Timing of Crouch's escape (was Eagle owls)

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 30558

Susanna/pigwidgeon37 wrote:

> the Eagle Owl Harry sees while Hagrid is digging *must* be 
the one carrying the letter to Moody/Crouch which informs him about 
Crouch Sr.'s escape. So I think there's good reason to see the red 
lights going on whenever an Eagle Owls turns up.

I hate to quibble with anyone who agrees with me on eagle owls, but 
the dates don't work quite right for the letter about Crouch Sr.

In GF 35, Crouch Jr. says "My master sent me word of my father's 
escape . . . . For a week I waited for my father to arrive at 
Hogwarts.  At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the 
grounds," and it was that evening that he killed him.  So, about a 
week between the letter (or however he received word) and the murder.

But here's the chronology in GF 27 and 28, with copious evidence that 
there is well over a month between the eagle owl Harry sees from the 
Owlery and the death of Crouch Sr:

(27) Sirius's owl arrives in March (not absolutely conclusive but 
almost so), asking Harry to meet him at the stile "Saturday."

(28) "Harry, Ron and Hermione went up to the Owlery after breakfast on 
Sunday," surely the next day or else it would have been described as 
"one Sunday" or "the next week."  They go down to the kitchens, Ron 
and Hermione bicker for the rest of the day, and Harry goes up to the 
Owlery on his own to get a break from them.

Harry sees the eagle owl while watching Hagrid from the Owlery.

"Next day" Hermione receives her lovely missive filled with bubotuber 
pus.

"Over the following week" she continues to receive hate mail.  This 
would seem to bring us up to just about the date Crouch Sr. arrives.  
But read on:

After their "next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson" Hermione talks 
about trying to find out how Rita's getting her information.  
"Hermione, however, did not ask Harry and Ron to help her pursue 
vengeance against Rita Skeeter, for which they were both grateful, 
because their workload was mounting ever higher in the run-up to the 
Easter holidays."

"Hedwig didn't return until the end of the Easter holidays."  I don't 
know exactly when the Easter holidays are nor how long they are, and 
the time that elapses is uncertain from this point, but

"in the last week of May, Professor McGonagall held [Harry] back in 
Transfiguration" and told him to meet Bagman and the other champions 
on the Quidditch field that night.

So Crouch Sr. doesn't show up until after the Easter holidays, and we 
have further confirmation that he arrives in the last week of May.

Whatever the eagle owl was up to the evening Harry stood alone in the 
Owlery (and I'm sure it was nothing good <g>), it wasn't delivering 
the news that Crouch Sr. had escaped.  It was just way too early.

Amy Z

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 His immediate reaction was that it would 
 be worth becoming a prefect just to be able 
 to use this bathroom.
                  -HP and the Goblet of Fire
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