So Exactly how many students ARE there at Hogwartz?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 191562



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, sigurd at ... wrote:
>
> Dear List
> 
> Now there's an interesting question.
> 
> If you go by the few fleeting glimpses in the movies, it seems there are thousands, at least hundreds. However whenever we are "taken into a classroom" by Rowling in one of her scenes, how big can the classes be?  We hear many times of Gryffindor taking classes with Slytherin (oddly rarely with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw) Now, how big are the classrooms and hence, how many people in a "form" or year?  We only hear of a handful of members of any class with dialogue and rarely beyond the main protagonists.
> 
> ...
> 
> 
> But Wait a minute-- just from the people we've seen there's not enough wizards in this world to go around!
> 
> But if the "Houses in Hogwarts" are much larger to allow for a greater number of wizards, then there has to be a lot more teachers to teach them, maybe 30 or 40....
> 
> Interesting.
> 
> It's why you don't want to go down certain paths when you're dealing with magic.
> 
> Otto
>

Steve:

Responding to the idea in general, I have to say we have worked the number of Student at Hogwarts from every conceivable angle, and it simply can't be made to work. Even if we make wild speculation, that amount to little more than excuses. 

Neither do the number of teacher add up relative to the number of students. There simply aren't enough hours for that many teachers to teach that many student.

Further, there is an additional issue, not in the number of students, but in the general capacity of the school. The School is certainly not a full capacity because there are unused rooms all over the place, perhaps even full unused wings for the School.

So it would seem that the wizard world has seen better days. There must have been time when the general population must have been much higher, by extension, the student population must have been substantially higher. 

If general, if we assume 60 per year, and 6 years, that 360 current student. But I would guess the capacity of the school is probably closer to 1,000 given the number of unused classrooms.

But then that leaves dorm rooms. We see them pretty full at current levels, how would those small room manage to accommodate 1000 students? 

Again, we have spend countless hours adding this up from every conceivable perspective, and even perspective is flawed at some point. 

So, it simply doesn't add up, and neither does the general wizarding population.  It would see, to have that huge bureaucracy of the Ministry, we would need many thousands of wizards. And then, as has been mentioned, how is the Ministry funded? Import/Export Tax? Sales tax? Income tax? Funded by a covert muggle tax fund? 

Lots of things don't add up when you analyze them, but then ask yourself what other books has been analyzed at the depth that the Harry Potter books have? Very very very few I would guess. 

Personally, I'm able to separate analyzing from reading. When I read, I just go with the flow. As long as a continuity misstep is not enough to pull me out of the story, it doesn't bother me at all. And I can analyze it in discussion, and still go back are read without being pulled from the story, even though I'm now aware of certain continuity errors. 

Again, try as you might, the numbers will never add up. 

Steve/bboyminn