wizard education

[bluesqueak]

No: HPFGUIDX 41491

 
> Pip!Squeak wrote:
> 
> <<JKR has invented the Potterverse. It is her world, and she's 
> still creating it. If she says there are no other wizarding schools 
> in Great Britain, then there-are-no-other-wizarding schools. Full 
stop.>>
> 

Catlady replied:

> JKR Interviews: Hogwarts is the only wizarding school for UK and it 
> has 1000 students. 
> 
> Books: the references to other schools cited by Elkins and the 
> depiction of approximately 280 students at Hogwarts Castle. 
> 
> Way to make all this evidence be true at the same time: Hogwarts 
> has more than one campus. The original campus, the Castle, has 
> circa 280 students and is called "Hogwarts" for short, while the 
> other campus(es) are named Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and 
> Wizardry at (e.g.) Woodcroft and called e.g. "Woodcroft", just as 
> the University of California campus at Berkeley is nicknamed "Cal", 
> while the one in Los Angeles is "UCLA".
> 
One problem I have with the 'campus' theory is that my experience of 
English schools was that a school on a different campus, with a 
different name is errr..... a different school.

There are some 'multi-campus' colleges and universities, yes, so I 
suppose 'more than one campus' is possible for Hogwarts; my other, 
more serious problem is that Harry's letter only refers to his being 
admitted to the 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry', whereas 
multi-campus colleges tend to a) be very firm about WHICH campus you 
report to and b) refer to the other campuses once in a while.

My personal preference is the 'normal times' theory, which I've seen 
referred to on the list. Hogwarts has 1000 or so students *in normal 
times*. Harry's year and the years immediately above and below him 
are not normal - they were affected by the fact that the WW by and 
large, simply didn't want to risk having children during the 
Voldemort wars; and also by the fact that a large number of people 
died, so the number of people available to *have* children also 
dropped.

This did happen in the UK during the Second World War - the birth 
rate dropped like a stone during the War, then rocketed immediately 
after. It is a complete pain for the education system, as there is 
now a well known pattern (hits every 20 years or so) of class sizes 
dropping (so teaching staff are cut) followed a few years later by a 
massive increase in class sizes as the children/grandchildren/great-
grandchildren of the wartime drop/post war bulge generations hit the 
school system.

Pip
Squeak!