[HPforGrownups] Re: McGonagall, Hagrid, 24 hours & another Pettigrew myst...

[eloiseherisson at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 42501

In a message dated 11/08/2002 20:51:17 GMT Standard Time, jodel at aol.com 
writes:


> If Hagrid did NOT return to Hogwarts how did McGonagall get the information 
> of where Dumbledore was going to be that night out of him?

Quite simply because she bumped into Hagrid and got the information from him 
*before* he left to get Harry. Yes, it's a short time frame, But Dumbledore 
must have seen both of them within a very short period, McGonagall to inform 
her that he was going to be absent and Hagrid to tell him of his mission. How 
about they met at the bottom of Dumbledore's stairs as Hagrid was going out 
and Minerva about to go up? 

Alternatively (and I think this is better), Dumbledore didn't see McGonagall 
at all: he informed Hagrid and told *him* to tell Minerva that he was going 
away.

>Dumbledore is the Headmaster. McGonagall is his deputy (we will assume). It 
>stands to reason that Dumbledore was away from his office from the moment 
>that it was known that Voldemort's attack had somehow gone awry (sometime 
>Halloween Night) until after he left Harry on the Dursleys' doorstep. While 
>we do not know for sure that McGonagall was already the deputy headmistress 
>at the tme of Voldemort's defeat, it does seem likely. In which case she was 

>probably left in charge. 

In fact, Minerva doesn't seem to be taking those Deputy Head duties very 
seriously, does she? She's left her post and spent all day sitting on a 
garden wall. 
> 
> JOdel:
>Side note: We are all familiar with Dumbledore's theory that Harry's 
proximity to >Voldemort's distruction has resulted in his having been granted 

>some of Voldemort's power. But there is strong circumstantial evidence which 

>suggests that Pettigrew was also at or near ground zero. What did he get 
from 
>his proximity to that event?

Eloise:
Not just the proximity, but the actual *connection* of the curse that failed. 
I don't think that we can suggest that Pettigrew is a similar case.

JOdel:
>Well, Voldemort's wand obeys him. (Another bit of circumstantial evidence 
>that it was the overlay of Tom Riddle's power which prompted that wand's 
>brother to choose Harry) He has sufficient power to perform the killing 
>curse. We don't know what else. Can Peter also talk to snakes these days?

Eloise:
But this is far from being the only case where we see one wizard using 
anothers wand. And Pettigrew was a DE. I imagine all DEs were adept at AK. We 
really have no evidence that you need to be particularly powerful (just 
*bad*!) to do that.
I seriously doubt that he's a Parselmouth.
 
As for the brother wands - well, there is quite a bit of evidence in the text 
that there are great similarities *in some ways* between Harry and Voldemort, 
aside from the connection of the curse that failed; this surely is part of 
the choice theme. Harry and Riddle (remember, it was the young, undeveloped 
Tom Riddle, who had presumably, like Harry been unaware that he even was a 
wizard, let alone developed any of his powers, not the souped-up Voldemort 
who attempted to curse Harry, whom the wand 'chose') had similar power, 
similar potential, similar needs in their 'best-fit' wands. Voldemort's wand 
could surely have been used to do great good (this is more or less implied by 
Ollivander), just as Harry's must have the *potential* for great evil, as 
does Harry himself. Both wands responded to the *potential* of the young 
wizard. 

I don't think we are suppose to think that Harry's power and the difficulty 
the Sorting Hat has in placing him are entirely the result of his encounter 
with Voldemort, although that encounter and connection have muddied the water 
somewhat. Harry's being a Parselmouth and the direct connection via the scar 
which conveys Voldemort's feelings of hatred are obviously the direct legacy 
of the curse that failed, but beyond that, I personally think that the 
connection that Dumbledore makes is there as much for literary reason than 
anything else: it gives Harry some psychological interest in his repeated 
doubts about his worthiness as a Gryffindor.) The fact that Voldemort wanted 
him out of the way to begin with suggests that there was something 
extraordinary about Harry right from the start.

Eloise




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