[HPforGrownups] Re: numbers again

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 13053

Hi --

Jim Ferer wrote:

> Penny:"Actually, someone (sorry I can't remember who) made the very
> good point that we're getting Harry's POV of how many tables there
> are & how many people they seat.  He could just be overwhelmed when
> he makes this observation (or just inaccurate).  What GoF says in any
> case is: "there were *about* a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones,
> each seating *about* a dozen people"
>
> That's very convenient. It allows any undesirable evidence to be
> discounted.  It's perfectly possible to tell the difference between
> something Harry is seeing and may be wrong about (Example:[Cedric]
> was just a useless pretty boy...) and something the omniscient
> narrator is telling us.  I can't see any colorable argument around
> seating for 1200 at the Yule Ball.

But, Jim -- below is your original point:

> > There's seating for 1200 at the Yule Ball (JKR states that cold),
>
I don't think it's "cold" (i.e. indisputable) when the omniscient
narrator is using words like "about."  My main point is that "about" 100
tables, each seating "about" a dozen people is not absolutely 100%
seating for 1200 people.  The "about" language suggests to me that it
really is intended to be Harry's perspective on viewing the Great Hall
rather than a clear-cut "this is how it is" fact conveyed by an
omniscient narrator.  If it were the latter, why would the narrator not
say: "The long tables in the Great Hall were replaced by 100 tables,
each seating a dozen people"?  Why would you qualify the number of
tables & number of seats at each table if you intended to convey
completely factual information?  I can't explain the qualifying "about"
other than to say that it must be intended to be an imprecise estimate
based on Harry's POV.  But, maybe you have a different view of why the
author would use "about" in 2 places in one sentence?

I also think that (a) we have no idea if all the seats were taken, and
(b) we also don't know whether any of the seats were occupied by people
other than current students, visiting students from BeauxBatons &
Durmstrang and staff members.  Were there alumni other than the MoM
representatives in attendance?  We don't know.  Maybe there were tons of
empty seats.  On the other hand, maybe JKR just didn't mention that lots
of prominent witches & wizards in the UK attended the Ball as alumni,
etc.

Penny


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