Number of teacherspopulation/wizarding economy

[Rita Winston]

No: HPFGUIDX 12948

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Steve Vander Ark" <vderark at b...> wrote:

> JKR made it pretty clear that there weren't other schools.

Yes, and JKR said there are 1000 students at Hogwarts. JKR's own 
statements are the ONLY reasons I believe in 1000 students at 
Hogwarts rather than in small but multiple schools. Your suggestion
of apprenticeships co-ordinates with Hogwarts being both small and 
only, but I still don't believe it. That's just my personal feeling.
> 
> Exactly. I think the wizarding population of Britain, to support
> the culture we see, would have to be ten times that, even more. 

200,000 wizarding folk in Britain? Then even if only the most 
talented or connected children attend Hogwarts, Hogwarts would have
to be a big school. Also, wouldn't' Muggles start noticing?
> 
> I believe that Ollivander is the wand-maker himself. And he goes
> out and collects the materials too (he remembered a particular
> unicorn, for example). It's very much a cottage industry, which is
> the way all industries were pre-industrial revolution.

I'm thinking that wands are So Magical that one person couldn't make 
143 wands a year, maybe not even 50 wands a year, so Ollivander would 
need offspring or apprentices or journeymen or relationships with 
at-home wandmakers scattered around the country. I was thinking that 
two full-time or a double handful of very part-time 'colleagues' 
would meet the demand. 

That's still a cottage industry, and I see the other industries as 
also cottage industries. Take broomstick makers as an example:... 

For example, I stole from some fanfic I forgot that James' broomstick 
is a Thunderbolt. I wrote a scene in which his broomstick gets 
smashed up, followed by his visit to Quality Quidditch, where he 
hears all the great rumors about 'the Thunderbolt people' having come 
up with a very excellent new top of the line model that will be 
released in two months -- I then decided that 'the Thunderbolt 
people' are a family named Thorson who have been making broomsticks 
for 500 years. The family members do all the Research and Design but 
only some of the construction; the rest of the construction is done
as piecework by 'employees' in their own homes.
> 
> This just doesn't work with what we see, in my opinion. Everything
> we see would lead us to believe that it's a real economy. Some are
> rich, some are poor. 

I don't think that's a contradiction. If every wizard and witch gets
a stipend, for rich people like the Malfoys, the stipend is less than 
they spend on tips for restaurant wait staff, and for Stan of the 
Knight Bus, it's half his income. Some people are rich mainly from 
inheritance (the inheritance could be land that is rented out, a mine 
from which a rare potion ingredient is mined, money that is invested 
in Muggle businesses, lot of things) and others get rich by providing 
goods or services that turn out to be very popular (maybe Celestina 
Warbeck with the admission fees to her concerts, maybe Fred and 
George when everyone buys their joke products).

> The goods they provide aren't conjured up at will, they're 
> carefully constructed and produced for purchase for real money.
> Think of all those boxes of sweets in Honeydukes basement.

They're all magical sweets, which doesn't prove that wizarding folk 
can't conjure up Muggle sweets. Okay, okay, what JKR depicts sure  
looks like only a wizard of Dumbledore's level can routinely conjure 
up stuff ex nihilo, altho' that just doesn't seem to jibe with Muggle 
folklore about wizarding folk. 

> Someone had to make them, box them, transport them, etc. I can't
> believe that someone boxes all those sweets as a hobby. You'd
> certainly have to pay ME if you wanted me to do it. Same with being
> a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron.

Okay, some of the jobs are not just a 'paying hobby' but are a source 
of additional income (similar to the old Muggle idea of 'pin money' 
and the new Muggle idea of 'moonlighting'). If the stipend were only 
enough to live in dire poverty, people who couldn't supplement it 
with inherited assets might want to supplement it with the least 
unpleasant work they can get hired for. Altho' I can fantasize that 
some people would WANT to be dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron as a way 
of being in place to hear all the gossip of wizardom...

> By far most witches and wizards do not Apparate. It's carefully 
> controlled and can be dangerous.

I got the impression that more adult witches and wizards Apparate 
than not. In Muggledom, driving motor vehicles is carefully 
controlled and can be dangerous, but everyone who learns that I don't 
have a driver's license freaks out. Angelenos cannot conceive of an 
adult who does not have a driver's license except if heesh is legally 
blind or has had hiser license revoked for too much drunk driving, 
even one who chooses not to drive for eyesight or seizure reasons. 
And usually people who have had their licenses revoked drive anyway.