What's in the Box? - Numbers

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 177018

---  Random832 <random832 at ...> wrote:
>
> > Bart:
> > First of all, while the canon is kind of 
> > self-contradictory on this, there APPEAR to be 
> > about 10 students in each house in each class 
> > (about 40 per year, about 280 students in the 
> > school).

> Random832:
> 
> Whoa, there. This is what happens when everyone's so
> obsessed with the numbers - There are 10 students for
> each house in Harry's year *that JKR has defined* - 
> backgrounds, personalities, etc ... It's a microcosm.
> 
> ... This assumption that because she's only got 40 
> characters on the class list, that there's only 40 
> students in harry's year, is unfair - ...

bboyminn:

Well, I'm not suppose to say this but...I agree.
Once again fans are making huge assumptions. There
seem to be 10 students in Harry's Gryffindor class year,
but the 280 number has always been hopelessly flawed. 
If we applied that same logic to my school, you would
assume the whole school was 180 students. But if
we simply pick another class year as our model, you
would then assume the total was 360 students. That's
quite a difference. By the way, the actual total was
about 320. 

One class year does not define a whole school. True
it can be used to come up with a vague and general
approximation, but that's all...vague and general.

It is unreasonable to assume every class in every
year is exactly the same size. It is also unreasonable
to assume that every House is exactly the same size.
That may seem to be true in Harry's year, but Harry's
class year does not define the world for all time. 

In addition I think the fact that JKR defined 40 
students with backstories and personalities is
coincidental to the fact that there seems to be 40
students in Harry's school year. Yes, the both
seem to add up to the same number, but again,
coincidental. One does not define or confirm the other.

Those 40 students on the list represent a list of all
students in all years that JKR can draw on when ever
she needs to bring a new character into the story.
She created the list so she would have fully realize
characters when she needed them, and therefore not
have to make them up on the spot. 

Just passing it along.

Steve/bboyminn