[HPforGrownups] Re: Vauxhall Road and the Elixir of Life ( was The Diary (just where did V get

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 87007

On 11 Dec 2003 at 23:26, a_reader2003 wrote:

> This note supports one of my original contentions (set out in post 
> 86637), that the authorities made every effort to get children out of 
> London during the war, and certainly an official children's home of 
> good standing, such as this orphanage, would have been one of the 
> first to be cleared. I'm afraid Tom Riddle could not have been living 
> there after the outbreak of war in 1939.

Just a note on this - while a lot of children were evacuated from 
London in Septemer 1939, most were not kept out of London for the 
entire war. Most had returned home by May 1940 (when a second much 
smaller evacuation was begun - actually technically speaking it was 
the third - there had also been a small evacuation in 1938 at the 
time of the Munich crisis).

In 1942, most children who'd been evacuated were well and truly 
back in London - now personally, I would think orphans would be 
unlikely to have been brought back (the primary reason for bringing 
back evacuated children were because their families missed them) 
but the evacuation was really not as total nor as long lasting as 
some people might think.

Also bear in mind that Tom Riddle was a Hogwarts student and that 
may have meant he had to go to London. He certainly may have had to 
visit Diagon Alley - he may have had to go to King's Cross to get 
to school - and as it seems fairly unlikely the Muggle orphanage 
authorities knew too much about his educational needs (I would 
assume they worked on the assumption he had a scholarship to a 
boarding school of some sort) presumably he was able to make his 
wizarding related trips without Muggle interference - and maybe 
make side trips into other parts of London - if I came back to 
London from evacuation in World War II, I could certainly believe 
I'd have wanted to see what had happened to the area I knew best - 
hey for all we know, he might have been a cricket fan - I can 
certainly see someone who was interested in cricket heading into 
the Kennington area just to see the Oval!



Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia