why I was uncomfortable with the Aunt Marge scene

[GulPlum]

At 06:59 16/06/04 , pitaprh replied to my previous comments:
>GULPLUM said -
>At the end of August in Surrey, it doesn't start getting dark until after
>about 7.30pm and official sunset is around 8pm. Marge takes off into
>dusk.
>
>- Me -
>When he got to the park everything was wet.  Had it been raining?
>That could account for it getting darker faster?

Well, it had certainly been raining earlier in the day (when Marge arrives 
at the house), but it stopped well before sundown - during dinner, the 
conservatory doors were wide open and when Marge floats through, you can 
see just a few drops left on the conservatory roof. Vernon's shoes don't 
even get wet in the garden (we see his feet when Ripper grabs him by the 
ankles).

As all the other Brits will know, that's an irrelevance anyway, because in 
our climate grey skies and rain don't necessarily go hand in hand, and 
after heavy summer rainfall (which can come of out a clear sky!), it's a 
50/50 chance that the sky will or will not clear up.

The thing, though, is that when Marge floats over the rooftops, the sky 
isn't particularly overcast, and dusk is only just beginning to fall. So my 
original comments stand.

Of course, I am completely overlooking the fact that the wetness of the 
street and playground in no way match the wetness of the Dursley house; 
whilst this is a straightforward continuity error, I prefer to think of it 
as the playground having had rain later than Privet Drive (rain can be 
*very* localised around here). :-)