Longbottom's Torture to Insanity (Re: candy)

[Eustace_Scrubb]

No: HPFGUIDX 109870

Brenda wrote:
<snip>
 
> Of course, one must ask, WHY on earth the Longbottoms were tortured 
> to insanity in the first place.  Voldemort has disappeared a year 
> prior to that, what made Bellatrix & co believe that they knew his 
> whereabouts, out of everyone in the Order?  I know I am not the
only 
> one thinking that it was just a cover-up excuse.

Now Eustace_Scrubb:
At the risk of sounding like a broken record (that's a muggle
entertainment medium that went obsolete some time ago)...

We only really know from canon that the attack on the Longbottoms
occurred at some point after Godric's Hollow when most in the WW had
begun to feel safe.  As the celebrations on November 1, 1981 (if that
was really the year), one day after Godric's Hollow, were open enough
and boisterous enough to draw the attention of Vernon Dursley and the
muggle newscasters, I would argue that the feeling of safety was
almost immediate--not wise, perhaps, but there you have it. 
Dumbledore, having deposited Harry on the Dursleys' steps on the night
of November 1, tells McGonagall that they themselves might as well
join the celebrations.

Now I would not argue that Bellatrix and company attacked the
Longbottoms that night (though I wouldn't rule it out yet, either). 
But I would say that canon suggests it could have been anytime after
Halloween 1981.  The trial of the LeStranges and Crouch Jr. certainly
was much later.  Again, we have no canon (do we?) that would tell us
how soon after the attacks the perpetrators were identified and
captured.  Who would have identified them? Were Frank and Alice lucid
enough to do so?  They were apparently not of much help for the trial
itself.  I would expect that the attackers might have remained at
large for some time.  

I think that Bellatrix knew that Voldemort intended to attack both the
Longbottoms and the Potters but not necessarily why (i.e., they didn't
 know about the prophecy and the importance of a baby).  When it
became evident that Voldemort had vanished and the Potters were dead,
Bellatrix and the others drew the conclusion that the Longbottoms had
somehow defeated or captured their master; in other words, his plans
had gone awry not at Godric's Hollow but at his next stop.  That's why
the Longbottoms were tortured.

Now, I know this theory at least as many potential holes in it as
most, but for now I'll stick to it!

Cheers,

Eustace_Scrubb
"If you're referring to the incident with the dragon, I was barely
involved."