What's he up to?

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 94847

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman" <susiequsie23 at s...> 
wrote:

> Okay, HERE is where I think I'm losing it and need more detail, 
> Kneasy.  Are you saying that Voldy KNOWS Snape **is** the one who 
> left forever, but that it doesn't matter because Snape's NOT really 
> spying on Voldy, NOT really back in his service?  That Snape's 
> working only with Lucius...Lucius, who's really the ORDER'S SPY?  Am 
> I getting this, or have I totally screwed it up??
> 
> I DO like the part of this which goes to what kind of character 
> Malfoy really is, and "power-hungry" and "opportunist" are two terms 
> which jump into my mind.  I've wondered why Voldy didn't give him a 
> HARDER time in the graveyard...and yet there was that diary set-up 
> which I *thought* did show a certain level of Voldy loyalty.  So how 
> would the diary have fit in, Kneasy?  Just nastiness, to kill a 
> few "mudbloods", but not really an attempt to bring Riddle back?
> 
> Let's hear more!
>

By now you should have read Jen's post 94797 which may have filled in 
a few of the gaps for you. Thank you, Jen! It's always a pleasure to come
across a mind as suspicious as my own.

I'm pretty sure that Lucius knows exactly what Snape's position is; it'd
be difficult for him not to. Fellow DEs and Snape suddenly stops coming
down to the Scout Hut where they learn to tie knots in Muggles, naturally
he'd wonder what was wrong. Then the show trials  after Voldy  vanished
where Snape is revealed as an anti-Voldy agent. Even though Malfoy was
charged and found Not Guilty, it should have set his mind furiously to
thinking - "How can I cover my back next time? How can I be certain of
being on the winning side?" Easy. Be on both sides. He's vain enough to
believe he can get away with it. He's never totally abandoned Voldy, he's
never totally committed himself to the Order; he trims his sails to suit
whatever wind is blowing. Make himself valuable to both sides - pass
on information via Snape to the Order while still  being chief roadie to
the Voldy Victory Tour. "How else could I get the information?" he asks
in a plaintive voice.

I think he'd prefer Voldy to win; it would suit his personal convictions.
Get all those mudbloods out of Hogwarts, clear the do-gooders out of 
the Ministry, isolate DD. But just in case.....better make myself useful
to the other side.

The diary performed it's planned function perfectly. It got DD out of 
the chair at Hogwarts. Malfoy wasn't concerned about a few casualties
at Hogwarts, that sort of person didn't belong there anyway. But the
plan unravelled - there were too many casualties and the genie (snake)
wouldn't go back in the bottle, so parent power got DD re-instated,
not only that, Potter got lucky - again.

Pity. Maybe next time. That's  what he'd be thinking while DD warned
him there'd better not *be* a next time. DD knows exactly what 
happened and is, I think, prepared to use Malfoy, maybe even forgive,
so long as it helps gets rid of a greater evil. After all Lucius is a babe 
in arms compared to the cunning DD.

All this is assuming that just that particular sub-set of the options
I listed is the most likely. It could be, with the way Malfoy has been
presented; the Machiavelli of Malfoy Towers. In any event he's been
too long in the shadows; we need to have a good hard look at Lucius.


Kneasy