Harry's B-day Re: Riddle and Grindelwald in 1945

[romulusmmcdougal]

No: HPFGUIDX 109303

Geoff:
> But you have avoided commenting on the fact that Harry states quite 
> categorically that it occurred on his birthday, the 31st July,
which 
> removes any ambiguity. 

RMM:
I haven't avoided any such thing.  I am reading the sentence
according to correct grammar, modifying the verb where need be and 
modifying the noun appropriately.
Secondly, I have posted somewhere else already the fact that Harry 
does not speak out right away after seeing the headline.
He reads into the body of the news article and then, and only then, 
does he exclaim that the robbery occurred on his birthday.
We do not necessarily have the whole text of the news article.
The rest of the text could have stated something like: "...the 
robbery, which occurred the day before...."

Geoff:
> 
> Harry's birthday was 31/07/80 which was, in the real world, a 
> Wednesday but, in PS, reference is made to it being a Tuesday, 
> therefore, there is a discrepancy - which isn't entirely surprising 
> since JKR is a bit free and easy with days of the week in one or
two 
> other places.

RMM:
Actually 31/07/80 was a Thursday.
July 31, 1991 was a Wednesday, and that is what you refer to I am 
assuming.

"JKR is a bit free and easy with days of the week in one or two other 
places".
Yes, she is but you have to know what she is doing.  One cannot 
dismiss the "apparent" problem with "Oh she is just hopeless when it 
comes to dates -- poor woman!!"
I'm sorry, I would not want to be considered as "dotty" before my 
time.  Jo is only in her 30s.  Give her a break.

Let me take on another date and show how it is being totally abused
by the "prevailing opinion".
The day that the story began, everyone says is.......... Halloween, 
October 31, 1981.
How do we arrive at that date?
Because, ten years later, Hagrid says so.

However, we have ABSOLUTE PROOF, from that day's activities itself 
that the day -- Tuesday, was October 27, 1981.
And why do I say that?
Because of what TED the WEATHERMAN stated on the television that very 
evening.  Now, what did he say?
Folks from England would know exactly what date he was referring to 
when he said "Bonfire Night".  And Ted said in reference to Bonfire 
Night, what?  That Bonfire Night will not be occurring until when?  
Ted said:  "Next week".  
When is Bonfire Night in England, and if it occurred next week, and
if 
today is Tuesday, what is the DATE?

So, then, would you take the 10 year old memory of Hagrid over
today's 
word of a newsreader?
I wouldn't.

Let me ask a question.
Was Jo Rowling's dating skills called into question before she wrote 
Order of the Phoenix?  I will venture an answer and say YES, her 
abilities with dates and times has been severely questioned over the 
course of the first four books.

Do you think she would then want to remedy her poor abilities by
maybe 
keeping a calendar near her so that when she refers to a particular 
day, that she could then get the date right when she is writing OoTP?
I would certainly say YES to that as well.
I can just hear her now: "Golly Mr. Editor, I am such a nitwit when
it 
comes to dates, and Gee, how come your editors couldn't even get them 
right either?"
What a combo we have here:  A nitwit author combined with nitwits for 
editors!!!

Then OoTP is released and what do we find???

We find Jo Rowling making atrocious mistakes to the point that up to 
September we think it is 1993 and then after we think it is 1996 by 
the way that Jo is dating things in the book.

I believe Jo dated OoTP erroneously to poke fun at us.
In essence, she is saying: "You want bad dates???  I'll give you bad 
dates!!  You won't figure out what I was saying earlier?  Well here, 
take these!"
At least that is what I would have done had I been in her shoes. :-)

Sincerely perplexed by poor math skills,
RMM
www.hermionegranger.us