[HPforGrownups] Hogwarts Express and the Magic Compartment

[Hollydaze]

No: HPFGUIDX 31537

whirdy Wrote:
<SNIP>
> Then Harry and Ron led the way to the end of the train to a 
> carriage that looked quite empty in which they stowed their stuff, 
> lock, stock and Hedwig and then went outside.  This must be at the > end of the train furthest from the engine.  No mention is made of 
> where the rest of the Weasley contingent 
> are positioned for the trip.
> 
> After his conversation with Mr. Weasley, that took place behind a 
> nearby pillar on the platform, Harry ran to the compartment door 
> that Ron threw open for him.  However, when Harry wanted to talk to > the other two, they "set off down the corridor, looking for an 
> empty compartment, but all were full except for the one at the very > end of the train" that had an occupant.  But weren't they already 
> at the end of the train and in the compartment.
<SNIP>

I always took this to mean that they headed towards the back of the train, not necessarily to the very end compartment just somewhere near the end. The exact quote is "Harry and Mr Weasley led the way to the back of the train" however it then says that they load their luggage onto an free compartment, but does not specify that it is at the back of the train, just that it is in, what would be considered, the end of the train (inferred from the earlier quote in the book -see above) which could be about 5 or 6 carriages depending on how big the train is.

Someone else has since mentioned that they could have got into a different compartment when they re-entered the train but I find this very unlikely as they have already stored their luggage into a compartment so they are more likely to get back into the one with all their possessions in. Plus, even when they get off the train to talk to Mrs Weasley and get sandwiches, apart from Harry, who goes to talk to Mr Weasley, they would still be standing almost right next to the door they would have used to get off the train so they would be the nearest one for them to re-enter by.

I think that we would have been told that there were no empty compartments and that they returned to their own if they had done so but we aren't. And what is the likelihood of Lupin having an invisibility cloak? They are rare, it wouldn't make them very rare if Harry knows of two of them would it (his won and Lupin's) and wouldn't Lupin have mentioned it to Harry if he did have one, at the end when they are talking about Sirius or even when he returns the map (or when they are talking about James' cloak)?

I think the main puzzle in this is actually how HRH's luggage managed to transport itself into their new compartment. Everything else seems to fit. I think it is a very odd (no offence) interpretation to take that (the luggage) as being the only right thing and so everything else (standing next to the door, Moving down the train, being in the end of the train etc) as odd. Mind I suppose that also depends on your interpretation of "Harry and Mr Weasley lead the way to the end of the train".

HOLLYDAZE!!!



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]