Ambushes and a New Avery Theory

[lucky_kari]

No: HPFGUIDX 35077

Someone recently asked why we hang around here, and this is my answer. 
 Because of such flashes of insight at Avery=the 4th man! Elkins, I 
think you've hit gold here. Now, if you could tell me who the third 
murderer is in Macbeth.... :-) 

I must admit that I brushed over the fourth man the first seven times 
I read the book. In fact, I don't feel I've mastered Goblet of Fire's 
complexities even now. It was only on my second reading that I 
realized Bertha told Voldemort about Crouch Jr. You see I was reading 
so fast to get to the end I was skimming through paragraphs. My 
problem reading HP is that I tend to read it like a children's book, 
rather than an adult detective novel. It isn't the latter, but it 
needs the same sort of reading. I'll keep that in mind for "Order of 
the Phoenix". (And yes, I did think Avery and Nott were the same 
person till about two weeks ago, when I said something about Avery 
Nott, and my brother said "Who?" This is most unfair since I have a 
perfect memory for every last detail of NON-essential HP information.)

But, having picked up GOF and looked up the scenes, I am feeling VERY 
surprised, and somewhat elated. Something new, and something real. 
LOLLIPOPS I fervently believe in, but it's somewhere in the past in 
the murky realms of motivation, this is right there under are eyes. 

As Elkins and Cindy note, it is very strange that the fourth man is 
given no attention by anyone, including Voldemort when he praises the 
Lestranges and Crouch Jr. I'll also note that the description of the 
fourth man "thinner and more nervous-looking", eyes "darting around 
the room" fit perfectly with the nervous wreck we meet in the 
graveyard.

Now, the fourth man gets up "quietly" with the two we assume are Mr. 
and Mrs. Lestrange "thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch" and 
"woman, with think, shining dark hair, and heavily hooded eyes." It's 
probably Barty Crouch Jr. who leaves our bleeding hearts thinking, and 
I can't say I blame them. Even I sometimes wonder how far Crouch Jr. 
was in the business, though we know he's not as innocent as he made 
out to be. 

Crouch Sr. must have been sick at heart when the bleeding hearts 
reopened Crouch's and Avery's cases. Perhaps, if Crouch Jr. was still 
around to be released, they wouldn't have released Avery? Instead, 
Avery walks free and it's Crouch son who's locked up in the kitchen. 
Must have made him furious. 

As mentioned before, the convincing part of all this is that Avery 
really does act as if he needs forgiveness for something big. And 
Voldemort, even if he doesn't give it, gives a semblance of it. 
Finally, an answer for those who ask, "But how can Snape get back into 
the DE circle?" If Avery can, Snape can too, though I'm sure Voldemort 
has similar plans re: Cruciatus. 

Now, let's go to where Harry denounces the Death Eaters. It goes 
Malfoy, cleared. McNair, cleared. Then,

"Avery-Nott-Crabbe-Goyle-"

"You are merely repeating the names of those who were cleared of being 
Death Eaters thirteen years ago," said Fudge angrily. "You could have 
found those names in old reports of the trials!" 

Now, I see some problems with the bleeding hearts theory here, though 
they are not insurmountable I'm guessing. 

First of all, taking 1992 as COS, this is spring of 1995. 13 years ago 
was 1981/82. Voldemort fell October 31st, 1981. Correct? 

The next few months were spent rounding up people. The admirable 
ambush theory is too large and complicated for me to get into. I 
confess to not knowing when they were supposed to be ambushed, though 
I agree that it was bloody, showed Longbottom and Moody to be TOUGH, 
and absolutely DID happen, even if we never learn more about it.

But, I wanted to talk about the hypothetical second cell, the ones who 
 get off. 

Bagman is not evil, imho. Well not yet. I don't agree that he's a 
complete red herring. But I don't buy Bagman of Voldemort's inner 
circle yet. 

Now, Malfoy (and presumably Narcissa, from Fred and George's comments) 
plead Imperio. And it seems many follow his lead. One wonders who was 
supposed to be imperiusing them. Crabbe: "I was under Goyle's 
Imperius." Goyle: "I was under Nott's Imperius." Nott:"McNair." 
McNair:"Lucius had me under his Imperius." Lucius:"It was Voldemort. I 
swear it was. He also forced me to imperius my wife." Sounds fishy to 
me, but Lucius is  the "slippery friend." BTW, for those longing for a 
sign of Lucius being subtle and having SOME intelligence, getting off 
not only himself, but, as it seems, a whole load of people must 
require some.

Their trials were over by the end of 1982 with acquittals for all. 
>From that moment on they lead "respectable lives", eventually clawing 
their way back into decent society. You'll note that the World Cup is 
the first time Fudge meets Narcissa, which would negate my previous 
suggestion that Fudge goes to parties at the Malfoys'. No, I think 
they must have been shunned at first, and they've only just got back 
to where they were before the lapse with Voldemort. 

OK, what about the Lestranges, Crouch, and the mysterious fourth man, 
who we feel confident to identify as Avery. 

(Mrs. Lestrange is to be credited as taking off Moody's leg, as I 
understand it, at all costs, just because we feel that a woman should 
get a share of all the bloody action we've invented. Just kidding of 
course. There's no doubt Mrs. Lestrange did that and more. :-) (Can we 
work a Neville-memory theory in here?))

They did "talk their way out of Azkaban". It sounds like the Lucius 
Malfoy way of going about things, and Cindy did guess the Lestranges 
were in the Malfoy cell, where everyone seems to have been cleared, 
presumably because of Imperio. /me imagines Malfoy explaining to 
Crouch Sr. "And then he did it to me, so of course, I had to do it to 
him, and he did to her, and she did it to...." No, this barrel of 
monkeys theory is way too weak. Maybe Voldemort can imperio them all 
at the same time? /me is really wondering how they got out of it.

So, Avery was acquitted thirteen years ago, as Fudge tells Harry. But 
then, he gets "caught up" in the Longbottom fiasco, and it's off to 
Azkaban. Later, the bleeding hearts get him out. So, why tell Harry he 
was acquitted thirteen years ago, when he is was more notoriously 
acquitted at the most eleven years ago, probably shorter? 

And, does Harry have access to old reports of the trials, does 
Voldemort? That nice little piece where Dumbledore says Snape is a 
spy? V. could get over that, eventually, but it sure makes Snape a 
little more suspicious. Parents don't seem to know Snape was a 
death-eater. Perhaps sentencings and trials were public, but 
Karkaroff's plea-bargain attempt was private? After all, Harry only 
sees Rita Skeeter in the second scene. Yet, Dumbledore says he had 
"given evidence" already. In private too, perhaps.

All this is confusing, and may only help me to sort it out in my mind. 

Cindy wrote:
> We're now to the point of talking about ambushes like . . . like 
> there's actually some canon to support them or something! Wow!  Are 
> we all agreed that Snape arranged the ambush(es) to prove his 
loyalty 
> to Dumbledore?  Please?  Pretty please?

YES! 

Ambush scenarios follow, along the lines that "BLOODIER IS BETTER!"

> I know what you're thinking.  Karkaroff also names Rookwood, who we 
> know was still at large.  Ah, but Rookwood is the head of the 
> Department of Mysteries, making him, well, mysterious.  Why wasn't 
> Rookwood at the ambush?  It's because Rookwood had intelligence that 
> the ambush was going down.  There's *no way* the head of the 
> Department of Mysteries doesn't know what Longbottom and Moody are 
up 
> to.  So Rookwood makes sure not to show up at the meeting Snape 
> arranged. Rookwood probably tried to owl the other Death Eaters, 
but, 
> owing to the inefficiency of owl post, couldn't reach anyone in 
time.

Or Rookwood could have decided it was too dangerous to try to contact 
them, and washed his hands of them. I forget. Karkaroff has already 
been caught, right? 

Another problem. If Ludo Bagman is Ever So Evil, and in the Malfoy 
cell, why is he under Rookwood? Unless he acts as the link between the 
two cells. :-)

BTW, I object to Pettigrew being in the Malfoy cell. I think he's all 
by himself, unknown to the others. Still, if he's in a different cell 
than Snape, as you posited, it would explain a lot, and leave it not 
impossible. 

> Snape doesn't know about Pettigrew 
> because he's in the other cell, and Snape isn't even sure about 
> Malfoy. 

Thus, the start? He knows Malfoy's bad news, in many ways, but didn't 
know Malfoy was right in there at the top?

Had they never had a graveyard style meeting before?
 
Are there more completely uncracked cells around? 

> Yes, Avery most certainly was the head of the Department of Magical 
> Catastrophies (or maybe second in command) at a young age.  Why?  
Was 
> it merit or talent or proven ability?  Heck no.  Avery just knew 
lots 
> of people in high places.  If Snape can be a young head of house at 
> Hogwarts, Avery can head a department that doesn't do anything more 
> complex or important than clean up messes.

Percy was second in command of Co-operation at 18 or 19, and 
technically running the department himself. How about making Avery 
Percy's mirror, to add to all the other proposed mirrors? :-) Then we 
can have long discussions about whether Avery's fall is a premonition 
of Percy's, or whether the story will change this time around! 

He could have been in charge long enough to clear up the Sirius Black 
mess to Black's disadvantage, but eventually, he ends up being sent to 
Azkaban, and being rescued by the bleeding hearts. They let him back 
into the Ministry after that? If so, I would suggest he's in Bagman's 
department, and is now the new minister of Sports. (Fits partially in 
with the Bagman is Ever So Evil theory, which I dislike.) Fudge, as 
Cindy mentions is, DE or no, not the sharpest knife in the drawer. And 
Bagman insists on hiring Avery, poor wronged Avery. (But wait a 
second, I can have Bagman not evil after all. He feels sympathy for 
Avery, because he also was persecuted by Crouch Sr. !!) 

Now, Elkins suggests we'll meet Avery again and not know who he is. I 
don't see how we can work this, especially if Avery is in the 
Ministry, as Cindy insists. 

How about having Avery manipulate Percy? 

Eileen