-Academic Article - Career Paths-

What are Career Paths?

After a student graduates from 3rd year, they will advance onto a new range of studies, in 4th year. This is the first year where career paths are available. Career paths are the group of subjects you must take up to your 7th year in order to achieve qualification for a certain career after graduation.

Once you advance to 4th year you have the option to either continue enrolling in any course you like as you’ve done in the past, or to choose a career path and enroll in the courses indicated by the path’s requirements and electives. If, however, you are interested in enrolling into more than one career Path, you will need to make sure their combined courses do not equal greater than 15 courses, the maximum number of courses you’re allowed to enroll in at a time. There are 10 career paths to choose from - each covering a specific type of magic. If you choose to take a career path it is nearly guaranteed there is one that will interest you.

Auror Path

The first available career Path is the Auror path. This is lead by Professor Penrose (current professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts). In order to follow this path, you will need to take the core courses Transfiguration, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and although Charms and Herbology are recommended, they aren’t required. The electives required for this course are Ancient Studies, Magical Civics and Sociology,  Magical Law, and Muggle Studies. This path also has two specialty courses that you need to take with it - Curse Breaking and Auror Training. However, you don’t take Auror training itself until your sixth and seventh year. If follow this path, you will learn the fundamentals of how to be a good Auror, the laws of the wizarding world, and many skills that are required for an Auror to complete his or her job.

Cosmology Path

The next Career Path is the Cosmology path, lead by Professor Turing (current professor of Astronomy). This path is the study of the origin, structure, and evolution of the cosmos on the largest of scales, the ideal path for those Astro geeks out there.The core courses required for this path are Astronomy and History of Magic. The electives needed are Ancient Studies, Magical Transportation,  and Muggle Studie. The two specialty courses for the path are Quarks Quasars and Cosmology, and Interstellar Travel. However, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, Potions, Alchemy, Magical Art, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Culinary Theory, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Magical Literature, and Interstellar Travel are optional courses you could take as well.

Healer Path

The third path available is the Healer Path, which is lead by Professor Tudor (current professor of Herbology). This path is for those who wish to become a Healer or Mediwizard. There are very few required courses for this path, the required cores being Herbology, Potions, and Charms. The electives needed are Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies, along with the Path’s specialty course, Healing, which is available during years five through seven. Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration are recommended courses, as the skills learned in them can be very useful as you advance throughout the course.

Magical Theory Career Path

The Magical Theory Career Path is lead by Professor Proctor (current Muggle Studies professor). If you choose to follow this path, you will get to choose from specializations such as Spell Inventor, Magic Item Crafter, and Theoretician. The core classes required for this path are Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions and the needed electives are Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Life and Magic: Concepts and Practices, and Wandlore. This path also has four specialty classes, Life and Magic: Concepts and Practices (which you take years five through seven), Modern Magical Theory (taken in your sixth and seventh years), Research and Philosophy (Available years six and seven), and Wandlore (Years four through seven).

Magizoology Career Path

The Magizoology Career Path is led by Professor Anne (current Care of Magical Creatures professor). Following this career path can lead to many different professions after Hogwarts, all relating to creatures. For example, you could perhaps capture illegal breeders or research creatures we don’t know much about. You could pass laws to protect endangered creatures or to help, say, Werewolves. The possibilities are nearly endless. The cores needed for this path are Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, and Potions. The electives are Care of Magical Creatures, Ghoul Studies, and Magic Civics and Sociology, however Muggle Studies is recommended. The path’s specialty course is Creature Anatomy and Physiology, which you would take fifth through seventh year.

Political Studies Career Path

The leader of the Political Studies Career Path is Professor Dowler (current History of Magic professor). This path is for those who want to grow to be Politicians or even Minister of Magic. For this path, there are actually four separate sub-paths you can take, Business, International, Social, and Research. Each of these specializations have their own courses, but in order to take any of them you must be enrolled in the cores Defense Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic, as well as Magical Civics and Sociology, Magical Law, and Magical Politics. The business path requires you to take Alchemy, Arithmancy, and Divination. The International path has you take Care of Magical Creatures, Magical Transportation, and Culinary Theory. Lastly, the Social path requires Magical Literature, Muggle Studies, and Magical Art. This path’s specialty courses are Magical Civics and Sociology, Magical Law, and Magical Politics all of which you would take years four through seven.

Professor Studies Career Path

The Professor Studies Career Path is led by Professor Hart (current Magical Literature professor). This path is for those who are interested in teaching after your graduation. The core classes needed for this path are Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration. And the electives are Ancient Studies, Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies. You will also need to take the course you wish to take. For example, if you wanted to teach Potions, you would enroll in Potions along with this course. However, if the course you wish to teach a core or elective that is already required, you will need to pick another core or elective. This doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to teach your desired course, you just need to take another one. This path also has one specialty course, which you would take in your seventh year called To Teach or Not To Teach.

Seer Career Path

The Seer Career Path is lead by Professor Umbridge (current Divination professor). The name is pretty self-explanatory, this path is for those with the Inner Eye and want to become Seers. It will teach you not only how to develop and hone your gift, but also how to sell it to the public to make a living. The cores required for this path are Astronomy and History of Magic, and the electives are Ancient Runes, Ancient Studies, Arithmancy, and Divination. The two specialty courses for this path are History of Divination, which you take in year six, and Marketing the Inner Eye, taken in year seven.

Yore Lore Career Path

The Yore Lore Career Path is led by Professor Steven and Professor Morgan (our current Ancient Studies and Ancient Runes professors). This Path is for those who want to have a career involving ancient magic, like Curse Breaking or Magiarchaeology. The cores you will need to take for this path are History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Charms. The electives needed are Ancient Runes, Ancient Studies, and Magical Civics and Sociology although Magical Art and Muggle Studies are recommended as well. The paths specialty courses are Curse Breaking (taken in seventh year), Magiarchaeology (Taken years six and seven), and Mythology.

All in all, the new Career Paths option on HiH is a great way to focus your learning to the courses you're most interested in, and the courses that appeal to your talents and specialities most. It also takes away the seven required cores plus one elective format, which allows for much more flexibility in how you choose to take your classes and which classes you choose to take.

Useful links:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sYPaOxxYasiI_Cg3QE2ezGzpOTXygndfdgAZYoNFGv8/edit  (A list of all Career Paths and the required courses)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NduWoPfShfFRGt9skr4l8TWMEkqFncrcY1fJ9Uwn-1w/edit (Pamphlet on Magizoology)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xzDyesr5MVZ_TxtmjceRJH4frxaro8HCVueOAPftQRA/edit (More in depth pamphlet on Magizoology)

http://s15.postimg.org/65af9f9or/career_path_updated.jpg (Visual of Carer paths and reuirements, made by Mina Lofthouse)

http://po.st/brochurehih (Brochure about Political Studies)

*Philosophies of Personal Power and Mythology were both originally going to be Career Path options, however the Professors decided that they would instead be combined into the existing Career Paths.