How many students at Hogwarts? (and Notebook Symbols)

[Audra1976 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 46457

>From the pictures of JKR's notebook, there appear to be around 50 students in 
Harry Potter's year.  If there are about 50 students in each year, then that 
makes about 350 students total.  If the notebook is an indicator, I'd even be 
willing to say there could be a total of 500 students at Hogwarts.  Unless 
the other classes are much larger than Harry's, the 1000 students quote does 
not make much sense.  Either she was just caught off guard and not thinking, 
or she means there are more students in Harry's class that are not listed by 
name in the notebook, and the notebook contains only those that will be 
mentioned by name at some point.

Now for the symbols in the middle column of the notebook:  I firmly believe 
they are referring to the students' parentage.  The "N" means that neither 
parent is of wizarding blood, the plain star means that one parent is of 
wizarding blood, and the circled star means that both parents are of 
wizarding blood.  This seems to fit as we know Hermione Granger and Justin 
Finch-Fletchley are muggle-born, and they each have an "N."  We know Seamus 
Finnegan's father is a muggle and mother is a witch, and he has a plain star. 
 And since Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle's parents are DE's, it is a sound 
assumption that they are purebloods, and they each have a circled star.

If this interpretation is correct, the notebook shows (at least the first 
column does) that there are a greater number of students who are products of 
"mixed" muggle-wizard marriages than there are purebloods.  This seems to 
imply that there is an increase in wizards marrying outside their own kind.

--Audra