Number of Students at Hogwarts

[bibphile]

No: HPFGUIDX 76834

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jim Ferer" <jferer at y...> 
wrote:
bibphile:"The information we're given in the books is very
> inconsitent.  For example at one quidditch game we're told there 
are 800 people in the stands."
 
Jim:
> I missed that one. Where was it?

In POA.  Athe the Slyther-Gryffindor match it said that three-
quarters of the stands were suppoting Gryffindore, but that there 
were 200 people wearing green

Jim: 
> If the school population is 300, and Hogwarts is *the* wizarding
> school for Britain, then the wizard population is very, very low, 
too low to sustain all the business and industry they have.
>

I seriously doubt anyone thought about that when they first wrote 
the number of students.  Oh, and did anyone accout for the longer 
lifespan of wizards?  And would 1000 student make the population big 
enough?  If it wouldn't then it doesn't matter.
 
Jim:
> 300 is lower than you think.  My daughters' elementary school is 
466 students, and it's not big at all.  True, there's no dorms and 
the Great Hall, aka the All Purpose Room, doesn't hold the whole 
student body,  but still.
>

I know how few students 300 is.  It suggest 42.85 stdent per year.  
There were 43 students in my graduating class.  Frankly even 100 is 
extreamly low whemn you consider that Hogwarts seems to be the 
biggest wizarding school in Europe.

> I understand the objections based on the number of teachers and
> students we see, and I can't answer some of them.  However:  we 
have to remind ourselves that the Harry Potter stories are not a 
window into the wizarding world, they're a tiny little peephole.  
They leave out much more than they include.   That's unavoidable.
>

I'm sorry.  I just don't buy that.  I know there are a lot of things 
at Hogwarts that we don't see.  I admit that.  But I don't think any 
subject (except maybe divination next year) has more than one 
teacher.  If they did then the heads of houses would probably only 
teach upperclass men.  I'm pretty sure Snape would rather teach only 
the older kids (and he seems to be an incredibly talented potions 
brewer, so I doubt they need anyone of his skill level to teach 
first years).

They way I see it both numbers are unreasonably low and the more 
specific evidence (students and dorm we've actually looked at) 
points to the lower number.

Of course, the number of students is like the value of a galleon.  I 
don't see a way to reconcile the evidence so I just have to pick.

bibphile