Dumbledore and Hermione's owl

[Susan Miller]

No: HPFGUIDX 87564

In the last chapter of SS, Harry wakes and sees Dumbledore standing 
over him. At one point, Harry asks, "You got there? You got 
Hermione's owl?" Dumbledore says "We must have crossed in midair." 
(SS, US edition, page 296-7)

But then a few pages later (page 302), Harry is discussing things 
with Hermione and Ron. Harry asks "So, what happened to you two?" But 
then Hermione says an odd thing. "Well, I got back all right. I 
brought Ron round - that took a while - and we were dashing up to the 
owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall - 
he already knew ...."

My question - why would Dumbledore say he must have crossed 
Hermione's owl if he met her while she was still on her way to the 
owlery and couldn't have sent it yet? I suppose it is possible that 
Dumbledore didn't know that Hermione was on her way to sending it and 
that she might have sent it earlier, but then wouldn't he have said 
something like "I saw her earlier. I understood what it was all 
about." 

And it doesn't make sense that he would honestly think that an owl 
with a message for him would miss him. The owl would have been 
looking for HIM and he would expect it to pursue him until the 
message was delivered. The whole thing seems strange to me. Either he 
knew Hermione hadn't yet sent the owl and would have remarked about 
it, or he thought she did send the owl and would have expected it to 
have found him sometime over the last three days that Harry was in 
the hospital. Then he might have remarked something like "Gee, I 
wonder where it has got to?"

CV