Ordinary Wizarding Level
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Ordinary Wizarding Level, abbreviated OWL, is a school exam in the fifth year at Hogwarts. They are the equivalent of O levels and GCSEs in the Muggle world. The test consists of both a practical and written exam, excluding a few classes such as History of Magic.
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Grading System
The grading for OWLs (and apparently NEWTs) follows a ranking of grades:
- O: Outstanding; The top grade, equivalent of an A or A*
- E: Exceeds Expectations; Equivalent of a B, a good mark.
- A: Acceptable; Equivalent to a C, self-explanatory.
- P: Poor; Same as a D in the muggle world. A bad mark.
- D: Dreadful; Equivalent to an E. A very bad mark.
- T: Troll; Probably the same as an F. A terrible mark.
Only the top three grades count as passing the exam.
Harry's O.W.L.s
Harry takes his O.W.L.s in his fifth year at Hogwarts and receives his results in Chapter 5 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. His grades are as follows:
Astronomy - A
Care of Magical Creatures - E
Charms - E
Defense Against the Dark Arts - O
Divination - P
Herbology - E
History of Magic - D
Potions - E
Transfiguration - E
Harry was relatively pleased with his results. He knew he would never have done well in Divination, and he missed half of his History of Magic exam due to his premonition. He was especially pleased with his Outstanding grade in Defense Against the Dark Arts- which he was sure he would get anyway. Despite being very surprised by the result initially, he was only slightly dissapointed with his Exceeds Expectations in Potions. Severus Snape would not admit him to his classes- had he been teaching the subject that year. He had passed very well in all other subjects apart from Astronomy, which was explainable because of a tussle below the tower where they took their practical exam.
Hermione's O.W.L.s
Hermione takes her O.W.L.s in the same year and recieves them at the same time. Her grades are as follows:
Astronomy - O
Care of Magical Creatures - O
Charms - O
Defense Against the Dark Arts - E
Herbology - O
History of Magic - O
Potions - O
Transfiguration - O
Ancient Runes - O
Arithmancy - O
Hermione got into a state when the results were about to come, and when she recieved them she fell silent. She attempted to hide the results- and it turned out the thing she was dissapointed with was the Exceeds Expectations in Defense Against the Dark Arts. She feels she has failed herself and possibly failed Harry. Ron maintains that she had got very good results with nine Outstanding grades.
Ron's O.W.L.s
Potions- E
We do not know exactly what Ron's exact grades were, but he was "looking delighted" with them. He managed to get seven O.W.L.s- more than twice his brothers' Fred and George amounts put together. He only failed Divination and History of Magic. We know he did not get any Oustandings, but that his Potions grade was Exceeds Expectations, as he was in the class come sixth year.
Neville's O.W.L.s
We do not know all of Neville's grades.
Herbology- O
Defence Against the Dark Arts- E
Transfiguration- A
Charms- E
We know these grades from Harry overhearing Professor McGonagall assess Neville's timetable. She said Professor Sprout will be delighted with his Outstanding in Herbology, and that he passes for Defence Against the Dark Arts (all thanks to the DA).
But Acceptable in Transfiguration wasn't "acceptable", and Professor McGonagall says that she doesn't think Neville would cope with the coursework. Neville says that doing Charms is the "soft option", according to his grandmother. McGonagall snorts and says Augusta should be proud of the grandson she has (a rare compliment), and goes on to say that "just because she failed her Charms O.W.L., the subject is not necessarily worthless." Neville is surprised and delighted.
Other Pupil's OWL grades
There are some other pupil's OWL grades we know for sure:
- Ernie Macmillan definetly got an O in Potions because he came to Potions class prepared in sixth year.
- Fred and George Weasley got three OWLs each, grades unknown.
