BIC LIGHTER -> Book 1 question - Wizard World at Large

[dan]

No: HPFGUIDX 84463

In fact, I always felt the conscious entrance to the witchwizard 
world occured on the train, as another train was the conscious 
entrance to the Harry Potter story for Rowling. The point where 
Potter no longer has to worry about the Dursley's, that is to say. 
Potter enters that world via his association with Ron, and Hermione, 
when the ability to do magic became something he shared with peers. 
In book terms, this means Hogwarts. Of course, in BIC LIGHTER terms, 
this also means that it happens with the "click" in Potter's mind 
that occurs when ideas "about" the witchwizard world become 
experiences "in" the witchwizard world. The Hogwarts Express is an 
extension of the school, a salient, as it were. So, Hogwarts is the 
entrance, and the train is part of Hogwarts. Something like that. The 
point of no return is another way of saying it. Or, how about, the 
point at which the witchwizard world takes on a life of its own? In 
all cases, however, it is the school, Potter's "home".
t any rate, the question, however one looks at is, IMHO, a good one 
to ponder.