Hogwarts is a Small School
The funniest thing about wizarding Britain is that everyone went to school with each other. And Hogwarts is small, so itâs not even like âI saw you once in the hallwaysâ its like you are at least a friend of a friend of a friend, and if weâre too old/young to have attended at the same time, we definitely know some people who did. Like literally everyone knows each other, and they should use this more often.Â
Prosecutor: Did you or did you not kill your wife?
Defendant: Of course not! I love her!
Prosecutor: You also loved that Ravenclaw girl back in fifth year but we all know how that ended.
Jury: *does in fact know How That Ended
And it baffles me that Harry doesnât even know the names of some of his classmates until fifth year. My boy, there are only forty kids in your year and you have at least three classes with each of them. Why the fuck are you asking for Susan Bonesâs name when sheâs been sitting in front of you in Charms for the last four and a half years???
I also want to acknowledge why the actual hell they always full-name someone when theyâre name-dropping them in conversation. What comes to mind is when Lily refers to Mary Macdonald, who the fandom has decided is actually one of her closest friends, ASÂ âMary Macdonaldâ when talking to Snape.Â
Now, Mary is a common name, so the most likely reason is that thereâs someone else in their year who is also names Mary. But many people from wizarding families have much rarer names, like Cormac McLaggen, and Iâm pretty sure thereâs not that many other people named fucking Cormac walking around.Â
My guess is that it has something to do with how much people refer to their classmates just by their last name. What if you called someone âSeamusâ when the person you were talking to had only ever heard Seamus Finnigan be referred to as âFinniganâ or âMr. Finniganâ or âThat Gryffindor in Potterâs Year Who Likes To Blow Stuff Upâ.Â
Not to mention siblings. Youâre not calling all of the Weasleyâs âWeasleyâ are you? And just âGeorgeâ isnât exactly an exotic name, either.Â