TBAY: All these kids with Inv. cloaks

[ssk7882 <skelkins@attbi.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51899

"Oooh, pop tarts!"

Cindy, Melody and Elkins turned to see Risti framed in the doorway of 
the Safe House's kitchen, her broom in one hand, floating a shiny new 
canon behind her.

"I--" Elkins began, but Risti seemed utterly distracted by the 
strawberry pop tart she was snarfing down with the single-minded 
concentration of the truly famished.

"Mwhorry," mumbled Risti, her mouth filled with crumbs.  She 
swallowed.  "I suppose I should introduce myself again. Risti's the 
name, and while it's been awhile, I think I have met all of you at 
least once around the bay."

"I should say so!" exclaimed Elkins.  "As if I'm ever likely to 
forget the stern yet loyal First Mate Risti, who reprimanded me for 
speaking disrespectfully to Captain Veronica of the Imperio'd!Arthur 
Trimaran and then actually put me *off the ship* when I..."

The others were all staring blankly at her.

"Oh."  Elkins blinked.  "Oh, blast," she sighed.  "That's right.  I 
never actually *posted* that one, did I?  I came down with 
bronchitis, and by the time that I'd recovered, the thread was 
hopelessly ancient.  Oh, well."  She smiled apologetically at 
Risti.  "Never mind then.  Perhaps we'd best just pretend it never 
happened.  As indeed, I guess that it, er, well, *didn't.* Really."

"Err...yes, all right," said Risti, now looking quite confused.

"What's that canon you've got there?" asked Cindy.

"Well, you did say earlier that you didn't think real Moody had a 
cloak, right?" asked Risti, with an apologetic smile.

"I seem to recall saying that," Cindy said slowly.

"Mmmm-hmmmm."  Risti bent down and lit her canon with a barely
suppressed air of triumph.

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GOF, Veritserum, p591, Canadian Hardcover

...Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a second key in the second 
lock, and opened the trunk again. The spellbooks had vanished; this 
time it contained an assortment of broken Sneakoscopes, some 
parchment and quills, and what looked like a silvery Invisibility 
Cloak.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Risti's right," said Elkins, nodding.  "There is just *no way* that 
Barty would have had the time to get that Cloak back in the trunk.  
He was wearing an Invisibility Cloak during the Third Task.  He used 
it to skulk about taking out the other champions, trying to leave a 
clear field for Harry.  And then he was right there on the scene when 
Harry reappeared.  I can't really imagine that he would have gone 
back to his *office* while Harry was in the Graveyard, can you?  Gone 
back to his office, put his Invisibility Cloak back in his trunk, 
maybe had a nice cup of tea, and then bolted back down to the maze?
It wouldn't make any sense at all."

"So he must have had *two* Cloaks!" cried Cindy.  "The one that he 
actually *used,* which was probably his father's, the same one that 
he'd spent all that time being forced to wear while he was a captive, 
and Real!Moody's, which he left in the trunk."

"Or vice versa," agreed Risti, smiling.  "He used Moody's Cloak and 
left his father's hidden safely away in the trunk."

"The latter would make more sense, I think," said Elkins. 
"Invisibility Cloaks might well be distinguishable from each other.  
After finding Harry's Invisibility Cloak at the foot of the willow in 
PoA, Snape makes it clear that he knows that it's Harry's.  He 
doesn't suspect that it's Sirius Black's, for example.  That could be 
just because Snape's no dolt, or it could be because Dumbledore's 
been filling him in, but it's also possible that he recognized the 
thing as having once belonged to James.  At any rate, if anyone had 
ever noticed that "Moody" had *Crouch's* Invisibility Cloak, that 
would have been a giveaway.  So he probably used Moody's, and kept 
his father's hidden away in the trunk with all of the other things 
that he couldn't afford ever to allow anyone to see.  Like, er, well, 
like Moody *himself,* for example."

"But where did he put the Invisibility Cloak that he was wearing 
during the Third Task?" asked Melody.  "What ever happened to it?"

There was a long silence.  At length, Elkins coughed, a cough that 
sounded suspiciously like ::coughflintcough::.  Cindy glared at her 
and elbowed her hard in the ribs. 

"Not fair play," she hissed.  "Even worse than that 'narrative 
invisibility' nonsense."

"Oh, all right," sighed Elkins.  "So how's this?  He put it in 
*exactly* the same place that he put the Marauder's Map!  Ow!" 
she complained, as Cindy elbowed her again.  "Geez!  What was *that* 
for?"

"Anyway," said Melody.  "It still supports the idea that one of 
James' parents might have been in the DMLE, because we're still 
looking at a situation in which only Law Enforcement people ever 
seem to own Invisibility Cloaks.  It's not just money or prestige.
The Malfoys don't seem to have one."

"Not necessarily."  Risti smiled.  "Remember what Cindy said?  I 
believe she said something along the lines that no sane parent up and 
gives something like an Invisibility Cloak to a teenage boy. Think 
about it. If you were Lucius, and had a son like Draco, would you 
even mention that an invisibility cloak existed in your house?"

Melody chuckled. "I see your point."

"Oh, I think he might," said Elkins.

They all looked at her.

"Well, he's willing to take his son in with him to Knockturn Alley, 
isn't he?  He's willing to have Draco trailing along with him while 
he itemizes all the nasty items he's arranging to sell to Mr. Borgin.
He's willing even to let Draco know where he *keeps* his secret stash 
of Dark items:  

"'Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've 
got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor -'

"So I think that if Lucius owned an Invisibility Cloak," Elkins
concluded.  "Draco likely *would* know about it.  Of course," she 
shrugged.  "That doesn't mean it would necessarily ever have come up 
in the books.  And I'm *certain* that Lucius would never allow Draco 
to take such an item to school with him.  But he likely would still 
*know* about it, if his father owned one."

"So we've proven...nothing, in other words," sighed Cindy.

"Nope.  Not a thing.  Except that people in the DMLE *do* seem often 
to have Invisibility Cloaks, while other people...err...well, might 
or might not have them.  Still."  Elkins shrugged again.  "The 
coffee's good."


---------

Elkins, always glad to see Risti around and about