lake musings

[Steve Vander Ark]

No: HPFGUIDX 9673


> > As long as we are talking about the lake, here's my question: How 
big is the darn lake?!
> 

This is one more place where JKR is inconsistent. For the map I just 
put on the Lexicon, I drew it more or less circular and not all that 
big, mostly to support the idea that Harry and Hermione could have 
walked around it. 

But let's face it...if it's big enought to hold an entire village of 
merpeople and an ecosystem to support it plus a giant squid and 
enought fish to support IT, the lake's too big to walk around a 
couple of times without devoting most of the day to it. It just 
doesn't work. So did they actually circle the lake? No, probably not. 
They just wandered along the shore nearest the castle. And both JKR 
and the editors missed the goof. 

We do know the lake is to the south, or at least that SOME of it is. 
We do know that part of the lake is near Hogsmeade Station where 
there is a dock. We know that there is a hole in the base of the 
cliffs below the castle that provides access to an underground cove, 
where boats can be grounded on a pebbly beach, and that from there a 
path leads up to the front doors (double oak doors) of the castle, 
which face more or less to the west. We do NOT know that the cove is 
actually under the castle--it just SEEMS to be--and I tend to think 
it isn't, but it is under the cliffs.

Steve Vander Ark
The Harry Potter Lexicon
which has a nifty map along with a page about the grounds
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon