[HPforGrownups] Re: Vauxhall Road

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 87032

On 13 Dec 2003 at 11:14, Geoff Bannister wrote:

> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Shaun Hately" <drednort at a...> 
> wrote:
> Geoff:
> Although, Carolyn has already told us that the orphanage at Stockwell 
> had evacuated its children away from London, so that still raises the 
> point that if TR was pottering around Vauxhall Road, where was he 
> coming from? If the orphanage had remained evacuated, then the 
> children would be well out of London. Agreed, a lot of family 
> evacuees returned to London for a variety of reasons but the orphans 
> presumably wouldn't although the bombing threat was well reduced by 
> this time until the next problem, the V1 "Doodlebugs" but (without 
> looking things up) I think they started about 1944.

June 1944.

The thing is - while it would be nice to have a clear reason for 
placing Tom Riddle in the Vauxhall area, there may not have been 
any dramatic reason. I was joking in a previous post about the Oval 
- but just consider this scenario.

Tom Riddle - orphaned at an early age. In his early teens, in 
London unaccompanied to go to Diagon Alley to get his supplies for 
school - and as it seems unlikely any of the Muggle authorities 
knew he was a wizard, it seems plausible he would have been 
unaccompanied. Even if he's not - I would guess maybe he might have 
been in the temporary care of a classmate from Hogwart's family. 
Regardless - he's in London - probably a fairly rare event.

If he happens to be a cricket fan, I can see a boy in that 
situation, wanting to see the Oval - and heading into Kennington to 
see that.

Or if he was in London soon after one of the major raids that hit 
the Lambeth area, he might have had a goulish fascination with 
that. Or he may have heard about the Dobkin case (-8 and wanted to 
see the scene.

There wasn't a war on when I was a teen - but I do remember having 
the freedom for the first time to head into Melbourne unaccompanied 
and to see the bits of the city I wanted to see. And on occasions, 
I went considerably out of my way to see certain things.

A boy who is stuck at a country orphanage most of the time - I can 
see him doing the same.

I mention the Oval simply because it's the most prominent landmark 
I personally know of in that general area.

The thing is - there may not be any type of earthshattering reason 
- or even an important reason - for Tom Riddle to have been in the 
Vauxhall Road. Idle curiousity could be enough.


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