[HPforGrownups] Re: Number of pupils at Hogwarts ?miscalculation?

[Penny & Bryce]

No: HPFGUIDX 30309

Hi --

Joanne0012 at aol.com wrote:

> radius_squared at h... wrote:
>  > >
>  > > Here is a mistake concerning the books that no one has picked up on
>  > > yet. Let's say there were 200 people in each house. That means about
>  > > 86 people per year. Half of those would be boys, so about 43 boys per
>  > > year per house. When Harry mentions his "dorm," there are at most 7 or
>  > > eight boys in his year, while, according to statistics, there should
>  > > be at least 40. Did I make a stupid mistake and miss something, or
>  > > have I made a point?
> 
> Well, for starters, 200 divided by 7 (years) is 28, not 86 . . .
> 
> Where did you get the 200 in the first place?

Hannah your math is very, very flawed from what I can see.  Joanne is 
right: where did you come up with 200 people in each house?  If you 
believe JKR's statement about 1000 students, that would be 250 in each 
of the 4 houses.  Working from that assumption (which I think is wrong 
anyway as it should be about 300 total students, not 1000, based on the 
preponderence of evidence in the books):

86 X 7 years = 602, not 800 (200 X 4 = 800) & as Joanne says, 200 
divided by 7 is 28, not 86 -- so your 86 number is wrong

If it is 250 people in each House, then it is 36 students per year, per 
House (250/7 years = 36).  Half of those would be boys, which is 18 (not 
43).

Yeah, I can't figure out any of your math at all.

If you go to the Hogwarts FAQ, you'll see that we've spent hundreds of 
messages discussing this topic.  Here's the URL again:

http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/faq/hogwarts.html

Penny