Families in HP (WAS: An acronym, why can't JKR count, etc.)

[mongo62aa]

No: HPFGUIDX 57824

bowlwoman:

Although, we have to factor in that we're looking at the Hogwarts 
students through Harry's eyes and he doesn't know all the students in 
Hogwarts that well.  Everyone there pretty much knows who he is (I 
mean c'mon..he's Harry Potter!), but that doesn't mean he knows them 
well enough to engage in a personal conversation about family members.

He is, of course, in close contact with the Weasleys, and Pavarti is 
in his own house (not to mention her twin went to to the Yule Ball 
with Ron).  We know Hermione is an only child (and we assume Neville 
is as well), but we haven't heard anything about Lavendar Brown, Dean 
Thomas or Seamus Finnigan.  These would be the students with which 
Harry would have the most intimate contact, so the fact that we don't 
know about their familial status is intriguing indeed.

Me (Bill):

I think that even if students have siblings also at Hogwarts, Harry 
is unlikely to be aware of this unless he knows them fairly well, and 
Harry is not exactly the most gregarious person at Hogwarts.  I would 
limit the sample to the Gryffindor students in his year, who would be 
the most likely people for Harry to know if they have siblings at 
Hogwarts.  This givs us:

Brown, Lavender
Finnigan, Seamus
Granger, Hermione
Longbottom, Neville
Patil, Parvati
Potter, Harry
Thomas, Dean
Weasley, Ron

Now, how many of these people are, given their parents, unlikely to 
have magical siblings?

Hermione - Muggle-born
Harry - orphan
Dean - Muggle-born

I am not including Neville in this last list, as he could, in theory, 
have siblings born no later than three(?) years after him.

So, two out of five students, or 40 percent, are known to have at 
least one sibling at Hogwarts,.  That sounds about right, compared to 
my high school.

Bill