Longbottom's Torture - Why?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 80891

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Arya" <dequardo at w...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, RSFJenny19 at a... wrote:
> > KathyK wrote:
> > Crouch Jr. and the Lestranges torture the Longbottoms into
> > insanity AFTER Voldemort's AK curse backfires on Harry. ...they 
> > think the Longbottoms have information on Voldemort's....  Read 
> > GoF Chapter 30 (p 603 of the US paperback ed.)

 
> > 
> > Now Jenny here:
> > 
> > I wonder if that is really the reason the Longbottoms were 
> > tortured?


> Arya: 
> 
> ... -- the assumption that they were tortured because the DE thought
> they had knowledge of Voldemort's whereabouts is conjecture, at 
> best.  I think ... they wanted to know where someone else is---maybe
> ...a certain little baby named Harry?  
> 

bboy_mn:

Conjecture...? I'm confused. Do you mean conjecture on the part of us,
the readers, or on the part of the DE's?

It can't be reader conjecture because the book says that's why they
were there. Of course, I will admit that the information we have now
may not be the whole story, so anything could happen in the future.
But for now, seeking knowledge of Voldemort's where abouts, is the
official story line.



> Arya(?):
>
> ...edited... (speculation that Alice Longbottom is Harry's 
> Godmother)...
> 

> > KathyK:
> >
> > While I'm heading in the direction of the night the Potters were
> > killed, can anyone kindly direct me to the consensus that was 
> > reached about how the heck DD knew they had been attacked?????

> Jenny(?):
> 
> Still a mystery, but many theories....See the Lexicon for the 
> theories.
> 
> 
> > ~RSFJenny~
> 
> 
> Arya

bboy_mn:

RE: How did Dumbledore know?
This whole Secret Keeper thing is very confusing. I would have
speculated in past that once the secret was broken, the information
would no longer be blocked and Dumbledore would have a revelation. But
we know from the most recent book that the secret can be given away to
as many people as the Secret Keeper desires (everyone who entered
Grimauld Place knew that secret) and the secret still remains intact. 

Perhaps when the people who were being protected by the Secret Keeper
Spell died (Harry's parents), the spell was broken because the people
being hidden were dead. Nope... that doesn't work either. Harry was
still alive, and it was the location that was the secret (ie: the
house) not the people.

Perhaps when Sirius discovered that Peter was missing, he sent a owl
to Dumbledore telling him there might be trouble. Again... a Secret
Keeper problem. Can someone who knows the secret tell someone else
even if the first person is not the Secret Keeper. Example; could
Harry tell Neville how to find Grimauld Place? I don't think so.

Perhaps, the Potters or Peter send a note to Dumbledore in the same
fashion that Dumbledore sent a note to Harry telling him the location
of Grimauld Place. It's possible that Dumbledore, while not the Secret
Keeper, was in on the secret. But then I have to wonder, if he knew
the secret, how is it that he didn't know the Secret Keeper? Another
mystery.

This is all complicated by the fact that we assume Godric's Hollow is
in Wales since Hagrid flew over Bristol which is near Wales and a long
 long way from Scotland/Hogwarts. So any message between Dumbledore
and Hagrid would have had to travel pretty fast to cover that ground. 

So why did I waste all your time, telling you all the ways it can't
work? Because I think this is another one of those endless 'thought
traps', that will keep us helplessly and pointlessly running around in
a circle chasing an answer that isn't there. Until JKR explains it, I
don't think we have enough information to determine the answer.
Although, that won't stop me from trying.

Re: Why the Longbottoms?

OK, I have a theory. There is a missing approximately 24 hours between
when Hagrid picked Harry up at Godric's Hollow and when he delivered
him to Privet Drive. Where was Hagrid during that time?

Some have speculated that Hagrid is not the ideal person to care for a
1 year old tramatized child. So the assumption is that he would have
taken Harry to someone who could help, and offer him shelter until it
was time to go to Privet Drive.

I speculate that Hagrid took Harry to Neville's house so Alice
Longbottom could care for Harry until it was time to go. That would
mean that the Longbottoms would have had first hand access to Harry,
and to Hagrid who had been on the scene. It's also reasonable to
assume that they were being kept up to date of what was happening with
the Order of the Phoenix, and would have therefore had inside
information on the events that would never have been released to the
public; maybe even information that was never released to the Ministry.

That could have been enough to make the DE's think that the
Longbottoms had inside information on what happened to Voldemort.
Since the DE's are just as irrational and illogical as Voldemort
himself, they wouldn't have need much of an excuse to reach the
conclusion that Longbottoms knew where Voldemort was.

The only missing bit? How did Hagrid and McGonagall communicate with
each other? Rememeber at Privet Drive, McGonagall said Hargid had
informed her that Dumbledore would be taking Harry to Privet Drive.
The only conclusion I can reach is that the Longbottoms home could
have been the meeting place for the Order. Although, I admit that
seems weak.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn