Why the Malfoys Are This Way and Sociology

david_p2002ca david_p at istop.com
Tue Jan 15 22:16:56 UTC 2002


No: HPFGUIDX 33517

Lilahp wrote one snowy afternon:

(at least, it's a snowy afternoon here!)

> But I still don't understand why the wizards didn't just take over 
> instead of retreating and creating their own little world - which 
> takes quite a lot of time and energy to keep secret. If they 
couldn't 
> have back then, they certainly could have by now. Survival of the 
> fittest and all that.  
> 
> Maybe they could run things better than us. Maybe they are fearful 
of 
> absolute power corrupting absolutely, but it somehow seems to work 
in 
> their own society.

Look at the size of the wizard population in the UK.  According to 
JKR, every time a child with magic abilities is born, their name is 
inscribed with a magic quill in a book at Hogwarts (one of the 
scholastic chats).  So, there are 1000 magic children in the age 
range of 11 to 18 in the UK.  If Dumbledore at 150 represents the 
upper age limit for the wizard pyramid (Nicolas Flamel excluded), 
we're looking at a magical population of no more than 22 000 in the 
UK, with over 59 million muggles.

This does raise another question: can the magic community survive?  
Is their gene pool diverse enough?

David P.







More information about the HPforGrownups archive