Flitwick/Missing 24 hours

[christi0469 <christi0469@hotmail.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50096

Inspired by the release date for OOtP, last night I began to reread 
the series from the beginning (for the ?th time) and noticed 
something that eluded me before. In the first chapter of PS/SS  
Vernon bumps into and just about knocks over a tiny wizard with a 
squeaky voice. Could this be Prof. Flitwick? (I did try to search 
the archive to see if this had been brought up previously but gave 
up after awhile.) If this was Flitwick, why were he and McGonagall 
away from Hogwarts while school was in session? Sure, classes would 
have probably been cancelled in celebration, but it would seem to me 
that the teachers would have been required to make sure the students 
didn't get too out of hand.

I know that this is most likely inconsequential, but I have to 
wonder how many of the people mentioned early in PS/SS are going to 
turn out to be important later. It would be amusing if Doris 
Crockford and Daedalus Diggle turn out to be as important as Sirius 
Black already has and Mrs./Arabella Figg promises to be. Could there 
be any importance behind Flitwick loitering and gossiping on a 
sidewalk in Surrey (or does Vernon work in London)?