Number is Power
I delved into the book "Wizards, Numbers, Numbers, and Numbers," meticulously comparing the data it provided to what I knew from the original Harry Potter world. The differences between the two universes were staggering, painting a vastly more complex and populated magical society in this alternate reality.
In the original Harry Potter world, the global population comprised approximately 5 billion people, with an estimated 2.75 million wizards. This equated to only 0.05% of the population being magical, making wizards exceedingly rare and their communities relatively insular. However, this alternate world was a far cry from that. Here, the global population ballooned to an astronomical 50 billion people, alongside an equally remarkable 250 million wizards, making 0.5% of the population magical, a tenfold increase in magical representation.
This shift in demographics had profound implications. Wizards, while still unique, were far more visible to society.
Curiously, the birth rate of wizarding children in Britain was significantly higher than in the original Harry Potter universe.
In the UK alone, the wizarding population exploded from the original estimate of 10,000 wizards to a whopping 2.9 million magical individuals.
Such a monumental global change demanded geographical accommodations, and it seemed the Earth itself had expanded in size. Countries and continents remained the same in name and shape, but their surface areas had proportionally increased to support the vastly larger populations. This larger Earth allowed for the development of more sprawling magical and Muggle communities, with enough space for both to thrive without constant encroachment on one another.
The implications of this population explosion extended deeply into governance and infrastructure. The Ministry of Magic could no longer function with its previous structure; instead, it evolved into a massive Bureaucratic Council overseeing various magical districts. Each district maintained its own sub-governments, handling local affairs, education, magical law enforcement, and trade. The Wizengamot, once an elite body of a few dozen individuals, had expanded into a Senate of Magic, with representatives from every region and specialization.
The implications of this population explosion extended deeply into the educational system. Hogwarts, once the sole magical school in the UK, now shared the responsibility of educating young witches and wizards with four other major institutions, each catering to different specializations:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Scotland): Renowned for its balanced curriculum, with an emphasis on research and transfiguration.
Avalon Academy for Magical Arts (Southern England): Specializes in elemental magic and healing.
Stonehenge College of Mystical Studies (Midlands): Focuses on magical engineering, runes, wards, and ancient rituals.
Pendragon Institute of Combat Magic (Wales): Prepares students for careers in Auror work and advanced offensive and defensive magic.
Fae Haven Conservatory (Northern Ireland): Emphasizes herbology, potions, and magical creature studies.
Hogwarts retained its unique Book of Admittance, which recorded every magical child in the UK who experienced a magical surge before their 11th birthday. Once inscribed in the book, the child would receive a letter of admittance by owl, ensuring no magical talent went unnoticed. However, the other schools adopted a more selective system. Their versions of the Book of Admittance not only recorded magical children but also assessed their talent level during their initial magical surge.
Talents were graded as follows:
Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)
Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)
While Hogwarts accepted students across the spectrum of talent, the other schools only admitted those with a talent level of Acceptable or higher in at least 2 of their specific areas of specialization. This system ensured that each school focused on nurturing talent aligned with its strengths, creating a more efficient and specialized magical education system.
The staggering 250 million wizards in this world were distributed across magical ranks as follows:
Rank 1: Novice: ~15% (37.5 million wizards)
Rank 2: Adept: ~25% (62.5 million wizards)
Rank 3: Wizard: ~35% (87.5 million wizards)
Rank 4: Magus: ~15% (37.5 million wizards)
Rank 5: Archmagus: ~7.5% (18.7 million wizards)
Rank 6: Warlock: ~2% (5 million wizards)
Rank 7: Grand Warlock: ~0.5% (1.25 million wizards)
Rank 8: Grandmaster: ~0.02% (50 000 wizards)
Rank 9: Legend: ~0.0000036% (9 wizards)
Rank 10: Supreme Sorcerer: Unknown, its existence confirmed only in myths through Merlin.
This rank distribution emphasized the rarity of power at the highest levels. With 9 confirmed Legend Rank wizards, their influence was global, their power earth-shattering. The idea that such individuals existed alongside a still-mysterious Supreme Rank added a level of gravitas to my personal aspirations.
With magic being significantly more prevalent, wizarding technology had advanced dramatically. Spellcrafting, magical artifacts, and alchemy had all reached new heights, with entire industries dedicated to their production and study. The need for powerful warding and secrecy measures had increased, as Muggle exposure was harder to avoid in a world teeming with wizards. Meanwhile, the Ministry struggled to keep rogue magic in check, leading to more specialized branches of law enforcement, including the Arcane Watch and the High Inquisitor Order.
This chapter of my research painted a vivid picture of the magical world's complexity. The numbers weren't just statistics; they represented the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. A larger magical population meant more allies, more rivals, and more variables to navigate. The expanded educational system offered pathways to greatness, but it also raised questions about my place within it.
As I set down the book, I couldn't help but feel both overwhelmed and determined. The sheer scale of this world, its population, its schools, its ranks, was daunting. Yet, within this complexity lay the promise of possibility. To rise among the countless magical souls, I needed more than talent or hard work. I needed strategy, resilience, and perhaps a touch of audacity.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Third chapter of the day as promised! (3/3)
50 chapters ahead on Patreon (Suiijin): Chapter 56: A Step Beyond