Why Did McGonagall Wait For DD *All Day?*

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 157026

Eyemlynn wrote:

> I kind of think that the only point to that [having McGonagall wait
all day for DD} was for her to say that the Dursleys were the worst
sort of muggles. Just a way of introducing them as bad people.

Carol responds:
I agree that having her present at the scene was primarily a narrative
device, but it served several purposes other than introducing the
Dursleys as bad people, which could have been done without McGonagall.
It introduces McGonagall and establishes her ability to transform into
a cat (the motif of the Animagus, which will become important later)
and provides a person for Dumbledore to talk to while they're waiting
for Hagrid--exposition through dialogue. We learn through them about
the murder of Lily and James, for example, rather than witnessing what
really happened at GH--just enough to set up the mystery.). Meanwhile,
while she waits on the wall, we get to see through Vernon Dursley's
eyes for a day--magic occurring all around him and he's determinedly
oblivious even to the cat reading the map. The scene also establishes
the reality of the WW, contrasting it with mundane Muggledom, and
introduces two other important characters, DD and Hagrid, years before
Harry meets them. We see Baby!Harry placed on the doorstep, along with
a letter that the reader is not allowed to read. We're even introduced
to Sirius Black and his flying motorcycle, a seemingly fly-by
reference. IOW, the whole chapter serves as a prologue in story form.
It's necessary to the structure and content of this prologue for
McGonagall to be on the wall all day watching the Muggles on their
last normal (pre-Harry) day and for her to be in the dark with regard
to Dumbledore's plans for Harry, knowing only that Dumbledore will be
coming to 4 Privet Drive and that James and Lily are rumored to be dead. 

What we still don't know is what Dumbledore and Hagrid were doing
during those missing twenty-four hours. I think and hope that we're
supposed to wonder about that. If JKR isn't aware of that gap in her
story, then her math is even more abysmal than she realizes.

Carol, permanently annoyed by "the legendary Charlie Weasley" never
having won the Quidditch Cup in his entire seven years at Hogwarts
(or, rather, the last six since he wouldn't have played as a first-year)