TBAY: MD and Alternate Theories

[annemehr <annemehr@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 49095

Annemehr knocked on the door of the Safe House.  Light, quick 
footsteps could be heard approaching from the other side, and the door 
swung open silently to reveal an eager-looking House Elf.

"Hello, miss," said the Elf.  "May I help you?"

Annemehr smiled tentatively and replied, "Hello.  You must be Sneaky! 
 My name is Annemehr, and I've been wanting to visit the Safe House 
for a while now.  Are any of the MDDT available, or should I come back 
some other time?"

"Oh, yes, come in, miss!" said Sneaky, who turned to lead the way 
inside.  As they entered the living room, Annemehr suddently felt 
twice as nervous - it was rather more crowded in here than she had 
imagined it would be.  The absence of any large Grey Wolves may or may 
not have helped - she had always found him quite courteous in their 
correspondance but wondered how it would feel to meet him in person.  
Oh well - perhaps another day.

Sneaky introduced the visitor to Pip and Melody, who said hello in a 
friendly way.  Then Melody turned to the others.

"Annemher, I'd like you to meet some friends of ours.  This is Elkins, 
and Eloise, and Cindy.  We were just discussing CHOPping wood."

"Er, pleased to meet you," stuttered Annemehr.  She hoped her 
reddening face didn't look too ridiculous.  She certainly hadn't 
counted on meeting so many important TBAY citizens all at once!

"What brings you to the bay?"  asked Elkins in a kindly way.

"Well," Annemher began, "there are two things.  I have a little 
catboat I am building in the shipyard out by the docks.  I am naming 
it the MALEVOLENCE - you know, "Malfoy's Affluence Lends 
Effectiveness: Veiledly Opposes Longbottoms' Escaping Needless 
Cruciatus Effects. (msg. #48316)"  I aready have some nice can(n)ons 
for it, but I won't be ready to launch it without a mast or a sail.  
For a mast, I need to know, what kind of thing could the Longbottoms 
have to say or do, that makes Lucius Malfoy feel he needs to keep them 
incapacitated.  And, I also need a sail (preferably a black one), or 
my little boat will never get anywhere - why does Malfoy need to keep 
them alive?  Why not just have them killed?  If anyone can think of 
any way to help me out with this, I'd be grateful.  I've never built a 
boat before
"

"Anyway, on to the reason for my visit to the Safe House.  Ever since 
I heard of the MAGIC DISHWASHER, I have been intrigued by it, although 
my immediate reaction to it was that it couldn't be true.  Eventually 
I became comfortable with the theory and the morality behind it, 
thanks to Grey Wolf and Melody answering a few of my questions on the 
main list.  I also promised Grey Wolf in a private email that I would 
reexamine PoA in light of my new insights into the theory.

"Anyway, I did reread the shrieking shack scene to look for possible 
interpretations, although it wasn't easy because the book kept 
disappearing on me -- my husband has been reading it to my son.  I 
ended up with three interpretations, all of which seem valid to me."

"Okay," said Pip.  "Let's see what you've got, then!"

Annemher looked around the room.  Melody certainly looked interested, 
and Pip also, although she looked a little wary, too.  Elkins and 
Eloise exchanged a glance that might have said, here we go again, and 
Annemehr spotted Cindy beginning to stroke her paddle lightly.  
Annemehr took a deep breath and plunged in.  Or rather, she would have 
plunged in if Sneaky had not at that very moment, pressed a cup of tea 
into her trembling fingers.  Annemehr had a sip, and then she plunged 
in


"First of all, there is the straightforward interpretation.  Lupin has 
been given the DADA job because he might also be a help in defending 
the school and Harry from the murderous Sirius Black, whom everyone 
believes to be the guilty one.  Events unfold until the SS scenes 
where Lupin, and then the trio, come to believe in Black's innocence, 
and Pettigrew is exposed - unfortunately, while Snape is lying on the 
floor unconscious.  This is the way I naturally read it, but I'm also 
aware that reading these books that way is going to cause me to be 
fooled over and over!  Still, it's a perfectly valid possibility."

"A little boring, maybe," said Pip quietly to Cindy.

"Oh, not really," put in Eloise.  "It is quite a touching scene in 
itself, as a way for Harry to find out some things about his father's 
old friends.  She smiled encouragingly at Annemehr.

"Yes," Annemehr continued.  "The second interpretation came to me when 
something struck me about a line of Pettigrew's, when he was trying to 
defend his spying for Voldemort:
'He - he was taking over everywhere!' gasped Pettigrew.  'Wh - what 
was there to be gained by refusing him?'

"You see?  What was to be gained by _refusing him!  Don't you think 
Pettigrew would be the type to want to lie low all through VW1 and try 
to weather the storm?  He probalbly would not dream of going to 
Voldemort on his own.  I think it entirely likely that Voldemort 
captured Pettigrew to force him to turn spy, because he knew Pettigrew 
would be a useful way to get at the Potters.  And just how did 
Voldemort know about Pettigrew?  From his DE Snape, of course!  Snape 
fingered Pettigrew to Voldemort as a patsy who liked to hang around 
wizards more powerful than himself and who was sure to fold in the 
face of Voldemort's superior power.  Not long after this, Snape left 
to spy for Dumbledore.  As Snape obviously never told Dumbledore that 
Pettigrew was now working for Voldemort, this has to be an Evil 
Double-Agent Snape Theory.  Snape knew that Pettigrew could transform 
into a rat, but even after Voldemort was vaporised, the two of them, 
while they hated each other, never outed one another for fear of 
blowing their own covers, so they lay low in their own positions.  
Then the SS scene plays out in a similar way to MD, only Snape is 
trying to prevent his own exposure, not help Dumbledore send Voldmort 
a servant tainted by a life-debt.  Furthermore, Snape can well afford 
Pettigrew to return to help the Dark Lord return because he can then 
reassume his double-agent role with loyalty to Voldemort, since he had 
kept Pettigrew's secret.  On the other hand, if Voldemort does not 
succeed in regaining power, Snape merely retains his position at 
Hogwarts as long as he has to.  As far as I can tell, this theory is 
also consistent with canon.

"Finally, I considered MAGIC DISWASHER.  The only possible canon that 
I could find against it is the presence of Lupin.  To me, Lupin seems 
to genuinely believe that Sirius was the traitor until the moment in 
the shrieking shack when he realises that Sirius had switched with 
Pettigrew.  So why is he at Hogwarts?  Under MD, Dumbledore can not 
have hired him to help protect Harry from Sirius.  He must then have 
hired him either because: 1) Lupin was truly the only one available 
for the DADA job, or 2) so Lupin could help control Sirius should he 
manage to get into the castle prematurely -because Sirius is rather a 
loose canon and Lupin would be an extra insurance policy.  But if #2 
is true, then why didn't Dumbledore tell him about Pettigrew?  Pip and 
Melody, I'm sure this must have been brought up before, but I couldn't 
find it anywhere."

Annemher took another sip of her neglected tea and came to the point.

"I like MD as a theory, especially if you can help me with that one 
question I raised.  But I don't see how I can choose it over the other 
two.  They are all perfectly valid under canon as far as I can see, 
and I only have emotional reasons for preferring the first one - that 
unless I make a conscious effort not to, I naturally read the book 
that way, and I would think it more interesting to have Snape as the 
tortured good guy than an evil double-agent.  I can't say that I  
think any one of them is more likely to be truer than the others.  I 
certainly believe in the Safe House, and I like the fact that the 
dishwasher is here.  And, I am prepared to defend its existence if 
it's attacked.  So where does that leave me?

"Pip and Melody, do you believe that MD is THE correct theory, until 
proven otherwise? - or is it just A valid theory to you?  Am I a 
candidate for the Safe House or a friendly visitor when I come to the 
'BAY?"  Annemher gazed out the windows at the sun-filled bay, where 
the storm-clouds seemed to have receeded to the horizon.  She thought 
she was going to like it here, wherever she ended up.

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Annemehr