Harry in Goblet - James - Peter - Students/Schools - Robes

[Rita Winston]

No: HPFGUIDX 21924

Zhi wrote:

> then the paper with Harry's name on it should also have
> the school he was representing so it would of been obvious
> that somebody was messing with the goblet.

IIRC the parchment came out of the Goblet all scorched, and burnt around
the edges.  Maybe the school name was burned off. (Oh, Amy already said
that.)

Indigo wrote:

> Did James do anything besides turn into a stag, wear the
> Invisibility Cloak, and play Quidditch?  [amused]

Get excellent grades, be Head Boy, date Lily, marry Lily, inherit a
'small fortune'....

Indigo wrote:

> If [Peter] wanted the attention and accolade, he 
> could've been the first to invent that potion Snape
> made to render Remus a nice docile wolf.  

He should have TRIED to invent a Potion or a Charm to safe-ify
werewolves, for his friend Remus's sake, as well as in hope of winning
the wizarding equivalent of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, but there's no
reason to expect him to have succeeded: I got the impression that that
was a VERY difficult potion to invent, as well as difficult to brew once
it had been invented. Even the most talented wizards and witches
(Dumbledore, James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, Severus, Hermione, etc)
couldn't have counted on succeeding in that attempt.

Monika wrote:

> Dumbledore checked his watch and said 'Hagrid's late'
> or something like that. The watch resembled very much
> the clock in the Weasley's kitchen. I bet it had hands
> for James and Lily Potter on it, too.
 
I wish that were true, but the book describes Dumbledore's watch as
having 12 hands for the 12 planets (I'm guessing it's an astrological
view of planets, not including Earth, yes including Sun, Moon, 5 visible
planets, and 5 asteroids). Whether it is an astrological geocentric view
or an astronomical heliocentric view, it can be used to tell time.

Sofie wrote:

> I'm sure I can't be the only one who has ever wondered
> about this but what is the student population of Hogwarts?
> I thought that it was about 280. (snip)
> Does anyone else think that there might be more magic schools
> in Britain? Since Hogwarts is in Scotland who's to say that
> there isn't another school in say the south of England? 

The number of students at Hogwarts is a matter of unending debate. One
main faction believes that there are around 280 students, based on all
the same clues from the books that you saw. Another main faction
believes that there are around 1000 students, based on JKR having said
so in an on-line chat when someone asked: "How many students are at
Hogwarts?"

I belonged to the 1000 students faction well before that chat. I started
by trying to figure out how big the wizarding population of Britain must
be in order to support all those jobs and shops and services and the
whole wizarding economy that we have glimpsed, and then how many
children must be born each year to keep the population up, adjusted for
wizarding folk living longer than Muggles.

So if there are 1000 Hogwarts aged young people in wizarding Britain,
either there are 1000 students at Hogwarts, or there are other wizarding
schools, or some wizarding children don't go to wizarding school.

Unfortunately, it says somewhere in canon that Hogwarts is the only
wizarding school in Britain. Worse, JKR has indicated in interviews that
Hogwarts is the only wizarding school for Britain AND IRELAND. Then the
student number would have to be even larger than 1000, to account for
the Irish students. 

Zarleycat wrote:

> when Sirius climbs on Buckbeak to make his escape, what's 
> going on robe-wise?  Does he hike them up to his hips in 
> order to straddle Buckbeak, thus exposing a pair of bony, 
> white legs?

Robes that are solid like a caftan or a dress can be full enough in the
'skirts' that they cover the horse as well as the rider. You can see an
example in any parade whose costumed riders include a woman in
'Californio' (old-time Mexican rancho) garb. I don't know whether that
would work with hippogriff wings.

Robes that are open in front like an overcoat or a bathrobe are more
suitable for the top layer of clothing than for under layers.

I can't understand why we debate what wizard robes look like, when the
whole Modern Western Culture knows what wizards wear. There are oodles
of pictures on the Web. [Pause for Web Search.] Here are some URLs:
http://www.thesteelsource.com/html/wizards.htm 
http://www.rainbowenterprises.com/wizards.html

Sofie wrote:

>  Normal robes probably resemble the robes worn 
> in the middle ages with appropriate undergarments. 

This is a forbidden "I agree" post, but the medieval idea of appropriate
undergarments was a shirt (chemise), and maybe stays (like a corset) for
women, and enough layers of robes to ensure warmth and showiness. Old
Archie apparently shares the medieval idea of underwear, but I like to
think that there has been a lot of fashion upheaval among the wizarding
folk in the 20th century, with bloomers adopted as underwear for both
wizards and witches when Amelia Bloomer tried to introduce them as outer
wear for suffragist women, and brassieres adopted by witches when
invented by Muggles. Arthur, Molly, Lucius, Sirius, Remus, etc would be
in this generation of underwear. Which has already been superseded by a
yet younger generation that wears regular Muggle-style underwear with
their robes, and Muggle-style outerwear for "casual". Bill Weasley is a
grown-up seen comfortable in Muggle-style outerwear that includes
dragonhide boots. Bloomers under robes would be more comfortable than
boxers or briefs for riding a horse, but maybe the wizarding folk put a
riding-breeches charm on their legs and avoid chafing that way.

Similarly, QTA tells us that Quidditch broomsticks have a Cushioning
Charm, invented in 1820 by Elliot Smethwyck instead of a horse saddle or
bike saddle (like Parker said). I think that Quidditch robes also have a
Charm on them to keep them down by at least one ankle, not so much for
reasons of modesty as because it would be inconvenient for a player to
be blinded by his/her robe flying over his/her face. The wizarding folk
seem to take it as much for granted that a Charm is the only way to do
something as we Muggles take it for granted that a physical object is
the only way to do something.

Indigo wrote:

> Yes.  The quidditch robes are open from the waist down
> to allow the players to make those crazy motions they 
> have to make.

Kelly in post#21911 already corrected that.

Dane, Ravenclaw wrote:

> The comment about the Hogwarts students not wearing their
> uniforms until getting on the train made me think that 
> they would not want to arouse suspicion on the platform
> among muggles.  England is still class conscious and a
> muggle would be most curious to know about the 
> unrecognized crest on the Hogwarts blazers.

As David Frankis clearly explained in post #21922, the uniforms are the
black robes (which are like dresses or caftans, not like choir robes)
and pointy hats: Harry's shopping list didn't say anything about a
blazer, a tie, grey slacks, etc. I am irritated that the movie
apparently has them always out of uniform, that is, minus hats.

Not wearing their uniform robes would be part of the general rule or
guideline about wearing Muggle clothes when among Muggles -- but what
did Molly wear when she brought her kids to King's Cross? As someone
already mentioned, at the beginning of GoF, Harry wonders about Arthur
and Molly in Muggle clothes, as he has never seen them in anything but
robes. What do all the Muggles at King's Row think when a whole bunch of
adults in robes arrive escorting children and then disappear, all on the
same day around the same time?

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