Students in Harry Potter's year
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This article concerns the fictional characters in the Harry Potter series designated by J.K. Rowling as being fellow students to Harry Potter.
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
In the canonical text thus far, a large number of student names have been revealed. The names of eight Gryffindors are known (due to this being Harry Potter's own house), and Rowling has stated that there are a further two Gryffindor girls in his year (when asked if Hermione Granger, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown had any other room-mates, she said that there were a further two girls, but that she did not recall their names). A varying number of student names from the other three houses have also been revealed.
[edit] "Harry Potter and Me"
On 28th of December, 2001, a BBC interview with JK Rowling was broadcast as a special documentary. During the course of this, she produced a box of her background notes for the series of novels. She then held up to the camera a page noting Harry and his 39-41 contemporaries in his year at Hogwarts. Fans who had recorded the documentary then used still images to read the names on the page, and discover the 'unknown students' and other relevant details.
The information, dating from the early years of the inception of the novels, is dubious: some character names have been changed, and the details of other characters altered. It is therefore dubious as canonical data. Also, the manner of presentation meant that the section of the page containing the second half of the alphabet - following on from Isabel MacDougal - is incomplete, with only surnames completely visible. Rowling has not given any further information on the subject, or revealed the list again, either completely or incompletely. Nonetheless, much of the information is considered adequate, if only due to the lack of contrary evidence.
The following code was used by Rowling to indicate information:
- A black square = Male
- A clear circle = Female
- An encircled star = Pureblood
- An uncircled star = Halfblood
- A square containing an 'N' = Muggleborn
- An initial of 'G', 'H', 'R', or 'S' = House designation
[edit] Names
In alphabetical order, the names and pertinent information from the list.
[edit] Gryffindor Students
[edit] The Boys' Dormitory
1. Finnigan, Seamus. Male, halfblood, Gryffindor. The star, representing his halfblood status, was at one point encircled - designating him a pureblood. The circle was then scribbled out. [He is canonical.]
2. Longbottom, Neville. His details are not shown. [He is canonical]
[edit] The Girls' Dormitory
3 Brown, Lavender. Female, pureblood, Gryffindor. [Firmly canonical; however, her ignorance of phenomena such as the Grim leads to suggestions that she is muggleborn.]
4 Granger, Hermione. Female, muggleborn, Gryffindor. Her details were pencilled in at a later stage, between Gregory Goyle and Queenie Greengrass. [A main character, the details are unquestionable.]
[edit] Hufflepuff Students
[edit] The Boys' Dormitory
5 Corner, Michael. Male, halfblood, Hufflepuff. [The character is canonical; his house, however, was Ravenclaw.]
6 Finch-Fletchley, Justin. Male, muggleborn, Hufflepuff. [The character is canonical.]
7 Goldstein, Anthony. Male, halfblood, Hufflepuff. [The character is canonical; his house, however, was Ravenclaw - he was the Ravenclaw prefect.]
8 Hopkins, Wayne. Male, halfblood, Hufflepuff. [Has not appeared in canon.]
[edit] The Girls' Dormitory
9 Abbott, Hannah. Female, Muggle-born, Hufflepuff. [She has appeared in canon; her blood-status there is debatably not muggleborn.]
10 Bones, Susan. Female, halfblood, Hufflepuff. [She has appeared in canon.]
11 Jones, Megan. Female, halfblood, Hufflepuff. [Has not appeared in canon.]
[edit] Ravenclaw Students
[edit] The Boys' Dormitory
12 Boot, Trevor. Male, muggleborn, Ravenclaw. [Is likely to be the canonical Ravenclaw Terry Boot.]
13 Cornfoot, Stephen. Male, pureblood, Ravenclaw. [Unseen in canon.]
14 Entwhistle, Kevin. Male, muggleborn, Ravenclaw. [Unseen in canon.]
[edit] The Girls' Dormitory
15 Brocklehurst, Mandy. Female, halfblood, Ravenclaw. [Has appeared briefly in canon, at the first Sorting.]
16 Li, Su. Female, halfblood, Ravenclaw. [Has not appeared in canon.]
17 MacDougal, Isabel. Female, pureblood, Ravenclaw. The name Isabel replaces Katrina, which has been crossed out. [Has not appeared in canon; however, a character named Morag MacDougal has.]
[edit] Slytherin Students
[edit] The Boys' Dormitory
18 Crabbe, Vincent. Male, pureblood, Slytherin. [Has appeared in canon.]
19 Goyle, Gregory. Male, pureblood, Slytherin. [Has appeared in canon.]
[edit] The Girls' Dormitory
20 Bulstrode, Millicent. Female, halfblood, Slytherin. [Has appeared in canon.]
21 Davis, Tracey. Female, halfblood, Slytherin. She was initially designated as a muggleborn. [Unseen in canon.]
22 Greengrass, Queenie. Female, pureblood, Slytherin. [A character named Daphne Greengrass has appeared in canon, also a Slytherin. She is likely to be the same person.]
[edit] Unclear Students
The following students were on the second half of the page; consequently, their details were obscured.
23 Macmillan, ... [ Ernie Macmillan ]
24 Malfoy, D... The name Malfoy has been squeezed in between Macmillan and Malone [ Draco Malfoy ]
25 Malone, ... It is unclear if the name is struck out
26 Moon, Lil... [Moon, a student who was Sorted in the first book]
27 Nott, The... [ Theodore Nott ]
28 Parkinson [ Pansy Parkinson ]
29 Patel/Patil, Ma... Second vowel loops, suggesting either spelling [ Padma Patil ]
30 Patel/Patil, Ma... Second vowel loops, suggesting either spelling [ Parvati Patil ]
31 Perks, Sall... [Sally-Anne Perks]
32 Potter, Harr... [ Harry Potter ]
- Puckle, Herm... 'Puckle' is struck out and replaced with Granger. [Hermione Granger: Rowling initially intended her surname to be Puckle]
- Pupp, Nevill... 'Pupp' is struck out and replaced with 'Longbottom'; the entire name is then struck out.
33 Rivers, ... - oddly enough, replacing a struck out name resembling 'Quirrell'.
34 Roper, So...
35 Runcorn ...
36 Siddons ... Name is in faint pencil, it is unclear if it is struck out
37 Smith, ... First letter of forename appears to be a 'G'. [Possibly Zacharias Smith; however, 'G' of forename, if it is such, would suggest either a name change, or a different character.]
38 Spinks - Replaces struck out name of Spungen. The latter name was, according to Rowling, an earlier name for Draco Malfoy. Spinks was possibly an intermediate between Spungen and Malfoy; however, it does not appear to have been struck out.
39 Thomas, ... [ Dean Thomas ]
40 Turpin, ... [Lisa Turpin]
41 Weasley, ... [ Ron Weasley ]
42 Zabini, ... [ Blaise Zabini ]
[edit] Points of interest
The list, in the absence of other further authorial information, largely confirms that Harry's year, at least, is not larger than, at best, 42. This then, until Rowling says otherwise, dismisses the idea that Harry has somewhere between 80 and 110 other students in his year.
The list initially surnames Hermione as Puckle: which, if nothing else, confirms that Rowling envisioned Hermione as being so named at the time of writing the list. More interestingly, it shows that Neville Longbottom was initially envisioned as being surnamed Pupp, a very different name ('Longbottom' is an English surname common to Yorkshire and Lancashire; 'Pupp' is of German origin, and almost unknown in Britain).
The 'missing Gryffindor girls' are likely to be two of the eight/nine unattributed/unknown students appearing on the list: Malone, Lil. Moon, Sally-Anne Perks, Rivers, So. Roper, Runcorn, Siddons, G. Smith (if this is not intended to be Zacharias), or Spinks.
Hufflepuff was initially the most open House, containing no cited purebloods, and being composed mainly of halfbloods (with two muggleborns) - this would have reflected the tolerant and unprejudiced nature of Hufflepuff House. However, with the canonical removal of Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein to Ravenclaw, and the canonical citing of Ernie Macmillan as a Hufflepuff pureblood, this is not necessarily still the case.
If more recent statements from Rowling hold true, and if no listed pureblood has been relisted as a halfblood, Queenie/Daphne Greengrass has to be the only pureblooded female Slytherin - a situation thoroughly at odds with the ethos of that House.
Statistically, most names are of real-world origin, and can be traced to specific regions of the UK, and elsewhere. Furthermore, one fan analysis suggests that the choice of names represents British and Irish statistics in general: the number of Scottish names agreeing with the number of Scots required in a sample of 40 from across the British Isles, the number of Irish, northern English, etc. Statistically, in a sample of 40-42 British and Irish people, there should be approximately 3-4 from non-white families: the analysis of the names suggests that there are indeed at least 3 (the Patils and Su Li), although canon evidence shows Dean Thomas and Blaise Zabini to also fit into this category. It also demonstrates that there is at least one Jew in the year (Anthony Goldstein), in line with statistics.
[edit] Problems
The most noteworthy fact the list raises is that there may actually be forty-one other students - beside Harry himself - in this particular year group. However, it is by no means certain - the faintness of the images, and the obscured view of the second half of the page, makes a clear observation impossible. One name, Siddons, is very faint, and very difficult to immediately read - some marks suggest that it was struck out (in which case it would have been replaced by Smith). Smith is written in the original biro, and in the same style as the original names, whereas Siddons is scribbled above Smith, suggesting that Siddons was an emendation, either temporary or permanent.
Furthermore, Malfoy was not initially on the list, being later added between Macmillan and Malone. If this was due to a name change (rather than forgetfulness), another of the names is likely to be a (now defunct) former name for Malfoy. According to Rowling, Spungen was an earlier name for Malfoy. This name is indeed on the list: but it is struck out, and replaced with Spinks. Since the latter is not struck out, the simplest solution (that Spinks replaced Spungen and was itself replaced by Malfoy) is by no means certain.
More pressing is the problem of blood-status. According to Rowling, approximately 25% of wizards are Purebloods, 25% Muggleborns, and 50% halfbloods. This should, in the case of 40 students, produce 10 purebloods, 10 muggleborns, and 20 halfbloods. However, when this list information is combined with known canon information, the result is rather different. The list shows 6 purebloods, 10 halfbloods, and five muggleborns, none of which presents any issue. When canonically established purebloods - Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Ernie Macmillan, Draco Malfoy - are added, the number of Purebloods is brought up to the required ten. However, Rowling's statement then makes it impossible for characters such as Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini to be pureblooded - despite their frequently stated contempt for non-Purebloods, and the friendship between themselves and the bigoted Draco Malfoy. Theodore Nott was declared to be a pure-blood in Rowling's fansite, which increases the issue [1] There are also various issues raised by fans - the death of Hannah Abbott's mother, suggesting that the family was known to Voldemort; the ignorance displayed by Lavender Brown regarding the Grim and other wizarding customs - regarding these blood-heritage labels.
