Dursleys and owl post

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 41315

Heather Gauen <miss_dumblydore at y...> wrote:
> How do the Dursleys communicate with Harry at
> Hogwarts? They send him Christmas presents (however
> pathetic they may be) and letters telling him to find
> out if he can stay at school over the holidays, but I
> truly doubt they'd use owl post, and I also doubt that
> muggle post would make it to Hogwarts. 

Of the communications Harry receives from the Dursleys (Christmas 
presents each year), two of them are stated to have been delivered by 
Hegwig. The notes with the presents make it clear that they are 
replies to earlier communications from Harry:

PS/SS: "We received your message and enclose your Christmas present."

CoS: "She [Hedwig] nibbled his ear in an affectionate sort of way, 
which was a far better present than the one that she had brought him, 
which turned out to be from the Dursleys. They had sent Harry a 
toothpick and a note telling him to find out whether he'd be able to 
stay at Hogwarts for the summer holidays, too."

As Hedwig knows where the Dursleys live (having spent some time there 
herself), there are no problems with sending her to them, and 
incidentally this has given me all the explanation I need for Harry's 
strange presents from them: Harry sends Hedwig off to them with Xmas 
greetings. In her inimitable way, Hedwig makes sure that she's given 
something to bring back with her, and Vernon gives her the nearest 
thing to hand (a toothpick, a tissue, 50p). 

> The only explanation I can possibly come up with is
> that maybe there's an exchange office somewhere that
> transfers muggle mail with wizarding addresses over to
> owls and vice versa, but I somehow can't see that.
> Anyone have a better explanation?

The wizarding world doesn't need an interchange with Muggle post for 
outgoing mail - for instance all of Harry's letters at the beginning 
of PS/SS are delivered by owls, and Errol or Sirius's birds have no 
trouble finding him. The exception is Molly W.'s letter to the 
Dursleys in GoF - she knows that the Dursleys distrust magical 
methods of doing things, so she makes an effort to use the Muggle 
post office, which would indicate that there is no owl post to Muggle 
post exchange.

It would make sense, though, for there to be an interchange for 
Muggle post to be able to reach wizarding folks. Muggles can't get 
their hands on postal owls, and as wizarding mail works without full 
addresses, I've always assumed that (for instance) the Hogsmeade post 
office we've seen accepts incoming mail and then forwards it using 
their owls. Muggles with a need to communicate with wizarding folk 
(Hermione's parents, etc, who I'm sure don't ignore her the way the 
Durselys do Harry) are given a Muggle postal address to which to send 
their mail, and hey presto.

-- 
GulPlum AKA Richard, UK