How many students [was Re: Random ideas]

[silveroak_us <silveroak_us@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51690

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "mysmacek <mysmacek at y...>" 
<mysmacek at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tom Wall <thomasmwall at y...>"
> <thomasmwall at y...> wrote:

> > - it seems to me, that during POA, there has to be about 10 first
> > years in each house - certainly less than 20. The canon for that 
is
> > that for R&H to miss the sorting ceremony, it would have to be a
> > really short one, since their calling off by McGonnagall does not 
seem
> > like a long one - and don't forget that the ceremony did not start
> > when they left.
> > 
> > Me:
> > Scholastic's website has several JKR Q&A sessions online.  
> > 
> > Here's the URL for the following canon:
> > http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/author/transcript2.htm
> > 
> > Q: How many students attend Hogwarts, and how many 
> >    students per year per house? 
> > A: There are about a thousand students at Hogwarts.
> ....
> > So, about 35 students per year per house.
> 
> I know the above quote. But, IMHO, what's in the book takes 
precedence
> :-) - and I tried to show above that at least in the year I 
mentioned,
> there had to be < 20 first years per house. Do you have better
> explanation?
>  
> Mysmacek

Now me:

Canon has two other indicators which relate to the number of students 
in each year.

1. In PS/SS, (Chapter Nine, "The Midnight Duel"), when Harry and his 
class go out to the grounds for their first broom lesson, along with 
Slytherin (a double class), there are "twenty broomsticks lying in 
neat lines on the ground." That would be ten for the Gryffs and ten 
for the Slyths. There is no mention that this was only *part* of the 
Gryff/Slyth first years, the clear implication is that this was the 
*whole* Gryff/Slyth firsties.

2. In one of one of the subsequent books (don't have them in front of 
me), when Harry gets back to "Hoggy Warty Hogwarts" and goes to the 
Gryffindor Tower, he walks up to find his dorm room and there is a 
sign indicating the room for the second (third?) year boys. He walks 
in and there are five beds for the boys in that year. Again, the 
clear implication is that this is the *whole* number of boys in that 
year of the Gryffindor class.

Following inexorably from the above, we can calculate that there are 
five boys and five girls in each year of each house, for a grand 
total of 280 students at Hogwarts at a time (give or take a few odd 
students from year to year).

Strongly supporting this number is the statement in PS/SS, when Harry 
first goes to the Quidditch pitch for his first lesson with Oliver 
Wood, that "Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field" 
(Chapter Ten "Halloween"). This would be about right for the whole 
school to be able to attend a Quidditch match, plus a few odd 
visitors from Hogsmeade or the Ministry or families. And we have 
instances in the book which would support the notion that the whole 
school *does* come out for games. Not conclusive, to be sure, but 
highly indicative. If JKR really wanted to indicate that there were a 
thousand students, would she not have made a statement that the 
stadium could hold that many, instead of *only* "hundreds"?

Just a few random ideas on the question...

  **  Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle **