TBAY The Missing 24 hours: the untold story

[errolowl]

No: HPFGUIDX 43345

    


    Returning from a long and tiring international flight, Errol 
spies land across the empty expanse of the ocean. Ah! Now to revisit 
old friends!

but!
.but wait a minute! Is this the same cozy
home bay? It seems so much more cluttered now and the worthy vessels 
seem to be banging <g> into each other in an effort to maneuver to 
optimal firing position
.ummm, Errol makes a mental note to
request an engorgio charm for the area.

Wondering where to land first, Errol is attracted by the commotion 
right in the middle of the Bay – Goodness! It looks like the big, 
bold Captain Cindy is getting the worst of an argument! Errol swoops 
down to investigate this startling situation, hopping from ship to 
ship to hear all sides of the argument. He arrives right in the 
middle of a sentence:

Cindy:
>>>"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? <<

To which Grey Wolf growls:
>> Molly probably wanted to know how was Harry coming along, but 
Dumbledore kept the information secret for danger of a leak-out. 
Protecting Harry is difficult enough without having his situation 
become general knowledge, thank you very much."<<

Errol scratches his wise old head
But Grey Wolf! The Weasleys
already knew that Harry stayed with muggles – that's one of
the firstthings Ron asks Harry about
and how difficult would it have 
been for Authur to figure out where Harry went? After all, other 
wizarding folk *did* find Harry! Besides, Molly's mothering instincts 
are so strong,that she possibly couldn't have refrained from checking 
on Harry oncethey had bonded under such *tragic* circumstances don't
you think?Promise to Dumbledore or no!

Now it's Meg's turn:
>> You see, Cindy, the first time Molly has Harry back in her kitchen 
she reassumesthe mothering role. It's right here in CoS (US Hardback):

"They were starving him, Mum!" said George.
"And you!" said Mrs. Weasley, but it was with a slightly softened
expression that she started cutting Harry bread and buttering it for 
him.

You see, she immediately assumes a very mothering attitude toward 
Harry <<

But Meg, that's merely the first time she has him in her kitchen,
and at that point she's mothering *everyone*- it's natural for
her. To be really valid, her reaction to meeting Harry for the first 
time on platform 9 3/4 ought to have been much, much more eloquent. 
When Fred and George inform her that they just met Harry Potter, she 
responds with "really George? How do you know?" and "poor dear!
That's why he was all alone. I wondered" "he was ever so polite when 
he asked me how to get on the platform"
..all very acceptable 
statementsabout a kid everyone has idolized and felt sorry for –
and nothing there at all to show a more serious attachment.
Molly does seem a poor candidate


Cindy:
"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?"
Don't you *see?* 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.
 <<<

at which grey wolf pounces:
>> "Every reason to trust them, Cindy? They weren't part of the old 
gang. And about the only Auror that Dumbledore trusts is Moody, who 
happens to *not* use the Unforgivables at every turn. I wouldn't 
leave a boy in charge of someone who might just start an AK duel 
while the boy's in the house." Exclaimed the Grey Wolf "And the best 
reason is exactly the reaon you've said: it could've leaked out, and 
put both the Longbottoms AND Harry in danger. <<

and Meg adds:
>> surely you understand that Frank Longbottom would be a horrible 
choice to stick Harry with for that day? He was an auror. He was busy 
trying to round up all of these DEs and handle the Black/Pettigrew 
incident. And Mrs.Longbottom? She was dealing with Neville. And only 
Neville. Why would Dumbledore put Harry in the hands of someone who 
works so closely with people in the dark arts? People who had 
permission to use the Unforgivable Curses? That would put Harry in 
horrible danger. The Weasleys were a safe choice.<<

Now, now!! How do we know they were not part of the old gang? 
Dumbledore merely mentions those that Sirius should contact
–it's not an exclusive list. And then, members who are dead
(or dead for all useful purposes) are not likely to be mentioned are 
they? Moody is Dumbledore's good friend – that doesn't mean
that he didn't trust Longbottom, who for all we know, did *not* use 
the unforgiveables at every turn either! There were plenty of aurors 
to round up theDE's – surely one could have been spared for the
crucial task of protecting the-boy-who-lived? With Harry already in 
maximum danger, the ideal place to leave him would be with a capable 
auror, who could fight with all the tools at his disposal for the
child's safety
atleast till the immediate danger was ascertained and
other arrangements could be made. Remember, this was a spur-of-the-
moment decision from Dumbledore, not a well thought out decoy.

No, no
.the Longbottoms make perfect sense. Look at Cindy's
further argument:
>> 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. <snip> 
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."<<<

Too-Woo! Sure that make sense!

>> 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?" 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."<<

Now Cindy, Cindy! Don't you think you're missing yet another
bang here? Neville need not know a thing about it – he could just
take it for granted that his folks were famous, couldn't he? He is 
told that his parents stood for Courage and Honor, that they were 
supremely trusted by Dumbledore
and he backs off from having to
live up to that, indeed, to get all the details behind the 
statements. And in the WW, they could be famous without the details 
ever being known, So what happens when Neville finally does find out? 
What if he now blames Harry for the state of his parents? How would 
the WW see him if it all comes out? Will his eroding store of `Good 
Will' stand such an expose'? Will Neville betray Harry? Or will he 
show his resentment in other ways? 
What a twist for Harry to have to also deal with a newly antagonistic 
Neville – a powerful Neville who has suddenly realized his own 
potential? Ummmm
.could be something there methinks!

Errol finishes his monologue to find a simply furious Wolf looming 
over him. Errol flutters just out of reach of a fatal pounce and 
settles on to the handrail of the racing boat..after all, what can a 
feeble owl do against those powerful claws? (shudder!)

Thinking it's high time he made his own position clear, Errol
looks meekly up at Meg and the Grey wolf  "I swear I'm totally
against piracy on the high seas" he hoots." But Cindy merely
*thinks* it's piracy – look! It's a whole new boat altogether!" Errol
stretches a wing to point behind the quarrelling trio to an identical 
racing boat bobbing on the waves, with tiny lettering on its side. 
The grey wolf leans over to read the tentative inscription: 
L.I.G.H.T.N.I.N.G  (Longbottoms Incharge, Get Hit with Torture, 
Neville Is Not Grateful)

Undercover of this diversion, Errol quietly slips away, not quite 
sure how the others will react.


Oh, and one more thing!
Grey wolf: 
>>And the theory does not need to go anyplace, except to explain why 
Harry disappeared from the radar for a full day. It's the *first* 
mystery of the books, after all."<<

Well, as Cindy says "Where's the Bang in *that* ???


Errol
Whose mother still butters bread for the whole family.