The Diary (just where did V get it & what is really going on ?)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 86648

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboy_mn at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "a_reader2003"
 
bboy_mn: 
> Excellent analysis. Please forgive me for not addressing it item by
> item; I'm just going to make a few general comments.
> 
> First point, the USA edition says that the book is from a "variety
> story" on Vauxhall Road. My guess is, the impicaition is that the 
book
> came from a newstand or shop that specializes in periodicals and 
cheap
> paperback books as well as a few miscellaneous novelty and 
convinience
>  items. In any event, both UK and US books seem to indicate that the
> name on the back and reference to Vauxhall Rd represent the store 
and
> not the publisher.


Geoff:
The UK edition specifically says "a newsagents". If the name was 
printed at the back, a possibility is that it could be W.H.Smith, the 
name of a large chain of stores which used to specialise in 
newspapers, magazines,office supplies and now have video, music items 
etc. There are still a couple of W.H.Smith outlets in and around 
Victoria Station.


bboy_mn: 
> Now let's look at the actual book. If it was a 'year' diary where 
each
> day of the week is specifically associated with a calendar date, 
then
> things become a little more complicated. 


Geoff again:
Another poster has reminded us that it apparently is dated because 
both Hermione and Harry notice dates....


bboy_mn:
> I can further speculate that because the Vauxhall Rd area was
> damaged by the war, much of the merchandise from damage stores would
> have been salvaged and put on the surplus market. An attempt by the
> owners to recover as much as they could from the destruction. 

Geoff again:
I moved from the north of England to live in south-west London in 
1949 and often went with my parents up to the city to spend time; we 
often used a tram to get to Victoria. The tram route followed 
Vauxhall Bridge Road from Vauxhall Bridge to its terminus just 
outside the mainline railway station.

The Victoria end of the road and, in fact much of the area around the 
station, managed to escape the bombing and was relatively intact. The 
only part of Vauxhall Bridge Road where you really any shops was at 
the Victoria end, because the station was, and still is, a very busy 
commuter terminus. Ten years after I first knew it, I commuted into 
Victoria for a year while in an office job and often used Smiths to 
buy things. 

This actually raises two interesting points as to where Tom Riddle's 
orphanage was, because if he got the diary in 1942 when he was in his 
Fifth Year (or possibly Lower Sixth as I suggested in a recent post), 
then it suggests it may have been on the South side of the river in 
London. It also raises the question of how long the Hogwarts Express 
has run for, because if he was coming into Kings Cross, he would not 
make a casual journey to Victoria; it's not the sort of journey you 
can make without changing buses or Underground trains.

Geoff