Just a few things I am not too clear on: Magic outside of Howgwarts, hidden clues

[Juli]

No: HPFGUIDX 123230


--- beth_bousquet <beth_bousquet at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I am a little confused on a few things that have happened 
> in the books the first of which is: why does Harry get in
> trouble for doing spells outside of Hogwarts when we see 
> Hermione doing spells at least a couple of times away from
> school, as well a Ron at least once. The first time I notice 
> was in SS/PS on the train, Ron tries to turn Scabbers yellow, 
> and then Hermione fixes Harry's glasses. She also mentions 
> that she has tried simple spells that have all worked for 
> her before. Do these instances not count because they have 
> not started at Hogwarts yet?


Juli replies:

I think you may be confusing the movie and the books,
only books are considered canon, the movies sometimes
include inaccurate facts. Students are actually able
to do magic on the Hogwarts express. It is HOGWARTS
express so it's considered a part of school, IMO.

Here's the quote from CoS:
"Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the
Hogwarts Express. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George,
and Ginny got a compartment to themselves. They made
the most of the last few hours in which they were
allowed to do magic before the holidays. They played
Exploding Snap, set off the very last of Fred and
George's Filibuster fireworks, and practiced disarming
each other by magic. Harry was getting very good at
it."
 
> The second question I have is: how important to the story is 
> all of the hidden stuff that I have heard is in the books?
> Am I missing out on a whole lot of clues to what is happening?

Juli:

Little details may be either extremely important or
not. In PS/SS we first hear of Sirius Black, who
thought of him as important? Not me. Then he becomes
this very important character. The same happens with
Mrs Figg and not until OoP we learn that she's
actually an Order Member. 

Many other things just aren't important. Like Mark
Evans, just a random name (JKR website). It's hard to
figure out which details will turn out to be
important, but after reading the books many times you
may start to read between the line.

Juli