Book Mistakes v.3

[BublGumPnkHar]

Originally Posted by HMN

JKR is known for not checking her maths but she has said outside of the books that she envisions 'about a thousand' students at Hogwarts.

So if there are 1000 students divide that by 4 houses, you get 250, divide that by 7 years and you have about 34-35 kids per house per year.

There are only 7 years right?

Originally Posted by DeathlyH

There are several instances where this is a contradiction. JKR herself said that there were about 1000 students in Hogwarts, although this makes no sense. From what we hear about the size of the common rooms, the number of teachers/classes available, and the fact that there are only 8 known Gryffindors Harry's year, there can't be more than 300 students in the school. She said there were 1000, though, and she is the boss...

Jo said there were two more Gryffindor girls in Harry's class and was going to remember to bring the names next interview, but no one ever asked her again.

Another thing to consider - that Harry's class and the one right before and after it might have been the smallest ones - Voldy was at the height of his power and Harry hadn't yet vanquished him yet. We never got a count on the sortings after Harry's year (he wasn't present again until year 4) and he wasn't really paying attention, when he was there.

With Voldy gone, the classes may have been significantly bigger again. Only the Weasleys seemed to have multiple children during VWI.

At least that is my take on it. Jo did say she was bad at maths, though.

[leah49]

Originally Posted by halfbloodsnape

I have a slight problem with the number of the students though. In their first year when the slytherins and Gryffindors are having flying lessons there are 'twenty broomsicks' waiting for them, so that would mean that there are about 10 people in a year in one house, and that would make 40 in one year and 280 in total, which is a lot less than it is impressed. However, in PoA in their last quidditch match it is said that 'Behind the Slytherin goal posts, however, two hundred people were wearing green', which means that there are at least two hundred slytherins, for I think it highly unlikely that anyone from another house would like to see slytherin win against gryffindor. so two hundred (approximately) slytherins would mean around 28 pupils in a year in one house, which would mean 750-800 pupils in Hogwarts, which is a lot more likely, but there is a contradiction there. Is is just a slipup?

I do think Rowling didn't want to write about flying lessons with a class of a hundred students. She might have to come up with names for all of them (knowing her she would)! I think she did want to keep Harry's year small. It helps to keep track of his classmates that way. But, I think she wanted to portray the school as being huge. In overall schemes it is what I imagine when I think of the school. She didn't put two and two together to see how it really looked.

Just because there are ten students in one year in a house does not mean there are automatically ten students in the year before and the year after. The Gryffindor's boys' dorm had five beds in it, but I think if any other number had been sorted into Gryffindor then the room would have the appropriate number of beds. Ten isn't the maximum number of students that can be sorted into a house in a given year. Magic just makes it look perfect in that way.

As for the Quidditch match, who's to say the two hundred wearing green were all students. It could be professors, parents of team members, alumni? We don't really hear of the latter two coming to games, but I would think they would be allowed. If I found out my kid was on the Quidditch team, especially his first year on the team, I'd want to see a match. If I wasn't a Muggle I'd hope to be allowed in.

Originally Posted by HMN

You guys are probably right, she probably didn't want him to find the platform and the mean laughter could have been part that she knew where it was and he didn't.

With Petunia and the platform I think she didn't want him to know she knew. We learn in book seven how much she did know and how jealous she was of her. I think she really tried to supress it and didn't want to anyone to know just how much she knew. She does go around hating all things magic, epsecially with Vernon who hates magic with a passion. If he found out there was a time when she wanted to go to Hogwarts what would he do? What would he think?

[halfbloodsnape]

Originally Posted by leah49

I do think Rowling didn't want to write about flying lessons with a class of a hundred students. She might have to come up with names for all of them (knowing her she would)! I think she did want to keep Harry's year small. It helps to keep track of his classmates that way. But, I think she wanted to portray the school as being huge. In overall schemes it is what I imagine when I think of the school. She didn't put two and two together to see how it really looked.

Just because there are ten students in one year in a house does not mean there are automatically ten students in the year before and the year after. The Gryffindor's boys' dorm had five beds in it, but I think if any other number had been sorted into Gryffindor then the room would have the appropriate number of beds. Ten isn't the maximum number of students that can be sorted into a house in a given year. Magic just makes it look perfect in that way.

Well, it is obvious that one cannot control the number of magical children born in a year, so there might be any number of them. I do believe that there were at least 700 pupils in school, and many reasons to back it, it is just a minor contradiction that use to bug me. For one, a castle that has 7 floors and so many corridors and staircases would seem almost empty with only 2-300 students. My school wasn't near as big as Hogwarts and we had more than 500 students attending so I can picture how many one needs to 'fill' a castle that big. I also believe that more dorms can be avaliable for one year, and only because they have five beds in that particular dorm does not mean that there aren't any other beds in other dorms for instance.

Also, there are a few names in Harry's first year mentioned at the Sorting but it is not said what house they belong to, like a certin Morag, or a Sally-Ann, so it is obvious that there are more students in a year then those mentioned all the time.

[mactheknife]

Originally Posted by halfbloodsnape

My school wasn't near as big as Hogwarts and we had more than 500 students attending so I can picture how many one needs to 'fill' a castle that big. I also believe that more dorms can be avaliable for one year, and only because they have five beds in that particular dorm does not mean that there aren't any other beds in other dorms for instance.

Yeh I agree with you here! My schools one of the biggest around where I live, and still its nowhere near the size Hogwarts is described! ...And my school had over 1,200 students attending at any one time!

[Jonny Boy]

I think that she made a mistake with her math in terms of how many students are in the school, but I think the small number of students in Harry's year can also be explained away by the fact that it was the climax of Voldemort's first rain of terror. I think it is quite likely that after he died the first time, people started having more children, and perhaps the birth rate was shrinking leading up to the year he was born. Probably Harry's year and the one right before and right after were exceptionally small, but the other years about 160 kids were in each year, with around forty per house.

[BublGumPnkHar]

Originally Posted by Jonny Boy

I think that she made a mistake with her math in terms of how many students are in the school, but I think the small number of students in Harry's year can also be explained away by the fact that it was the climax of Voldemort's first rain of terror. I think it is quite likely that after he died the first time, people started having more children, and perhaps the birth rate was shrinking leading up to the year he was born. Probably Harry's year and the one right before and right after were exceptionally small, but the other years about 160 kids were in each year, with around forty per house.

Thanks for reinforcing what I said in post #61. Everyone seems to have ignored it.

[mrfutterman]

Even 160 a year seems too many for the small number of teachers. Nor is there any reason to believe that there are more teachers hidden away somewhere: what would they teach? We know who takes which subject. We know the typical curriculum.

Rowling wanted to portray a large-ish school with lots of rooms and corridors and towers to have adventures in - this is a school story after all - but concentrates on showing the kids studying a few fun magical subjects - unlike other schools! - and the teachers who teach those subjects.

Myself - I don't think it's a big deal.

[DeathlyH]

Originally Posted by mrfutterman

Even 160 a year seems too many for the small number of teachers. Nor is there any reason to believe that there are more teachers hidden away somewhere: what would they teach? We know who takes which subject. We know the typical curriculum.

Rowling wanted to portray a large-ish school with lots of rooms and corridors and towers to have adventures in - this is a school story after all - but concentrates on showing the kids studying a few fun magical subjects - unlike other schools! - and the teachers who teach those subjects.

Myself - I don't think it's a big deal.

I agree with you on this one. It's possible that other years have more people than Harry's year- but 160 seems way too high, especially since two Houses usually have their classes together, so then you're talking about 80 kids in a classroom. There are only 14 teachers at Hogwarts, keep in mind! I think we just have to admit that JKR was inaccurate when she said there were 1000 students at Hogwarts, because that's just not possible. Even 500 seems too many.

It doesn't really matter, though.

[GinnyPotter15]

I don't think i've ever seen this mentioned before so,

In CoS, nobody can hear the strange voices that Harry is hearing in the walls, true? They don't hear it but don't understand, they really actually can't hear them.
Why is that ? Just because it's parseltongue doesn't mean it's only hearable for people who understand parselftongue, becuase Ronald hears him speak parseltongue during Harry's battle against Malfoy, just like the rest of his class.

Then I thought, maybe people can only hear other people speak parseltongue, but can not hear it when snakes use the language, but just now as I was watching GoF for the 28490320 time, I realized, as it was also mentioned in the books, that the man in the beginning of the movie, when he spots wormtail and voldemort and nagini in the little room, does hear the snake speak to Voldemort.

So how come ronald and Hermione an the rest of Hogwarts does not hear the voice of the Bassilisk, but Harry does?

[leah49]

For those who aren't Parselmouths, it's just hissing, so maybe it just blends in with other noises so they don't know that it's going on.

[cardinalguy]

Originally Posted by GinnyPotter15

I don't think i've ever seen this mentioned before so,

In CoS, nobody can hear the strange voices that Harry is hearing in the walls, true? They don't hear it but don't understand, they really actually can't hear them.
Why is that ? Just because it's parseltongue doesn't mean it's only hearable for people who understand parselftongue, becuase Ronald hears him speak parseltongue during Harry's battle against Malfoy, just like the rest of his class.

Then I thought, maybe people can only hear other people speak parseltongue, but can not hear it when snakes use the language, but just now as I was watching GoF for the 28490320 time, I realized, as it was also mentioned in the books, that the man in the beginning of the movie, when he spots wormtail and voldemort and nagini in the little room, does hear the snake speak to Voldemort.

So how come ronald and Hermione an the rest of Hogwarts does not hear the voice of the Bassilisk, but Harry does?

Maybe they do hear it, but simply dismiss the ambient hissing.

[dumbledores1fan]

Originally Posted by leah49

For those who aren't Parselmouths, it's just hissing, so maybe it just blends in with other noises so they don't know that it's going on.

Yes, I agree. There is probaley so much going on in Hogwarts that they don't hear it, or just dismiss as the school getting old. The school has been around for awhile, they might just think it's an after-affect of that.

[leah49]

It's the building settling.

[mactheknife]

Yeh, they probably do hear the Basalisk 'talking', but they don't realise because they can't understand what its saying. Maybe they think its the hissing of the pipes in the school!

[eaglestreasure]

Originally Posted by HMN

I was re-reading DH a few weeks ago, and when it came to the part with Snape's memories, we see Platform 9 3/4 with young Snape and young Lily and Petunia. Now if Petunia was on the platform to send Lily off to her first year of school, then why in the world would she be laughing with the rest of the Dursleys in the first book when they drop Harry off at the station and point out that there is no 9 3/4. She knows it is there and it is real, and she should know how to get onto it!

Blocked it out perhaps, but I think it is more of a book mistake.

I feel you're absolutely right here; while it's certainly possible, and maybe even probable, that she was blocking it out or trying to keep the cool with Vernon, I think this is more of a genuine mistake. She doesn't seemed to have laughed much in the series, so in my mind, she must really have thought Harry silly

But I'm totally OK with this going the other way too. Thanks for pointing this out!

Originally Posted by beckyd

That implies that she is some way away. Perhaps the table order is G,H,R,S?

I imagined the tables in almost the exact opposite way:
Slytherin (far left), Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff (far right).

I actually think your imagining makes much more sense, but I'm just too used to my visuals to give them up

[LordThingy]

I was actually just wondering about the size of Hogwarts today. I was wondering how the staff got around to teaching classes to the whole school in a single week if there were 1000 students. I'm thinking Harry's year must be abnormally small, due to the war. I do wish Jo would clear it up sometime.

[DeathlyH]

Originally Posted by LordThingy

I was actually just wondering about the size of Hogwarts today. I was wondering how the staff got around to teaching classes to the whole school in a single week if there were 1000 students. I'm thinking Harry's year must be abnormally small, due to the war. I do wish Jo would clear it up sometime.

But Voldemort's reign didn't last just one year. It would have been going on all six years before Harry's year, making all of the years ahead of him at Hogwarts the same size as his. If Harry's year is about 40 people, which JKR has said it is, then the other years would all need at least 160 people to make 1000. Then you have 80 students in one class. There aren't enough teachers or subjects in Hogwarts to support this many people. There cannot be 1000 students in Hogwarts. It's just not possible.

[leah49]

Originally Posted by eaglestreasure

I imagined the tables in almost the exact opposite way:
Slytherin (far left), Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff (far right).

I actually think your imagining makes much more sense, but I'm just too used to my visuals to give them up

I've always imagined it Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin with Slytherin closest to the door.

[dumbledores1fan]

Originally Posted by leah49

I've always imagined it Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin with Slytherin closest to the door.

So have I! It always seemed to makes sense that way!

[Jigga]

Hogwarts has to be very large, considering it is the only wizarding shcool in Britain. Every adult wizard in the wizarding world went to Hogwarts. So there has to be more than a few hundred.