Misuse of Magic Dept

[Milz]

No: HPFGUIDX 22786

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Doreen Rich" <corn_patch_witch at y...> 
wrote:
> From Chamber of Secrets:
> 
> "Ron unlocked the cavernous trunk with a series of taps from his
> 
> wand. They heaved their luggage back in, put Hedwig on the back 
seat,
> 
> and got into the front.
> 
> "Check that no one's watching," said Ron, starting the ignition
> 
> with another tap of his wand. Harry stuck his head out of the 
window:
> 
> Traffic was rumbling along the main road ahead, but their street
> 
> was empty."
> 
> In this passage of CS, Ron obviously is practicing wizardry before 
> the school term actually starts, as he later used this as an excuse 
> to get out of trouble for driving the car. Why did he not get into 
> trouble with the Misuse of Magic Department? If this has been 
> discussed, point me in the right direction. If not, what are your 
> thoughts on this? Or even if it has been discussed, does anyone 
have 
> any thoughts about it that have not been stated?
> 

Good observation! But I assume that the Ministry is like any other 
bureaucratic leviathans. The beginning of the Hogwarts school year 
(IIRC) is September 1. Classes might not begin until September 2, 
but "school begins" on the 1st. So technically, the school year had 
begun by the bureaucratic calendar. Sort of the opposite rationale 
that Harry used on McGonagall to avoid points deductions from 
Gryffindor.

Milz