[HPforGrownups] Re: Arabella Figg and Polyjuice/Arthur and Molly's past

[yr awen]

No: HPFGUIDX 42798


Corinth:
I can't remember where the "old Mundungus Fletcher" reference is at 
the moment; could you give me a book and chapter?  Since I don't have 
the quote in front of me, this may not be right.  But I believe 
Arthur mentioned referred to him in this manner after Mundingus 
attempted to curse him.<<<<<<

Correct. The specific passage is from CoS3, when Arthur Apparates back home after a rough night at the office:

"Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned."

Also, in GoF10, it's also mentioned that, after the attack at the Quidditch World Cup, Fletcher sues for damages to a super-luxury tent when it's known that he was camping out under a cloak held up with sticks (Percy says he's "got his number.")Without putting too fine, or perjorative, point on it, that's pretty crotchety manipulative behavior.

The use of "old" may therefore not be used 
to imply age, but rather antipathy.  Also remember that Mundungus 
would now be about 35 or 40 if we assume him to be in his early 
twenties during Voldemort's first reign.  Not very old, but then not 
young either (apologies to anyone of this age who takes offense).<<<<<<<<

However, it's *Arthur* who calls him old, and Arthur is presumably around 65-70 years, easily Fletcher's senior if you assume Fletcher to be as old as, or at least roughly contemporaneous with, the Marauders & Co. 

Dumbledore does not seem the type 
to conduct a full assault, soldier-style.  Instead, I see him heading 
an intelligence unit.  Defeat the enemy from the inside.<<<<<<

You're quite right, I agree. But with the qualification that the "war" with Voldemort wasn't a war in the specific sense of fighting with weapons on a field, but rather a systematic campaign of terror and psychological warfare. The Aurors and Dept. of Mystery-type people seem to me to be more of a police force than a military unit (like a SWAT team versus the National Guard, if you're a US citizen; what the British equivalent would be, I'm not sure.) I get this impression from the description of largely domestic violence in the recounting of the past conflict -- for example, the Potters and the Longbottoms are killed/tortured in their own homes, as opposed to a physical battlefield. Pettigrew's curse blows a street apart, taking innocent bystanders out along with Aurors. The feuds between various parties are between families, rather than countries (eg. the Weasleys and Malfoys), and at the conclusion of the war, punishment is meted out in the form of summary court justice, as seen with Crouch, who unhesitatingly condemns his own son.

Digression... I wonder what the extent of Voldy's campaign was -- if it was specific to the British Isles, or if its effects were felt elsewhere, like the Continent or even in the States. The presence of people like Dholov and Karkaroff indicates that there were people in Europe sympathetic to Voldemort's cause, but Voldemort's motives in his little power struggle seem incredibly opaque. Dumbledore talks of enlisting the aid of the giants and other quasi-humans who might find Voldemort's offer of enfranchisement attractive, but I don't think he ever says, "You know, we should see if the Spanish wizards and witches could help us out" or something like that. Anyway... back to your regularly scheduled program:

Given what we know of Dumbledore's tactics in the past war (not much), I'd say that your "intelligence unit" theory is sort of close to what I'm trying, unsuccessfully, to envision. Dumbledore is a great hero, famed for his defeat of Grindelwald and discovery of 12 uses of dragon's blood and all that -- and he's the one wizard Voldemort always feared (maybe because he's not afraid of Voldemort, who thrives on fear.) He's famous, which would make him ill-suited for intelligence work. A strategist is maybe what I'm going for here, one who takes information from *all* fields -- covert intelligence, street talk, government mutterings -- to shape his strategy. Yet, the extent to which he is successful in that first conflict is highly in doubt; I don't think the status of the war as of Voldemort's unexpected death (emphasis, 'unexpected') is ever made clear. Are the good guys winning, or was Voldemort's temporary incapacitation a stroke of fortune?

Corinth:
However, he 
needs some extremely brave and trustworthy agents for this job.  
Unable to trust many of his colleagues/friends in the MoM, and unable 
to use aurors whom the Death Eaters would recognize, Dumbledore turns 
to Hogwarts.<<<<<<< 

This would make sense in the context of the very beginning of PS/SS, when McGonagall appears to be completely in the dark regarding Dumbledore's plans for Harry; she mentions that the only reason she's hanging out on Privet Drive was because Hagrid tipped her off. Interesting! 

Corinth:
I believe he is once again beginning an internal battle: determine 
who to trust within the MoM, inform officials of the true threat and 
gain their loyalty, gain the trust of the giants, possibly infiltrate 
the DE ranks (I don't believe Snape is doing this though; too 
obvious).<<<<<<<<<<

One would probably say that that's the only way to fight a battle, especially against members of your own community. Fudge and other like-minded individuals strike me as being in a particularly dangerous form of denial.

Corinth:
I think you misinterpreted my description of Molly's reaction.  I 
didn't say it implied a lack of courage.  It implied a lack of 
knowledge.  She knew Sirius Black as a murderer and nothing more.  I 
think she and Arthur will play a large and courageous role in the 
coming fight, simply not in the past one.<<<<<<<<<<

You're discounting Lupin, though, who has absolutely no idea of Sirius' innocence until he sees Pettigrew's name on the Marauders' Map, and other people who presumably knew Sirius as a good person gone horribly and irredeemably bad -- a person who would inspire the same fear/hatred/fury we see in Molly. There's also the reaction of Hagrid, who appears to have been very closely involved in Dumbledore's affairs and was with Sirius right after the Potters died; he can't believe that he comforted the "murdering traitor" (PoA.) Further, Molly doesn't have the benefit of the evidence provided by the Map, so it's not possible for her to react as Lupin does to Sirus' sudden appearance with shock instead of hate/outrage. However, she seems to recover fairly quickly; after Sirus' initial transformation, she only has the one reaction before apparently calming down -- she doesn't run away screaming or try to pull her wand on him or what have you. Dumbledore also seems to trust her with not spreading rumors about Sirius' presence, or else leaves her to work out his innocence for herself. He does seem satisfied, though, that she won't try anything to jeopardize Sirius or his work.

At this point, I'm wondering if the 'old crowd' constitutes not Dumbledore's "insiders" as you say, in a general sense, but rather the people more intimately connected with the protection of Harry (in addition to his parents.) You have Sirius who was supposed to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper, Lupin the close friend/associate of Sirius and James and who knew of the plans to use the Fidelius Charm, Arabella who is presumably Harry's 'guardian' for the duration of his life on Privet Drive, and then Fletcher, who at this point is an utter mystery and throws my fledgling theory into doubt <g>


Corinth:
Hmm, don't believe Arthur and Molly would have any inside info, but 
Bill...well, he could easily fit into the age group of my theoretical 
old crowd...must contemplate this possibility.<<<<<<<

The irritating thing about Bill is that no one knows when he went to Hogwarts, or how much older he is than Charlie -- although, judging from the way he dresses and Harry's awed description of him as "cool," I'm guessing that he was slightly younger than the Marauders et. al, although there's absolutely nothing in canon to support that.

HF.
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Habent sua fata libelli.
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