Bode's murderer (long)

[caesian]

No: HPFGUIDX 96918

Already in a state of advanced rookie-post-itis, then ESE!Lupin.  As a means of Self-
containment:

Who murdered Broderick Bode, and why?   Bode is mentioned in approx. seven different 
episodes in the GoF and OotP, and his story, though minimal for now, may become more 
important later.  As many of you may already have the canon pertaining to Mr. Bode set to 
memory, please feel free to let your mind wander past the next 3 paragraphs.

We know that the sallow-skinned, unblinking Bode, of the sepulchral voice and very 
mournful face [OotP 135 US H] is first identified to Harry as an Unspeakable ("From the 
Department of Mysteries, top-secret, no idea what they get up to") by Mr. Weasley at the 
Quidditch World Cup, in the company of his fellow Unspeakable Croaker [GoF 79 UK H].  
Later, Harry and Mr. Weasley meet Bode in the lift on the day of Harry's hearing.  On this 
occasion, Bode comments that he rarely sees Arthur "down here", and recognizes Harry by 
sight.  He further seems well aware of Harry's imminent hearing.  In Harry's vision of 
Voldemort and Rookwood [OotP 585], Rookwood states that Malfoy had placed Bode 
under the Imperius Curse, and that Bode fought it. Rookwood assumes this was 
because Bode knew he would be unable to remove "it" (we may now assume "it" refers to 
the prophecy).  [As an aside, Hermione speculated that Lucius Malfoy, who was present in 
the Department of Mysteries corridor on the day of Harry's hearing, placed Sturgis 
Podmore under the Imperius Curse at that time: Ootp 588.]  

Harry hears of and sees Bode again when he visits Mr. Weasley in St. Mungo's.  When Harry 
sees Bode at St. Mungo's, he is in the bed next to Gilderoy Lockhart on Christmas Day 
[OotP 511-2].  "A sallow-skinned, mournful looking wizard lay in the bed opposite, staring 
at the ceiling; he was mumbling to himself and seemed quite unaware of anything around 
him."  The motherly looking Healer Strout explains "we've seen a real improvement in Mr. 
Bode, he seems to be regaining the power of speech very well, though he isn't speaking 
any language we recognize yet..."  And later, "And look, Broderick, you've been sent a 
potted plant and a lovely calendar with a different fancy hippogriff for each month, they'll 
brighten things up, won't they?"  The plant is described as "rather ugly" with "long, 
swaying tentacles".  Harry had previously heard Mr. Bode mentioned at St. Mungo's on his 
first visit after Mr. Weasley's attack.  "A very old, stooped wizard with a hearing trumpet 
had shuffled to the front of the queue now. "I'm hear to see Broderick Bode!" he wheezed.  
"Ward-forty-nine, but I'm afraid you're wasting your time," said the witch dismissively.  
"He's completely addled, you know, still thinks he's a teapot... Next!"  

On the same night as the mass breakout from Azkaban (shortly before Valentine's Day and 
shortly after Harry first realizes the door in his dreams is the door to the Department of 
Mysteries), Broderick Bode is killed by the plant, which is then identified as Devil's Snare. 
Harry, Ron and Hermione read the article in the Daily Prophet, which states that Mr. Bode 
was 49 years of age, that his original injury was a "workplace accident", and that the plant 
was sent anonymously. They realize it was murder [OotP 546-8].  Only later does Harry 
have the vision of Rookwood and Voldemort's conversation about Bode.

As of yet, Bode's murder is unsolved, but there are a few odd bits of information floating 
around that could pertain.  

1) It seems probable the murder was committed by someone who knew him (and who we 
know), so who were his associates?  Bode has only two known associates, his colleague 
Croaker and his old visitor (and these could be one and the same).  In addition, there are 
the dubious "associates" Lucius Malfoy, who held him under the Imperius Curse, and 
Avery, who evidently suggested to Voldemort that Bode would be able to remove the 
prophecy and was punished for it later.  We know little about Avery, and do not know why 
he would have suggested Bode could do this.  His fellow patients at St. Mungo's include 
the dubious Mr. Lockhart, the barking Agnes and Frank and Alice Longbottom.  Healer 
Strout was suspended for bringing the plant into the ward, and is fond of Gilderoy 
Lockhart in a non-ironic sense!, which is always cause for concern (see post #83046 for 
suspicion for our "motherly-looking" Healer).

We have never been given a description or full name of Bode's colleague Croaker, but he 
seems a likely candidate as the old visitor, because he is Bode's one named associate. 
(According to the HPLexicon, "croaker" - someone who habitually predicts evil; it has that 
sense because croaking is a noise made by crows and ravens, who really are death omens 
as they are carrion eaters -- MLW.)  

However, Croaker is also an Unspeakable, and the likelihood that he was privy to the plan 
that Bode should attempt to remove the prophecy seems small - he should know, as 
Rookwood did, that Bode would be unable to do it. Therefore, while I do not rule him out 
as the visitor, I don't think he's an agent of Voldemort.

Another possibility is that the visitor was the stooped, very old, and feeble-voiced member 
of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures.  We could probably expect 
Harry, Ron or Hermione to recognize this wizard if they saw him, although it was clear that 
he was ahead of them in the cue, and they may not have seen his face. Bode might not 
have known this wizard, but as he was completely addled at the time of the visit, it doesn't 
make much difference.

The Death Eater Nott is also described as stooped in the graveyard scene.  We know some 
details about him: he is injured after Bode's murder in the final confrontation at the 
Ministry of Magic.  Lucius Malfoy insists that the Dark Lord will not care about his injuries 
as compared to the prophecy, and commands the other Death Eaters to leave him.  A 
"weedy-looking" young Nott, Theodore, attends Hogwarts and, ironically, is probably a 
crony of Draco Malfoy's.  (The stringy Slytherin boy who was able to see Thestrals at the 
beginning of the 5th year might be this same boy.)  DE Nott doesn't bring a hearing-
trumpet to Lord Voldemort's rebirth, but then I wouldn't either.

Other old characters include Madam Marchbanks and Professor Tofty of the Examination 
Board.  Although Madam Marchbanks is stooped (and old enough to have examined 
Dumbledore himself) neither of them seem to be a likely candidate (although see John 
Finnegan's post # 91796).  Of course, the visitor may have been an un-named wizard, a 
known witch or wizard in disguise (post 79128), an un-named witch or wizard in disguise, 
or a body-switched witch or wizard trapped in the body of someone else who, although an 
animagus, can't transform because their animal form is Trevor the Toad in another time 
dimension, but it was probably just ESE!Lupin.  oops. I'll try to stay on track.

2) Was the devil's snare sent by one of these associates?  Or, more to the point, why was it 
sent?  Although we do not know that Harry's visions are always of the present time, many 
have been.  If this was the case for his vision of Rookwood and Voldemort, Bode was 
already dead when Voldemort realized that he would have been unable to retrieve the 
prophecy.  This is consistent with the text, as they do not speak of Bode in the present 
tense.  Thus, he was not killed just because Voldemort realized he was useless as a means 
of retrieving the prophecy.  Hermione [588] speculates that the Imperius Curse was lifted 
by the accident that landed him in St. Mungo's, and someone on Voldemort's side killed 
him because when he recovered he could reveal their crimes and/ or plans.  She is usually 
right. 

3) Why was he killed on that particular night?  The murder, if indeed accomplished solely 
by the plant, was planned from at least Christmas.  This throws further suspicion on the 
un-named visitor, as the arrival of the plant may have occurred shortly before it was 
presented to Mr. Bode.  It is probably only a coincidence that his death occurred on the 
same night as the mass break-out from Azkaban, and it is also convenient that the same 
issue of the Daily Prophet contained both stories.  The two could conceivably be related, or 
the timing of his death could be related to Harry's realization, in front of Snape, that he is 
dreaming of the Ministry of Magic corridor, but that would require more complex 
machinations.

So, here's the theory.  Lucius Malfoy did indeed place Sturgis Podmore under the Imperius 
Curse on the 22nd of August, the day of Harry's hearing.  He may have done so before 
Harry and Arthur Weasley entered the corridor and been hidden beneath the invisibility 
cloak when they went down to the courtroom.  Shortly thereafter, Mr. Bode too was placed 
under the Imperius Curse as he arrived at the door to his Department.  Bode fought the 
curse according to Rookwood, and thus delayed the plan somewhat, but some time before 
Christmas he did attempt to remove the prophecy and was incapacitated.  An agent of 
Voldemort who was privy to this plan visited Bode at St. Mungo's and arranged for the 
Devil's Snare to be placed by Healer Strout.  This was either Nott, or the old committee 
member.  My guess is the committee member.  This might seem a bit odd, but the 
physical descriptions agree fairly well, he is an associate of Death Eaters through his 
position in the Ministry ("those disposal devils are all in Lucius Malfoy's pocket"- Hagrid), 
and (the clincher for me) it fits well with the accompanying gift, the fancy hippogriff 
calendar.  

If the old visitor was up to no good, he stands in contrast to the many pro-Dumbledore 
ancients suggested by Neville's gran, Madam Marchbanks, Professor Tofty and the like.  

So, I suppose we must ask ourselves, what does the murder of Bode portend?  (groan!)

Disclaimers: see an alternative and/or complimentary interpretation of the hippogriff 
symbolism in post # 80597 and 82.  The putatively devilish Great Uncle Algie has been 
accused: # 79022, with FILK! 77916.  "bode" means goat in Portuguese (post # 76339 with 
a nice twist on sacrifice).  Aberforth!  Finally, the old visitor may have had nothing to do 
with it (especially if it was Croaker, seeing as he's an omen of death).  I'm only 
extrapolating based on the principle that if it's information, it's useful for something.  
Maybe only as a red-herring, certainly.  If I failed to see your post on this same subject, 
sorry.