[HPforGrownups] Hogwarts numbers

[manawydan]

No: HPFGUIDX 51918

Steve:

>break point in the UK educational system. I suspect many people get
>the UK equivalent of O.W.L.s and go striaght out to find a job and
>start making money. Others, many of whom intent to go to the
>university, go on to attend 6th/7th Form College.

The implication of this of course is that the earlier years would have
considerably larger numbers than the final two. Thinking about my own
schooldays, round about two thirds of my year left at age 16.

>So the idea that that there are working class schools of magic that
>end after the 5th year is not that far fetched. And, that makes

Plus we are told that failing the end of year exams means losing the
Hogwarts place. So the failures in the first 4 years end up _somewhere_
(though we haven't as yet heard of anyone actually failing in the story).

>So 400 at the castle (illustration) and 100 each at the three Magic
>Schools equals 700 total. It helps resolve the impossible teachers
>schedule at the Castle and still bring the total close to 1,000. It

Though I still think there are teachers who haven't been mentioned yet.

>I also have a theory that there are Wizard Universities. They just
>don't have campuses, classrooms, or even names. It's all done by
>independant study, personal experience, and research. The research or

We certainly know that research goes on - one of the elder Weaslies is doing
research on dragons/

>'Doctor' of Wizardry. Of course, I made all this up, but it's still a
>reasonable theory. In the ...er... in my wizard world a 'Professor' is
>the equivalent of a Bachelor's degree and a 'Doctor' is the equivalent
>of a 'Masters'. [Can't decide if there is a PHD or not. Still working
>out the details.] ...short edit...

I've also wondered whether there is any significance in the title
"Professor" at the school. One little thought crossed my mind. Rowling was
educated in Wales and in Welsh there is no difference in the word for
"teacher" and "professor" - it's "athro" in both cases (obviously you can
always tell by context - there's a huge difference between "Mr Snape yn
athro" - Mr S the teacher - and "Yr Athro Snape" - Professor S). I wonder if
this may have been in the back of her mind...

Cheers

Ffred

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