The Impossible Thestral Flight To London.

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 70621

OoP book is about fantasy amoung other things, so we start by
accepting that it doesn't have to conform to the normal rules of daily
muggle life, and of course, that applies to the Laws of Physics.

Based on any reasonable estimate, Hogwarts is over 400 miles from
central London which it seems is where the Ministry is located. So it
doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that to make the trip in one
hour, you have to fly at +400 miles per hour (2/3rds the speed of sound). 

Consider the wind chill factor and the wind turbulance at that speed.
Those two factor alone would prohibit flying by any open exposed means
at that speed. Especially prohibit it for any length of time over a
minute or so.

Conclusion:
Well, the conclusion is either forget about it and enjoy the story or
concluded that it is magic. Me... I'm going for the magic solution.

As with Therstals, I beleive that Post Owls are not ordinary
creatures, but owls that, by their very nature, are enchanted. Just as
wand wood comes from bowtruckle infested trees; that is, wand wood
comes from naturally enchanted trees that's why the bowtruckles are
drawn to them, Post Owls are born magical enchanted owls.

Side Note: For those of you who are worried about Hedwig dying a
natural death during Harry's lifetime, I pose that like wizards,
enchanted owls have double the lifespan of normal owls. Normal Snowy
Owls can live up to 35 years, that gives Hedwig a comfortable +70
years of life. That will still be in Harry's lifetime, but he will be
much older and wiser when it finally happens.

As a result of their inherent magic, Thestral and Post Owls are able
to transverse distance in magical ways; sort of a vague form of
apparation. A Thestral may fly at the apparent speed of 60 mph, but
magically cover distance at 5 times what that speed would imply; sort
of the merging of a slow-motion form of apparation and natural flying.

It is unlikely that even a powerful Snowy Owl like Hedwig could fly
from London to any location in the world where exotic tropical birds
are found. True some birds fly thousands of miles, but Snowy Owls
don't; hundreds at the most. And even if it was in their nature to fly
thousands of miles, I doubt they would do it in a week. So, Hedwig
must have the capability of magical flight. That would seem to be
confirmed by how fast the Ministry and Hogwarts owls reach Number 4
Privet Drive. Assuming Dumbledore was at Hogwarts, his Howler arrive
in about 20 minutes; that's faster than the speed of sound. The
Ministry owls on the other hand only had to fly 20 or 30 miles.

Conclusion, most winged flying magical creatures have this capability
of apparation-like magical flight.

The origin of all my magical theories; "when in doubt, make something up".

Just a thought.

bboy_mn