Fifth Years

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 134101

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Meliss9900 at a... wrote:
> In a message dated 7/21/2005 5:48:30 PM Central Standard Time, 
> gbannister10 at a... writes:
> Geoff:
> In fact, I don't think they did - or not during the currency of the 
> book...
> Yes they did. Read a little further.
> 

Melissa:
> The White Tomb
> 
> Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were spending all of their time 
together. The 
> beautiful 
> weather seemed to mock them; Harry could imagine how it would have 
been if 
> Durnbledore had not died, and they had had this time together at 
the very end of 
> the year, Ginny's 
> examinations finished, the pressure of homework lifted ... and hour 
by hour, 
> he put off saying the thing that he knew he must say, doing what he 
knew it 
> was right to do, because it was too hard to forgo his best source 
of comfort.

Geoff:
I must agree with other posters. This is a conditional clause....

The giveaway is the the "had had".

It's a bit like a BASIC statement in computing.

IF.. Dumbledore had not died... THEN.. they would have had this time 
together etc. etc.
but because the IF was not fulfiled, the THEN didn't follow.

We have been told that lessons were suspended, examinations 
postponed...

Pupils were obviously leaving early and the Hogwarts Express was 
scheduled to leave an hour after the funeral. Dumbledore's funeral 
would be held fairly soon after his death so there was no time to 
reinstate the examinations.