Is Hogwarts So Safe?

[yolandacarroll]

No: HPFGUIDX 86526

thelinnealand wrote:
> I have read numerous accounts here that reiterate DDs claim that
> Hogwarts provides protection for those who are within its walls.
> Codswallop, I say.
> 
> Sure there are some protections but hey, LV lived there in a turban
> and a book. 

I agree with you on that point.  Then again, 
Voldemort is now at large and can go anywhere.  
In a sense, Hogwarts isn't any less safe than 
anywhere else in the WW.

> Death Eaters visit. (Malfoy, the Executioner,Karkarov...)

They visited in official capacities and had 
to behave themselves.  They aren't suppose 
to be Deatheaters, so they have to abstain 
from torturing muggle-borns or attacking a 
certain boy-that-lived, especially while 
Dumbledore and Fudge are standing right 
there watching them.

> The Azkaban guards swarmed a school function and attacked Harry 
right
> on the grounds by the lake. 

Dumbledore did not let the Azkaban guards 
inside the school, because he didn't trust 
them.  The Azkaban guards attacked on their 
own, defying their orders.  The fact that 
they were able to get inside the school, 
could be because they had been given access.  
Afterall, if they discover Sirius Black rushing 
through the gates past them, they would need 
the ability to follow him inside the school.

> 
> Looks to me to be the most dangerous place on Earth one could be,
> especially while Harry and DD are there.

Harry said trouble finds him and he's right.  
I agree that Harry and DD attract plenty of 
trouble to Hogwarts.  However, Hogwarts is 
still as safe if not safer than the rest of 
the WW.  So far, we've only had one 
student/faculty death and that occurred outside 
of Hogwarts.  Of course, Voldemort was able to 
remove Harry and Cedric from Hogwarts prior to 
killing one of them.  

> 
> And don't be too sure about that anti-apparition thing. Remember 
the
> ship coming out of the lake? Maybe not apparition per se but 
pretty close.

Dumbledore knew the ship was coming out of the 
lake.  Perhaps, he lowered the protective barriers 
to allow this to happen.

As far as the "anti-apparition thing", I always 
saw that as slowing down, not stopping a determined 
dark wizard.  If all dark forces could be held at 
bay by the Hogwarts defenses, then we'd lack any 
or all conflict.

> And the Chamber of Secrets, a special place for the heir of 
Slytherin,
> is under the lake with a nice handy tunnel right into a Hogwarts
> toilet. Should be a simple matter for LV to apparate there.
> There has never been any mention of DD destroying the Chamber or
> access to it and I find that ominous. 

I don't know if we would have heard about that, 
since everything is from Harry's POV.  Just 
because DD didn't pull Harry to the side and 
say he blocked off the chamber that doesn't 
mean he didn't.  Then again, I'd thought about 
that as well as the other secret access points 
to Hogwarts.  

> 
> When LV decides Snape has to go the Castle's protection will be 
like mist.

Snape said he would remain at Hogwarts when he 
chose to ignore the DE summons.  Snape strikes 
me as being both a realist and a survivor.  The 
fact that he chose to remain within Hogwarts 
tells me that *he* feels protected there. 

Also, in POA, Snape and Lupin believed Harry 
to be safe while in Hogwarts, which was why 
they both were so displeased with his trip to 
Hogsmeade.

To be fair, Hogwarts isn't as safe as we thought 
at first.  Of course in PS/SS, we thought Snape 
was working for Voldemort, then we found out 
that Voldemort was riding on the back of Quirrel's 
head for a year at least.  From the first book, 
JKR told us Hogwarts was safe, but proved otherwise.

JKR has deliberately raised the stakes book after 
book.  Soon, if not already, nowhere will be safe.  
I do believe that Hogwarts protections offer some 
security, but I also agree that those protections 
are not perfect.

<snip>

Yolanda