Assumptions, Etiquette, and Rules

Assumptions

1. There is more about Hogwarts and the wizarding world than JK could ever reveal to us even if she wrote and published a new book every year for the rest of her life.
2. Wizards most often marry and have children young and families, for the most part, are kept small.
3. Wizards are long lived (ex: Albus Dumbledore), sometimes living upwards to 200. Meaning:

• Women have extended fertility, so they can have children longer.
• Wizards are less susceptible to the ravages of age.
• The oldest generation stays in power much longer so it is harder to affect change.

4. That the British Ministry is governed by a body much like parliament-House of Lords (hereditary) and House of Commons (elected/appointed officials).
5. The seats of government are passed down along pureblood lines of the sacred 28 and other minor families.
6. Families and individuals can be banned from taking their seats for a number of years (see centuries), but their seats cannot be taken away outright. Hence the Weasleys being sacred 28 but not sitting on the Wizengamot.
7. Hogwarts is the only magical school in Britain. It straddles the line between private and public but is a private school. Scholarships are made available for muggleborns and other students in need.
8. Children are not required to go to Hogwarts; they may be home schooled by either parents or private tutors. Private tutoring would be the most expensive of the three options.
9. The Hogwarts Board of Governors oversees school policy and the appointment of the headmaster. Much like the governing body, it is made up of half hereditary seats and half not. The other half is hand picked by existing members and the Hogwarts staff. It is a lifetime position. Once you’re in, you’re in until death or willing retirement. The Board has only twelve seats.
10. The headmaster position is a lifetime. Retirement is not an option. The board can vote the headmaster out, but while that headmaster still lives, the castle will not bond or listen to their replacement.
11. OWLs and NEWTs are standardized tests. You must take the OWLs, but NEWTs are not. You are only legally required to finish your education to year 5. NEWTs are required to go into specialized fields (curse breaking, healing, education, etc.), to gain an apprenticeship, or go into higher levels of government. Every job has on the job training and education to a certain extent. There are no wizarding universities.
12. Until recently (say the last 75 years or so), women who went completely through school and completed their NEWTs were considered career women (teachers, governesses, Masters, etc.) and therefore rarely married or had children. Even at present, women will rarely work after they are married or have children.
13. Pureblood culture has its own special rules and regulations. It looks a bit like the haute ton of the 19^th to early 20^th centuries with more rights for women,
14. Children are educated in not only magic but also etiquette, dance, music, language, the arts, literature, etc. These courses are offered at Hogwarts as extras or clubs. Parents typically make the arrangements for these classes based on what they learn at home.
15. Muggleborns find doors closed to them in pureblood circles partly because they are do not know the etiquette and do not have the accomplishments common of someone raised in wizarding society. Acceptance can be found by demonstrating a willingness to learn and adapt, are magically talented and powerful, or they have an abundance of money. Money opens doors in any society.
16. Hogwarts makes the greatest effort to equalize its students with uniforms and form of address. EX: Lady Amelia Hawthorne would be Ms. Hawthorne. As uniforms are not always worn and everyone’s education differs with electives, they cannot always be successful.
17. Curfews and patrols are in place not only for the safety of the students (and the sanity of the professors) but always to live up to societal expectations.
18. The girls’ dormitories are warded against boys entering them, but not vice versa. It is assumed that girls have more sense. It is up to each individual young lady to keep their virtue intact.
19. Albus Dumbledore is trying to bring Hogwarts and, by extension, wizarding society into the 20^th Things are laxer in school than they are out in the real world.
20. Most of the sacred 28 do have actual muggle-based titles but choose not to mix with muggle society. Doesn’t stop them from using the titles though.
21. All children born in Britain are invited to attend Hogwarts upon turning eleven. A July 31^st birthday is the youngest in the class, while August 1^st is the oldest in the class.
22. There is a season of parties, theatre, and the like for high society in the wizarding world. It goes from the Ostara (Easter) to Samhain (Halloween). The expectation is you would participate after the completion of your OWLs. Custom dictates that girls are eligible for courtship and betrothal agreements at this point; though cradle engagements still happen, they are frowned upon. Living (or having parties) in town is not required with use of floo and apparition.
23. When out and about, proper dress includes an outer layer of robes which can (and most often does) look like a modified jacket or sweater. This layer should be worn always, excepting when the family is by themselves in their own home. Robes would be required wear during classes, but not during extracurricular activities or in dorms.
24. Bastards are only tolerated when acknowledged and supported by their fathers or their mothers are properly wed. A child that is unacknowledged is shunned. An unwed mother is shunned whether their child is acknowledged or not.