Where's Godric's Hollow?
Jul. 13th, 2006 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gmonkey42In preparation for Lumos, and to take my mind off the impending GRE, I've started re-reading the series. I was thinking about the "missing day," the roughly 24 hour period between when Voldemort blew up the Potters' house and when Hagrid turned up with him in Surrey the following night.
It occurred to me that Sirius' motorbike might not be anywhere near as fast as a Muggle airplane. Maybe a good chunk of that time was spent in transit. From what Hagrid said, he retrieved Harry from the rubble before the Muggles got to the scene, therefore it would have had to be soon after the destruction of the house because there are other houses not far awaw - Godric's Hollow is described as being in a village (or being a village? Is "Godric's Hollow" the entire village or just the house?). The one clue we have as to its location is that Harry fell asleep as he and Hagrid were flying over Bristol.
I don't know British geography so well but I checked and Bristol is roughly 100 miles northeast of Surrey, where the Dursleys live. If Hagrid took a direct route then Godric's Hollow is in Wales or Ireland.
UNLESS Hagrid didn't take a direct route. The wizard community was unsure of whether Voldemort was really gone. Harry was probably still in danger from the Death Eaters and Dumbledore might have instructed Hagrid to take Harry from one safe spot to the next instead of directly to the Dursleys' house. He might also have simply told Hagrid to look after Harry until nightfall. He had the street lamp Put-Outer and was probably planning on leaving Harry on the doorstep under cover of darkness.
The bigger question is: where was Dumbledore all day? Why did McGonagall wait for him all day if she heard from Hagrid that he'd be there and Hagrid apparently knew he was supposed to arrive at night? Maybe that was just that she'd overheard it from Hagrid and didn't have all the details but surely she had more important things to do than sit there all day. She was a teacher at the time, it's strange that she wouldn't have an easier way of arranging to meet the Headmaster.
It occurred to me that Sirius' motorbike might not be anywhere near as fast as a Muggle airplane. Maybe a good chunk of that time was spent in transit. From what Hagrid said, he retrieved Harry from the rubble before the Muggles got to the scene, therefore it would have had to be soon after the destruction of the house because there are other houses not far awaw - Godric's Hollow is described as being in a village (or being a village? Is "Godric's Hollow" the entire village or just the house?). The one clue we have as to its location is that Harry fell asleep as he and Hagrid were flying over Bristol.
I don't know British geography so well but I checked and Bristol is roughly 100 miles northeast of Surrey, where the Dursleys live. If Hagrid took a direct route then Godric's Hollow is in Wales or Ireland.
UNLESS Hagrid didn't take a direct route. The wizard community was unsure of whether Voldemort was really gone. Harry was probably still in danger from the Death Eaters and Dumbledore might have instructed Hagrid to take Harry from one safe spot to the next instead of directly to the Dursleys' house. He might also have simply told Hagrid to look after Harry until nightfall. He had the street lamp Put-Outer and was probably planning on leaving Harry on the doorstep under cover of darkness.
The bigger question is: where was Dumbledore all day? Why did McGonagall wait for him all day if she heard from Hagrid that he'd be there and Hagrid apparently knew he was supposed to arrive at night? Maybe that was just that she'd overheard it from Hagrid and didn't have all the details but surely she had more important things to do than sit there all day. She was a teacher at the time, it's strange that she wouldn't have an easier way of arranging to meet the Headmaster.
