Azkaban/ Order of the Phoenix

[mcandrew at bigpond.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 18060

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Zarleycat at a... wrote:

> > > They are betting that she means Azkaban, or possibly the 
Ministry of Magic, but it got me thinking...
> > > 
> > > I can't see why Harry would go to Azkaban - surely no matter 
what awful things might happen in OoP he's still just a child and 
> won't be sent there (as is =made= to go there) or be imprisoned?  
.....
> 
> I like the St. Mungo's idea.  I think that the gradual revelations 
> over the course of the books concerning the Longbottoms will have 
to > have some resolution. 
> 
> Marianne


Actually, I've been wondering for a while if Harry might end up being 
imprisoned for at least a short stretch in Azkaban, maybe in Book 
Five.

At the end of GoF, Harry reappears from nowhere (as far as the 
onlookers are concerned) clutching Cedric's dead body.  Later that 
night, in discussions with Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister 
for Magic, completely discounts the idea of Voldemort's return to 
power.  He makes it plain that he doesn't believe Harry's story of 
what happened that night ("the boy can talk to snakes, Dumbledore, 
and you still think he's trustworthy?"), and that he will hold 
fanatically and irrationally to his disbelief in Voldemort's 
resurgence in the face of all arguments to the contrary.  

As Minister for Magic, Fudge is responsible for administering wizard 
law.  Sooner or later Cedric's death must be properly investigated 
and accounted for, and to someone who doesn't believe Voldemort could 
have had anything to do with it, Harry must seem like a likely (or 
convenient) culprit.  There is even a possible motive in Harry's 
rivalry with Cedric as the other leading champion in the Triwizard 
Tournament.

It may seem harsh to sentence a 15 year old to prison in Azkaban, but 
Harry is over the minimum age for criminal responsibility. We know 
that Barty Crouch Jr was imprisoned there at the age of 19.  Juvenile 
convicted murderers in muggle society are generally sentenced to some 
form of incarceration; and in the wizard world, there don't appear to 
be many alternatives to Azkaban.

On the other hand, Fudge has already hinted in his argument with 
Dumbledore that he believes Harry is becoming mentally unhinged.  
Maybe he will be found not guilty of murder on grounds of insanity, 
and be sentenced to do time in St Mungo's instead.  Either way, it 
could make for some interesting plot developments!

Lama