Chairs v. benches

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 27381

Cindy wrote:

> Just between you and me, Amy, I am not sure that the "chairs" team 
is 
> playing fair with us. 

::whispering::  I suspect the same.  Don't tell them I said so!

Ahem.  Clearly, those who think benches don't scrape have never gone 
to a summer camp where they had to sit on benches.  The benches don't 
have to be long enough to stretch all the way down a 70-person table 
(or, in the large-Hogwarts theory, a 250-person table); there can be 
many 6- or 8-foot benches lined up along each side.  In either case, 
there would still be scraping when everyone gets up at once.  The way 
you do it is with a "one, two, three!" or, by the end of camp, a kind 
of group intuition that has developed so that everyone gets up and 
pushes back at the same moment *without tipping the bench over.*  
(Once in a while, the bench does tip, creating the kind of merriment 
and happy memories for which summer camps are designed.)

And if Hermione were in a chair, Ron wouldn't just be pestering her 
to scoot over, but also looking around for chairs to filch from the 
next table for Krum & Co.  What was he going to offer them, an empty 
spot to stand in?  If they were all sitting in chairs, wouldn't he 
jump up to offer his and then go get a new one for himself?

Amy
who thinks JKR is as consistent on this point as she is on the size 
of Hogwarts, namely, not at all