[HPforGrownups] Re: Harry in Azkaban (was Harry's Trip/Penelope, etc)

[wynnde1 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 49145

I wrote:

> > Okay, yes, *why* would Harry Potter be in Azkaban? <snip> 
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. 

To which Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle responded:

>If this scenario should arise, I would hope that the Wizarding 
>World would remember the "Prior Incatato" spell and check 
>Harry's wand. I suspect there would be no evidence that the 
>Avada Kedavra curse came from his wand. I further hope that 
>such evidence would be considered strong enough to protect 
>Harry from a miscarriage of justice.

Now me again,

Hmmmh. I'm not *nearly* as optimistic as you are in the Wizarding World's 
ability to carry out justice properly! <g> Of course there would be no 
evidence that the spell came from Harry's wand, because we know the AK was 
cast by Peter using Voldemort's wand. And we've already seen the Priori 
Incantatem effect from that wand, when the "shadows" of Cedric, Frank Bryce, 
Bertha Jorkins, and James and Lily Potter came out of the wand. (Which makes 
me wonder whether or not Priori Incantatem could be used again to determine 
which spells had been cast with the wand - does a record of those spells 
still remain in the wand, or have they been permanently "erased" now that 
they've been Priori Incantatemed already?)

HOWEVER . . . the fact that Harry's wand would show no record of having cast 
the AK spell does not make me feel much better about the whole thing. We've 
already seen at least one example of a *huge* miscarriage of justice 
happening, and being allowed to continue years and years after the fact. 
After all, not having concrete proof of criminal activity didn't prevent 
Sirius from spending 12 years in Azkaban. Not only was he not given a proper 
trial at the time, but after things had settled down no one went back to try 
and verify that Sirius had, indeed, done the thing he'd been accused of 
doing. 

Now, if Harry was accused of something really awful, I certainly don't think 
that he'd end up in Azkaban for 12 years. But not because the MoM or 
Wizarding legal system (whatever it entails) would protect him from wrongful 
imprisonment. The only thing which, IMO, would save Harry would be the fact 
that there are at least a few people (Dumbledore, Hermione, and Hagrid are 
the ones who spring immediately to mind) who would *not* believe him guilty 
unless there was concrete proof of his guilt. In Sirius' case, the people who 
might have believed in his innocence were either dead (James and Lily), evil 
(Peter), or decided that he was, indeed, guilty (Remus), so no one made any 
sort of Amnesty International action on his behalf. If Harry were sent 
wrongfully to prison, he *would* have people to advocate for him, although 
perhaps not as many as he thinks. We've already seen masses of people turn 
against him twice - most of the students at Hogwarts were happy to believe 
him the Heir of Slytherin in CoS, and most of the students, *including Ron*, 
and at least some of the faculty were willing to believe that he'd put his 
name in the goblet of fire in GoF.

So, if Fudge (or someone else in the MoM) wanted to get Harry out of the way, 
I think it would be disturbingly easy to frame him for something he didn't 
do. But I also believe that Harry's name would be cleared eventually, because 
he does have people who believe in him enough to fight for his release. 

And I do want to reiterate that I *do not* believe that Harry will ever be 
sent to Azkaban for killing Cedric. I don't imagine that one of the three 
remaining books is going to be spent watching Harry suffer the effects of the 
Dementors while Hermione petitions for his release. I just put forth this 
scenario as an example of the sort of thing that might happen in the future. 
Although I won't be at *all* surprised if there is plenty of anti-Harry 
sentiment when he returns to Hogwarts for his 5th year. Dumbledore's leaving 
feast speech at the end of GoF notwithstanding, I suspect that most of the 
students at Hogwarts are going to spend their summer holiday wondering just 
how Cedric really did die, and that at least some of them are going to be 
suspicious about just how Harry managed to survive when Cedric didn't. 

:-)
Wendy


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