(#) DrT 2008-10-14
Yes, Little Whinging is a distant suburb of London -- a 2 hour commute even the the rain is a bit long.
Why would Carla return to a Surrey school? Plenty of schools in London, and in any case most in the Wizarding community homeschool (less chance of accidentally revealing the magical world).
Unless the points really will lead to something -- Neville being paid for baby sitting, Carla having to go to that school for some obscure reason, Harry too dumb not to ride in the rain while apparating in dry weather -- the chapter seems a bit pointless right now. I thought it was to have Harry confront some of the teachers who did nothing about his obvious abuse, but I guess not