Number of pupils at Hogwarts

[butagirl at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 30278

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., australiaquill at y... wrote:
> "Three-quarters of the crowd wore scarlet 
> rosettes, but behind the Slytherin goal-posts 200 people were in 
> green."  Doing the maths, doesn't that mean a pop. of about 800, inc. 
> staff?  If anyone has heard anything else, I'd love to know.
> 

<<1st post!

I think calculating school population by the Quidditch match is inexact. 
After all, what about alumni? Parents? Surely many wizards and witches keep 
track of the House games, especially when rivals compete (not to mention 
novelties, like the youngest seeker in a century).>>

A reference in GoF leads me to believe there may be even more pupils than 
this. At the Yule Ball, there were "about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones 
[tables], each seating about a dozen people". This would lead one to expect 
that there would be over 1000 pupils at the ball. Given that the only pupils 
below fourth year were invited by older students (I assume most students 
asked those in their year), and that the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons' 
contingent was nowhere near that large from the evidence we are given, it 
would point to there being a much larger amount of people present, even if 
you include the tutors. Of course, there could be a lot of empty seats, but 
several hundred free places would seem excessive!


Sharon Brindle
BTW, to a few of the longer standing members of this List (the criminals know 
who they are) - please try to avoid facetiousness in your replies, as it is 
unnecessary and very un-"Grownup"!