Hogwarts Curriculum

Has Hogwarts always had the same classes we see during Harry’s time as a student? Was alchemy at one time a more regularly scheduled elective? Were there ever classes in the arts or in languages? For most of its history, literacy was not universal, did Hogwarts have classes in writing, composition, reading, or arithmetic, if so, did the need for these classes contribute to the prejudice against those from non-magical backgrounds? Or were these subjects handled by one-on-one tutoring (with the same result, since it probably had more of an impact on the student’s performance in the normal classes)? The spells we see all seem to have a Latin basis. What effect did the Norse invasions on Great Britain have on the magical populations?¹ Did it effect the spells that were taught, the classes available?

These are not idle questions. We know that Dumbledore was disinclined to “allow the subject of Divination to continue at all”² when hearing Trelawney actually give a prophecy changed his mind. We are also told that specialised subjects (plural), of which Alchemy is the only provided example, are sometimes provided for NEWT students.³ Moreover, as you answer these questions, the overall impossibility of the class schedule comes more and more into play.

As I stated in my rant, a few authors have attempted to make sense of Hogwarts’ class scheduling, class offerings, and related material. It is a difficult question. Enough by White Angel of Auralon is one of the most interesting that I have seen, but ultimately fails because it does not fully explore the changes in government that must have occurred over the six and a piece centuries (possibly seven and a piece) between the founding of the school and the Statute of Secrecy.⁴ I have trouble believing that the wizards maintained a single unified government across the islands when the non-magical world never had one before the (most optimistically) James VI of Scotland became James I of England, and even that is a debatable earliest date.⁵ The second problem with this solution is that it posits a number of different schools across Britain, when Rowling tells us that few countries maintain their own schools, and that schools have frequently been targeted during magical wars.⁶ Many authors make much of Hagrid’s statement that Hogwarts is the finest school, but he is making a global comparison, not a British comparison.⁷ We do not actually know if there are (or in the case of the above fan fiction, ever have been) any other British schools.