Returning to Hogwarts

I heard/read somewhere that Hermione returns to Hogwarts the year after the 7th book to take her N.E.W.T.S. Does anyone know if any other characters did this, in particular Draco? Thanks :)

Hermione does return, JKR confirmed it in an interview after DH was published. She also said that Harry and Ron didn't return because they joined the Auror department and helped round up the remaining Death Eaters. Although Ron later helps George at the shop, it's a reasonable enough assumption that neither them returned (along with Neville).

To be honest, I think it's highly unlikely that Draco would return to Hogwarts for his seventh year. He would be very unpopular and a target for revenge, plus he completed most of his seventh year so why bother. He could take his NEWTS if they ran them a bit later, along with other seventh years, but personally I can't see him bothering with that.

Of course if he doesn't return then this ruins a myriad of Head Boy/ Head Girl shared bathroom stories. :p

~Carole~

I agree that it would be unlikely that Draco would return, but if you wanted to have that be a part of your story, you'd have to think up a good reason as to why he's going back. Also, wouldn't Neville be required to complete his NEWTS to become a Herbology professor?

Possibly Neville would need his NEWTS, but given that Dumbledore employed Hagrid as a Professor who didn't even get OWLs then I don't think it's a requirement.

Basically all those who went to Hogwarts for that final year - like Neville and Draco - could have taken their exams at a slightly later time. McG and the Ministry could easily have made time to hold the exams. The vast majority of the professors were teaching their normal lessons, so I'm not sure why anyone would need to return for a whole year. You could make a case for Draco returning, but really I'm back to the first point. Why would he want to return when he'd be utterly reviled by the vast majority of the students?

~Carole~

All or most of the Muggle-born students, I imagine, would return.

Otherwise, people who want their NEWT in Defense or Muggle Studies might return to actually take the class from a qualified teacher and then the test, but they would only have two classes, so they might run an alternative summer program or something else.

I imagine that Draco would also have to go through a few trials for suspected "Death Eater activity", and I mean, the family is fairly disliked already, so...and also I can't see his friends returning either.