Request/Two General HP-Related Questions...

[bbennett at joymail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 21962

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Ebony AKA AngieJ" <ebonyink at h...> wrote:

England sounds wonderful (anywhere sounds wonderful at the moment - 
I've been forbidden a vacation until the comprehensive plan for the 
jurisdiction where I work has undergone revision and approval), and I 
hope you're having a great time.

> 1)  Is the Hogwarts Express the only way that kids get to Hogwarts? 
I'm having a hard time believing it.  I knew the UK areawise is 
nowhere near the size of the US, but I had no idea that England is as 
big as it is until I got here... <snip> Scotland's *much* further 
away from the South than I thought. >

Is it at *all* possible that the train makes stops that Harry simply 
doesn't mention? I know this is weak, but thought I'd throw it out 
there. I don't have PoA with me, so I can't recall if the stop for 
the Dementors was regarding as unusual because the train actually 
stopped, or simply noted because of the way the train stopped (an 
unscheduled slam-on-the-breaks type thing, if I remember correctly) 
and the subsequent excitement of the Dementors, etc. If the train 
does make stops at different stations along the way, I don't know 
that Harry would comment on it.

> 2)  Why does no one have tea in the books?  Heidi has a fascinating 
> theory about this that I buy (she was a history major once upon a 
> time), but why no tea in the wizarding world, yet house-elves wear 
> tea-cozies and tea-towels?  This tea thing is really so much a part 
> of the culture here that I immediately wondered about its absence 
in the books.  Unless I am forgetting something...

I've missed Heidi's theory - could someone point me in that 
direction? As for tea, I just assumed they have it but don't mention 
it. Or maybe Harry just doesn't care for it, and since it's from his 
POV...

Oh, well, when you're having your scone and clotted cream, Angie, 
please think of me.

B