Number of Students

[Penny & Bryce]

No: HPFGUIDX 35406

Hi all --

ffimiles wrote:

> Joris was discussing how many pupils are at Hogwarts - and due to the
> Voldemort scare, there ought to be less.  this does ring true -
> however, in a quidditch match, it is said that there were '200
> Slytherin fans' at one end.  Now, we could argue that Slytherin
> parents would have had babies at this point without fear!  But, as I
> presume the houses must be roughly equal in the amount o, we can only
> assume that there are 800 pupils in the school.

Ah yes, but are those 200 Slytherin fans all students?  I say they 
include a healthy mix of parents, alumni, local Hogsmeade Quidditch fans 
and the like.

I mention this not to cut off discussion, but merely to point out that 
this particular issue has been discussed quite alot in the past and a 
summary of the various arguments and theories can be found in the 
Student Population section of the Hogwarts FAQ:

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

> This, however, does not tally with Harry's class - there appears to
> be just 10 in itt who wants to nitpick - I'm sure there are more in
> the year/class, it's just that it wouldurintroduce us to too many
> additional, non-central characters - we just wouldn't care about
> them, and wouldn't get any depth at all.

Actually canon evidence is pretty clear that there are only 8 
Gryffindors in Harry's year (possibly 10 if you believe there are 2 
as-yet-introduced girls in Harry's year based on the time that Harry's 
class fought the boggart in Lupin's DADA class).  There are also only 20 
pairs of earmuffs when Harry's Gryffindors have double herbology with 
the Hufflepuffs, and 20 cauldrons when Harry's Gryffindors have double 
potions with the Slytherins (and 20 broomsticks when they have flying 
lessons with the Slytherins).  Unless there are 110 Ravenclaws in 
Harry's year, his year is much too small to be 1/7th of a 1,000 member 
student body.

Penny