Dates and calendars - Sept 1 Always on Sunday.

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 97643

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboy_mn at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister"
> <gbannister10 at a...> wrote:
 
Geoff:
> > I didn't originally raise this point, but perhaps I will now. 
Where
> > does the support for 01/09 having been a Sunday for five years 
come
> > from?

bboy_mn;
> Using my not very trustworthy memory, I will ask you recall that the
> day of the week of the Hogwarts Express train ride is never 
specified,
> but the first day of classes is always on a Monday, and that day
> appears to always be the day after the train ride. 
> 
> If the train ride is Sept 1, and the day after is always Monday, 
then
> logically, we have seen Sept 1 fall on a Sunday for every book.
> 
> I'm not so sure we could consider this a flint, it's probably more
> like 'artistic license'. 

Geoff:
Having looked into this a bit further, there is evidence of a day 
conflict. I wonder whether Jo Rowling just hasn't followed up the 
exact days and has made references to the day of the week without 
checking back or checking a calendar (unlike Tolkien who went to 
great lengths to get his Middle Earth dates to agree). This is 
perhaps one place where her attention to detail has slipped. Maybe 
the days of the week are not as important as hidden clues and red 
herrings.  :-)

The conflict is in GOF and OOTP:

GOF:
`"Today's not bad.... outside all morning," said Ron who was running 
his finger down the Monday column of his timetable, "Herbology with 
the Hufflepuffs and Care of Magical Creatures
. damn it, we're still 
with the Slytherins..."'
(GOF "Mad-Eye Moody" p.171 UK edition)

OOTP:
`Professor McGonagall was now moving along the table handing out 
timetables.
"Look at today!" groaned Ron, "History of Magic, double Potions, 
Divination and double Defence Against the Dark Arts.... Binns, Snape, 
Trelawney and that Umbridge woman all in one day! I wish Fred and 
George'd hurry up and get those Skiving Snackboxes sorted
"
"Do mine ears deceive me?" said Fred, arriving with George and 
squeezing on the bench beside Harry. "Hogwarts prefects surely don't 
wish to skive off lessons?"
"Look what we've got today," said Ron grumpily, shoving his timetable 
under Fred's nose. "That's the worst Monday I've ever seen."'
(OOTP "Professor Umbridge" pp.203-04 UK edition)

01/09/94 (GOF) was a Thursday so presumably they ought to have 
started lessons on the Friday.  01/09/95 (OOTP) was a Friday, so with 
the weekend, they would have started on the Monday so there is a 
discrepancy here between the two acocunts.

In PS, COS and POA, no days are mentioned when timetables are given 
out. However, in PS, the following bit of canon occurs:

`Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They finally managed 
to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without 
getting lost once.
"What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his 
porridge.
"Double Potions with Slytherins," said Ron

'
(PS "The Potions Master" p.100 UK edition)

So what? Well, if they have more then one Potions lesson a week – and 
I would think that they have - and the first lesson of the year is on 
a Friday, it implies that the timetable kicked in during the week.

However(!) 01/09/91 was a Sunday so lessons should have started on a 
Monday....

This does assume that pupils don't have time to settle in and 
have "induction" lessons just to get them going again in the new 
school year.

One further piece of evidence on the question of JKR being inaccurate 
about days of the week, is the following case. There was a thread 
about the date of Dudley's birthday and, in message 89687, I pointed 
out that the day of Harry's 11th birthday was wrong. In the book, 
31/07/91 is given as a Tuesday when, in the Real World at least, it 
was a Wednesday.