How dim is Harry? - his official History

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 98463

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "melclaros" <melclaros at y...> 
wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister" 
> <gbannister10 at a...> wrote:
> > 
> > So I think that if Harry tried to read one of the books HG 
> mentions, 
> > he might well find that he had more questions to deal with than 
he 
> > started with.
 
Mel:
> Oh come on Geoff, we're not talking about him writing a doctoral 
> thesis here, just asking someone who his Grandma was would have 
been 
> nice. 

Geoff:
Neither am I. I'm talking about simple things like where the person 
was born and what age they were when they carried out a particular 
action. I have found glaring discrepancies with some books I have 
read because they have misinterpreted, gone to anecdotal sources or 
made guesses from other information......

When Hermione says:
"I know all about you, of course -  I got a few extra books for 
background reading and you're in 'Modern Magical History' and 'The 
Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts' and 'Great Wizarding Events of the 
Twentieth Century'."

(PS "The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters" p.79 UK 
edition)

...what does she mean by "all about you"? Is it in the public domain 
that HP has been living in a cupboard for ten years? Is it common 
knowledge what precisely happened at Godric's Hollow - it doesn't 
appear to be too obvious among those who were involved like Hagrid. 
Have you ever read a book with a name like 'Great Engineers of the 
World' and found Isambard Kingdom Brunel dismissed in two paragraphs?

Just to take a personal example, I've been trying to find out 
information about my paternal grandfather for some years (because my 
father became estranged from his family) and I've had two wildly 
differing dates given to me by family members concerning the simple 
fact of his date of death.