TBAY The Missing 24 hours, the untold story

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 43161

"FIRE!!!" 

"But Captain –" Dicentra objected.

"You *heard* me, sailor!"  The Captain lunged for the Big Bang's 
joystick, roughly shoving Dicentra aside.  "You fire that canon 
right now or I'll do it *myself!*"

Dicentra caught her hand.  "But . . . but Meg's a *newcomer* to the 
Bay, Captain!  She has an acronym, she had her Wolf dig up some 
pretty solid canon, and she brought her very own racing boat into 
the Bay!  That's pretty impressive and deserving of some *mercy,* 
Captain.  Besides, I'm not sure this canon you have has the *range* 
to hit Meg's vessel!  And –"  Dicentra lowered her voice.  "I'm not 
sure we have the *heart* to hit it, Captain," she said evenly.

"I don't *CARE!*" shrieked the Captain.  "You fire that canon *right 
now* or I'm busting you down in rank!"

Dicentra rose from the gunner's chair, her cold blue eyes fixed on 
the Captain.  "You can't toss *me* in the brig.  I have my own ship 
now, remember?  Besides, I don't even *work* here, so you'll have to 
do your own dirty work for a change!"  She flounced to the deck 
railing and flung herself overboard, landing with the barest of a 
splash and stroking vigorously into the night.

The Captain heaved a labored sigh.  "It is *impossible* to get good 
help these days," she muttered.  "Never mind.  I'll launch this 
canon *myself.*"  The Captain took careful aim at the T.H.E. 
F.I.R.S.T. M.E.M.O.R.Y. F.R.I.E.N.D. (Taking Harry Extremely Fast 
Into Really Secure and Trustable Mother, Embracing Molly who Opts to 
Receive the Youngster, Friendship Resulting, Interpretates 
Evanescing, Nuisant Day) as it darted merrily about the Bay, buzzing 
the other boats, nearly capsizing several of the more humble 
vessels.  

The Captain hunched over Dicentra's neatly penciled notes, preparing 
to calculate the exact trajectory and velocity required for a single 
canon to sink the racing boat straight to the very deepest part of 
Theory Bay.  Suddenly, she paused, her brow furrowed.  This would –- 
this would involve *math,* she realized.  Shaking her head grimly, 
she thought better of attacking outright and resolved to negotiate 
with Meg directly.

The Captain apparated into the T.H.E. F.I.R.S.T. M.E.M.O.R.Y. 
F.R.I.E.N.D., lunging awkwardly toward Meg, who stood proudly before 
its helm.  

"Meg," the Captain said, "you know this whole theory you've created 
in Message 42,568 to account for the Missing 24 hours?  You know, 
the idea that Hagrid gave Harry to Molly before later taking him to 
Dumbledore and McGonagall in the first chapter of PS/SS?"

"It's simply *Marvelous,* isn't it Captain!" Meg breathed, 
tightening her grip on the racing boat's controls.  "Can you 
*believe* no one has ever proposed this theory before?  No one!  Not 
one single soul in over 43,000 messages!  I mean, I just *got* here, 
and that whole theory was *lying* there, just waiting for someone to 
make a go of it.  It –- it's almost too good to be true!"  She gave 
the wheel a spirited twirl, causing the racing boat to lurch 
violently to port.

"Actually," the Captain said as she tightened her grip on the 
nearest railing, "being *too good* is not the problem."  The Captain 
forced a toothy smile, remembering the days not so long ago when she 
herself could become excited by a wholesome new theory.  "I mean, 
it's good all right.  Very good.  A very nice start, really.  It's 
just – "

"Just what?" Meg's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"It's just – well, you – you failed to perform a *Bang* assessment, 
sailor!" the Captain chuckled, clapping Meg on the back.  "Don't 
take it personally – it could happen to anyone.  But you can't just 
trot out a new theory – no matter how good it is – without a proper 
Bang assessment.  We have *standards* around here, you understand 
that, don't you?"

"But –- "

"Here, let me help you sort out your Banging," the Captain said 
easily.  "See, if Hagrid gave Harry to Mrs. Weasley, where's the 
Bang there?  What?  She has Harry share a crib with Ron?  They fight 
over Ron's hand-me-down teething toys?  She takes good care of Harry 
and then –- what?  She doesn't do anything in 10 years to follow 
up?  Wouldn't she want to see if the boy is OK, perhaps?  

"Not only that," the Captain went on, "but Mr. Weasley and Ron's 
older brothers seem not to have any idea that Mrs. Weasley helped 
save Harry's neck that fateful night.  If Mrs. Weasley had 
possession of Harry for an entire 24-hour period, wouldn't Mr. 
Weasley and maybe Bill and Charlie have some memory that a child 
turned up on their doorstep for a single day and then vanished?  I 
mean, what's the *point* of it all?  Where is this new theory 
*going?*"

Meg cast her eyes downward, the racing boat slowing to a pitiful 
crawl as her foot eased on the accelerator.  "But  . . . but . . . 
there might be a Bang coming soon.  Like, in the next book.  Or the 
next.  Or maybe the one after that.  It could happen, you know," she 
finished awkwardly.

The Captain looked away from Meg's watery green eyes, feigning 
interest in a forlorn tree visible on shore.  "I'm sorry.  I know 
this hurts.  Especially if this is your first spin around the Bay.  
But it simply has to be done.  See, I think we're missing a prime 
opportunity for a really good Bang here.

"Now, who besides Mrs. Weasley might be a good candidate for having 
cared for a child around Harry's age that night?  Can we think of 
someone who has experience caring for children, someone with whom 
Dumbledore has a relationship, someone experienced in law 
enforcement, someone Dumbledore figured he could trust?"

Meg straightened suddenly, brushing the back of her hand across her 
reddened eyes.  "Mrs. Crouch?" she offered tentatively.

"Well, maybe.  Maybe.  But Mrs. Crouch doesn't have a child Harry's 
age, so in that sense maybe she isn't as well-equipped for the job 
as Mrs. Weasley.  And based on what we see of Mrs. Crouch in the 
Pensieve, she hardly has nerves of steel.  She does seem like the 
type who might Crack under pressure, so I don't think Dumbledore 
would trust her."

"But who, then?" asked Meg.

"Well, there is one more good candidate left.  A candidate who is 
potentially very Bangy, very mysterious, who is mentioned in GoF but 
hasn't been given any important role yet, a candidate who had a son 
who is around the same age as Harry."  

"The . . . . the . . . . could it be . . . no, it can't  . . . you 
mean *The Longbottoms*?" Meg ventured, her eyebrows arched 
quizzically.

"That's right – the Longbottoms!  They're *perfect!*  Don't you 
*see?*" the Captain cried.  "Frank Longbottom is this famous auror, 
and his wife is – well, we don't know, really, other than we know 
they have a son Harry's age.  Frank is in law enforcement and is 
apparently pretty good at it, so Dumbledore would have every reason 
to think Frank and his wife could keep Harry safe, especially with 
Frank being authorized to use Unforgivable Curses.  So Dumbledore 
asked them to care for Harry while more permanent arrangements were 
being made that night.

"Besides, this theory explains Dumbledore's reaction to Harry's 
questions about the Longbottoms.  This is Albus Dumbledore we're 
talking about, right?  Mr. Twinkle, right?  Well, how does 
Dumbledore react the *minute* Harry raises the issue of the 
Longbottoms:  'Dumbledore gave Harry a very sharp look.'  Then, when 
Dumbledore speaks, his voice was 'full of a bitterness Harry had 
never heard there before.'  Oh, Dumbledore is upset and disgusted 
all right – he's upset that the people he selected to care for Harry 
were later captured and tortured, possibly as a result of 
Dumbledore's decision to involve them in the first place."  

"What do you mean when you say 'as a result of Dumbledore's decision 
to involve them in the first place?'" Meg asked, her brow knitted.

"Well, isn't it quite possible that Harry is the *reason* that the 
Longbottoms became famous that night -– because they were chosen to 
shelter The Boy Who Lived?" said the Captain.  "So if I'm right, 
Dumbledore is bitter because his actions led to the sad fate of the 
Longbottoms.  They wouldn't have been famous and targeted by the 
Pensieve Four sometime later had it not been for their cooperating 
with Dumbledore in Harry's care.  No wonder Dumbledore is surprised 
that Neville has never mentioned this to Harry."

"That's not bad," Meg said.  "Not bad at all."

"Oh, and it gets even better once we get to the Bang assessment.  
*Why* did Mrs. Lestrange go to the Longbottom home looking for 
Voldemort?  Doesn't it make sense that the Pensieve Four sought out 
the Longbottoms because the Longbottoms had harbored Harry that 
night?  See, that is not only Bangy, it answers a major story 
mystery – how did the Pensieve Four become so convinced that the 
answer to Voldemort's whereabouts lay in the Longbottoms?  Well, if 
the Longbottoms were a safe haven for the boy who defeated 
Voldemort, it is logical that the Longbottoms might know something -–
 anything at all, maybe even something they overheard -– about 
Voldemort's whereabouts."

"Oh," Meg gasped, her eyes wide.  "Oh, no.  Dicentra *warned* me 
about you.  She said you go around *stealing* other people's 
theories.  You're one of those *pirates* I've heard so much about, 
aren't you?"  She edged away from the Captain, her eyes darting 
nervously toward the GARBAGESCOW in the distance.

"Oh, you can't believe those vicious *lies* people tell about me," 
the Captain laughed.  "Listen, you can keep this theory if you 
want.  I mean, it Bangs and all, so it could go on Big Bang.  But if 
truth be told, Big Bang is getting a little bit crowded, what with 
all of those idle LOLLIPOPS crew members scrounging around for 
quarters.  No, I think this new theory belongs right here on this 
snazzy racing boat you have."

"But what will I call this new theory," Meg asked.  "I'm not sure 
the Wolf will fetch me another acronym."

"Oh, please.  I don't do acronyms, remember?"  The Captain glanced 
side to side and leaned in closer to Meg.  "But I heard there is a 
fabulous acronym generator that they used to use over at LOLLIPOPS, 
just sitting there gathering dust.  If you polish it up a bit, it 
ought to serve you very well indeed.  I don't think you were around 
way back then, but the last owner got some *very* good results with 
it, all things considered."

Cindy

************************
For an explanation of the acronyms and theories in this post, visit
Hypothetic Alley at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin20Files/hypoth
eticalley.htm 

and Inish Alley at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/database?
method=reportRows&tbl=13