Harry's fate in book 5 (was Harry in Azkaban)

[serenadust <jmmears@comcast.net>]

No: HPFGUIDX 49117

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, wynnde1 at a... wrote:
> > Okay, yes, *why* would Harry Potter be in Azkaban? Well, it's 
not 
> > like he hasn't been involved in some pretty risky business. 
<snip examples 
> > of Harry's past shenanigans>

Then Wendy replied:
 
> Well, here's the scenario which popped into my mind right away - 
Harry is 
> sent to Azkaban for using an unforgivebale curse (AK) to murder 
Cedric 
> Diggory. 
<snip>
. There is a whole list of things about Harry that you either 
believe or 
> can pretend to believe if it suits you (and some of them are 
actually 
> *true*): 

<snip long accurate list of incriminating events involving Harry 
from books 1 thru 3>


Wendy again:
> Now, Harry comes back with a wild story about Voldemort and Peter 
Pettigrew 
> (who everyone knows is dead), and a bunch of supposed "Death 
Eaters" 
> including Fudge's suck-up buddy Lucius Malfoy. And Harry has 
brought back the 
> body of the only other tri-wizard champion who had a chance to 
beat him in 
> the final test of the tournament. 
> 
> How easy it would be for Fudge to believe (or *claim* to believe, 
depending 
> on whether or not you think he's evil or just thick), that Harry 
is a 
> dangerous maniac with a history of criminal behavior and that he 
has finally 
> snapped and killed his classmate, Diggory. Harry gets hauled off 
to Azkaban. 
> Bye bye Hogwarts, Hello Dementors! 
> 
> So, what do you think? <G>

I do agree that Harry's history since re-enterting the WW appears 
dogey enough that an excellent case could be made for incriminating 
him in the death of Cedric.  After all, we've seen the "spin" put on 
all sorts of things in the Wizard press, and there doesn't seem to 
be a very high level of scepticism among the average witch/wizard 
concerning what they read in the papers.  As things stand at the end 
of GoF, Fudge is (IMO)in major denial concering Voldemort's return, 
and would be very likely to promote an alternative theory for 
Cedric's demise.  If it takes throwing Harry to the wolves of public 
opinion in order to avert general panic over V's re-birth, Fudge 
will do it.

Wendy again:

> Admittedly, I really *don't* believe that this is how book 5 is 
going to 
> open. If Fudge was going to play this card, he'd have done it by 
now. 

Actually, I do think that it's very likely that this will figure 
heavily at the beginning of book 5.  Things are still very 
unsettled, but oddly quiet at the end of GoF.  Too quiet, 
considering the enormity of what's just happened.

"When Hermione returned from the trolley and put her money back into 
her schoolbag, she dislodged a copy of the Daily Prophet that she 
had beeen carrying in there. Harry looked at it, unsure whether he 
really wanted to know what it might say, but Hermione, seeing him 
looking at it, said calmly, "There's nothing in there.  You can look 
for yourself, but there's nothing at all.  I've been checking every 
day.  Just a small piece the day after the third task saying you won 
the tournament.  They didn't even mention Cedric.  Nothing about any 
of it.  If you ask me, Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."  (GoF, 
Chapter 37, p. 726 US.) 

I agree with Hermione here.  I think that Fudge is waiting for the 
other shoe to drop, and laying the groundwork for his next move, 
depending upon what Dumbledore and co. do next.

Wendy again:

> Now, having said all this, I'll add that I actually don't think 
Harry will 
> get sent to Azkaban at all, as that would probably do really wild 
things to 
> the storyline as we know it. But I wouldn't be surprised to see a 
huge 
> anti-Harry campaign sweep through the WW. Harry would still be at 
Hogwarts, 
> but pretty much everyone would suspect or hate him, even more so 
than what 
> happened in CoS.

I don't think that Harry is at so much risk of going to Azkaban as 
he is St. Mungo's.  After all, he is still "the boy who lived" and 
only 15 years old. However, in Rita Skeeter's last she describes him 
as "disturbed and dangerous", outlines the whole parselmouth 
backstory and actually seems to predict what actually comes to pass 
during the 3rd task.  And now, she has disappeared.  I have always 
had the horrible feeling that Amos Diggory is going to turn on Harry 
with a vengance in book 5, and that this article, combined with the 
grief of loosing Cedric, will be the impetus behind a large part of 
the WW turning against Harry.

Everyone is very focused on the upcoming death(s) in books 5, 6 and 
7 as the source of the darkness to come.  However, I believe that 
these deaths will only be a part of the larger, more tragic events 
that will befall Harry and the WW.  There really are things that are 
sadder than death, and I think JKR has set many of those things in 
motion by the end of GoF.  As eager as I am to get OOP in my hot 
little hands, the end of GoF leaves me very apprehensive. 

Jo Serenadust