Snape's cover / Which Crouch? / Brooms, Carpets and Bribes

[psychic_serpent]

No: HPFGUIDX 55310

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, The Sparrow 
<basementgirl74 at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Cerys Gordon"
> <cergordon at h...>
> wrote:
> >Malfoy Sr. always seemed to be friendly with Snape so
> did he not know of his betrayal?
> 
> Catphile5 responded:  
> This is an issue which has bugged me bunches and I
> really would like some thoughts on this.
> <snip>
> Why do the Malfoys like Snape so much?  You'd think
> they would despise every bit of Snape as one who has betrayed LV.  
> But Draco's affinity for SS seems genuine.  It just doesn't jibe.
> 
> I suggest:
> Maybe it's all got to do with what Severus knows.
> Perhaps it's a kind of pre-emptive blackmail-if Lucius
> does anything to upset Snape, Snape will do something
> to upset Lucius-i.e. reveal hidden information. Alot
> of people know the Malfoys as DE but they remain
> unconvicted, possibly because of hidden information
> that might only be known to Snape. 

That's a good one, and could also work in combination with my 
suggestion.  I think it's entirely possible that Snape told Lucius, 
among others in the DEs, that he would approach Dumbledore and claim 
to be repentent, offering to spy for him.  Thus, when Dumbledore 
says this very thing at the Ministry, when Karkaroff is desperate to 
finger more Death Eaters in order to get out of prison (Dumbledore's 
Pensieve), people like Lucius Malfoy would think, "Ah, that stupid 
old fool actually believes Snape is on his side... what an utter 
IDIOT."  When, in fact, I believe that Snape IS genuinely on 
Dumbledore's side and needed desperately to avoid the possibility 
that Death Eaters would come after him.  Thus, one of the major 
reasons Malfoy could like Snape so much is that he, like Lucius, has 
cleverly stayed out of prison and in the good graces of people in 
authority, like Dumbledore, while secretly harboring (Malfoy 
assumes) loyalties to the Dark Lord.  (Malfoy is very chummy with 
Fudge, and gives money to St. Mungo's, another way to appear to be a 
Model Citizen.)

> I don't have my copy of GoF with me (Dammit!), but
> I've just thought of something. If Lucius and Crouch
> have a sort of agreement/friendship going on, then we
> could bring up that whole 'is-Crouch-a-death-eater'
> thing. I conclude he's not-or at least, he doesn't
> bear the Dark Mark. But do we know this for sure? Is
> he just not mentioned in the lineup of DEs at Vold's
> confrontation with Harry at the end of GoF?

Here you've got me a bit confused.  Which Crouch do you mean?  Barty 
Crouch, Jr. WAS a Death Eater, and very likely had the Dark Mark.  
It is unlikely that his father was a Death Eater, however, even 
though he broke his son out of prison and kept him concealed in his 
house for over a decade.  And who is it you are saying was with the 
DEs at the end of the book?  Malfoy or Crouch?  It was very clear 
Malfoy was there; he was upbraided by Voldemort for not searching 
him out, as Crouch, Jr. did.  Whether Malfoy and the younger Crouch 
had any contact at all before he went to prison is unclear, and no 
one else knew about younger Barty escaping from prison except for 
Winky, Bertha Jorkins, and Wormtail.  And eventually, Moody, of 
course, much good that did him just before he ended up in his own 
trunk for more than nine months.

> I'd also like to ask on a different subject- if flying
> carpet are banned because carpets are Muggle
> artefacts, then how can they get away with
> broomsticks? They're just as much a Muggle object.

It's more a matter of tradition in Britain, I think.  Plus, flying 
brooms, as described in the books (let alone the outlandish-looking 
things in the films, which IMO have ceased to resemble brooms at 
all) are unlikely to be confused with Muggle versions for sweeping 
floors and would be fairly easily kept out of Muggle hands, as 
everyone assumes that brooms in a wizarding household are for 
transpotation, not cleaning (that's what cleaning charms are for).  
OTOH, it would be hard to spot a flying carpet when just lying about 
or distinguish it from a non-flying carpet.  That seems to be the 
real issue--items inadvertently getting into Muggle hands and 
displaying magical properties.  The harder it is to tell a flying 
carpet from an ordinary carpet, the greater danger there is that a 
Muggle could get hold of it and trouble would ensue.

Which just makes one wonder--what WAS Arthur thinking when he 
enchanted that car?  One assumes that the official Ministry cars are 
yet another special case, and that extra care must be taken to keep 
them out of Muggle hands.  (I'm speaking of the cars that drove the 
children to the train from the Burrow, which behaved very much like 
the Knight Bus.)  

I do agree with you that there are inconsistencies in the way JKR 
writes of wizarding law regarding these things.   Or perhaps it's 
just that the wizarding government is like some small governments 
around the world that you hear of sometimes, where everything really 
functions on an elaborate system of whom to pay off (and how much), 
and the written law is completely secondary to this unwritten and 
rather complicated system of bribery.

--Barb

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