lytefoot:

So this is inspired partially by this thread, but it’s enough of a digression that it warrants its own thing.

Quick background: I’m a teacher. Any teacher worth their salt will tell you that grades don’t measure intelligence. Lack of intelligence can prevent getting good grades, but it’s definitely not the only factor.

We see the members of the Golden Trio doing lots of magic. We should take what we actually see them doing to be the most accurate representation of their actual skill in magic–which means we can compare their skills to their OWL marks to see what OWL marks actually represent.

Harry has an O (Outstanding) in Defense, and E (Exceeds Expectations) in Charms and Transfiguration.

Hermione has an E in Defense, and O in Charms and Transfiguration.

We’re never told Ron’s exact marks, but we can infer that he has an E in each of Defense, Charms, and Transfiguration based on the fact that he didn’t have any Os, but he was allowed to continue at NEWT in all three of these subjects.

What do we know about the three characters’ magical abilities?

Well, first of all, they’re all pretty good at actually doing magic. When any of them struggles with a spell, it’s Big News. Hermione is talented in an academic setting but occasionally chokes under pressure. Harry is also pretty good at magic but has a low frustration threshold: when he can’t immediately grasp a spell, he tends to beat himself up in nonproductive ways. Ron seems to be the best all-around spell caster, whose main fault seems to be sometimes putting too much force behind a spell.

It seems like “good at magic” is what it takes to get an E at OWL. The question becomes, what puts Harry over the top in DADA, and Hermione in Charms and Transfiguration?

It’s pretty clear that the answer is magical theory. The OWL exams clearly weight magical theory very highly. There is, after all, a substantial written portion. Neville, who (though I love my boy) we can all admit is pretty much pants at spell casting, got an E in Charms and actually passed Transfiguration. The only excuse for this is spectacular performance on the written section. We can back this up by Umbridge’s claim that the DADA class would be able to achieve passing marks having only memorized theory.

This would explain the trio’s OWL marks very well.

Hermione is the one of the three most invested in magical theory. She loves that stuff, it fascinates her. Hermione reads magical theory in her free time. She designs magical artifacts (the DA coins, the cursed parchment). And she’s articulate in explaining it, and good at writing essays. Her low DADA mark reflects her weakness in emotional magic (the Dark Arts are clearly emotional magics) and her tendency to choke under pressure: Hermione produced a written paper that deserved an O if it hadn’t been accompanied by her performance on the practical.

Harry absorbs some theory in general, but he’s spent the year before OWLs literally teaching DADA, a subject in which he has an intense interest anyway. DADA is Harry’s subject, it interests him (even disregarding the whole “dark wizard wants to kill me” thing), and he reads about it. While Harry might be haphazard on the theory of Charms and Transfiguration, he can absolutely write an insightful essay on the theory of Defense.

As for Ron? His intuitive grasp of magic works against him here. Ron doesn’t need to read six books on the theory of summoning charms; you wave your wand, you say Accio, and you make sure it doesn’t hit you in the face if it was something heavy. OWL examiners don’t want you to write that on your exam paper, though, so no Outstanding for Ron. Again, Ron has an intuition into these principles, but he hasn’t learned to clearly articulate them for the benefit of examiners.

So let’s dispell the idea that Hermione’s nine Os at OWL mean that she’s “better at magic” than the boys. She has a more articulate grasp of the theory of magic, and that’s a big part of what OWLs measure.

I’ve always liked Ron’s down-to-earth approach to magic. Like, he’s not going to be asking whether something’s an imprint of a departed soul; he’s just gonna get on with things. And if push comes to shove, he can always throw his wand away and punch the offending person in the face. 

It’s weird like I appreciate this so much, considering how nerdy I am in real life. Not to mention the fact that I have a Masters in History, and even I think that History of Magic is boring. It’s like Harry says, the subject is actually quite interesting, but Binns isn’t the best teacher (no doubt Rowling made it that way so that she wouldn’t have to put too much thought into the actual history of Magical Britain).