Impossible timetable

[grey_wolf_c]

No: HPFGUIDX 38441

Sherlock (a.k.a Merlyn) wrote:
<snip: intro + real timetables>
> 
> Since Hogwarts is a boarding school, then I suppose it can start the 
> day as early as 8am in the morning (which is about the time I have to 
> leave the house for the bus!) and finish as late as 5pm. If we assume 
> that double lessons at Hogwarts are 2hrs (rather than 1hr10 mins like 
> my school) then that's about a 10hr school day, then that's about 5 
> doubles in day (or 10 singles). So in a five day week, there would be 
> 25 lesson slots.
>
> We also know that in the third year 
> Defence against the Dark Arts wasn't on during any Potion lessons, 
> since in one lesson (first lesson, Boggart one) Snape is found in the 
> Staff room, and later on he actually takes Lupin's lesson. Now, let's 
> assume Dumbledore regonises Snape's ability with Defence as well as 
> Potions and has deliberatly organised the time table so that Snape is 
> free whenever Defence against the Dark Arts is.
><snip rest of theory> 
> Steph (who's brain hurts slightly)

I think we all agree that, if we take into consideration only Harry's 
classes, the timetable is very possible. In fact, the imposibility 
isn't obvious until you use maths: The problem starts when you consider 
that there are 28 different groups of alumni in the school: seven 
years, 4 houses per year. However, you can still juggle a little bit 
and have them take many classes with other houses, effectively reducing 
the number to 14, which is more easily handed. No, that is the -easy- 
part. 

The real trouble is when you realise that Snape has 14 different clases 
to teach each week, at the very least, and that (as canon itself seems 
to point), he's actually got two double classes with each group each 
week, for a grand total of 56 hours to fit into a 50-hour week 
(allowing for 10 hours worth of lessons each day, which is barbaric, if 
you ask me) AND still find time to spend time in the staff room and 
teach DADA lessons when Lupin is out cold (which are another 2 hours/
group and week, with only one group [not two groups at the same time], 
for another 56 hours/week). This means that, the week out of four that 
Lupin has moon-sickness, Snape has 112 hours worth of class to fit into 
168 hours worth of week. Assuming he sleeps (or roams in the dark, or 
whatever he does at night) and that so do his students while it's night 
time (let's say, optimistically, 8 hours/day), the (working) week has 
40 hours less. Since there seems to be no school on Saturdays or 
Sundays, that takes away another 48 hours. So, Snape has to teach 
during 112 hours each week, but taking away noght time and weekends, 
the week only has 80 hours:
	16 hours/day * 5 days/week = 80 hours/week
Which means an excess of 32 hours every week-impossible except by 
time-turners

Now, for the tricky part. Let's assume they ARE taught on Saturdays 
(although I have to scratch my original idea of a half-day Saturday). 
That would give Snape 96 hours (16*6), which means Snape would "just" 
have to find overtime to teach extra 16 hours each week, which could be 
done by teaching 3 extra hours each day, save Saturday when he would 
(only!) have to teach 2 extra hours Taken out of nightime, of course). 
In total, he would be teaching 18.67 hours a day, which means sleeping 
5.33 hours a day (and probably most of the Sunday).

No wonder he always has a bad humour! The miracle is that Lupin's 
absence don't make Snape to fall sick, too!

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf, who hadn't realized Snape's troubles with timetables until 
Merlyn pointed it out.

PD: Steph/Sherlock/Merlyn: If you're wondering how you school can work 
when Hogwarts doesn't, it's beacuse you've got more teachers: you don't 
have just one for each subject; instead, you probably have one teacher/
subject every few years, or less groups per year, or a combination of 
the two.