Mimble Wimble (longer)

[scoutmom21113]

No: HPFGUIDX 90352

LizVega replied:
<Nine pages, right. But, Carol, act it out. How long does nine pages
<actually take to act out? Maybe, a few minutes? How much dialogue is
<there in those nine pages? I think we can both agree that speaking
<nine pages worth of dialogue/text would only take a few minutes in
<real time.

Thanks again to Geoff for providing this useful quote:

[Start quote]
"But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, 'About our world, I mean.
your world. My world. Yer parents' world.'
'What world?'
HAgrid looked as if he was about to explode.
'DURSLEY', he boomed.
Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that
sounded like 'Mimblewimble'."

(PS "The Keeper of the Keys" p.41 UK edition, p. 50 US edition)

[End quote]

Silmariel:
I don't think that nine pages are brief to read, I don't think it is 
related
to Dudley's pigtail, but IMO that's an uncalled memory as a panic 
reaction. <snip> Any way, I think it's something that he had not 
heard /thinked in years, that came out as a result of a stress 
situation ('DURSLEY', he boomed).

 Bookworm:
What happens in those nine pages between `Mimblewimble' and Dudley's 
tail? Let's take a look:

1. Hagrid tells Harry his parents are famous.
2. Vernon forbids Hagrid to tell Harry anything.
3. Hagrid scolds Vernon for never telling Harry about his parents.
4. Hagrid tells Harry he is a wizard.
5. Hagrid gives Harry his letter.
6. "After A FEW MINUTES (my emphasis) he stammered, `What does it 
mean, they await my owl?'"
7. Hagrid pulls an owl out of his pocket, writes a letter to 
Dumbledore, "went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm"
8. "Then he came back and sat down..."
9. Vernon told Hagrid that Harry isn't going to Hogwarts.
10. Hagrid calls Vernon a `great Muggle' then explains to Harry what 
Muggles are.
11. Vernon says they swore to stamp the magic out of Harry.
12. Petunia rants about her sister (for about ¾ of a page).
13. Harry yells at Petunia for lying about his parents' death.
14. Hagrid stumbles over telling Harry about Voldemort.  It takes 
almost a full page for him to just get started – lots of stammering 
and stuttering – and two pages total to tell the story.
15. Vernon called the Potters weirdos.
16. Hagrid threatens Vernon with his umbrella.
17. Another half page about Voldemort.
18. Harry thought about how he could be a wizard when he had been 
kicked around his whole life.
19. Hagrid pointed out "Never mad things happen when you was scared 
or angry?"
20. More thinking about things in Harry's past.
21. Vernon and Hagrid argue over Harry going to Hogwarts.
22. Vernon called Dumbledore a Crackpot Old Fool.
23. Hagrid "thundered" at Vernon. "He brought the umbrella swishing 
down through the air to point at Dudley – there was a flash of 
violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the 
next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped 
over his fat bottom, howling in pain.  When he turned his back on 
them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his 
trousers.
24. Vernon pulls Dudley and Petunia into the other room.

There is a fair amount of non-dialog time – Harry reading the 
letter, thinking about it, thinking about being a wizard, Hagrid 
writing the note to Dumbledore, rolling it up to give to the owl, 
walking to the door, throwing the owl into the air, walking back to 
the sofa.   

I would think that this scene would take at least 10 minutes from 
the time Hagrid first "boomed" at Vernon, and the time Vernon 
insulted Dumbledore.  If `mimblewimble' really is a protection 
charm, I wonder how long it would last?

As I was typing the list I was thinking that `mimblewimble' couldn't 
have anything to do with Hagrid casting the spell on Dudley.  But 
the one thing that struck me in going through this exercise is the 
actual spell.  Hagrid is furious with VERNON for insulting 
Dumbledore, but he deliberately pointed his umbrella at DUDLEY.  If 
he was angry with Vernon, why did he cast a spell on Dudley 
instead?  He specifically said he meant to turn Dudley into a pig, 
so it wasn't an accident.  

Did Hagrid realize that Vernon was protected in some way?  How 
clearly would he be thinking when he is in a rage like that?  What 
does he know that we don't?  

Ravenclaw Bookworm