Of Basilisks and Mandrakes (was: Albus Dumbledore: the myth and the man)

[laylalast]

No: HPFGUIDX 96210

Eustace_Scrubb wrote:
> Now, I may just be a bit obtuse (hey, don't nod in agreement that
> fast!), but how do we know that repotting mandrakes isn't a 
standard
> part of the 2nd year herbology curriculum?

> Yes, I know that DD says "Professor Sprout recently managed to 
procure
> some Mandrakes." (COS, Am.pb.ed., p.142) That statement doesn't 
make
> it sound absolutely normal, but neither does it sound like they're 
as
> rare as Crumple-horned Snorkacks. I wonder what...aside from 
seeing a
> basilisk's reflection...causes petrification?--I bet there are 
other
> causes.

Lilian:
If it was normal to have mandrakes (remember the cry of the –
fullgrown- Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it! Dangerous stuff 
for students to handle) why say ` recently managed to procure'? If 
it's usual to have it, he would have (IMO) said something 
like `Professor Sprout has Mandrakes'. I find both the `recently' 
and `managed to procure' suspicious. Just too much of a coincidence 
for me.

Potioncat wrote:
> Wouldn't it have been more prudent to lay in a store of prepared
> mandrake root?

Lilian:
I checked the Lexicon rather than trying to flip through CoS to find 
any reference to prepared Mandrake root. The Lexicon does not 
mention that prepared Mandrake root is required for the Restorative 
draught and Professor McGonnagal said in fact:

`Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for 
cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive thos people who 
have been petrified 
'

Pippin wrote:
> Dumbledore could know from Ollivander that Tom Riddle is
> Voldemort. He knows Tom Riddle opened the Chamber last
> time. It's a good bet people were petrified last time. (Dippet
> refers to "all these attacks" but only one person was killed.)

<snip>
> So nobody, even Dumbledore, can guess what
> the monster is, even if the revived victims of the basilisk can
> remember what happened to them.

Lilian:
But they don't have to. DD knows (either through his portrait-spy 
network or other spies) that Lucius plans to have the Chamber opened 
again. Last time, people were petrified and finally one killed. If 
Lucius' plan succeeds, the same will happen again. People are likely 
to get petrified. 
It doesn't matter how, although I think that DD knew – come back to 
that in a minute – but if it's about to happen again, let's start 
preparing for a Mandrake Restorative Draught as antidote to 
petrification, shall we? 

On a side note to Neri: who says that DD did not also store some 
coffins? They just weren't needed. :-)

Pippin wrote:
<snip>
> Wiser and more learned wizards like
> Dumbledore would have "known" that basilisks don't petrify
> people and they would have disregarded the fleeing spiders and
> the slain roosters as disinformation--false clues left by The Heir.
<snip>

Lilian:
Like you said yourself, it's a good bet that people were petrified 
last time. So it's not necessary to know what the monster of the 
Chamber was in order to take precautions. All DD needed to know is 
that if the Chamber is opened, people get petrified.

But let's assume that DD already guessed what the monster is, then 
he also assumes that a basilisk can also petrify as that is what 
happened last time. And then, what can he do about it? DD is not a 
parselmouth, so he cannot control it, neither can he himself open 
the entrance to the Chamber. 
That is also his difficulty when all the petrifications start to 
happen: how is the Chamber opened? Last time it was a parselmouth 
who managed to open it, is parseltongue a necessary requirement? 
Next thing to happen: the incident with the snake at the Duelling 
Club. Apparently a parselmouth starts to speak parseltongue 
automatically when in the vicinity of a snake, let's see if we can 
find out in that way if one of the students is a parselmouth. I 
don't believe that the snake was directed at Harry, might just as 
well have been directed at Draco. It was a pretty nasty surprise 
when Harry turned out to be a parselmouth.

vmonte responds:
> Weren't the mandrakes acquired before anyone was petrified at 
school?
<snip)

Lilian:
The lesson with the Mandrakes was before the attack on Mrs. Norris, 
so yes, they were acquired before the first attack.

Just my thoughts.

Lilian