[HPforGrownups] Re:Wizard Population and Other Schools

[Sherry Garfio]

No: HPFGUIDX 47161

> > Wendy 
> > (Who thinks that Hogwarts is the only wizarding school in the UK -
> > ... ... ... And who also believes there can be no more than 800 
> > students at Hogwarts, based on the numbers provided at the 
> > Gryffindor/Slytherin quidditch match in PoA. How many fewer than 800
> > depends ... ... ...
> >  So, I'd guess  that total Hogwarts student population is somewhere 
> > between 600 and 775, and  probably closer to the larger number.
> 
> 
> bboy_mn:
> 
> Yeah, that's about my guess too. But even a guess that large has
> trouble extrapolating into enough wizards to match the size of economy
> that I see.

Of course, you also have to take into consideration that Wizards have a longer
life span than Muggles.  This would mean that the adult population of the
Wizarding World would be larger in proportion to the student population than it
is in the Muggle world, because Wizards spend a larger proportion of their
lives as adults than we do.  They still finish their schooling around age 17,
but they live to be well over 100 (Dumbledore being "old" at 150).  Presumably,
this also means that they are productive long after a Muggle would have
retired.  If an average life expectancy for a Wizard is, say, 125, then they
could well be working until 100 or beyond.  This gives them a career length of
at least 80 years, versus our typical career length of about 40 years, allowing
a larger economy than their numbers would imply.

As for all the buildings, I think we in the US tend to take it for granted that
the existence of buildings means somebody has to be actively building them, but
in Europe there are plenty of *very* old buildings.  If all of the buildings in
Diagon Alley had sprung up in the past 20 years, then yes, that would imply a
very large population.  But if you spread their construction out over 1000
years or more, a small number of people can build a *lot* of buildings in 1000
years, particularly if they have magic working for them, both for construction
and for maintenance.

- Sherry
who is ever so happy to be off moderated status, and couldn't wait until she
had read all the posts in her inbox before replying to *something*, just for
the thrill of seeing it post immediately.


=====
"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers."

      -Dave Barry, "Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn"

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