MAGIC DISHWASHER and UglyBaby!Voldemort (long)

[N Fry]

No: HPFGUIDX 39972

***All canon references are taken from the hardcover US edition of GoF.

A word of warning - I suspect I may have to get *very* wordy in an attempt 
to explain my thinking on this. You may want to get comfortable before you 
start.

Now, I'll admit right off the bat that I'm not too sure about this whole 
MAGIC DISHWASHER thing. I understand the thinking of the supporters and 
admire the zeal with which they defend their theory...it just seems to leave 
too much up to chance and coincidence for my taste. But that's just my two 
knuts. I still enjoy reading all about it.

There has been a lot of debate about this topic lately. I've noticed that 
both sides of the argument have avoided a little point that I've been a bit 
curious about. The end result of the MD theory is that our heroes need to 
get Voldemort into a bodily (aka killable) form. They can't exactly destroy 
an evil vapor. I can accept that. I've also noticed that the MD supporters 
focus on the post-potion version of Voldemort when discussing the desired 
mortal form. My question is: Why do they have to wait until he is in his 
restored adult body? What about UglyBaby!Voldemort?

If Dumbledore & Co. are looking for a Voldemort that they can destroy, 
UglyBaby!Voldemort is ideal. He admits to Wormtail how helpless he is - "I 
am no stronger, and a few days alone would be enough to rob me of the little 
health I have regained under your clumsy care." (Ch 1 pg 9).  He's the most 
evil wizard in the world, and he has to be bottle fed every few hours. He 
can't even care for himself (although he does manage to easily AK Frank 
Bryce). I'm sure Wormtail wouldn't be too much protection. A few well 
trained Aurors would probably be able to  take the two of them.

The book says that Voldemort was in UglyBaby! form as a way to exist until 
all the ingredients for the potion were collected, but it doesn't say if it 
was necessary that he be in that form for the potion to work. For the sake 
of argument, let's say that UglyBaby!Voldemort was a necessary ingredient. 
Wormtail had to have something to drop in the cauldron... If our heroes were 
as thoroughly familiar with the potion as the MD theory says they are (since 
they carefully researched all of their options), then they would have 
realized this crucial step.

JKR doesn't give us details as to how exactly one goes about turning vapor 
into an Ugly Baby. I'm guessing it's probably a fairly complex process. 
Seeing as Wormtail isn't the best wizard in the world, it would have 
probably been safe for Dumbledore and friends to assume that he wouldn't be 
performing both spells in one night. In fact, it may have been impossible. 
Since Voldemort needs to be nursed back to health after the UglyBaby! spell, 
he may have not been strong enough to survive the potion right away. Plus, 
doing the two on different nights is a time saver. If they already have the 
UglyBaby! step out of the way, they can mix up the potion as soon as Harry 
joins their little party. They don't have to take time out to wait for 
Wormtail to struggle through the UB! spell while the cauldron's warming up.

If there is a necessary delay between the two stages of returning Voldemort 
to full adult form, shouldn't our heroes have known about that? It seems 
like kind of an important detail to overlook. I can't imagine that, while 
doing their research, they read Grey Wolf's (?) fine print about servants 
with life debts and blood donors with mysterious protections, but missed the 
even finer print about the potion only working on Ugly Babies, not vaporous 
gases. Granted, they didn't know when UglyBaby!Voldemort would be created, 
but they also didn't know when the potion would be created. IIRC, some 
people have suggested that Papa Riddle's cemetery plot was being watched. 
Assuming that they had people looking for signs of the potion being 
prepared, wouldn't it have made sense to also have them on the lookout for 
signs of UglyBaby!Voldemort?

Now, because I'm so nice, here's a possible explanation:
Perhaps this falls under the multiple back-up plans clause of the MD theory. 
Maybe Dumbledore was getting ready to launch "Operation Seek And Destroy 
UglyBaby!" But, being the preplanning guy that MD says he is, he realized 
that he needed to make sure that he had all of his bases covered. You know 
how inconsiderate those Dark Wizards can be. They insist on working on their 
own schedule, regardless of whether or not you're prepared to deal with 
them. So, just in case our heroes couldn't find UglyBaby!Voldemort or 
Wormtail was able to gather all of the potion ingredients more quickly than 
they had expected, Dumbledore drew up plans for "Operation Exploit Potion's 
Flaw By Insuring That Harry's Blood Is Used."

<g> I bet the MD supporters wish that everyone who pointed out potential 
holes in their theory was considerate enough to provide a possible 
explanation. Especially Grey Wolf, who's been writing nonstop since we were 
first introduced to the MAGIC DISHWASHER. But this is just my little attempt 
at answering my own question... I'd love to hear any other explanation of 
why the vulnerability of UglyBaby!Voldemort seems to be overlooked by MD.



~ Nik (who is *incredibly* disturbed by the mental image she gets when 
reading about UglyBaby!Voldemort, especially when he stretches his arms up 
to Wormtail to be picked up and dropped in the cauldron <shudder>)

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