Hogwarts population

[Steve Vander Ark]

No: HPFGUIDX 9596


> About the number of students, it could be that Harry's year is 
smaller 
> than the others. I think Ron made a comment about how it will be if 
> Ginny ever met Colin Creevy. Colin and Ginny are in the same year 
and 
> in the same house. So the only way I can see them not knowing each 
> other is if they aren't taking the same classes, or if there's a 
lot 
> of other Gryffindor's in their year.

No, he made no such comment. Maybe in a fanfic somewhere, but not in 
the canon.

There are all sorts of very good reasons why 1000 is just too many. 
One of the most compelling to me is that in PA the sorting is over in 
far less than an hour, probably barely a half hour. Read through that 
section, there's no way it can be anything else. At one kid per 
minute, that's not even ten kids per house. Frankly, JKR just didn't 
think it all through and as a result the books give plenty of 
evidence of a smaller student population. I say somewhere between 300 
and 400 would be about right, considering all the evidence. Well, all 
the evidence except the word of the author, I guess ;)

Steve Vander Ark
The Harry Potter Lexicon
which has a page giving all the pros and cons of this question
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon