![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Hello, everyone!
I would like to get your opinions on whether Severus attended a Muggle school before going to Hogwarts or was he home-schooled (by his mother)? Or perhaps he mainly taught himself?
Everyone attends Hogwarts at age 11 or 12. By this age, students know how to read and write, etc. Given that Severus is a half-blood and resided in a Muggle town, do you think he went to Muggle school? If so, he should've met Lily there and need not introduce himself in the playground (it is possible, of course, that their town has more than one school and they went to different ones). He seems to be totally into his wizarding roots that he dislikes anything Muggle. His mother could've taught him the basics (along with his quite extensive knowledge of magic, etc.). On the other hand, he seems to be very neglected so I'm not very convinced that his mother or father spent a lot of time with him (besides Tobias not liking anything much as he put it)....
I'm very interested to hear your take on this.
I would like to get your opinions on whether Severus attended a Muggle school before going to Hogwarts or was he home-schooled (by his mother)? Or perhaps he mainly taught himself?
Everyone attends Hogwarts at age 11 or 12. By this age, students know how to read and write, etc. Given that Severus is a half-blood and resided in a Muggle town, do you think he went to Muggle school? If so, he should've met Lily there and need not introduce himself in the playground (it is possible, of course, that their town has more than one school and they went to different ones). He seems to be totally into his wizarding roots that he dislikes anything Muggle. His mother could've taught him the basics (along with his quite extensive knowledge of magic, etc.). On the other hand, he seems to be very neglected so I'm not very convinced that his mother or father spent a lot of time with him (besides Tobias not liking anything much as he put it)....
I'm very interested to hear your take on this.
content
Was your town well-populated to have 4 primary schools? Lily and Severus' town does not seem very prosperous to me. Were mill towns there still prosperous in the 70s in Northern England?
Oh, I am familiar with prep schools, we have those where I am from. Also, would one's locality affect one's earning capacity in the UK? For example, how likely it is that Lily's family lived in one town while her parents worked in another so that they can afford to send their daughters to a private junior school...I may be wrong, but my impression is that a mill town does not present lots of well-paying jobs...
Yes, I would say that people in the major cities earn more than the provincial towns - I don't think that's changed. But I don't think people were as mobile in the 70's - they tended to live and work in the same place.
Again, private junior schools are a bit thin on the ground - and, anyway, what would be the point? Ordinary primary education would have been just as good.
Lily and Petunia (the names alone) strike me as being middle class (perhaps their parents were teachers, or doctors - again it's just speculation), but that doesn't mean they wouldn't have gone to the local school. No, the more I think about it, the more unlikely it seems.
It's always good to get a 'local' perspective such as yours, that way non-British people can have a better understanding of the way things are there. And it's perfect that you came from an industrial town. I also thought being mobile was not yet very common the 70s. It's interesting to know it strikes you that Lily and Petunia are middle class names. I read that Evans is a very common surname in the UK, with Welsh roots. And it isn't an aristocratic surname, right?
Of course, where I live, it's really better to go to a private school if your parents can afford it. But I've always thought that (ordinary) British education is, yes, good enough. Then parents can save for 'public schools' later on.
My neighbours, both doctors, had three sons. The first they sent to prep and later public school, because he wasn't terribly bright and a bit shy - they thought he'd benefit from smaller classes and more individual attention. The other two didn't need that, so they went to the local schools.
I've never thought the Evans were an aristocratic family, thanks for confirming! That's why I never thought much of fanfic stories depicting Lily as a 'princess' or similar......