chapter discussions, SS/PS, chapter 5, Diagon Alley

[Geoff]

No: HPFGUIDX 187882

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Cassy Ferris <xellina at ...> wrote:

> > 9 At the end of the chapter, Hagrid puts Harry on a train for home. For a
> child who had never been to London and probably not far from Privet drive on
> his own, how did he get back to the Dursleys?

Cassy:
> We don't know the geography of Little Whinning, maybe the train station is
> the next street from Private Drive and Harry only needs to go around the
> corner to get home.

Geoff:
JKR's geography places Little Whinging somewhere within a few miles of 
Heathrow on the west side of London and suggests that Privet Drive is a 
small residential area, possibly of the sort which sprang up in post-war 
years.

The route from Paddington strikes a fairly straight line out of the capital 
with suburban railway stations near to what were the centres of population 
when it was built.

I think , as someone pointed out, Harry would know the area anyway but 
needed to be reconciled to humping his luggage some distance on foot.