Number of students at Hogwarts

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 69329

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve Binch" <stbinch at a...> wrote:
> Tom Wall wrote:
> > mysmacek writes:
> > ...edited...
> >
> > Someone:
> > 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.
> > -----
> >
> > If we do the math, we get:
> >
> > 1000/4 = 250
> > 250 /7 = ~35
> >
> > So, about 35 students per year per house.
> >
> > ...edited...
> >
> > -Tom
> 
> I think that if JKR said there is about 1000 students, there must be
> about 1000 students. Who are we to argue with the only truly 
> omnipotant being in the Potter universe? 
> 
> -Steve

bboy_mn:

Let me add some addition comment on this issue. First, it is my firm
belief that 'about 1,000' is not a head count but a general indicator
of the size of the school. It's impossible for the school to be 1,000
student each and every year of it's existance, and since the books
span 7 years, it's equally doubtful that it is precisely 1,000.00000
student for all 7 of those years. So the only logical conclusion I can
reach is that 1,000 is a general indication of the relative size of
the school and not a head count. 

A school of the relative size or perhaps capacity of 1,000 could have
enrollments ranging from 400 to 600 in a small year, 600 to 800 in an
average year, and 800 to 1000 in a peak year. THAT represents a school
of the general size catagory of schools that fall into the catagory of
1,000.

Next, the author has NO OBLIGATION to make these minor details stand
up to mathamatical analysis. Her only obligation is to make you
believe it when you read it. Did you believe it, while you read it? I
thought so. So, her job is done. 

This deep analysis is fun for us, and it is amazing that JKR has
resolved so much of this magical world down to such fine detail. Far
more detail than many other authors, but again, her primary obligation
is to make it believable when you read it, and she has succeeded
spectacularly at that. 

Just thought I would pass that along.

bboy_mn