Harry Lists D.E. & Malfoy (Re: Clues in GoF)

[ggershman77 <ggershman77@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 53105

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, SeventhSqueal 
<seventhsqueal at y...> wrote:
> This is a continuation of Gina and ggershman77's
> exploration of Harry's rattling off of Deatheaters
> names that he witnessed at the DE Summoning in the
> graveyard at the end of GoF. 
>  
> Harry is recuperating in the infirmary and the
> Weasley's, Fudge, Dumbledore and Snape are all there
> around him listening to him recount his traumatic
> experience. During Harry's story, Fudge keeps
> interjecting with his comments about the lack of
> reliability of the story. Preposterous! Fudge is in
> complete denial and a state of shock that Voldemort
> has returned and acts like someone for whom
> Voldemort's return severely compromises him,
> personally or politically or both. 
> 
> Then there is the passage where Harry names Lucius
> Malfoy and Snape twitches and his eyes fly over to
> Fudge probably to check out Fudge's reaction to
> Harry's news. IMO what might have happened there if
> one assumes that Snape and Malfoy are in cahoots is
> this:
> We see from the text in GoF that Fudge and Malfoy are
> developing some kind of relationship. One example is
> that Fudge gets the Malfoys great seats to the
> Quidditch World Cup because Lucius has given a sum of
> money to St. Mungo's. (To guarantee the continued
> containment and ill health of the Longbottoms? Maybe.)
> Lucius is working on Fudge. He's using the Minister of
> Magic to further his own agenda. I suspect that what
> Fudge has done or is doing for Lucius can be outed by
> the resurrection of Voldemort. I also suggest that
> Fudge thinks that Malfoy is genuinely innocent of
> having been a Deatheater. So for him to hear that
> Voldemort is back, and that the guy he's been helping
> or perhaps taking bribes from could make him an
> accessory and compromise him professionally. Perhaps
> Malfoy assured Fudge that Voldemort is a non-issue he
> could never come back.
> 
> Snape knows that Malfoy has been working on Fudge. He
> is upset that Fudge now knows that Malfoy went back to
> Voldemort earlier that night. Fudge doesn't know that
> Snape and Malfoy are working together. Snape knows
> that Voldemort's resurrection is bad news for Fudge.
> But it is in Malfoy and Snape's best interests for
> Fudge to commit the resources of the ministry towards
> fighting off the resurrected Voldemort. They want
> Voldemort out of the way, as well as wanting to
> distract the entire MoM with Voldemort hysteria. Snape
> tries to break through Fudge's denial by *cough*
> baring his flesh and explaining the Dark Mark as proof
> of Voldemort's resurrection. (BTW Fudge and the rest
> of the WW might know about the Dark Marks they
> probably were made common knowledge during the DE
> trials, but it's been what? 13 years and details like
> that can fade in memory.)

I have speculated in the past (See 
http://hpprogs.blogspot.com/2002_09_08_hpprogs_archive.html#81473766 
for more) that Lucius, while idealogically a disciple of Salazar 
Slytherin, would have much to lose if Voldemort returns.  I am not 
sure that your theory works, though, since, if Fudge had what to lose 
by being exposed as collaborating with Malfoy, a DE, he would then go 
into anti-Voldemort overdrive in a hurry.  I also, for some reason, 
dont see Snape collaborating with Malfoy on anything that is outside 
the realm of Dumbledore - Dumbledore is the only thing that kept 
Snape from the Dementors.

More likely, I think, is that Snape thought that Lucius was a benign 
entity, that he could be trusted, at least that he was not allied 
with Voldemort.  Now he finds out that he is, and this compromises 
him in some way.

I will have to think more about this, but good ideas!

Greg
Harry Potter Prognostications - http://hpprogs.blogspot.com