The Romance

[Carol]

SSSusan wrote:
> Speaking as one who placed great significance on the "missing 24 hours" and had a theory about what was taking place during it, I actually think that the items you've described would not really take up 24 hours, especially if we focus on Harry's retrieval and subsequent delivery.
> 
> I do agree, though, that the 24 hours doesn't mark the amount of time McGonagall is waiting at the Dursleys' house; it marks the amount of time from the attack to when Hagrid arrives with Baby Harry.
 <snip>
> 
> Let's just say that a lot of us had a lot of fun imagining what kinds of things DD, Hagrid, et al. might have been doing during this time.  My own theory was called DRIBBLE SHADOWS and begins in post #128717 at Main. ;)  
> 
> To hear that JKR wasn't aware of any gap was a bit startling!

Carol responds:

Right! BTW, SSS, great to see you posting! I'm sure I'm not the only one who's missed you.

The whole question is why Hagrid didn't deposit Harry on the Dursleys' doorstep the night of Halloween-November 1 instead of waiting until the next night after the Dursleys were in bed. Maybe it was closer to twenty-two hours than twenty, but, still, why did it take so long? What were DD and Hagrid doing during all that time? Digging Harry out of the ruins and flying to London from Godric's Hollow would have taken at most about five hours. McGonagall should not have had to wait around Privet Drive for a whole day. In fact, Hagrid should have delivered Harry before she even arrived. (Maybe JKR just wanted to show Vernon Dursley reacting to a cat reading a map and "weirdos" in cloaks and didn't think about the time frame--not to mention that November 1 was a workday and McGonagall left all her Transfiguration students without a teacher that day!)

Carol, who was also surprised that JKR didn't even know about the "missing twenty-four hours" and hadn't thought about what DD and Hagrid were doing in elaborate detail