Alarm clock

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 146465

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "carodave92" <carodave92 at y...> 
wrote:

Marg McKay-Lowndes;
> > > > > I'm just browsing through my favourite parts of HBP and have
> > > noticed the alarm clock on p.46, (Bloomsbury) which is mentioned
> > > a few times. Harry repaired it a while back apparently. Does
> > > anyone see any significance in this? ...

<snip>

Carodave:
>
> I believe that the clock was something Dudley discarded when he
> broke it (during a diet induced tantrum?) It was stored with a
bunch
> of other broken items in Dudley's second room, which became Harry's
> room after he moved out of the cupboard under the stairs.

Geoff:
This is quite intriguing.

I have just browsed back through Philosopher's Stone and the earliest
references I seem to be able to find which cover both Carodave's
comment and Marge McKay-Lowndes' are:

"It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned
from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared
around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old cine-
camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once
driven over next door's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever
television set, which he'd out his foot through when his favourite
programme had been cancelled; there was a large bird-cage which had
once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air-
rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley
had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only
things in the room that looked as if they'd never been touched."
(PS "The Letters from No One" p.32 UK edition)

"The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning."
(ibid. p.33)

No information about Harry repairing the clock so why comment that it
is? He couldn't have done it then because the second quote from canon
is the very next morning....

Odd.

However, on more than one occasion in the past, we have been reminded
of Sigmund Freud's remark "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar".