Canon?
Can we really consider this company canon? Flying Carpets were explicitly said to be illegal in the UK, under the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects, in Goblet of Fire, so I doubt such a company would be allowed (even less so recommended by the Ministry itself). -- Seth Cooper owl post! 16:59, April 9, 2012 (UTC)
- You're right. I forgot about that. Another possibility is that this company operates somewhere outside the UK, and that the endorsement comes from that country's Department of Magical Transportation. There's nothing on what can be seen of the poster that suggests it operates in the UK (e.g., "Leeds to London in a snap!"). But otherwise I think placing the non-canon template on this article would be a reasonable idea. ★ Starstuff (Owl me!) 17:16, April 9, 2012 (UTC)
- Given that this is printed in the exact same style as the two next to it, which are clearly British in origin (since they refer to the O.W.L.s and a match on the Bodmin Moor stadium), I'm inclined to lean towards adding the non-canon template. The only possible way I could see these as canon would be if they were being distributed by Ali Bashir or someone similar at the Quidditch World Cup in GoF, and I personally think that's a strech. -- 1337star (Drop me a line!) 17:59, April 9, 2012 (UTC)
- I reread the relevant exchange in GoF and it actually seems that the flying carpet ban was relatively recent in 1994: speaking to Arthur Weasley, Barty Crouch Sr. described it as "your embargo," and went on to say his grandfather owned an Axminster "before carpets were banned, of course."
- So, based on the fact that Barty Crouch Jr. is known to have been born circa 1962 and the assumption of an average of 20-30 years between generations, we can estimate that Barty Crouch Sr.'s grandfather's era would've been the late 19th or early 20th century. Thus, at the very earliest, the flying carpet ban was put in place during that period. But Crouch Sr.'s attributing the ban to Arthur Weasley suggests that Arthur had a hand in putting it in place. Which means, assuming that Arthur got his job straight out of Hogwarts, that the ban could date from the late 1960s onward.
- It's thus possible that a flying carpet taxi service could've legally operated in Great Britain within living memory (relative to the books' timeframe), and that the ad dates from that period.
- I claim that the issue 1337star pointed out of time in which flying carpets were banned is clearly reasonable. This photo on which we can see an advetisement of flying carpet taxi service don't need to be made in 1980s or 1990s. This can be a residue of old posters from time when carpets were widely popular, still sticked here-and-there to the walls. Thus, that image connot be considered as non-canon, even though states something that may seem inauthentic. Colin Fletcher † Owl Post 12:08, April 10, 2012 (UTC)
- If there's nothing in the leaflets that claims they were printed in the 1990s, then, I guess, we can apply Starstuff's reasoning. -- Seth Cooper owl post! 19:22, April 29, 2012 (UTC)
The company could be an exception to the rule, though. This company could have been the only one authorized to make use of flying carpets, just like how there's only one company permitted to produce floo powder. If they had strict guidelines for where they flew and under which conditions, it could indeed very well be that this taxi company utilized carpets, while people were only allowed to own brooms privately. Maester Martin (talk) 23:23, August 6, 2019 (UTC)