoretically keep making more and more? Either far surpassing the number 7, or just using them like weapons and waiting for one to be destroyed until he replaces it.

Horcruxes are very close to indestructible. So one could make a set of robes into a Horcrux and have nearly unbeatable battle armor.

Or Just do the diary a bunch more times and put them in Florish and Blotts and keep trying until one works.

 

I think the idea is that horcruxes are self-repairing. Wearing your horcrux-robe as armor would probably just end up with a tattered robe that kept fixing itself and bundling up your body even after the Aurors had ripped it apart, which would lead said Aurors to investigate such a uniquely-animated piece of clothing and find out (maybe) that you've made a horcrux.

 

No, the reason Horcruxes are "very close to indestructible" is that there are a lot of protective enchantments on them. And creating one also makes the soul very unbalanced, so there's probably a limit to how much you can make before your soul loses it and shit like accidental Horcruxes happen.

 

No evidence that making a Horcrux would be limited in any way, from what I recall. Don't know of any reason there couldn't be even more than seven.

 

We know that the more horcruxes Voldemort made the less human he looked. I think that the more horcuxes you made the less human you'd be until you completely lost your humanity. Coincidentally I think you'd either die, be trapped as a wraith, or get to a point where you couldn't function properly with the real world.

 

I didn't say that making Horcruxes is limited, I said that the more you create them the less stable you become, which is why Hermione said she was amazed that Voldemort created more than one let alone seven. You could create as many as you want, but it will fuck you up.

 

No hard limit, but surely you can only split your soul so many times. We know from the Dementor's Kiss that having no soul leaves you in a non-functional state. I'd imagine as you make more you'd start losing your sanity, up to a point where you can no longer function at all if you kept going.