In the absence of a pattern of such random crackpot letters, I would probably call a single letter sufficient evidence to make it worth testing. If that one didn’t pan out, or the next few, it stops being so. A specific oddity—such as an eleven-year-old receiving a letter purporting to be an invitation to attend a school of magic—is more evidence than an entry in a continuing pattern. (What would have happened, I wonder, if Mrs. Figg had not been present, and Harry had simply thrown out the letter as junk? Probably someone would have come anyway when no reply was received.)
If canon is any guide, it would have resulted in more letters. Lots and lots of letters. With Hagrid being sent after they don’t respond to the first thousand or so.
Based on my memory from the movie (which is more extreme than the book, but I forget how much), it would have been well worth responding to long before Hagrid arrived.
In the absence of a pattern of such random crackpot letters, I would probably call a single letter sufficient evidence to make it worth testing. If that one didn’t pan out, or the next few, it stops being so. A specific oddity—such as an eleven-year-old receiving a letter purporting to be an invitation to attend a school of magic—is more evidence than an entry in a continuing pattern. (What would have happened, I wonder, if Mrs. Figg had not been present, and Harry had simply thrown out the letter as junk? Probably someone would have come anyway when no reply was received.)
I so wish I had your address...
If canon is any guide, it would have resulted in more letters. Lots and lots of letters. With Hagrid being sent after they don’t respond to the first thousand or so.
Based on my memory from the movie (which is more extreme than the book, but I forget how much), it would have been well worth responding to long before Hagrid arrived.
You’re right; if there had been such a pattern, the narration would surely have said so.