Chapter Discussions: Chapter 4, Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place

[jwcpgh]

No: HPFGUIDX 83758

> <Snip of chapter summary and some questions>
> 
> > 13)  Why do the members of the Order apparently leave en masse 
via the front door, given the secrecy which surrounded Harry's 
arrival? Do we assume that the house is protected by anti-apparition 
charms and the like? <snip> 

 Marianne
> Harry's arrival was not all that secret.  A bunch of people on 
brooms flew out of the sky and landed in a small square.  In the 
middle of London.  Before Mad-Eye used the Put-Outer to put out the 
street lights.  Not exactly the most unobtrusive way of slipping into 
town. Anyone passing by or looking out of a window could have seen 
them.  <snip>

Laura:

Marianne's post made me wonder if one of the reasons the Order chose 
Grimmauld Place was that it was in a somewhat iffy neighborhood, 
perhaps the kind of place where the residents purposely don't take 
notice of each other's comings or goings.  "So people show up in the 
middle of the night apparently from nowhere?  Well, that's their 
business, not ours."  And once the Order members are in and satisfied 
that no one from the DEs has followed them, they can leave freely.  
It doesn't much matter if the neighbors see them-they won't pay 
attention anyhow.  Does that make sense?