flying

[Steve Vander Ark]

No: HPFGUIDX 16059

Okay, I'm back from my week on a delightful little island off the 
coast of the state of Georgia (USA). I just uploaded something like 
thirty new and/or improved pages to the Lexicon, including an updated 
timeline and a day-by-day calendar of SS/PS. 

One of these pages is about brooms. Now that QTA is out, I've had to 
do some editing, as you might imagine. But I've bumped unexpectedly 
into a bit of a mystery. This was probably discussed ages ago, maybe 
before I was part of this group, so if it was, indulge me. 

According to QTA, there is no spell that allows a person to fly. So 
how did Hagrid get to the Hut on the Rock? He SAYS that he flew 
there. Okay, since it couldn't have been just Superman-style, arms 
out, flying, what did he use? A broomstick? Then where is it? If he'd 
left it outside but it was swept away in the storm, he'd have been 
looking for it when he came out in the morning. And think about how 
big a broomstick he would need. Certainly he didn't drive the 
motorcycle--that was ten years ago. And if he still had it since 
Sirius Black had gone after Pettigrew that day in 1981, and if he 
then used it to get to Harry in 1991, it should be sitting there, 
parked on the rock in the morning sunshine. No, I don't believe that 
he used the motorcycle. So HOW DID HE FLY? Mary Poppins-style, using 
that pink flowered umbrella of his?

I'm adding that to my "Questions to ask JKR when I get to interview 
her for the Lexicon" list.

One other little inconsistency is that Dumbledore apparently flies a 
broomstick to London when called there toward the end of SS/PS. I 
realize that it's probably just because of the fact that JKR hadn't 
thought up Apparition yet, since Dumbledore should certainly be able 
to Apparate. But it's a Flint, certainly. Maybe he accidentally let 
his Apparition license expire...

Steve Vander Ark
The Harry Potter Lexicon
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon