Hagrid's Letter

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 35801

"caes56" <Caeser56 at s...> wrote:

>      Onto the second topic, this is something that irked me since i 
> first read the books. In the SS, during the first week of classes, 
> Hagrid invites Harry to his house for tea to discuss the first week 
> of classes. In the letter, it says "Harry....I would like to know 
if 
> you'd like to have a cup of tea with me..." This is, of course, 
> quite normal. However, it continues to say "....Please send us a 
> reply....with Hedwig..." What I don't quite get is the "US". Maybe 
> I'm reading a bit too far into it, but that passage always struck 
me 
> as odd. Of course, there are a few explanations that could be given 
> that I myself have thought of- namely that he could have been 
> refferring to himself and Fangs, or himself and Hedwig. I don't, 
> however, think those really fit in.

<snip>

I'd not look for any special meaning in Hagrid's phrase.

The "royal" we/us (ie using first person plural when referring to 
oneself) is fairly common usage in several parts of the UK, 
mainly "oop norf" (Lancashire/Yorkshire). His speech patterns in the 
books made Hagrid appear (to me at least) as a Northerner, rather 
than Cornish (as portrayed by Robbie Coltrane in the movie), though 
Cornish certainly makes sense as well. Even so, whilst the usage 
isn't quite as common in Cornwall, it certainly happens, especially 
among less-educated people.

Oh, and while I'm here, on a question of usage, I'd just like to chip 
in to the "come with" conversation - it's fairly common usage around 
here (UK Midlands). I know I grew up with it, mainly as a 
question: "Are you coming with?", and occasionally still use it.