The eavesdropper: round up the usual suspects ...and one unusual

[clio44a]

No: HPFGUIDX 87900

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jotwo2003" <jsummerill at s...> 
wrote:
> Although I bet we won't find out until book 7, I thought it might 
be 
> useful to list all the characters who may be the eavesdropper who 
> overheard the prophecy, and why.
> 
[snip]
> Any other suspects people want to add?
> 
> JoTwo


Actually, yes, but I think a deeper view into the circumstances of 
the eavesdropping are in order. IMHO the key to the eavesdropper 
might be that 'the eavesdropper was detected only a short way into 
the prophecy and thrown from the building." (OoP, Brit. Ed., p743).


Why do you get thrown out of a pub? I only can come up with 4 things: 
(1)You are behaving inappropriately, (2)you are banned, (3)you are a 
minor, (4)or you belong to a group which is routinely not served 
there (e.g. house-elves, goblins, vampires ...)


(1)Since the Hog's Head is a very dodgy place I can hardly imagine 
that listening to a conversation is viewed as offensive behavior. But 
then the conversation between Ddore and Trelawney takes place in an 
upstairs room, which is more or less private. Who knows, maybe the 
barkeep doesn't like people sneaking around his rooms? Maybe he 
thought Ddore and Trelwaney wanted to 'discuss something in private'. 
*wink, wink, nudge, nudge*  Ahem, well. 
More or less everyone could fall in this category of eavesdroppers.


(2)Being banned is a different matter. A banned person hanging around 
in the bar would indeed result in a very angry barkeep throwing him 
out. 
We only know of Mundungus Fletcher being banned from the Hog's Head 
so far. That makes him a very likely candidate. On the other hand 
Ddore says 'he could not warn his master' (p743), which strongly 
suggests that person was loyal to Voldemort. Although Mundungus is a 
bit of a criminal, I cannot imagine him as DE. And the spot 
of 'reformed Death Eater' is already filled in the Order.
There might be more dubious characters, but I can't think of anymore 
right now. Aberforth Ddore? No.


(3)Students are not generally banned from the Hog's Head, as we can 
see at the first DA meeting. No reason to be thrown out here, unless 
it was after the school's curfew. No wait a minute! IIRC, Students 
are only allowed in Hogsmeade on certain days, during daytime. DDore 
says he met Trelwaney 'on a cold wet night sixteen years ago' (p740).
If we assume now, that it was a student, who overheard the prophecy, 
who could that be? Were the Marauders et al. still at school 16 years 
ago? I think not. What about Regulus Black? He was younger than 
Sirius. Plus he was a Death Eater and would warn his 'master'. The 
only other person that comes to my mind is Barty Crouch jr., who was 
most likely still in school 16 years before OooP. Do we know how old 
Ludo Bagman is? I always imagined him well in his forties, but that 
is only my imagination. (Maybe the barkeep was not a supporter of 
Bagman's team, and that is why he threw him out?) :)


(4)The Hog's Head sure is a dodgy place, but maybe they harbor 
prejudices against other magical beings there and would throw them 
out on sight. 
Besides Hagrid, a few centaurs and Remus I can't come up with anyone 
we know that would fall into that category. None of them is very 
likely to serve Voldy, especially since Ddore seems to know that 
person. A house-elves seems to be a very likely candidate. Some 
people, maybe also the Hog's Head barkeep, don't like them very much. 
I can imagine a house-elf being literally thrown out of the pub. that 
would also explain the 'he could not warn his master' (p743) line. 
Maybe the 'master' refers not to Voldy, but to the 'master' of a 
house-elf. The house-elf of a Death Eater perhaps? I can only come up 
with Dobby and Winky. Mmh, Dobby seeking redemtion for old wrongs by 
warning Harry in COS?   



Well, Severus Snape is always a suspect, but I can hardly imagine why 
he would be thrown out of the pub. And sneaking around is his 
specialty. He wouldn't let himself being caught. If he of course was 
notorious for barfights in his youth ... 


So my most likely suspects are: Some unnamed house-elf and Regulus 
Black. Ddore would have an excellent reason not to name any of them 
to Harry. Harry already hates Kreacher, and the mention of a Black 
would probabely send Harry into hysterics after Sirius has just died. 
I am farily sure Ddore knows who was the eavesdropper, either from 
whoever threw him out that night, or from his DE intelligence source.



After rereading my post I must say my prime suspect is Regulus Black. 
It just all fits. He probably was still in school at the time of the 
prophecy and therefore not allowed in Hogsmeade at nights. He was a 
follower of the Dark Lord and would have passed the information to 
him.
This also would assign a function to a yet not used character. And we 
know people mentioned in passing can become important.

BTW, the Fidelius switch makes more sense this way. If Sirius brother 
was involved in all this prophecy and killing the Potters stuff, it 
could be that Sirius and the Potters became afraid he had some 
connection to Sirius and they swapped the Secret Keeper. I mean, 
blood bonds play a certain role in the HP universe. 
... have to crawl somewhere and think about Regulus ...


Clio, 
who is amazed what her alcohol addled brain can come up with an New 
Year's morning. Should drink more frequently. ; ) Happy New Year!