Mail Question

[grey_wolf_c]

No: HPFGUIDX 35232

Shahara Lefay, pagan priestess wrote: 
Does anyone have an idea how Harry gets a card and *gift* from the 
Dursleys each Christmas?  I can't imagine them using an Owl, unless 
good ol'Hedwig was fluttering around constantly...yet no mail carrier 
would deliver to Hogwarts...maybe a witch comes to the door offering to 
pick up the letter/gift the Dursley's *surely* would want to have 
delivered?  
~shahara in wi usa
 
shahara lefay
pagan priestess 
**serendipitously smitten with severus snape**
----------------------------------------------------------------------

There is some canon evidence about how the prime minister of England is 
aware of the wizard world (all that double-search of Sirius Black at 
the beggining of PoA, both in the muggle AND wizard world sort of 
springs to mind), so it's not altoghether impossible that the wizards 
have implanted some of their own in strategic places all over the 
muggle world, with the consentment of the muggle goverment. 
Communications would definitely(sp?) be one of such places, and, since 
they're there, they could pick up letters sent to wizard places as an 
added bonus.

Of course, in a much less conspiracy level, they could just have agreed 
with the muggle goverment some sort of wizard postal code. Any letter 
(independently of where it's adressed to) that bears that number is 
sent to an agreed place automatically. That place is controled by a 
branch of the MoM that re-sends all those letters by owl post to the 
wizard is intended to.

That said (which explains why Hermione receives birthday presents from 
her parents), I believe that the Durley's presents are intended as 
comic relief only, sice they're far too ridiculous to be true, in 
accordance to the reality rules* created by JKR for HPverse 
(interpreted by me, of course. You're free to disagree on the nature of 
this "presents" and their relation to the reality rules; see below).

*Reality Rules: conglomerate of all rules (both spoken and unspoken) 
that govern a fanasy world, as laid (willingly or unwillingly) by it's 
author. For example, something that looks out of place in the HPverse 
makes sense in other fantasy worlds, where the reality rules are 
different: I would find it very out of place in the HPverse a troll 
that, being stupid in normal temperature, thinks extremely well when 
temperature drops. However, it makes sense in discworld**, where trolls 
are impure silicoid-based life-forms whose rate of conductivity raises 
to near-superconductivity on low temperatures. And of course, no-one 
actually expects discworld to make sense, even though it 
(unfortunately?) makes _too_ much sense.

**Discworld: a world flat like a disk thet is carried in the backs of 
four elephants who travel the void of space in the back of a giant 
turtle. 
(What sort of person writes about a circular world supported by four 
elephants on the back of a giant star turtle? And what sort of a mind 
then asks the question... So what sex is this turtle? Answer: Terry 
Pratchett)

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf
(He who just _knows_ he's going to be shouted at _again_ for 
introducing OT in the main list, but just couldn't help himself from 
introducing the "reality rules" concept he's working on at the moment)

PD: if anyone wishes to discuss Terry Pratchett's view of reality with 
me, please do so privately. If anyone wishes to discuss my theory of 
Reality Rules, please refrain for a while (unless to back it up, which 
would be welcomed); it's still in development, if it's ever finished, 
I'll post it with some canon and examples to back it up so you can 
puncture it to your hearts' content)

GW