The Riddle House revisited - harmless TBAY reference

[David <dfrankiswork@netscape.net>]

No: HPFGUIDX 49768

I thought a bit more about the issue of the ownership of the Riddle 
house, and realised there is more pointing to Malfoy owning it than 
at first I allowed.

I think there are three possibilities:

1. V was just lucky it was empty; 
2. he had arranged for it to be empty;
3. a supporter independently took possession of it and kept it empty.

If he was lucky, there is little more to be said.  Anybody could own 
it.  It is also very difficult to argue for or against it, except in
general terms like 'a smart operator like V would ensure his base is 
secure before turning up'.

If he arranged it, a number of conclusions flow.

Firstly, he arranged it some years previously, and so had the bone, 
flesh, and blood spell as an option for a long time (his only 
interest is the proximity of his father's grave, it seems).  It 
follows from that that since his disembodiment he has been in 
contact with at least one supporter in England.

Secondly, the rich owner is an active supporter on whom Voldemort 
relies.  By asking for the house to be bought and then going there 
(even after some years) Voldemort to some extent puts himself 
temporarily in the power of this supporter.

Thirdly, Frank Bryce would be kept on not through sentiment, economy 
or oversight but because it is the minimum disturbance.  

Above all, V wishes for the time being to remain inconspicuous.  
Having arranged the purchase, he is awaiting the first opportunity 
to go there (well, actually, Quirrell and the PS are such *good* 
opportunities that he passes up the chance to do the bone, flesh, 
and blood spell at that time).  To sack Frank Bryce would require a 
replacement to be found (the property must be maintained a little if 
the tax facade is to be kept up) thus exciting gossip and interest 
in the village when at any time Voldemort might wish to take up 
residence.

In fact, killing Frank Bryce is almost disastrous for Voldemort.  It 
is a signal to Dumbledore (who reads about it in the paper) that he 
is coming back, and is in residence at his dad's old place. It is 
even a clue to the use of the bone, flesh, and blood spell.  I think 
that this suggests that Voldemort wasn't that au fait with the 
situation or he would have arranged for his rich supporter to write 
to Bryce explaining that his sick relative who did not wish to be 
disturbed was about to visit, or some similar excuse.

So, in summary, the fact that Voldemort is happy to walk in suggests 
the owner is a supporter; the fact that Bryce is not told suggests 
he is not, or that he no longer is.

The third possibility is that the owner is an independent (and 
likely untrustworthy) supporter.  After Voldemort's fall, this 
wealthy supporter acquires the house because he knows, or guesses, 
that any return by Voldemort would involve its use.  He keeps it 
against the eventuality of Voldemort's return, in the hope of being 
able either to prevent it or control it.  Voldemort, however, 
realises what is going on and takes advantage of the house's 
emptiness without informing the owner.  He doesn't reckon on Bryce, 
who represents the minimum-cost solution to the owner.  He also 
risks that the owner has installed suitable detection equipment, or 
disables it, as Crouch does Moody's dark detectors.

In some ways this third possibility stacks up best against the 
evidence if we take the view that background information is plot-
related.  Malfoy, the Slippery One, fits very well.

The biggest weakness is that the owner might be expected to be 
better prepared for a possible return by Voldemort than so far 
appears to be the case.

Conclusions: Malfoy may well be the owner, but the death of Frank 
Bryce militates against the Spying Game/MAGICDISHWASHER hypothesis 
(see www.hpfgu.org.uk/faq/hypotheticalley.html for details.  My 
apologies for getting this reference wrong last time).

David