More Fun With De-Lurks!

[Cindy C.]

Where are my *manners?*  Barb and Marina just joined, put their 
noses to the grindstone and started working their fingers to the 
bone.  I never offered them any refreshments or even a proper FAQ 
list hazing -- er, I mean, welcome.

This simply will not do.  

First, we have Marina's de-lurk in Message 33678:

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--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Edblanning at a... wrote:
> I'm going to ask a relly dumb question, but I have realised that I
just don't > understand the Fidelius Charm.
<snip>
> But WHY did Sirius feel the need to create a bluff in switching to
Pettigrew? 
> If he was willing to die rather than give them away, what was the 
> problem?(other than the minor one of wishing to avoid death/
torture). 

Newbie delurking here.

I wondered about that myself. The only theory I could come up with is
that Sirius a)didn't feel entirely confident in his own ability to
withstand torture; or b)was afraid that Voldemort would use some
magical means (Imperio curse or Veritaseum, for example) to get him 
to
talk.

The problem with that is, switching secret-keepers wouldn't keep the
Potters safe in this scenario, it would only introduce an extra step
in the questioning.

Voldemort: Here, drink this Veritaseum.

Sirius: glug-glug-glug

V: Where are the Potters?

S: I don't know.

V: What do you mean you don't know, aren't you the secret-keeper?

S: No, I switched with Peter.

V: Oh. Okay, I'll ask Peter, then.

Not much of a plan, is it? Admittedly, Sirius isn't exactly a
brillian planner. But you'd think James and Lily would think it
through more carefully.

Marina

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And we have Barb's de-lurk in Message 19963:


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Hi! I just signed up for the list, and I don't tend
to lurk. My name's Barb, and I could help be
fascinated by the many arguments for and against
Harry's "specialness." I think the clue that JKR
gives to what makes Harry special lies in how similar
to Voldemort Harry is in many ways--half Muggle,
orphaned, raised in the Muggle world, even physical
similarities. But the the greatest DISSIMILARITY
between Harry and Voldemort is something that V. has
that H. does not: he uses his background and childhood
experiences to feed his anger and hatred. He is
forever pursuing power over others as some kind of
revenge against the universe for making him powerless
to control his situation when he was a child. Harry's
response is very Zen; he does not try to control, and
usually finds that he is in complete control. He does
not become an embittered, revenge-driven person, even
after years of living in a closet under the stairs. 
He is always ready to risk his own safety for the good
of others. He thinks of himself last, and comes out
on top. 

That's one reason why Ron is merely a sidekick; he has
a lot of bottled-up resentment and jealousy, and
dreams of glory (his vision in the Mirror of Erised;
and is it any coincidence he had to spend so much time
cleaning slug slime off Tom Riddle's Award for Special
Services to the School?). Although I don't think
he'll turn evil or anything, he could certainly make a
bad decision at some point that will put Harry or
others at risk. He's an accident waiting to happen. 
(But Harry will forgive him afterwards, because that's
who he is.)

Harry and Voldemort have very similar departure
points, but their destinations are very different. 
THAT is what makes Harry special.


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Cindy -- hoping she hasn't missed any other de-lurks