This Theory Explains Why Harry Doesn't Have A Lot Of Gryffindor Friends

Ever wonder why there are only like, 12 Gryffindors in Harry's year?

Ever wondered how many students are at Hogwarts? J.K. Rowling's response in an interview back in 2000 gave the answer: about 1,000.

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But when you look closer, that number doesn't make a lot of sense. Why are there so few students in Harry's class?

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This screencap shows Percy Weasley taking the first-year Gryffindors to their common room. In this scene, there are only about 18 students. Even in the books, Gryffindors in Harry's year besides Dean, Seamus, and the other usual suspects are rarely mentioned.

That's almost half as many students as there should be, if Hogwarts has 1,000 students as Rowling said.

There are seven years, and four houses. So theoretically, there should be about 35 Gryffindor students in Harry's year, almost double the 18 we see.

So, why the lack of students? This Tumblr user has a very sad answer:

TL;DR: There are fewer kids in Harry's year and thereabouts because of the war with Voldemort.

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Which is a pretty sad thought.

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If that was the case, we should expect a bit of a baby boom in the years under Harry, as that tends to happen following major wars.

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Voldemort's reign occurred from about 1970 to 1981, so we would expect small classes in the years above Harry as well, but larger ones in the years below.

Of course, none of this explains the sheer numbers of the Weasley family.

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