Dursleys and owl post

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 41329

Irene wrote:

> Why? I find it far easier to imagine Molly getting hold of a pound 
> coin (or two, or three) and going to the stamp machine. (If I'm not 
> sure how things work, I prefer to deal with machines. And for Molly 
> it has an added benefit of allowing to stay in robes).
> Then she puts on that envelope all the stamps she'd bought.

I would consider quite the opposite to be the case. The WW in 
general, and Molly in particular, appear to be "people people". Molly 
doesn't understand Muggle machinery, and the idea of putting money in 
a slot and pressing a button would probably be too much for her to 
comprehend. 

I do like Rosie's idea of her having sent Ron to the village instead, 
though. :-) (more on that below)

> BTW, for someone apparently interested in muggle ways, Arthur is
> unbelievably ignorant.
> Are wizards that isolated, or is he just a hopeless amateur?

Yes, wizards *are* that isolated. However, I do agree that it takes 
much more than being fascinated by Muggles to be a good Minister for 
Muggle Affairs. Considering the (inmplied) large number of wizards of 
mixed parentage, I've always found it odd that the person responsible 
for Muggle liaison is a pure-bred wizard from a long line of pure-
bred wizards. It would make much more sense for someone who has at 
least childhood experience of the Muggle world to be in that 
position. Such a person might not understand Muggle science, but at 
least they'd appreciate how the Muggle world operates and how to use 
Muggle machinery.

rosie wrote:

> It would be quite strange to go to the clerk just about a letter.

Not necessarily. Most stamp machines only sell books of stamps, not 
singles. If I had only one letter to send but no stamps on my person, 
I'd probably not bother with buying a book (as I generally have a 
book at home anyway).

> Many larger post offices have automatic stamp machines. If you do 
> go to the clerk for a letter, you request however many stamps you 
> want (say 20 1st Class) and then you stick the required number on 
> the letter and post it in the postbox, which is usually outside. 

<snip>

You're forgetting, though, that this is a tiny village we're talking 
about - in all likelihood, there is a single shop in the village 
which serves as supermarket, post office, tobacconers, sweet-shop, 
newsagent etc. It is *extremely* unlikely that there would be a stamp 
machine anywhere close.

> Maybe she would have sent Ron out to buy stamps from the post
> office - given him some amount of Muggle money and said "here, buy 
> stamps with this"... he returns with X number of stamps...she 
> plasters them all over the envelope?

That sounds quite likely. She's busy at home bringing up a family, so 
she's not going to waste probably a whole day traipsing up to the 
village and then back again when she has a perfectly healthy 13-year-
old layabout in the house, especially as it's his friend they're 
writing to. :-)

However, he'd still need to confront whoever runs the village shop to 
get his stamps, and as I said earlier, their first question would be 
about the weight and destination of the letter. :-)

<snip my scenario>

> If that had happened, um, wouldn't Molly have just ended up with 
> the right change, yes, and one 26p stamp? Making it quite hard to 
> cover the envelope in them? If that had happened....she'd have 
> known how many stamps to stick on as well, wouldn't she? 
> 
> I think I must have misinterpreted you here, I'm sorry! Could you 
> clear this up for me?

There's no misunderstanding, as that's excactly what I was saying. :-)

All I was doing was agreeing with Darrin that the scenario as 
depicted in the book (ie envelope covered with too many stamps) is 
simply unrealistic. The Weasleys getting their hands on too many 
stamps and just plastering the envelope is very far-fetched and as I 
said before, I can't foresee a scanrio in which this could have 
happened.

-- 
GulPlum AKA Richard, UK