Dormitories and Hogwarts Student Population

[pengolodh_sc]

No: HPFGUIDX 45431

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Steve" <bboy_mn at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., Pen Robinson <pen at p...> wrote:
> > 
> > On Monday, October 14, 2002, at 07:57 , Jackie wrote:
> > 
> Jackie originally wrote:
> > 
> > > ...edited... but can you prove that there are only 5 boys in
> > > Harry's *dorm*?  ...edited...  We only know the 5 boys in 
Harry's 
> > > room, but there could be other rooms attached to that hall.
> > > ... here in America, in colleges, a Dorm is a building as well
> > > as a room.  
> > >
> 
> > Pen replied: 
> > I'm pretty sure it is stated outright that Harry sees five
> > four-poster beds when he goes into the dorm for the first time.
> > 
> > I'm afraid that 'dorm' and 'dormitory' in this country mean a 
> > room, not a building  .  At university, students might live in a 
> > Hall of Residence, but they wouldn't live in a dorm.
> > 
> > ...edited...
> > 
> > Pen
> 
> Pen, I guess it's safe to assume you are from Britain.
> 
> Clearly, there are other dorm *rooms* in this dormitory.
> Percy has his own dorm room. Fred, George, and Lee Jordan have
> a separate room. Colin Creevey and the others in his year have
> their own rooms. So there is no question that there are other
> Dorm rooms in the Griffindor Hall/Tower dormitory. 

[snip]

There has never been any mention of a Gryffindor Dormitory as a term 
for the whole of the part of the castle set apart for Gryffindor as 
far as I can remember - I have only noted the term Gryffindor Tower.  
There have however been frequent mentions of the term dormitory for 
the single room Harry shares with the other four boys, as well as the 
plural term dormitories, referring for instance to the girls' 
dormitories, implying to me that dormitory in the Harry Potter-series 
is a term referring to a single room.  That Percy sleeps in an other 
room that Harry, and that Fred, George, and Lee sleep in another room 
again, does not contradict that dormitory in the Harry Potter books 
consistently refers to single rooms.

Some quotes:

>From PS, Chapter Seven, The Sorting Hat, ca. three pages before the 
end of that chapter:  
"The first-years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of 
the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase."

and, right at the last page of same chapter:
"Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the 
boys through another.  At the top of a spiral staircase - they were 
obviously in one of the towers - they found their beds at last:  five 
fourposters hung with deep-red velvet curtains."

>From PoA, Chapter Five,  The Dementor, right at the end of that 
chapter:
"They reached their familiar, circular dormitory with its five four-
poster beds and Harry, looking around, felt he was home at last."

>From GoF, Chapter Twelve, The Triwizard Tournament, almost at the end 
of that chapter:  
"Hermione cast the merrily dancing flames a dark look, and Harry 
distinctly heard her mutter 'slave labour', before bidding them 
goodnight, and disappearing through the doorway to the girls' 
dormitories."

As for the student-number debate, I am left with the impression that 
JKR has changed her view of the size of Hogwarts with the progression 
of the books;  the majority of the evidence pointing towards small 
student-numbers seem to be established in PS and CoS, while the 
evidence pointing towards larger numbers seems mainly established in 
PoA and GoF.  My view tends towards the higher numbers, mostly 
because of evidence of the wizarding economy shown in the books, and 
economy which needs to be supported somehow.  And while in the muggle 
world, a town of a small population is connected to the rest of the 
country, the wizard-population of Great Britain stands mostly on its 
own.

Best regards
Christian Stubø