Number of Students at Hogwarts

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 68975

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lynnfaragher78"
<jamielynncarlson at h...> wrote:
> 
> 
> There are 5 identical beds in Harrys room (Harry, Ron, Neville, 
> Seamus, and Dean)
> 
> 20 broomsticks for the Slytherins and Gryffindors class....
> 
> I then assume that there are 5 boys and 5 girls in each house and in 
> each year....
> 
> 40 new students per year, 70 students per house, and 280 students 
> total.......
> 
> Does that sound about right???
> 
> 
> "lynnfaragher78"

bboy_mn:

This has been discussed many times, here are the conclusions we've (or
at least I've) reached so far.


1.) it's impossible to accurately determine the number of student by
any means. Believe me, we have approached it from every possible angle
and it simply can not be accurately determined.

Although, I personally suspect that enrollment tyically ranges for 600
to 800, with low end being 400 to 600, and peak enrollment being 800
to 1,000.

2.) JKR said it was about a thousand, but I believe she wasn't stating
an exact number but indicating the general size of the school; more
than hundreds, less than thousands. So even with her statement, we are
wrong to conclude 1,000.000000000 students in the school. Again, it
simply indicates the general size of the school.

3.) The houses are not likely to be divided equally, and the latest
book re-enforces that by indicating that Hufflepuff has no
requirements, Slytherin takes the cunning, Ravenclaw takes the clever,
Gryffindor takes the brave, and Hufflepuff takes all the rest.

It seems reasonable that there are fewer diabolically cunning people,
so Slytherin would be small. It would seem that there would be fewer
substantually brave people, so Gryffindor would be small. However,
there are a lot of extremely intelligent people, so Ravenclaw would be
medium, and Hufflepuff taking everyone else would be large.

4.) No matter how you tweek the numbers, Harry's class is small, but
that is no guarantee that every single person has been accounted for.
There is some suspicious based on Lupin's Bogart class that there are
a couple of un-named students. And unlikely that the size of Harry's
class can be used to determine the size of all the other houses,
classes, and/or years.

As a side note in response to your specific question, there are five
people in Harry's room, but we don't know for a fact that there aren't
more rooms. There could conceivably be several dorm rooms per year
with five student in each room. When they get a class year that has 20
 boys, do you suppose they put all 20 boys in the same room?

So far, the books have consistently but not positively indicated that
Harry's year is small. Even if there are more unnamed students in his
year; it's still small. But the size of Harry's year doesn't dictate,
or determine the size of other class years.


5.) JKR is not real accurate when it comes to numbers, and the numbers
she has constructed were never intended to be analyzed to the depth
that we here are analyzed them.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn