TBAY: Canon College: DEs and Aurors 101 (WAS "Despiadado"

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 43373

Cindy shifts uncomfortably in her child-size wooden desk, fumbling 
to balance her tower of Harry Potter books stacked in the center of 
it.  She places one hand on the books and tilts the desk top upward 
an inch –- just enough to slip a chubby finger inside and retrieve a 
pencil nub with a chewed eraser.

Oh, the facilities at Canon College are humble indeed.  Bad 
lighting, unpadded seats, faulty air-conditioning, bad acoustics.  
But it has some of the best canon instruction anywhere, and Cindy 
wants to learn from the *best.*  Standing before the class is 
Professor Eileen Lucky-Kari, head of the college's Villains and 
SYCOPHANTs department.  She is about to administer an open book oral 
exam on Death Eaters and Aurors, having already warned that she 
would be grading on a strict curve.

Cindy steals a glance at the other students –- her competition, the 
last obstacles standing between her and her Masters in Banging.  
There is Elkins, a pile of dictionaries and encyclopedias on the 
floor near her feet, an enormous feather quill pinched in one hand.  
On her other side is Avery, a glint of sweat visible on his upper 
lip, his desktop bare of books and supplies.  

This could be tricky, Cindy thinks.  Avery shouldn't be a problem on 
this exam because he never says anything.  Elkins, though.  Elkins 
is probably going to set the curve.  That would leave Cindy in the 
middle with a "B," not nearly good enough.  She hunches her 
shoulders as a trickle of sweat dribbles down the middle of her back.

"All right, class" Eileen says evenly.  "Let's begin the exam.  
First question:  how is an auror's killing someone in a magical 
shoot-out evil?  Anyone?  Anyone at all, any--" 

Elkins' hand shoots into the air, her elbow brushing her bottle of 
ink, which tipped dangerously before righting itself.  "It isn't, 
very.  Or at least it's a highly justifiable evil.  What Crouch 
authorized his aurors to do was not to kill in self-defense.  It was 
not to kill in bloody magical shoot-outs.  It was not to use lethal 
force when such was necessary to provide immediate protection to the 
innocent.  And it was not to kill when capture was impossible. What 
Crouch authorized his aurors to do was to kill *rather* than to 
capture.  In other words, they were authorized to kill people who 
could instead have been apprehended."

Elkins glances at Cindy, nodded vigorously, and leans back in her 
chair, her arms folded across her chest.

Eileen's eyes sweep the room, resting on Cindy.  "Anything to say to 
that?"

Cindy swallows, licking her parched lips.  "Well.  Uh.  I'm not so 
sure about that.  I . . . I was doing some reading about the use of 
deadly force in this *enormous* criminal procedure law textbook that 
I carry around.  And there are certain *rules* about when cops can 
use deadly force.  They can use deadly force in defense of 
themselves or in defense of others, of course, like Elkins says.  

"But things get murky when we get to the subject of fleeing 
suspects.  See, cops aren't normally allowed to shoot a suspect in 
the back when the suspect is trying to run away.  Not normally.  But 
they *can* shoot suspects in the back in one situation that might be 
pertinent here – when the suspect poses a danger if allowed to 
escape.  I think there are limitations on this, of course.  Like 
cops can only do this for suspects who commit a serious crime in the 
presence of the cop, maybe.  I think there are other limitations, 
like there has to be an attempt to apprehend and a warning or 
something.  That's basically how I think it works in the muggle 
world.  In the U.S.  About 15 years ago when I last read that law 
textbook.  Unless something has changed, anyway.

"Now, it is entirely possible that, before Crouch authorized the use 
of the Unforgiveables, the wizarding rules didn't allow aurors to 
shoot suspects in the back at all.  Aurors *had* to try to hit them 
with some spell and capture them if they were trying to flee.  Maybe 
Crouch realized that this wasn't working.  Maybe a few of the very 
worst DEs had escaped and carried *crucial* and damaging information 
straight back to Voldemort, for instance.  So maybe, just maybe, 
Crouch was only expanding the use of AK in the case of dangerous 
fleeing suspects to something like what I think might exist in the 
muggle world.  I mean, we don't know what the rules were before 
Crouch Sr. changed them, so this is possible, right?"

Elkins flings her hand into the air, rising slightly in her 
seat.  "No, I think Crouch Sr. authorized Aurors to kill anyone they 
damn well felt like, with little or no accountability to anyone for 
their actions."

Cindy winces, screwing up her courage to elaborate.  "Well, maybe 
not.  If the wizarding world adopted the appropriate safeguards and 
procedures, it is entirely possible that they adopted a system that 
was a reasonable balance of the interests of the state and the 
suspect in the Case Of The Fleeing Wizard.  

"After all, we don't know that there would be no accountability if 
an Auror didn't follow established procedure and killed on sight or 
something.  As Elkins said, the wizarding world does have a justice 
system, and there's no reason to think Aurors had immunity for 
criminal action if they abused their authority according to whatever 
procedural requirements were established."

Eileen beams at her students, scratching two check marks in her 
notebook.  Looking up, she says, "I'm beginning to suspect that 
Crouch authorized the use of the Unforgiveable curses on people 
already taken into custody." 

Elkins raises her hand again, glancing quickly at Cindy as it slices 
through the air.  "That's what I think, too.  Or, for that matter, 
even on people who in the end were *never* taken into custody.  That 
was *precisely* how I interpreted Sirius' words in 'Padfoot 
Returns.'  Crouch authorized his aurors to use torture and mind-
control, and he authorized them to use these techniques even against 
people who had never been convicted (or even necessarily accused) of 
any crime.  Hence, 'descended to the level of the Death Eaters.'  
Again, very reassuring."

Cindy, fighting a sudden shortness of breath, nods.  "Yeah.  Me 
too."  Avery nods as well, his fingers trembling as he struggles to 
unwrap a stick of gum.

Eileen bends over and makes three check marks in her notebook.  

"Wait a minute!" Elkins shrieks.  "They get credit for a 'Me, too' 
and a head nod?  What kind of exam *is* this, anyway?"

"All right, now for a little change of pace," Eileen announces, 
ignoring Elkins' outburst.  "For extra credit, explain the reference 
to 'Alexandr Solzhenitsyn' in this sentence:  'The moment Sirius 
began to talk about Crouch Sr., I went all Alexandr Solzhenitsyn.  
Anyone?  Anyone?"

There is an awkward silence, broken by Avery's croaky voice.  "He's 
a Russian novelist and historian, who was awarded the Nobel Prize 
for Literature for 1970 and was exiled from the Soviet Union in 
1974.  I mean, DUH!"

"Excellent Avery!" Eileen exclaims, her eyes wide in surprise and 
admiration.  As she averts her eyes and makes dozens of check marks 
in her notebook, Avery sticks out his tongue in Elkins' general 
direction.

Eileen presses ahead.  "Where in canon do we see the Aurors 
overstepping their bounds?"
 
There is an awkward silence as Elkins glares at her classmates.  
When she speaks, her voice is uncharacteristically flat.  "An 
excellent question.  Sirius is clearly no fan of the aurors, but 
even he acknowledges that Moody was all right.  Moody was the Good 
Auror.  Didn't kill if he could avoid it.  Never descended to the 
level of the Death Eaters.  So who *were* those other aurors?  Who 
were those guys who were running around killing suspects rather than 
bothering to arrest them, practicing their Unforgivables on people 
who had never even stood trial?  Could their zeal have made 
them 'very popular?'"

"Oh, I don't know."  Cindy pops a piece of Avery's gum into her 
mouth, chews for a moment, shifts it into her cheek, and answers in 
a muffled voice.  "There are lots of ways aurors could become 
popular.  Maybe Frank demonstrated bravery and saved someone's 
life.  Maybe he was restrained like Moody.  Maybe he was just 
charismatic or dealt with the press a lot.  But if Dumbledore liked 
Frank, that suggests that Frank wasn't all bad."

Eileen smiles, accepting a stick of gum Avery extends to her.  "What 
about Wilkes?"

"Was Wilkes killed after he was apprehended?" Elkins blurts 
out.  "As Eileen knows full well, I have been plugging for 'Wilkes 
dead at Frank Longbottom's hands' ever since my delurk -- "

"Oh, sure," Cindy breaks in.  "It's fine for Frank to kill Wilkes.  
I'll give you that one, if for no other reason other than the 
*Bang.*  But that doesn't mean Frank didn't kill Wilkes for a really 
good reason.  Like self defense, defense of others, or the Fleeing 
Wizard situation.  

"Besides, canon suggests that Rosier and Wilkes were *dangerous,* 
maybe even more dangerous than the other DEs Sirius names.  Who does 
Sirius name first when he is ticking off DE names on his 
fingers?  'Rosier and Wilkes – they were both killed by Aurors the 
year before Voldemort fell."

"Hey!" Elkins cries.  "That's *my* theory!"

"Not only that," Cindy continues, opening her dog-eared copy of 
GoF, "there's the fact that we don't know *when* Crouch authorized 
the use of the Unforgivables.  Wilkes was killed 'the year *before* 
Voldemort fell.'  So Wilkes is killed in 1980.  It's entirely 
possible that Wilkes *didn't* die at the hand of some overzealous 
Auror flush with his new powers.  Wilkes might have died *before* 
the Crouch Sr. Unforgivables Authorization was established."

"But –" Elkins leaps from her seat. "The series is becoming more 
morally complex as it progresses, after all.  And JKR *did* once 
work for Amnesty International."

"Right," Cindy says easily, "which is all the more reason that there 
is *no way* JKR would write Dumbledore's reaction as sympathetic to 
Frank if Frank were the sort of auror who abused his authority on 
his way to achieving popularity."

Eileen blows a large pink bubble.  "All right, last question.  Well, 
it's more of a confession, really.  This is a bit out of character 
for me, but I simply have to get this off my chest.  Don't tell any 
of the faculty, but I really, really *like* Barty Crouch Sr. I can't 
help it.  You know why? He has a *redemption* scene.  And I'm a 
sucker for redemption scenes.

"In fact, one of my former students wrote a fabulous essay on the 
subject.  Dave Witley wrote back in Message 38368: 'Crouch Sr's 
final attempts to reach Dumbledore are a textbook case of 
redemption.  He has seen the error of his ways and strives to make 
restitution.  He struggles against the bondage that his own actions 
have placed him in, and begins to break free.'"

Eileen sniffs loudly, wiping the back of her hand across her 
eyes.  "It's become truism here on the list that Real Wizards Don't 
Apologize. And yet, Crouch Sr., who seems to serve as the GoF 
personification of the Livian toughness espoused by this society, in 
the end says, 'It's my fault... it's all my fault..' 

"And I *love* him for it!," Eileen exclaims, weeping openly now.

"Uh . . ."  Cindy begins awkwardly.  "You know, I can see that.  At 
first glance, this does look like a situation where a wizard is 
actually apologizing, doesn't it?  That would be almost 
unprecedented in canon, wouldn't it?  It would make Crouch Sr. 
pretty darn special indeed.

"But let's not forget something here.  Crouch Sr. was *delirious* in 
that scene!  He was raving mad and chewing the rug!  He didn't know 
what he was saying!  So if he was out of his mind, can we really be 
sure that this was a true, heartfelt redemption?  Besides, this 
might have been a case where Crouch Sr. was just looking for a way 
to save his own hide.

"But if you want to pine for Crouch Sr., we could try a "Comfort-
Hurt" theory – a feeling that you had better comfort Crouch Sr. 
before he *hurts* you.  After all, power is the ultimate 
aphrodisiac.  And, uh, don't take this the wrong way or anything, 
Professor, but we all know how much you like to be *hurt*."

Eileen gapes at Cindy and again bends down over her notebook, her 
shoulders heaving.  The sound of ripping paper could be heard over 
Eileen's sobs.  

"All right," Eileen announces.  "The test is concluded and I am 
ready to hand out the final grades.  Let's see.  Cindy receives 
an 'A,' Avery receives a 'B,' and Elkins receives a 
Gentleman's 'C'.  Class dismissed, and have a nice summer!"

"WHAT?!?" Elkins sputters.  "Cindy gets a higher mark for that – for 
that *nonsense* about Crouch Sr.?  It's *Hurt-Comfort,* not "Comfort-
Hurt!,* for heaven's sake!  And Avery gets a higher mark than me 
for . . . for . . . for *one* answer that didn't have anything to do 
with canon or DEs or Aurors and that *anyone* could look up on the 
Internet in about 10 seconds?"

"No, Elkins," Eileen replied quietly, "Avery gets a 'B' for the gum."

****************

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