JKR's Poetic License

[Bonnie Kretschmer]

No: HPFGUIDX 2902

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, "Brooks R" <brooksar at i...> wrote:
<snip>
> I think it is clear that JKR just wrote this whole bit for
> dramatic effect, and didn't bother to actually correlate the
> astronomy with the calendar of the year it would seemingly be
> set in; or she is not giving a 'true' timing of the years of
> occurence; 
<snip>
> -Brooks

I think you've hit the nail on the head there Brooks.
I ran into the same problem trying to ascertain the day
of James and Lily's deaths.

The day Voldemort found the Potters was described both
as Halloween (Hagrid says this to Harry in SS/PS Chapter
3, if I recall correctly) and Monday (because the day
Vernon went to work and all that celebrating happened
was on a Tuesday) the week before Guy Fawkes Day (Thurs.
Nov. 5th) in 1981. 

However, Halloween fell on a Saturday in 1981 and in
order for Guy Fawkes Day to be next week, the Monday
they died would have to have been the 26th of October
not the Monday nearest Halloween (the 2nd).

My conclusion is that she did this for Dramatic effect.
She wanted to show Vernon Dursley at work (not on a
Sunday) and she wanted the Potters to die on Halloween.
She didn't check the calender, or if she did she just
said, ah well, no one will actually be insane enough
to go check that anyway.

Little did she know... LOL!
Bonnie