Dumbledore's Death (TBAY) (WAS Dumbledore's dispensibility)

[bluesqueak]

No: HPFGUIDX 39573

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "cindysphynx" <cindysphynx at c...> wrote:

Pipsqueak is wandering about feeling bored. Hedgehog volleyball is 
fine, but Elkins just seems to want to spike the hedgehogs at Cindy's 
head. Pippin, meanwhile, seems to have wandered off for a game of 
hedgehog croquet. 

Cindy has finished stealing Dicentra's hedgehog, and is now lecturing 
on Banginess: 

> Now, it seems that almost everyone rates a dramatic and violent 
> death in the wizarding world.  Only poor Mrs. Crouch gets a death 
> from natural causes, and that is probably only because JKR couldn't 
> think of any other way to sell Mrs. Crouch's sacrifice to free her 
> son.  

Pipsqueak listens with interest. Has Cindy missed something here? Has 
Cindy failed to spot the hedgehog flying proudly through this 
innocent 'sacrifice'?

Pipsqueak waves in Cindy's direction.
"Uh, Cindy? Cindy? Have you realised yet that Mrs Crouch is Ever So 
Evil?

Cindy strides firmly over to the Pipsqueak and grabs her gently by 
the throat. She shakes her thoughtfully, to add emphasis to her 
comments.

"Now listen here, you. In the past few days we have flown enough 
hedgehogs to hold our very own Jubilee Flypast."

"But, Cindy..." says Pipsqueak. Or at least she tries to. What 
actually comes out sounds more like "Blurgshlleee".

Cindy looks down on the Pipsqueak, and, probably alerted by the 
blueness of her face, relaxes her grip slightly.

After Pipsqueak has stopped coughing, she continues:

"We know that Barty Jr is a Death Eater. Who recruited him?"

"Avery, for all I know!" says Cindy. "What do you mean, who recruited 
him?"

"Ah yes, but what do we know about the other Junior Death Eaters? 
Draco, Crabbe and Goyle have fathers who are Death Eaters. Snape  
*arrives* at school knowing huge numbers of dark curses, implying he 
learnt them from a family member. Death Eating in at least some cases 
runs in families."

Pipsqueak pauses, and starts to subtly ease her throat out from the 
grip of Cindy, who is getting an all too familiar gleam in her eye.

She continues, "Who does Barty Jr. call for in the trial scene? Who 
rescues him from Azkaban to do his Master's bidding? Who's memory 
does Possibly Evil!Winky use when she wants to get Barty out of the 
house?  Mummy, that's who."

Pipsqueak steps backward suddenly, managing to just stay out of the 
reach of Cindy's clutching fingers.

"How DARE you say that!" spits Cindy. "How DARE you! Don't you know 
that Mother Love is sacred? Don't you see poor Mrs Crouch sobbing her 
heart out in the trial scene? She let Barty out of Azkaban because 
her poor heart couldn't bear the thought of his rotting away there!"

Pipsqueak looks slightly dubiously at Cindy, and begins to wonder if  
it's Cindy at all. This doesn't sound very FEATHERBOAish to her. Has 
somebody been accidentally sipping Polyjuice in mistake for Kool Aid?

But she ploughs on. "I'm sure even Death Eaters love their kids. Mrs 
Malfoy doesn't seem keen on sending Draco abroad, for a start. And 
Draco seems to hero-worship his Death Eater father. So even Death-
Eater!Mom Crouch might shed genuine tears at the thought of darling 
Barty going to Azkaban. But look how much this explains!"

She takes a deep breath.
"It explains Barty's early conversion to the Death-Eater cause. It 
explains Winky's dubious loyalties - with two members of the family 
she serves Death Eaters, she really would have problems deciding who 
to be loyal to. It explains Crouch Sr.'s use of the Unforgivables..."

"Stop right there!" says Cindy. "WHY would a Voldemort supporter want 
Crouch to use the Unforgiveables on her own side? What good would 
that do them?

Pipsqueak looks even more dubiously at what she is beginning to 
believe is definitely Polyjuiced!Cindy. At least, only a Polyjuiced!
Cindy could be that - well - naive.

"If you want your side to fight to the death," she says gently "then 
encouraging the other side to kill/torture upon capture is a *really* 
good plan. And who would be better placed to persuade Mr Crouch to 
use the Unforgivables than Mrs Crouch? 'They are ever-so-evil, aren't 
they dear?' 'Aren't you being a little soft on them, dear?' 'It is a 
war, dear. You can't really apply peacetime principles in a war.'"

She looks thoughtfully at Cindy. Is that a hedgehog? Or is it a 
transformed hip flask that Cindy's holding?

Just then a small spiky shape whizzes past. The Death-EaterMom! 
hedgehog is in flight. It heads off to the McGonagall!hedgehog and 
the Lupin!hedgehog. The three fall into a v-formation and level off 
at cruising height over the Big Bang.

Yup! These hedgehogs can fly!

Pipsqueak