Magic on Privet Drive

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 168327

--- 
> ... why I didn't see it before, but if Harry's house
> is under such surveillance, then how did his Guard get
> away with all the magic that was being done in the 
> house?
> 
> Yes I know they were all of legal age, but shouldn't
> the ministry have detected the use of magic in the 
> house at that point?...
> 
> If anyone has an answer to this please let me know.
> 
> Tandra
>

bboyminn:

Whenever, I come to something in the books that seems
to be inconsistent, I always assume there is a 
consistent off-page explanation, but it simply wasn't
relevant to the plot. And, in a way, this is true,
if we confront JKR with an inconsistency, she will 
simply make up an answer on the spot. Once she makes
up the answer, it become gospel. So, what I try to
do is make up my own 'gospel', but of course, my
made-up gospel still needs to be reasonably consistent
within the wizard world; there is a limit to how far
fetched it can be. 

I don't think it is anything magically performed by the
Order like a special cloaking charm. I suspect they
simply alerted the Magical Monitoring Office, that some
people would be picking Harry up within a certain time
span. For example, 'We will have some wizards in the 
area of Little Whinging next week, so don't be concerned
about any additional routine magical activity there'.

Notice that, in my example, the specific location is 
not mentioned, and the specific person (Harry) is not
mentioned, and the specific time is not mentioned. That
should be clear enough to get them in and out without
raising suspicion or giving away their plan to 
specifically rescue Harry. It would seem so mundane
and routine, that even a DE working for Magical 
Monitoring would not be suspicious. 

Notice also that Mr. Weasley performs magic in GoF when
he comes to pick up Harry by Floo Network. Arthur notified
the Floo Network people and got the Dursley's fireplace
connected. That means people at the Ministry knew he would
be there. They further should have known that the Dursleys
were 'magic aware', and so their was no concern for any
breach of the Statue of Secrecy.

However, when Harry received his warning, it was not just
the Dursley's there, but Mr. Dursley's very very very magic
UNaware muggle clients. That is a far more serious crime
in the eyes of the Ministry than magic in front of the
Dursley. 

Also, in this same vein, perhaps it was the Dursley's
absents that prevented any alarms from going off at 
the Ministry. If no muggles are present, then performing
of magic is not a crime. 

There is an answer, but for now, we'll just have to make
up our own.

Steve/bboyminn