Wizardkind is Going EXTINCT - Harry Potter Theory

Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. Today we’re discussing a rather DARK theory which posits that Wizardkind- that is, all of the witches and wizards in the magical world, are on a path to EXTINCTION.
But before we get in to their possible extinction, let’s first take a brief look at their origins.
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[@D2attemp]

Voldemort and the Death Eaters did more damage to Pure Bloods than any Blood “Traitor” or Muggle-born ever did or would. The Longbottoms, Mckinnons, Blacks and Prewitts were dwindled or wiped out by the Death Eaters. And their megalomania basically ended the Lestrange, Crouch and Crabbe bloodline.

[@chissstardestroyer]

Yeah, and their antics would have the after-effect not unlike what was summarized to the Final Solution to the German Question in Czechosolovkia: functional extermimation of any kind of elites- or the response to the "augments" be they having denounced Khan's antics of gone along with him; with Col. Greene's foregone victory assured, as it would numerically be certain: nobody augmented would be permitted to survive; and that protocol was actually far *more* important than winning a war for survival- that state only barely pulled back from its unimaginably murderous agendas when in the course of the Dominion War they were taking far too many casualties to be able to survive, so really anybody even remotely above the baseline is really someone who's *obliged to die*, and has neither any appeal at all, nor any ability to be defended; solely because of them being a "gifted elite", and Tom Riddle was a profoundly stupid man when it comes to labor economics at that!

[@jayt9608]

I believe that I saw a video a couple years ago that showed the sacred 28 preparing to be trimmed to the rarified 7 or 8. There were a number that died or married out of the pure lines. If I remember correctly, the Potters were on the verge of being added to the list with Harry's grandchildren, provided his children married purebloods.

[@chissstardestroyer]

@@jayt9608 Well, baseline; these "magical folk" really are, in her works; to be seen as a kind of "subspecies" of human being- fully human, but with some genetic differences... that's nothing unusual to human beings: we used to have all manner of these kinds of situations, yet our modern sciences claim these were totally different species. The problem is the interbreding, as that proves that all hominids of the past "species" really are fully human: the reason is that different species always have different number of chromosomes; so the children, if they survive to adulthood, are sterile. Seeing as almost all modern-day humans have approximately 1.2% Neanderthal DNA, we must conclude that all of these "primitive human species" are really subspecies/races of human being, and fully human. So would they be- the problem, as Harry would point out in an intervention with a "dark wizard" he'd lay out that the entities that the wizard in interrogation/intervention is really a kind of "gangster" and why he would call him out on, and on what grounds. Especially verifying that these activities of the wizard(s) in question are actually profoundly self-destructive.

[@jayt9608]

@@chissstardestroyer I have no argument with your comment and general premise, but I am confused as to its relevance to this particular conversational thread when we were discussing the destruction of the families on the list of the sacred 28.

[@chissstardestroyer]

@@jayt9608 Uh, no, actually: the nature of this story really is the claim that Tom Riddle may well have caused tremendous harm to his own ethnic group: as it would tend to inevitably trigger their complete extermination. The "Muggles" seem to have forgotten a war in the past between the two groups; I learned this detail from some of the movies' staff's remarks, but the Wizards certainly did not; they *know* they were subjugated, darn near complete extermination as the hazard that lurks over their heads if they ever move again too far. The nature of the situation, therefore, in terms of another story that Harry may well be familiar with in passing is the Eugenics Wars in "Star Trek" and the fallout being the eradication of the "augments"- he would as a young full-grown man know *quite well* what would await his own ethnic group should they move too far: that's why they tend to keep to the shadows: they know what would end up happening if they go too far and reveal themselves. Also, based on the reference to Harry's own kind going extinct, which's what I was addressing: that could explain it quite well; and would only serve to rapidly accelerate the process of their extermination: especially if the "Muggles" get a maniac not unlike a perverse mix of Oliver Cromwell and Col. Greene; Heaven help them then! Come to think of it, Oliver Cromwell and his faction *would've* been *quite happy* to be involved in that kind of a war; due to the psychologies of the men involved in his "New Model Army".

[@tatalsaba]

Regarding Hogwarts' size: I think it's likely that specific size was because the founders believed there would be more wizards in the future, and as there wasn't many wizarding schools in the world at the time, they likely also expected quite a few international students.

[@maryholder3795]

Also it could be that when Hogwarts was originally built wixen needed protection from muggles. So families also stayed there hence the need for a larger castle. Just an idea.

[@tatalsaba]

@@maryholder3795 Good point.

[@alexanderkeene4367]

There's also the possibility that they're just having fewer children like the rest of us. Two hundred years ago in Britain, having six or seven children would have been the norm. Now, it is one or two, maybe three if you are ambitious.

[@sofiadragon6520]

There is also the possibility that there were more on-campus trades. Instead of everyone living in their own house, there were far more multi family and multi generational setups. Manor houses on the muggle side would have dozens of servants and craftsmen. The lord's favorite tailor or doctor and his family might have a set of rooms in the Manor or an out-building on the property as part of their patronage. The teachers at the school might have their spouse and children on campus. Now, that's not as necessary when you can teleport, but you get the idea. The floo network might be more modern, and while people who work in a castle tend to live in the village that supports it, not everyone did. Heads of House, who need to be available in an emergency at all hours, are a good example of a Hogwarts staff position where going home to your family somewhere off campus would be difficult.

[@Sexynes]

Mr. Weasley will single-handedly prevent wizard extinction

[@LordTKII]

Possibly, after the war his 6 surviving children produce 12 grandchildren. 🤣

[@takix2007]

By having mostly boys... 😄

[@SpartanSamurai8621]

Best comment here…

[@chissstardestroyer]

I can actually see how: Arthur Weasley is the sort of man to do what has to be done: especially when he would perceive that even if they naturally have these telekinetic gifts- it really sanely does not follow that they should use them for whatever they want: some choices men make regarding power trips really do undo the men in question; I can clearly see him arguing to say Mr. Malfoy on the politics of the question of manly restraint, maybe as a political debate.

[@samanthacharlton4123]

Singlehandedly? Without a woman? Not possible. You mean Mr. AND Mrs. Weasley.

[@boredfangerrude8759]

Don't forget Squibs. They commonly marry muggles and have the magic gene, which is why many muggleborn witches and wizards exist. So there should be a big muggleborn boom at some point.

[@lilyyoung1002]

Make sense

[@Bolpat]

Er, no. If the magic gene is dominant, squibs can't have it. That's what being dominant means for a gene. The opposite is recessive.

[@boredfangerrude8759]

@Bolpat Except, genetics are not that simple. In real life, there are dominant genes that exist in someone but aren't active but may be active in their kids. We call this skipping a generation. For example, my family primarily has brown and black hair, but I was born with red hair.

[@dylancoykendall554]

@@boredfangerrude8759exactly, it’s punnet squares

[@Bolpat]

@@boredfangerrude8759 Your example is right on what I'm saying. Brown hair is dominant. If your parents both have BR genes, i.e. one brown hair gene and one red hair gene, they have brown hair, but if you inherited R from both of them, you don't have it (your genetics are RR) and thus can have red hair. I understand genetics very well. If a characteristic is determined by one gene (which is what Rowling expressed using the definite article“the” on the gene - it means there is exactly one) and that gene is dominant, it's very simple. It would be a little more complicated if there were e.g. two co-dominant and one recessive genes as with blood types. As for skipping a generation, that's something someone says who doesn't understand it. If both of your parents have the O blood type, you have it, too, 100%. The O blood type won't skip a generation and make children have A or B or AB blood. Can't happen, because O is recessive, meaning someone with O blood has OO genotype. On the other hand, A and B are co-dominant, meaning that if both your parents have blood type A, each of them could have genotype AA or AO. If one has AA, you as the child get a guaranteed A, your blood type won't be O. If both are AO, you might inherit an O from both of them, making your genotype OO, i.e. your blood type O. If magic is a dominant gene, it's like the A allele of blood type: There can be squibs the same way a child of A-type parents can be O, but there can't be muggle-borns as there is no way a child of two O-type parents can't be anything but O-type. My best guess is that Rowling meant to say recessive. That would explain why there are muggle-borns at all and why there seem to be more than than squibs. Now, looking at the mix-up table, it would seem there should be more squibs actually, but take behavior into account: By selective breeding, you can get to a society in which the dominant gene is (almost) gone and everyone has the recessive gene phenotype; that is what pure-blood families would have been. A real-life example: Among the Native Americans, everyone had the O blood type. The only thing you can't selectively breed for is hybrids: If you want a society with AB-type blood, you can't just single them out and pair them among each other because 25% of their children will have the AA or BB genotype and therefore not have the AB genotype, which is the only one who has AB phenotype. What you could do instead is breed AA genotype and BB genotype societies separately and mix them deliberately because the children of an AA parent and a BB parent are all (100%) AB. Of course not everything is determined by a single gene or by genes alone or by genes at all. Even if genes play a role, it need not be a system with dominant or recessive or co-dominant genes, there can be mixing. However, as was phrased by Rowling, this is all ruled out: Her short statement implies that magic ability is completely determined by genetics, by a single gene, and the gene is dominant.

[@macwelch8599]

Extinction is exactly why most wizards are half-blood

[@imperialinquisition6006]

Yeah but that isn't extinction is it, its essentially meaningless in terms of magical ability, or ability to pass on magical ability, it's essentially a largely meaningless "status" that only matters to extremist ideologue pureblood types, most of whom are killed in the war, so their beliefs probably largely die with them.

[@Saiku]

While technically not extinct yet, the population decline makes them an endangered of becoming extinct. ​@@imperialinquisition6006

[@usern4metak3ns]

​@@imperialinquisition6006it is, muggles can't use wands or cast spells at all. cannot see some creatures and objects of the wizard world. which means, muggle blood is bad for wizards. a mud blood is an anomaly at best.

[@Weathernerd27]

Genes don't work that way when you combine 2 of the same genes you get a same strength or weaker gene but if you combine 2 different genes it makes a stronger gene. If the gene is dominant its traits get expressed no matter what. If the gene is recessive you need 2 of the gene for the trait to be expressed. The wizarding gene must be dominant because a half-blood child only has 1 wizard gene. I suspect with half blood parents not every child would have magical abilities the magical parent could give the child a wizard gene or a muggle gene and the muggle parent could only give a muggle gene. However the children that did have magical abilities might be even more powerful than the purebloods because 2 different genes are stronger.

[@Nemo12417]

@@Weathernerd27 I'd add to that that Squibs are far too rare in Harry Potter for magical genetics to be as simple as the Punnett squares we did in grade school (I'm pretty sure real genetics are a bit more complicated than that).

[@c4ctusc4ctusc4ctus]

need to stop wizard on wizard violence fr 😔

[@itzwillyboy2377]

can we at least have an arena

[@MrJoueurdusalon]

We can say that there were a lot of students during the founding of Hogwarts because there was no age limit for new students, like first year students who were between 11 and 15 years old since before there were no There was no school to accommodate them, hence the large size of the castle.

[@d0lph1n63]

Plus we’re told that Hogwarts was one of if not the first wizarding school to exist so no doubt students came from all over the known world to study there hence the castle’s large size despite the currently small residential population. Fast forward a thousand years or so there are at least 7 wizarding schools around the world, the majority of the “witch-hunting” has effectively died out, and parents now get to decide which wizarding school they want their children to go to. Draco mentions that his father wanted to transfer him to Drumstrang instead of attending Hogwarts (only for his mother to put her foot down) and Ron mentions that his brother Bill had a penpal from a wizard school in South America. And when Ron mentions the thing about interbreeding with muggle-borns did he mention wizard kind as a whole or only those in Europe as not every one got persecuted for being able to use magic?

[@MrBennieagray]

I would see it as them creating a school for the future. So that's why there were also thousands of rooms set up. To prepare for the future kids

[@dragonheck]

also Hogwarts was also built as a bastion a last stand against the Non-magical it was built not only to teach the next generation but to defend them as well Hogwarts is a military base school but the need for its military ability has dwindled over the years but we cannot forget it is a Castle a military structure and this was built before the separation so there was always a chance for an attack

[@shadowarchivist2382]

​@@d0lph1n63 It may depend on their location. The American magical society, MACUSA, effectively prohibits anything more than absolutely necessary interaction with non-magical individuals.

[@craxd1]

You have to remember that the purebloods acted the same as their muggle aristocratic counterparts, only having an heir, and sometimes, a spare. The Weasley family was an exception, and that was because Molly wouldn't quit until she had a girl. Two world wars with Grindelwald involved, and then, Voldemort, ended up with many dying off, and with the purebloods, losing their only heir, and sometimes, their spare. Add inbreeding, which makes weak or slow-witted magicals, and marrying muggles, which could cause squibs, magic could disappear. JKR did say that muggle-borns only appeared over having a magical ancestor in the family. So, yes, after Voldemort, they could very well die out unless there's a baby boom. That's why several fanfics were written where the ministry forced of-age marriages and the birth of new magicals.

[@imperialinquisition6006]

Sound like really stupid fanfics honestly. Muggleborns would objectively be increasing, as likely would half-bloods(more muggleborns = more halfbloods). Pureblood families may not do so well, unless they married muggleborns or half-bloods, but they were doing this anyway, and no wizard at all had pure original magical blood. And from what I understand magical ability is not directly related to the blood status of the parents, but to having magically capable parents, for example the children of Ron and Hermione wouldn't be any less magical than those of Harry and Ginny, because ultimately blood status doesn't matter. So as long as muggleborns keep appearing, which they definitely would due to genetics, so there is basically no chance of magic dying out.

[@craxd1]

@@imperialinquisition6006 The fanfics had the purebloods forced into marrying half-bloods and muggle-borns over that reason. However, we really don't know how many so-called purebloods actually exist, since it's more than twenty-eight. Nott only included those that he preferred, which was why the Potters weren't included. The odd things was, JKR had half-bloods as being the most magically powerful. That covered Albus, Harry, Gellert, and Tom. I think that her thinking was that the inbreeding had made the purebloods weak, magically. I've often wondered who the magical was in the Evans line. It could have been a squib or a magical that married a muggle, or a child born by nefarious means that I won't mention here. JKR gave a hint about Hermione when Slughorn mentioned a Dagworth-Granger. That was probably a magical Granger that married a muggle before the name was hyphenated over a marriage. IMO, the purebloods would have done the same thing that their muggle aristocratic counterparts did when they left the plantations behind, and their textile mills failed, leading to them living off the family savings. They later sought out nouveau riche wives and husbands from the US and the mainland. That was how Churchill came to be; his mother was American. The British women were called “Dollar Princesses.” Wealthy men, in the US, were seeking out British titles by marrying daughters from the aristocratic houses of Britain and vice versa. They also gained political power within the UK by these marriages as well. This occurred when the oil boom was just starting.

[@GuineaPig361]

@@craxd1 That marrying out adds a layer to the revival of the Tri-Wizard Tournament; maybe Bill's not the only one who benefited from it.

[@shilohwehrmacht2947]

​@imperialinquisition6006 all magical ability came from originally nonmagical humans so jkr either didn't say muggleborns have magical lineage always or she contradicted herself later

[@craxd1]

@@shilohwehrmacht2947 J.K. Rowling: "Muggleborns will have a witch or wizard somewhere on their family tree, in some cases many, many generations back. The gene re-surfaces in some unexpected places." Magical origins: Muggle-borns inherited magic from a distant ancestor; they were descended from Squibs who had married Muggles and whose families had lost the knowledge of their wizarding legacy.--HP Wiki

[@joshuadesautels]

"If we hadn't married Muggles we'd have died out."

[@lukedunlap7762]

Great video, one thing missed here was that Hogwarts was the first known wizarding school, so it is likely that as other schools were founded they siphoned off some of the applicants that would have gone to Hogwarts. We know this is possible because Malfoy mentions that his father was thinking of sending him to Durmstrang instead of studying under Dumbledore.

[@markborishnikoff5485]

That’s true

[@spudhillfarm5076]

I sure as hell wouldn't send my kid to a school as poorly managed as Hogwarts.

[@yodelingllamas1145]

The notion that a baby boom would have happened after the death of Voldemort is based on the idea that all those people came back to Britain. If families didnt come back after the war then there wouldnt be a baby boom. With the state of Hogwarts at that time and the subsequent years after, it's possible that most families enrolled in other schools to better safeguard their children.

[@dan1934]

The other issue with this theory of a baby boom is that no one truly believed Voldemort was dead. He Who Must Not Be Named…if they truly thought him dead then there wouldn’t have been a need to tip toe around the name. That war didn’t actually end until the Battle of Hogwarts…the between time was more of a cease fire.

[@bradleychan5684]

@@dan1934 Very true. Voldemort didn't go down the first time so not many fleeing European Wizards and Witches would have a good reason to believe that Harry Potter succeeded this time.

[@jhill4874]

The biggest difference between wizards and mortals is that wizards have a higher percentage of morons in their group over mortals. And that's a lot.r

[@Spartan3D213]

A lot of the greatest wizards never had an ounce of logic"! -hermione granger.

[@24934637]

100,000 people at the quiditch world cup? That's MASSIVE considering there will be probably as many people who aren't interested in quiddich as there are people who aren't interested in football (In % terms).

[@mya1999]

Yes but take into consideration that these people are from all over the world not only Britain or Bulgaria

[@Nemo12417]

Don't forget that many of the people there might not have cared about Quidditch that much. Like Arthur said, when wizards are out together, they just can't help but show off.

[@muninrob]

Wasn't that match the equivalent of a World Cup championship match? Seems about right for a group that's ~0.25% of the overall population. (That % being a rough extrapolation made by comparing audience size between the Quiddich & Soccer world cups.)

[@schwarzerritter5724]

Quidditch is pretty much the only massive event wizards have. Even those only mildly interested in Quidditch would show up just to meet people. Especially considering travelling around the world is barely an inconvenience.

[@mya1999]

@@schwarzerritter5724 And i would like to point out as well as Rowling has mentioned in an interview loong ago that wizarding kind is abt 10% of the worlds population and 1994 it was 5.6 billions in the world which would mean that the wizarding population in the world is roughly 5,6 millions on the entire planet taking into two big wars in UK and Europe so lets say roughly 5 million on the entire planet. And around 10% of the population on the planet lives in Europe im not going to do that math today but that one interview is what i have based my view on the wizarding world . Just a little info dump if you are intrested

[@MageGrayWolf]

Another possability. The castle wasn't orginally built to be a school, it was just repurposed into one. So it's size could account for it's original function but left it mostly empty as a school.

[@peterg9729]

It was explicitly founded and built as a school for magic. I know the trained waitress and dole-scrounger just ignores everything she wrote, but there's no reason for us to do it.

[@melkormorgothbauglir.4848]

@@peterg9729 I know but they powerful wizards is the excuse but likely the Founders didn't just build a new castle in the middle of nowhere but on top of some original broken structure like a stormed and the Founders likely built on tp of it for convinience and because rumors that it was haunted do to the forbidden forest next to it and how isolated it was led them to settle for it.

[@brianmartyn2631]

Unless I somehow missed it, you forgot to mention stuff like the witch trials and burning at the stake. If muggles were actually successful at it and witches didn’t just pretend to get burned for entertainment. There was one witch that was mentioned who kept getting “caught” just to do a protection charm just to mess with the muggles, the name escapes me at the moment.

[@1hiddenearth]

I was going to mention the same thing. Historical accounts mention entire German cities wiping out nearly every last female. I'm no anthropologist but that's going to cut into your population. 😏

[@kamenriderfourze8434]

Wendelin the Weird

[@johnsimpson4715]

With an average life expectancy of 137 3/4 years, where are all of the grand parents? With the exception of Neville Longbottom, none of the characters in the series have any ancestors older than 60 years old. The distinguished and wealthy potion-makers, the Potters, are down to a single member after the tragic events of 31 October, 1981. I am skeptical of some of the propoganda put out by the ministry.

[@TerezatheTeacher]

I, too, wouldn't trust the ministry, but there WAS a war up to 10 years before Harry goes to Hogwarts. And if we don't know anything about most grandparents, it might be because they're irrelevant to the plot, Harry is inobservant and teens have better things to discuss than great-grandparents. Plus auntie Muriel is old af.

[@davidkennedy8929]

I always thought that Hogwarts looked pretty full, especially the great hall at start of term!

[@Oscario2004]

The movies are often inaccurate

[@LordTKII]

It's possible that the great hall and also the dorm rooms can adjust their internal size as needed.

[@chickenwyngs3646]

@@LordTKIIthe likely explanation, as many students from Drumstrang and Beauxbatons were there for Harry's 4th year

[@Lurker37]

There is as key assumption made in this extinction theory: That Hogwarts was built to have every room full of students. The fact that the dining hall is never described as even half-empty, nor is the table for teaching staff ever described as having room for many more teachers, and even the common rooms never being described as under-utilised all suggest the Hogwarts is in fact operating at its designed capacity. Instead, Hogwarts may have been designed to only have a minority of its space allocated to classes, with many other rooms for other purposes either planned for the future, only used for specific occasions, for storage and staff facilities, or simply not connected to its role as a school at all. For example: There is historical precedent for castles to be built as big as possible simply to make an impression, where space and money allow. If the founders were hoping to make a statement, they may have simply chosen to build a complex as big as they had room for. Equally likely is the possibility that the architect was not completely sane (I mean, who puts moving staircases in a building traversed by schoolchildren?).

[@Splashstar216]

But JKR herself stated the 1,000 students. My high school had more than that.

[@dragonheck]

Hogwarts + time period it was built in = military structure

[@rainynight02]

They can manipulate the size of rooms, so you could argue the dining hall grows or shrinks to whatever size is needed.

[@tristanmitchell1242]

They never mention an empty chair or space at the table for the teachers that aren't at the feast, yet on the few occasions that they are there, there is both a seat and room for them. Despite never being described as empty or having clear spots, the other schools in Goblet of Fire can easily mix with the student body, and it is not described as crowded at all.

[@christianmarrero5196]

Well, if they stopped sending their students to deadly areas as punishment for rule breaking (like sending harry to the sider infested woods) and placing them in deathtraps (like the people they kidnapped and tied underwater on the tri-cup) they would certainly lower the death rates of wizard kind among other things...

[@eranshachar9954]

As for the GOF- Just because 100,000 magical folks arrived at the event, doesn't mean it's all that remained. Should I remind you that a sporting event is most likely expensive? As for the question of extinction I think not, I think the wizarding world is far from it. The wizarding wars- Goblin rebelions at their time, Grindelwald war and two Tom Marvolo Riddle wars made a disastrous impact on the magical community. Not just in Britain in many places.

[@iamwhoiam7887]

Expensive but the Weasleys can afford it?

[@eranshachar9954]

@@iamwhoiam7887 No they can't. Super Carlin brothers say- Dumbledore asked Ludo Bagman to give the tickets to the Weasly family, because he calculated they will bring Harry along. He wanted Harry to get exposure to the greater wizarding world. In the book the reason is not very convincing- In the book Ludo says he owe a favor to Arthur, because Arthur helped him somehow (which I called bullshit).

[@sallywyatt2918]

Wizards segregating themselves from the rest of human population kept the magic gene from spreading.

[@kcirtapelyk6060]

But the majority of wizards by the early 20th century were halfbloods, so there wasn’t that much segregation between wizards and muggles.

[@Robert-hz9bj]

I think the size of Hogwarts can be explained by something else: the presence of a significant local muggle population. Here's the thing: the idea that, when it was founded around 1000 years earlier, the school held a population of 10,000 magical students is somewhat ludicrous. The entire population of Scotland of the time was maybe half a million people. And if you assume the students were all local inhabitants (since the concept of "Great Britain" and the "UK" weren't a thing yet), that would mean that wizards and witches made up like 2% of the entire population, which seems WAAAY too high. However, what if when the school was founded, they hired local muggles to staff the kitchens and maintain the grounds, as well as serve as a mercenary garrison? Remember, the vast majority of these students are not yet fully trained witches and wizards, and the school only has a handful of professors. A majority of the castle's inhabitants might not be capable of defending themselves properly. So, the Founders outsource the job to armed, non-wizarding folk. Remember in that one "Beedle Bard" tale about the magic fountain, the three witches are accompanied by a knight. They don't dismiss him out of hand as "useless" or state that the journey is too dangerous for him, implicitly suggesting that a trained fighter might be of use to them. Prior to the statute of secrecy, muggles and wizards interacted pretty freely, so why not hire some of them to work at Hogwarts?

[@tordlindgren2123]

I think that there is a big part with the magical gene as a recessive gene. I also think that where magical people won't dissapear entirely, there is a big chance of magical people only resurfacing every 2-5 generations in muggle families which would create a big loss of tradition and heritage in those matters. With that in mind i think wizardkind would indeed become an obsurity unless some measures were taken in one form or another. Which would in of itself be an interesting topic to explore.

[@joshuahallett6235]

Honestly I always thought that the most likely time for a baby boom would be post Voldemort’s legitimate death in 1998

[@bradleychan5684]

Voldemort didn't go down the first time so not many fleeing European Wizards and Witches would have a good reason to believe that Harry Potter succeeded this time.

[@joshuahallett6235]

@@bradleychan5684 except if we refer to the book there was his intact dead body to prove that he was truly dead this time.

[@shauntempley9757]

@@joshuahallett6235 Yes. The films imply that the wizards would all be extinct, or close to it, by the 21st Century, due to how they killed Voldemort off in Britain. I feel the rest of the wizarding world would go on. It is the British part of the wizarding world that will go that way. It is implied by every wizard and witch throughout the films as a result, that Britian's involvement of it is done, no matter how the fight with Voldemort and Harry plays out, because more and more parents of purebloods are taking their children to other wizarding schools around the world over that time. If Dumbledore did calculate that Harry would go to that World Cup match to meet the others, then he clearly intended Harry to be a massive part of the wizarding world going forwards.

[@jackbland3406]

But surely bc of muggle borns won't that mean they won't? Technically wasn't the first ever wizardkind muggle born?

[@Delta040301]

Best not mention that around Malfoy.

[@MikePrivalis]

Was it ever officially confirmed in the canon that wizards live longer because of differences in their physiology? I always thought they were the same as muggles in that regard and the only reason for their increased lifespan is, as mentioned, their superior healthcare and the ability to cure conditions that would be fatal or permanently damaging for muggles. You see, even in the real world, our "muggle" brains (and thus, the consciousness of a person) can theoretically remain functional long past the age of 100 years. It's usually the other organs which wear out and fail first. Since the advent of modern medicine, human lifespan has increased dramatically (at least in the wealthy countries), and if we master things like tissue engineering, which would let us "grow" replacement organs and regenerate damaged tissues to their full functionality, we could probably reach the lifespan of wizardkind just with our "muggle" science and tech. Yes, we would still struggle more with certain diseases and conditions, so not everyone could live to that age, but it would be possible, and perhaps more and more common as we find new and better ways to cure things like cancer or neurological diseases. So, whether or not the differences in physiology are canon, they aren't even necessary to explain why wizards live longer than muggles. Wizards are simply a few decades or centuries ahead in the field of medicine, but muggles can eventually catch up. 😀

[@thestanleys3657]

As far as we know none of the teachers at Hogwarts have children (except lupin) Families like the Malfoy's only have one child or none Yeah we see the Weasley's have a large family but that seems an oddity. most seem to have two or less(which isn't good for population growth) So its not in the realm of impossible but as you pointed out the magic gene is naturally occurring so it'll likely just keep cropping up randomly all over to keep wizardkind going

[@LegioXXI]

Im always wondered why the pure blood families with their superiority complex and wealth tend to have so few children. Like if i believe in the superiority of my blood and also have a partner who shares those supremacist values, why only give birth to only 1-2 children max - if any at all? I mean, even in real life conservative nationalists tend to have more children. This is really something that dosen't make sense in this universe.

[@user-se5rz5jf6b]

Replacement birthrate is 2.1 children per couple, when there no to low numbers of childless single people. That doesn't seem likely at all for the wizarding world portrayed in HP.

[@dragonheck]

the fantasy elfish principle is at play (don't know if there is a real name for this or not) longer lifespan = fewer births

[@melkormorgothbauglir.4848]

@@dragonheck Ye innit it should be the opposite I assume womens fertility window is larger too because witches age slower so menpause would happen in their mid 60s or late 70s.

[@feuerling]

​@@melkormorgothbauglir.4848 and that doesn't even account for witches and wizards using magic to extend/restore their fertility.

[@Usagi2380]

Hogwarts isn't the only school for Witches and Wizards there's Witches and Wizards all over the world according to the info outside the books so they're not declining or going extinct

[@grokeffer6226]

I'm guessing that between Grindelwald and Voldemort, as well as there being many schools and some home schooling (maybe), there was a temporary slow-down in births amongst Wizards and Witches. It would reflect on the apparent population at Hogwarts. I'm thinking maybe that Hogwarts was one of the oldest schools, so that when it was opened it had to accommodate students from further away, too.

[@user-se5rz5jf6b]

I think the Wizarding world in Great Britain is analogous to the muggle world in Great Britain, both have anemic birthrates and steeply decreasing populations.

[@teddyhh9947]

Wizardkind really need to stop having wizard-wars every 10 years. At this point it would be much better for them to let a "dark lord" rule than continue with their perpetual wars

[@rainynight02]

Supposedly there's only been two "wizard wars" The one with Grindelwald and the one with Voldemort.

[@Maxfromohio2155]

@@rainynight02 if you count the first and second wizarding war as one then there would be two wars because if I’m correct the war with grindelwald was called the global wizarding war and the wars with Voldemort was called the first and second wizarding war

[@alexanderallegra432]

Harry never knew he was a wizard. Most non muggles who are wizards probably don’t know cause of the safeguard to the magical world. They need a small community to watch over them as easy. Imagine dumbledore trying to help 10 Harrys.

[@terryglover3215]

Don't forget that also descendants of Squibs, from both parentage lines activates the gene.

[@Draconisrex1]

Considering muggles can become witches & wizards without any magical ancestors, it's got to be genetic.

[@craxd1]

That's not what JKR said.

[@mehmettolgakaratas5219]

Great channel and video

[@dreadfulspiller8766]

I'm pretty sure that muggle borns have a squib or a wizard in their family tree.

[@juliie007]

Magic it’s a primordial force which means that it can embed itself within the DNA of all living things. I often liken this process by which magic embeds itself into humans to midichlorians and that are responsible for the force manipulation in Star Wars. You can be born as a Jedi or sith without having an ancestor who could manipulate the force because it chooses you just like magic choosing muggle borns in HP. They may not necessarily need to descend from a squib.

[@sollyfan]

All muggle borns do have at least one magical ancestor

[@johndeltuvia7892]

The biggest problem with the survival of magic-kind is INBREEDING. The stories clearly indicate that the most powerful are, actually, mudbloods - that is, they need to interbreed with muggles. Voldemort was a mudblood. (How ironic.) Hermione was a mudblood. Lily Potter was a mudblood. As inbreeding progresses, power dwindles until the most pureblood lose magic entirely in their line, leading to a decrease in magic-kind. It's plainly clear that interbreeding is necessary to keep up the magical population among humans.

[@Meh.357]

Voldemort is a half-blood

[@DeejonLoy]

Wizardkind could also just be ahead of the curve on global plummeting birthrates. Sociologists also see declining birthrates in societies who experience an "easing of daily life," meaning as life gets easier for parents, they tend to have fewer children. Even in the '80's-'90's, the Weasleys seem to be a hard exception at 9 children, while families like Malfoys in the current generation, and Blacks and Potters in the previous generation, stop at 1-2 children, but never surpassing 3 children. If magic cannot heal death or impared vision, then it stands to reason that conception and contraception are also outside the influence of magic, thus witches have matched their Muggle counterparts' historical birthrates.

[@user-se5rz5jf6b]

There were 9 Weasleys Mom, Dad and 7 children, not 9 kids.

[@richewilson6394]

We don't know exactly what's going to happen if the wizarding world was to blend with the muggle population in terms of their magic abilities and lengths of their lifespan. But we do know that from the cases of half bloods like Voldemort and Snape they are very powerful so if we have more generations of half bloods that over time as we seen with other mugglebones as well that kind of acts as a polishing medium for the wizarding world.

[@MephiticMiasma]

not mixing with the muggle world could have hurt their numbers more than it helped-- with a dominant wizard gene, they would have more to gain than lose by intermarriage.

[@hollyingraham3980]

Exactly, but back then very little about genetics and even how to breed domestic animals was understood. They would have subscribed to the general views on blood purity and innate superiority of some groups. They very much acted like other groups of the time. Think of the French nobility at the time of the Revolution.

[@kcirtapelyk6060]

That makes sense considering the most powerful wizards and witches tend to be halfbloods (ex. Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonnagall, Voldemort, Severus Snape, Harry Potter, etc.).

[@user-ut4qy2bz8r]

We have to remember all of the magicians who bought their tickets and went to Hogworts or even the Quidditch World Cup were the only ones who can afford it's big money price tags! Besides, thy partings will multiply significantly, postmortem.

[@saksham3700]

is it possible that Salazar Slytherin hated muggels because he lived during the period of witch hunt and he created the chamber of secrets to protect the castle from muggle

[@craxd1]

The Church had started persecuting “heretics,” which included sorcerers, at about the same time that the founders lived in the late 10th century. That became the Inquisition in 1184. Yes, Salazar, along with the other three founders, would have known about it.

[@imperialinquisition6006]

It's probably just because he was a dick. If I was him I'd be more worried about the Danish incursions into England and the fact that Athelred the Unready was a rather useless king, which was much more of the topic of the times in 990s England

[@CountingStars333]

Since there is nothing of such extinction mentioned in the books, its most likely not true.

[@DaFreak98715]

I'm thinking there were even less students when Hogwarts was founded and the founders believed that the population of witches and wizards would grow over the years, like it had since they first became a subspecies of humans long ago.

[@joewinter3940]

As far as Hogwarts capacity in its founding years go, there couldve been more students at the time bc there werent as many schools.

[@kimf.wendel9113]

Well, there's a simple proof of this theory. If a species is on a downwards trajection, biology will kick in and force more females out, as females are more important for repopulating. However a species that lives longer, will also experince a different fertility rate, and thus have more difficulty concieving offspring. Also Harry was born before the war ended, so he is from a time of uncertainty, before end of war. Thus the boom will occur right after his birth and thus be younger than Harry. But mainly the biggest downsizing in population, seems to be from the fact that more non-magical babies are born, and many wizards and witches choose to leave the wizarding world for more security. So they are likely reducing in numbers after the seculution and the last effects of this haven't been seen due to the power struggles the past 3 generations of wizards and witches.

[@chrisberotti5876]

I like how you look at it from a genetic point of view. I wounder if the heavy in breading leads to mental instability. Most of the death eaters seemed prone to fists of rage and even Serious black for a good guy seemed a bit unhinged

[@imperialinquisition6006]

You could argue that that's due to Azkaban rather than anything else. I think the major point is that some specific pureblood families are probably a bit too closely related, but some also aren't so badly, and muggleborns wouldn't have these issues.

[@YnseSchaap]

If Hermione was born from two muggles then it has to be a genetic trait lying dormant in everyone, but doesn't show up in everyone

[@davidragan9233]

Pre-Watching: On just the title with the first few seconds played: *Extinct in Britain*, because of recent bottlenecks or Grindwald (Wizards must Rule-For the greater Good), Riddle (Kill the Muggleborn and those who oppose us) Dumbledore (Use only Stunners and trust Spies- and no it's best I keep the secretes for myself, For the Greater Good) Umbridge (Primitive Muggles are stealing Magic from Magical creating Squibs-what descendants of Squibs are coming back as Muggleborn? PREPOSTEROUS) Add too that, Incest or too many inter-marring with the same families over and over again. Might have another comment post Video. 😁

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

Rowling has openly admitted she was never good with dates and numbers. There is no way Hogwarts had 1000 students.

[@skunkvagabond13]

Why not? My high school and college both had around 2500 each. This isn't a lot necessarily, but more than some small town schools. And for Hogwarts, they had smaller class sizes due to many magical folks being killed in the first wizarding war

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

@@skunkvagabond13 My high school had about 1500. But I've explained in another thread. We can take Harry's dorm room and extrapolate from that. Five boys in Gryffindor in Harrys' year. If we take that as a simple average, it means a total around 20 male students in Harry's year and roughly 20 female students. So....forty students total in Harry's year. Mulitply that by seven...the total number of classes at Hogwarts, and you have 280 students. Even accounting for multiple variations, the best one could estimate for a complete student body at Hogwarts would be around 350-400 at best....even accounting for deaths during the first wizarding war. It's just math.

[@peterg9729]

Or words.

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

@@peterg9729 If you don't like her words, why are you even here?

[@skunkvagabond13]

@@LyleFrancisDelp I see what you're saying now!! For the time Harry was at Hogwarts, i definitely agree!! I was thinking more along the lines of "built with intention to house 1000 or more." I agree with your analysis though!

[@awakenazathoth5164]

You know this makes the Ideas of Lord Voldemort seem a lot more reasonable.

[@markborishnikoff5485]

Lmao

[@mikebrown1881]

Muggles and wizards are not two species. Since they can produce fertile children together it means that they are the same species.

[@patrickdematosribeiro1845]

Another possibility to explain the size of Hogwarts is that the founders originally hoped students from continental Europe would also attend Hogwarts. Maybe this was before Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were founded.

[@zokoravonysenlohe1823]

I always had the impression that the number of witches and wizards is currently actually growing. Like maybe they declined beforehand but thanks to opening up to muggles they are currently growing again. I mean, the pureblood families are even somewhat interbreeding already. Of course they couldn’t go on that way forever.

[@grec.]

And then comes Voldemort and incites two of the bloodiest wars in wizarding history and a good chunk of the magic population is lost forever

[@maybehesbornwithitmaybeits9318]

This opens a door to an interesting story of wizards being extinct or nearly extinct and with no magical humans to keep magical creatures in check the muggles are thrusted into a world they are unprepared for

[@gamesandmoviesentertainmen4259]

I Love All your videos always fun to watch and find about about stuff that is not in the books and movies.

[@yehonatancohen2856]

Aren't some witches and wizards are homeschooled, I think I heard something about this but I don't know, maybe im just having a Mandela effect

[@13lizby85]

Earliest I've arrived at one of these videos 😲

[@nathanhaldane7455]

Harry’s mother and Hermione were born from muggle parents

[@saylsen]

can potions like bone grow be used on humans?

[@samanthacharlton4123]

Yes, I'm sure i remember a canonical story of a wizard who used his potions to appear as a muggle shaman of sorts. He healed whoever came to him for help but no one knew he was a wizard, they just thought he had a "snake oil" or something. Some didn't go see him for lack of trust in his secretive methods. See "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" for more. I don't remember it very clearly.

[@samanthacharlton4123]

Yes, I'm sure i remember a canonical story of a wizard who used his potions to appear as a muggle shaman of sorts. He healed whoever came to him for help but no one knew he was a wizard, they just thought he had a "snake oil" or something. Some didn't go see him for lack of trust in his secretive methods. See "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" for more. I don't remember it very clearly.

[@alwaysplotting2096]

Just incentivize wizard-muggle marriages and having multiple children. Problem solved.

[@juliie007]

The problem is that muggles don’t always take well to learning about magic and the need for secrecy also makes it difficult to explain odd stuff happening like what professor McGonagall witnessed as a child with her parents relationship. Also it’s likely that wizards also misused their magic like curses that caused plagues that may have turned muggles against wizards or muggles jealous wanting magic for themselves may have attempted to enslave wizards but coz wizards had magic they fought back and realizing they couldn’t be easily controlled they feared that they would be the ones to be subjugated instead like what Merope did to Tom sr.

[@imperialinquisition6006]

@@juliie007 Possibly. In the modern times though I doubt people would be as bothered. And I'd assume that secrecy isn't too much off an issue, given that the many muggleborn parents don't seem to cause too many problems. None of the muggles mentioned, aside from Tom.Sr(Literally got drugged so fair enough) and the Dursleys(They're just pricks) seem that bothered by it. None of the muggleborn or half blood parents are mentioned as hugely bothered so it would probably be fine.

[@LegioXXI]

"Problem solved." Yeah no. When did this ever work out in history? Birth rates get lower, as soon as a society gets more wealthy, industrialised and has medical advancement that lowers the child death rate. Even in Germany during the mustache guy era they couldn't stop the declining birth rate, despite their massive efforts to politically boost them. The question is, what is causing the declining birth rate for wizards. Industrialisation and medical progress can't be the reason, the only explanation left is wealth. And ironically it's the pure blood families that were very rich, but also had low birth rates and almost all died out. It's the poorest family in the Harry Potter saga has the most children.

[@imperialinquisition6006]

@@LegioXXI Do we actually know if the birth-rate is declining though? The Malfoys had only one child, but this isn't necessarily the rule. Neville and Harry are only children but probably because their parents died. The Weasleys are certainly boosting the birth-rate, and remember that the main Weasleys aren't the only Weasleys. It seems some pureblood families are declining but this isn't necessarily the case for them all, and this is never mentioned as an issue in the books, other than the fact that most wizards are in reality not specifically pure-blood, which more to the point doesn't actually matter.

[@mecahhannah]

❤ Awesome as always thanks

[@DavidAmrod]

"If the Magic Gene is Dominant, then there is a 50% chance of it being passed along," is only true of it is on one DNA strand of the parent who is a wizard. If it is on both strands, then there is 100% chance of it being passed on.

[@dragonivy4779]

well duh. when you have half the wizards sticking their nose up at mudbloods, and the other half not even bothering to tell the muggles that they exist. its a bit hard to have a pool of people to contine your species.

[@user-ss7jl8ze9q]

What if becoming a wizard/witch is a matter of a genetic mutation like in the X-Men? That would also explain why some become magical and others don't. It is either in their blood, or it isn't.

[@jasonr154]

Thought. If there are I forget. Like around 5 “known” schools whose numbers can be counted. How many unknown or in the deep forests mountains deserts etc are there

[@alexe8996]

Thanx a lot for that legit warning! ❤

[@juliosilva2301]

A baby boom happens in the real world because statistically men are the ones fighting, away from women, so they return home and act like rabbits. However, in the Wizarding world, men and women seem to always have fought side by side, so the men and women were not separated, meaning less sexual repression, meaning meaning less of a baby boom, if at all, after the war. Maybe they have the obligatory, "we survived" sex, but not the "oh my God I haven't seen you in 5-10 years and I thought I'd never see you again" sex bender. That being said, I don't think wizards are going extinct. And the founders probably made a school bigger than was necessary for the future or just in case. I doubt Hogwarts has ever been even near full capacity ever.

[@leonardkylegibbons8568]

A quick few google searches says Hogwarts is 200-400 years older than durmstrang and beauxbatons. Hogwarts likely used to accommodate all of Europe's students, if not the world's.

[@imperialinquisition6006]

i seriously doubt it. There is never any indication of that in the books. There are many wizarding families, not just the 28 main ones or whatever, and given the way genetics work, if muggleborn wizards do indeed require a wizard ancestor, there would be many potential wizard descendants. Think on genetics. One wizard can marry a wizard or a muggle, their children will probably be magical, their children's children will potentially be magical etc... 2 parents, say 2 children, say they have 2 children each so 4, say this continues, you will have many, many potentially magical descendants, so the potential for magic will be quite spread around. Its possible that some pureblood obsessed families, which aim to only couple with other pureblood wizards will die out, but half-bloods, muggleborns constantly appearing and actually sensible purebloods who will quite happily get with muggleborns or half-bloods(e.g. very much the Weasleys for example) will definitely not. So yes, pureblood wizards will lessen if they don't change their beliefs, but its literally a whole point of the series that blood status doesn't actually matter, so there will be no lessening of magical ability. Also I don't think the casualties in the wizarding war were so heavy that there would be a major population decrease. Basically based on genetics, one ancestor with magic producing many potentially magical descendants, muggleborns will definitely increase in number, as will halfbloods as wizards marry muggles or muggleborns, which as stated doesn't lead to any decrease in magic, and purebloods will be completely fine if they marry muggleborns and half-bloods, which they had already been doing. So I don't think wizards will go extinct. Specific pureblood families? maybe. wizards in general? no.

[@DoctorGnash]

I'm inclined to believe that if the "magic" gene occurs exists, it is in a highly polymorphic part of the genome. This would explain why squibs exist and why people like Hermione could be born from 2 muggles.

[@christianheichel]

So Veela a subspecies of human? They can also breed with wizards. What about Giants? Goblins?

[@dreadfulspiller8766]

Could wizards use magic to interbreed? Like using a potion to turn them human which I assume is how Hagrid came to be because I don;t see a wizard falling in love with a 20 foot giantess.

[@tobiasgregori3842]

We see this Hagrid and Maxine. Flitwick is also half goblin.

[@christianheichel]

@@dreadfulspiller8766 I've always wondered about that. but kind of a funny thought, what if it was a giant with dwarfism that make them like about 7 ft tall? I never thought about the magical modification. I guess potions or spells might do the trick as well

[@Manyfist]

Wizards have the same issue that’s plaguing the first world nations like US & Europe. Most aren’t gonna have but 1-2 kids. This leads to stagnation or decline. Besides the Weasleys were poor because their father’s work and had lots of kids.

[@Thaumh]

Imagine being 10½ years old, on the brink of puberty, and emotional outbursts on your part have lead to some extraordinary phenomenon. On the same day that two Americans (a lovely red-head and a man with a peculiar visor) have come to your home with a brochure for you and your parents about their prestigious boarding school "Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters", an owl flies in the window with a letter addressed to you specifically.

[@sollyfan]

But aren’t a big part of the magical community home schooled? I though Rowling confirmed that however I could be wrong

[@Alte.Kameraden]

I always had a fun fan theory that all humans with Magic have Elf Blood in their vanes. Those elves were once the gods of humanity. Demi-Gods being the first Magic Folk Humans being half man half elf. Eventually these Magic Folk would overthrow their Gods and would hunt down the remaining elf kind. Which explains why High Elves do not exist yet Lower Elves do in Harry Potter and why lower elves are enslaved. But as time goes on the more human and less elf Magic Folk become, the less powerful as well.

[@drarryfangirl9255]

They have Potions to fix everything besides fixing Harry's eyesight. XD

[@bob7975]

This explains why there are so many disused portions of the castle, abandoned washrooms and cobwebby side rooms full of junk.

[@THINKMACHINE]

I honestly think wizards are a lot more at threat from stagnation than population decline. The way they do things and the knowledge they pass down tends to be... old. _Very_ old. Meanwhile, muggles are constantly advancing technologically and socially, and at some point the divide in culture and capability is going to get so wide that muggle society just outright swallows the magical one; what use is magic when there is a tool or appliance that will do that just as well, and for even less effort on the user's part. Involved with that is how computing has advanced in reality; pseudo-AI, cameras literally everywhere... it would get incredibly hard to hide the magical world very quickly after the plot of the books, well within Harry's lifetime, and I just don't see wizards reacting fast enough to adapt.

[@DanaOtken]

That's very fair, although I can understand the narrative purpose: going with "tradition we don't really understand" is a great way to explain why magic can't be treated as a science and subjected to continual rounds of streamlining and experimentation. At the same time, this magic can abstract away complexities that are pretty technologically intractable, making it a more basic if limited way to manipulate the world. Trying to hide magic does seem untenable, but do to social rather than technological reasons. If anything, increasing reliance on higher tech that simply won't work properly around too much magic makes it easier to hide evidence; the more so as this is the kind of secret that can leak all over the place provided it doesn't break. The problem is getting every new generation of politicians to cooperate.

[@v1e1r1g1e1]

Whether she intended it or not, Rowling's ''wizarding world' is a remnant of the Nephilim. Those who are able to do magic, have the ability only due to their genetic heritage. There are those of the Wizarding World who are 'squibs'; genetically ''wizard'', but lacking whatever genetic material necessary to do magic. Contrarily, certain Muggles have the necessary genes (eg: Hermione) and are consummate witches. All this parallels very closely with the accounts given for those persons who either have magic abilities... or unexpectedly discover them, or have them revealed... as opposed to those who don't.

[@adub1300]

Rowling debunked this by saying most parents kept their kids at home during the second war. Coupled with the losses from the first war the population was lower than usual. After Voldemort’s defeat I’m sure the numbers went back to normal levels.

[@dafyddthomas6897]

Weasleys, Dumbledores, Patels and Blacks are the only families with several children. Every other family we hear of has only one child.

[@GBlockbreaker]

on one hand, this is interesting to think about, on the other hand, there's absolutely 0 chance Rowling put this much thought into it lol

[@banthatracks_gaffisticks]

I agree. Different cultures also utilize magic. Witch Doctors, Benders, Voodoo Priest, etc.

[@englishmasterywithmark2757]

"They didn't create unused space, they simply created a castle that would meet the needs of the students at that time." I would also suggest that they could have created the castle with the intention of an increase in student attendance. For example: Ilvermorny grew as the student population grew. I started with one building and continually expanded to suit the needs of students. Hogwarts, which had a lot more effort go into it from the four founders planning out the castle, seems like it was built with intention and was well thought out. It seems as though they had the idea of expansion already in mind. This is the same approach most universities take where they build enough facilities for all four grade levels, even though the majority of the students will attend as incoming freshmen. The university is anticipating a student size. And if a witch or wizard can have two muggle-born parents, then the number of students would increase each year. The reason mixing with muggles and muggle-borns would save the wizard world is because, eventually muggle-borns would outnumber pure bloods. And with how much the same limited magical families there are continually mixing with each other would cause problems. Starting entirely new families, new genetics and such would keep magical families fresh.

[@adnanbey4871]

The issue with the idea of a lack of baby boom is that as you said, what precedes it is a sense of optimism and hope for the future. When Voldemort went down the first time, there was no such "optimism." There was celebration yes, but not everyone was "sure" or certain he was gone. “Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he’s still out there, bidin’ his time, like, but I don’ believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of ’em came outta kinda trances. Don’ reckon they could’ve done if he was comin’ back. Most of us reckon he’s still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on." When most believe he's still out there somewhere, it means there wasn't a sense of prevailing optimism, only short term celebration. Rather, there was a lack of finality, the war did not actually END the way it needs to for optimism to take root and a subsequent baby boom. A baby boom is something that would happen after Grindelwald maybe- a boom that was probably eliminated during the eleven years of terror Voldemort imposed a quarter century later. It's somethig that might happen after Voldemort's second more final defeat. And this time, we DO have evidence of that. Harry and Ginny had three kids, Bill and Fleur had three kids, in fact, most had 2-3 kids with the only exception being the Malfoys.

[@Maxfromohio2155]

Don’t worry guys Mr and Mrs Weasley will save the Wizard population

[@Yotubez]

Honestly, I think some Slytherin grads would marry within the school to keep the blood or something 😂

[@victoriusrex25]

I remember I once wrote a fanfiction about this. The protagonists was a wizard/witch hunter who was "betrayed" by Harry. He swore revenge and began his campaign. And the rest I leave it to you to think what happened

[@journeymanadventure]

As has been mentioned in other videos the majority of wizards and witches are home schooled and with the internet there may be more online learning options in use.

[@baystated]

The school is large and empty but the Great Hall is always full? Do they only reduce the capacity of the Great Hall when enrollment drops? How big would the Hall need to be if there full enrollment? How big would the house dormitories be? How crowded would the library get? No, I doubt the school had larger enrollment, I suspect they create new sections, hallways, classrooms of the school and abandon old ones as "magical learning" takes its toll on them in some magical damaged way.

[@mya1999]

Movies tend to be inaccurate, and so is J.K s description of some things if you take them into comparison with information given during the series ( books) the great hall should never been filled out fully at all during Harrys years at Hogwarts

[@Keiselnon]

The size of Hogwarts could also be a testament to changing times. A thousand years ago, there was likely no notion of a formal school. Therefore, “students” likely stayed in the castle for decades, honing their masteries and intermingling with staff. The academic pursuits of a larger population would necessitate more classroom space. Moreover, adults staying in the same space for decades means families, separate accommodation, and small children. I’d like to think that Hogwarts used to be a major population center and its own colossal community before the Ministry came along to both standardize education and provide alternatives for the people to inhabit.

[@DerLaCroix1]

Hogwarts can very much be explained by changes in class size. If earlier custom was to only have a handful of students per teacher, or a master-apprentice model, they would have needed a lot more classrooms for a similar sized student body. When they switched to a modern classroom setting with standardized classes, they needed less tutors, and less classrooms.

[@_NIKOS9_NIKOS]

Considering how they treat other sapient magical creatures I dont think that the magical community is gonna shed any tears if that happens

[@lavinder11]

I find it interesting that people don't talk about the witch burnings and how that plays into the fanaticism of the Death Eaters.

[@QuinnMallory-od1hw]

I tend to believe they opposite, the population is actually greater than what is seen as wizards and witches now live all over the world and not confined to one school, also they lost track of voldemorts mother and his birth and others like hermione, muggle borns keep arising. In fact the population must have been pretty small in 1690s to create the law in the first place. It's just kept in balance by the wars, unfortunately. Magically learning and uses are not safe.

[@han-oq6bo]

The baby boom would have had an impact when Harry reached year 3. Harry was born when the war was raging with no end in sight. And the earliest booms would have been born in July 1982 but with time likely needed to round up the death eaters it's safe to push this back a few months.

[@WooRidersDg]

Let me talk too ya harry Potter yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[@joshk8312]

This makes the most sense. How many examples of single children did we see? Weasleys putting in the real work.

[@jpstardom3375]

Im guessing, hogwarts isnt what it is. In the past, it was probably smaller. Then some things happened, maybe a room was jinxed and cannot be used for aperiod of time, then a new room was built and so on and so forth. Magical accidents happen A LOT. Its no surprise that hogwarts became what it is today with lots of rooms for different purposes. Remember the weasely twins making a swamp in the school corridor? Flitwick cleaned it up in a jiffy, but left a small patch of swamp in memory of the twins, since he says its a really good bit of magic? These things happen all the time in hogwarts. Even ilvermorny wasnt a huge castle at first. Magic accidents here, some curses there, and maybe some bit of jinxes on the side. A destroyed room hère, made a secret room over there, some prank doors, a trick step on the stairs. Over time hogwarts changed and became a huge castle. So i guess what i wanted to say is; the size of the school isnt a determining factor in the number of wizard population. My guess is that hogwarts always have, more or less, 900 students. The number of wizard kind isnt rising or falling. It fluctuates. Also, if i may add, i think the term 'extinction' refers to the pureblood families. As ron said, if wizards didnt inter marry, they'd have died out. Pureblood families are the ones getting less numbers. Muggle borns and half bloods are more or less maintaining a slow but gradual increase in numbers.

[@davidioanhedges]

Witches and Wizards are very powerful compared to muggles, but they hide from them and seem to have had a huge reduction in population That sounds like there was a war with Muggles and Wizardkind lost, badly ....

[@sakuhakkinen9187]

What I have always found confusing is like are there only 8 Gryffindors in Harry's year