Getting to Hogwarts

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 104036

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at y...>
wrote:
> Shannon wrote:
> The thought that all students would have to go to
> Diagon Alley to get their school supplies anyway,
> since even in Hogsmeade I do not remember them
> saying anything about stores that carry the supplies the
> kids would need, would make it seem reasonable that
> they travel from Kings Cross to school.  I mean it's
> not like in the WW they have to travel as muggles
> do, they can apparate and travel by floo and other ways
> to get to the area.



> Carol responds:
>
> What I wonder is how the pureblood kids get their trunks to and from
> King's Cross Station. ... there aren't any fireplaces there even if 
> you could "Floo" with a trunk. And you can't ride a broom in broad 
> daylight ... The Muggleborns and half bloods could travel by car or 
> taxi and would be dressed like Muggles to blend in, ... Or the 
> Malfoys subjecting themselves to the indignity of taking the Knight 
> Bus...? 
> 
> Carol, 


Asian_lovr2:

Well, the one thing you are forgetting is that in Goblet of Fire,
George stands Harry's trunk on end, picks it up, steps into the
Dursley's fireplace, and Floos back to the Burrow. So, you can Floo
with anything you can pick up. 

Although, it must have been difficult holding on to the trunk while he
as spinning around in the Floo Network, and I suspect the other people
in the Floo Stream didn't appreciate bumping into a trunk as they
traveled on their merry way.

For the most part, I think this is one of those things we aren't
suppose to think about. This is fiction, so some things are just left
to the imagination, and have no real-world explanation.

However, if we apply our imaginations, let's see what we can come up with.


First, in the real world, London is a very old and historic city, it's
not that uncommon to see someone in a period costume walking about the
city. 

Plus, I'm lead to believe the London is also a very very diversified
city. You see an amazing cross-section of people; rude boys, punks,
rockers, Mods, ravers, high fashion, low fashion, weirdos of all
shapes and sizes. 

While some of my references are dated, the point is that in a big
diverse city like London, it's very common to see unusual people
lurking about. Consequently, I think a robed wizard would be far less
out of place in London than they would in say New York, or Minneapolis. 


Travel gets a little more complicated. We know that people can
certainly get to Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron. Charring Cross
Road is slighly North of Central London, and King's Cross Station is a
ways north and slightly east of Charring Cross Road/Oxford. 

Using www.map24.com I measured the street distance from Charring Cross
Rd and Oxford St to King's Cross Station (north on Trottingham Court
Rd and east on Euston Rd), at about 2.25km or about 1.4 miles. From
the south (farthest) end of Charring Cross Rd along the same route,
the distance is about 3km or about 1.9 miles. 

Straight line distance, Charring Cross Rd/Oxford to Kings Cross =
1.8km (1.1miles), or Leicester Square (south Charring Cross) to Kings
Cross = 2.5km (1.6miles). This all ignores one way streets. I'm pretty
sure Charring Cross Rd is a one-way heading south, but like I said,
I'm ignoring that for the moment.

The point is that from the Leaky Cauldron or Diagon Alley to Kings
Cross Station is not very far; 1.5 to 2 miles depending on where The
Leaky Cauldron actually is. I'm guessing most wizards could endure a
taxi ride for that short distance. But that brings up the question,
how do they get a cab? Could a whole crowd of student wizards hail a
fleet of taxis from outside the Leaky Cauldron? Could they telephone
for a cab? Where would they get a telephone? 

After all that analysis, truth be told, I'm drawing a blank, and
that's a very rare occurance. I could suggest horse drawn carriages,
that which we here in the USA call 'handsome cabs'. But, again, you
would need a fleet of them. 

Perhaps there is a combined muggle/magic or muggle-born's business
near Kings Cross that allows witches and wizards to use their
fireplace. I've often speculated that there are a lot of mixed
marriage wizard/muggle businesses that act as go betweens for the
muggle and magic world. 

That's probably the best I can come up with. The idea that near Kings
Cross is a muggle who is married to a magic person who runs a tea shop
or other business, and the wizard world pays them a small fee for
access to their fireplace.

Can anybody come up with anything better? 

Of course, I suspect there is no real answer, but I'm still interested
in what other might speculate as a solution.

Steve/asian_lovr2