Chat: Motorbike

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 92260

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "paulaboo1013" <paula at j...> 
wrote:

Paula:
> I have thought this since I reread SS/PS the first time.
> 
> At the end of chapter 3, as Harry is waiting for midnight to come is
> when the "thunder" starts.  "Dudley's snores were drowned by the low
> rolls of thunder that started near midnight"
> 
> My thought is that the low rolls of thunder are actually the sound 
of
> the motorbike running.


Geoff:
Reading the whole section and putting the above in context, I'd be 
inclined to disagree...

"As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from 
the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind 
rattled the windows.........

The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry 
couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get 
comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were 
drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The 
lighted dial of Dudley's watch...... told Harry he'd be eleven in ten 
minute's time..."

(PS "The Letters from No One" pp.37-38 UK edition)

The sequence suggests that the rolls of thunder have begun around 
about when Harry notices the watch.

If Hagrid had arrived on the motorbike, he would have switched the 
engine off immediately, not left it running for ten minutes or more. 
He doesn't return outside again. We are told...

"He bent down, picked up the door and fitted it easily into its 
frame. The noise of the storm  outside dropped a little...."
(PS "The Keeper of the Keys" p.39 UK edition)

and....

"Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl which clamped it in 
its beak, went to the door and  threw the owl out into the storm."
(ditto p.43)

I think the thunder is just thunder.