TBAY: The Night The Jabberknoll Screamed (LONG)

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 38994

Following the intellectually stimulating (if somewhat raucous) 
Memory Charm Symposium, Cindy sets up a booth in the Canon Museum to 
recruit a crew -- any crew -- for the Reverse Memory Charm 
paddleboat.  She has several substantial canonballs for the perusal 
of the few passers-by.  Unfortunately, most theorists walk quickly 
by, averting their eyes.  

Oh, this has *not* been easy.  Not one single soul has stepped 
forward to volunteer to paddle, let alone help push the theory into 
the Bay.

But wait!  Someone seems to be lingering at Cindy's booth.  It is 
Debbie -- a famous and well-regarded DEPRECIATION specialist!  Cindy 
tries not to look *too* excited.  Maybe, just maybe, Debbie is 
warming to the Reverse Memory Charm Jobberknoll Variant With 
Optional Snape And Moody.  Maybe, just maybe, if Cindy can manage to 
be *nice* just this once, Debbie will sign on for a tour of duty -- 
or at least help Cindy do a few laps around the Bay.  

Forcing a smile, Cindy asks Debbie if she understands Jobberknolls.  
Debbie, being a quick study, nods curtly and recites Fantastic 
Beasts, p. 23 from memory:

>"Jobberknoll: "The Jobberknoll (northern Europe and America) is a 
>tiny blue, speckled bird which eats small insects. It makes no 
>sound until the moment of its death, at which point it lets out a 
>long scream made up of every sound it has ever heard, regurgitated 
>backwards. Jobberknoll feathers are used in Truth Serums and Memory 
>Potions."

Yes, that Debbie is as sharp as a tack.  She even did her homework, 
determining the probable origin of "Jobberknoll":  

>In fact, that seems to be what the name means, as jabber is a 
>synonym for talking incoherently and knoll is a synonym for knell, 
>as in death knell.  

Cindy decides that the time is right to try to recruit Debbie to her 
cause.  With a First Mate like Debbie, people will flock to the 
Jobberknoll variant in *droves*.  Maybe Cindy can *reason* with 
Debbie.  Brute force has always worked better than reason, Cindy 
thought bitterly, but it might be worth a shot, just one last 
desperate shot . . . 

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

Debbie:

> Is it necessarily correct to assume that a Memory Potion is a 
>memory enhancer?  A Memory Charm is a memory eliminator.  I think a 
>good case can be made, based on the description of the Jabberknoll 
>that its feathers are used for potions that hide memories and 
>release them.  

Ah, but that is why JKR's description of the Jobberknoll is so 
*cool*.  She doesn't tell us exactly what a Memory Potion is, and it 
could easily go either way -- eliminating memories or enhancing 
them.  But, thank goodness for Reverse Memory Charm Neville, she 
tells us that the feathers can be used for Truth Serums -- and the 
only Truth Serum we've seen in action is Veritaserum, which causes 
someone to recall something and reveal it against their will on 
demand.  

So . . . logically, the feathers ought to have the same effect in 
the Memory Potion -- causing someone to recall something and reveal 
it against their will.

Now, I'll admit that you'd have me if JKR hadn't added that bit 
about Truth Serum.  <wipes brow>  But doesn't it seem that she is 
deliberately trying to link Memory Potion with Truth Serum?  Also, 
why would anyone bother with a Memory Potion (gathering ingredients, 
brewing it, feeding it to the victim) when they can just hurl a 
Memory Charm at them and be done with it?

Debbie: 

> I think the Lestranges talked their way out of being sent to 
>Azkaban in the first place, as Avery and countless others did by 
>the Imperius defense.  

Oh, I don't know about this.  I mean, Sirius is pretty clear:  
Crouch Jr. "was caught with a  group of Death Eaters who'd managed 
to talk their way out of Azkaban."  

Sirius didn't say "was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd 
managed to talk their way out of *going* to Azkaban" or "talk their 
way out of trouble."  Given how little we have to go on, shouldn't 
we take Sirius at his word here and decide that Crouch Jr. was the 
only one of the Pensieve Four who hadn't landed in Azkaban?

Debbie:

>(And this is the only interpretation if Avery is Fourth Man.  He 
>would never have gotten a second chance out of Azkaban.)  

Oh dear.  I must kick this objection over to Elkins.  Fourth Man is 
her baby.  I know she has a "Double Worm" Fourth Man variant out 
there somewhere, but I really couldn't do it justice.  There's also 
the "FIE Avery Acquittal Timeline Dodge" scenario, but I don't 
remember that one very well either.

<sits up abruptly>

Hey, wait!  Are you trying to distract me, Debbie?  Well, it isn't 
going to work.  ;-)

Debbie:

>I have to say, too, that I'm beginning to buy into the "Crouch was 
>innocent" story, since canon implies that Crouch Jr. was only 
>caught with the others.  

Uh oh.  There's that wobbly definition of "Innocence" again.  The 
Innocence definition that lets Guilty-As-Sin Avery or Crouch Jr. 
claim they were only in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I say 
that the "Innocence" arguments require us to believe that Crouch Jr. 
took Mrs. Lestrange to Frank's house and left without ever knowing 
what was happening.  If Crouch Jr. saw what was going on and did not 
assist Frank, he's every bit as guilty as Mrs. Lestrange, I say.

I wrote:

> Mrs. Lestrange, who is probably the ringleader based on her Take-
> Charge Demeanor in the Pensieve, starts off with the Imperius 
> Curse.   

Debbie replied:

> I agree here with James and Finwitch's objections to the idea that 
>Imperius is a truth-telling device.  IMO someone can be forced to 
>talk, i.e. words can be put in the victim's mouth, but I don't 
>think you can point your wand at someone, say "Imperio" and "tell 
>the truth!"  Crouch Jr. states, "I kept him 
>alive, under the Imperius Curse.  I wanted to be able to question 
>him. . . . <snip>"  I read this sentence to mean that Crouch needed 
>to keep Moody alive and that he used Imperius to control him and 
>keep him from getting out of the trunk.  I don't think this 
> statement means that Crouch used Imperius to force the truth out 
>of Moody.  Instead, I think Crouch used Ennervate when he wanted to 
>talk to Moody, and  perhaps Veritaserum (he had access to Snape's 
>storeroom) to get truthful answers when he needed them. 

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

Cindy eyes the box of Yellow Flags that Elkins brought to the 
Symposium, particularly the sweaty one on top.  Oh, how she dearly 
would love to toss a flag into the air at the idea that Crouch Jr. 
used Veritaserum on Moody.  But then Cindy remembers that she vowed 
to be *nice*.  Cindy *hates* being nice.  Being nice is no fun at 
all.

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

JKR is quite specific about what exactly Crouch Jr. did, and there 
is no mention of Veritaserum.  Crouch Jr. even tells us exactly what 
he stole from Snape -- boomslang skin.  Besides, Snape has a very 
small amount of Veritaserum, and it is supposedly strictly 
controlled.  I doubt he leaves it lying about unguarded.  

Also, why would Crouch Jr. use Imperius just to *control* real 
Moody?  Real Moody can be controlled with Stun or with that Full 
Body Bind curse or even Impedimenta.  The reason to use Imperius, 
IMHO, is to force Moody to talk.  

The only way to avoid the conclusion that Crouch Jr. used Imperius 
to question real Moody is to believe that Moody voluntarily told 
Crouch Jr. all he needed to know.  I rather doubt that.

Hold on . . .  I feel a mini-speculative backstory variant coming on 
for the people who don't like the idea that Mrs. Lestrange used the 
Imperius Curse on Frank.  See, I don't have a lot of canon for this 
bit, but it is so tempting and compelling and inclusive, that I have 
to try it out on Debbie.  Here goes . . . 

It's quite possible that Mrs. Lestrange and her husband were caught 
before Voldemort fell and sent to Azkaban (as I suggest above).  And 
guess who I think might have arrested them.  Popular Frank 
Longbottom, that's who!  

This would address a few objections that Debbie and others have 
made.  Some people aren't happy with the idea that Mrs. Lestrange 
used Imperius on Frank before she tortured him.  But why would she 
*not* use Imperius on Frank, particularly given that it is fast, 
easy and quiet?  The answer is that she would go straight to 
Cruciatus if she had a *major beef* with Frank, perhaps because he 
sent her to Azkaban in the first place.

That's right!  We have Vindictive!Mrs. Lestrange, who sought Frank 
out partly to find Voldemort (or, at least, that's what she told 
Crouch Jr. and Fourth Man) but partly to avenge her own arrest and 
imprisonment due to Frank.  So maybe it would make more sense to use 
Imperius.  Or torture Mrs. Longbottom first.  Or torture Neville.  
But Vindictive!Mrs. Lestrange can't be bothered with that.  She is 
going to make Frank *pay* for what he did.

Oh, my FEATHERBOAS really like that idea!

> Naama also asked:
> 
> > Or, for that matter, why did Voldemort bother torturing Bertha? 
> > Definitely an inconsistency in the story, I'd say. 

I'd say the reason Voldemort tortured Bertha is because he didn't 
have any Veritaserum and because she had a Memory Charm.  Imperius 
(as I understand it) wouldn't have worked on Bertha because of the 
Memory Charm.  Even the Imperius Curse can't make someone remember 
something they don't remember or know something they don't know, 
right?

Debbie:

> I'm not sure why so many 
>people assume the Longbottoms knew nothing about Voldemort's 
>whereabouts.  Dumbledore makes the following statement near the end 
>of the Pensieve chapter:  "Bertha Jorkins has vanished without a 
>trace in the place where Voldemort was certainly known to be 
>last."  

Yes, but Dumbledore says this in GoF.  By then, Quirrell has 
explained where he hooked up with Voldemort -- Albania.  Fourteen 
years earlier, when the Longbottoms were tortured, I see no reason 
to think that Frank knew where Voldemort was -- particularly if 
Voldemort was but a noxious gas at that point.

Debbie:

>All three descriptions of the Pensieve Four's capture 
> and trial (Sirius, Dumbledore and Crouch Sr.'s statements in the 
>Pensieve) are consistent with the notion that the objective was to 
>find out Voldemort's whereabouts.

Oh, I don't doubt that MoM was looking.  I just think MoM didn't 
know where Voldemort was and Frank Longbottom certainly didn't 
know.  And if Frank did know, does anyone really think he would 
resist torture to the point of being driven insane rather than 
reveal the information?

Debbie:  

>And why, even if they were gibbering wrecks, would the perps leave 
>them alive?  

You know, I've checked my notes of the Symposium, and I *still* 
haven't heard a compelling answer to this question.  Maybe they were 
so damaged that they appeared to be dead?  

Vindictive!Mrs. Lestrange would answer by saying that death was *too 
good* for Frank.  I mean, Lupin tells us that having your soul 
sucked out is worse than death.  So maybe wizard culture prizes the 
conscious being to the point that it is a greater insult to leave 
someone alive without their soul/sanity than to kill them outright?

Ooooh, that sounded kinda deep!  Was that deep?  ;-)

Debbie (making a pitch for an alternative theory):

>And if you combine the Memory Charmed Longbottoms with the MOM 
> attempting to break through the charm in a desperate attempt to 
>find and convict the attackers, you can account for the MOM 
>identifying and finding the Pensieve Four.

Yes . . . but what about Neville?  I think I drifted off during that 
part of the Symposium.  Are you proposing that MoM tortured the 
Longbottoms to break through a Memory Charm that the perps placed on
the Longbottoms rather than just killing them outright?  

Er, I may need some clarification there?

Debbie (back to Reverse Memory Charm Neville with Jobberknoll 
Variant):

>Cindy tried to persuade:
 
> The Egg's screeching sounds to Neville just like the death scream 
>of  the Jobberknoll.  

Debbie asked:

> But wouldn't his association of the Jobberknoll death rattle with 
>torture indicate that in fact he doesn't remember what Cruciatus 
>actually sounds like?  

Oh, no.  Neville knows *exactly* what the torture of his parents 
sounds like.  He also knows what the Jobberknoll death rattle sounds 
like.  The Egg sounds like the latter, not the former.  But as the 
death rattle *was* a backward version of the Longbottoms' screams, 
the Egg did remind Neville of the torture, but indirectly so.

Debbie:

>So, if Neville heard the Cruciatus, the memory seems to have been 
> erased.

Oh, no.  He heard the Cruciatus the first time, and he still hears 
it.  Had he not had his memory enhanced, he would have forgotten it 
by now.  

Now if he heard the torture and his memory was *erased*, then why on 
earth does he liken it to the torture -- a torture he doesn't 
remember?  

Cindy (noting that Elkins wasn't the only one who liked Debbie's 
portfolio of Memory Charm theories so much)

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

For an explanation of the acronyms and theories in this post, visit
Hypothetic Alley at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%
20Files/hypotheticalley.htm 
and Inish Alley at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/database?
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