24 hours - again

[Barry Arrowsmith]

No: HPFGUIDX 103079

Another post with a lot of questions, not many  answers and a bit of 
speculation.

Many have posted theories on the lead-up to the events at Godric's 
Hollow (something I must get round to one of these days), but we really 
don't know  very much about that. It's mostly Sirius and Peter each  
giving their own partial versions of what happened and why, with blame 
and self-justification to the fore.  Not a lot to work on.

Contrast that with the famous 24 hours that followed, that day when 
wizards seemed to be buzzing all over the place, actually *doing* 
things - what can be deduced here? Anything? Well, the timings are 
interesting, and who went where is even more interesting.

What do we actually  *know* about  the Godric's Hollow incident and 
it's immediate aftermath?

The straightforward bits:
James and Lily were killed,
Voldy vapourised,
Harry got his scar,
The house was reduced to rubble.
Sirius turned up at GH
Hagrid was sent to GH
McGonagall went to Privet Drive
DD went to Privet Drive
Hagrid carries Harry to Privet Drive

Meanwhile the WW goes on a bender, celebrating the fall  of Voldy.

One question that has greatly exercised the minds of posters - who 
broke the news? There seem to be two main approaches to that - either 
somebody else was there or there was some sort of warning device - a 
portrait, communicating mirror or some such.

Personally I don't favour the 'artifact' approach - if there was 
something that plugged into DD's study (the most obvious and logical 
place) how did the news get out to the Diggles of this world so early? 
Owls were flocking all over the place by breakfast-time, just a handful 
of hours after the event.

  An aside - if, as we are informed in OoP there are so few of the WW in 
the neighbourhood of Privet Drive, why did Vernon see so many that 
morning?
OoP chap. 8:
"We have no record of any witch or wizard living in Little Whinging 
besides Harry Potter...That situation has always been closely 
monitored, given...given past events."

That statement itself is fascinating - it indicates that it wasn't just 
DD that was  concerned with Harry's welfare, but that the Ministry was 
also involved, or at least interested enough to monitor the situation. 
But which events? The ones since Harry's return to the WW or going 
right back to the fall-out from GH? I'd guess the latter - didn't Harry 
recognise Dedalus Diggle in the Leaky Cauldron? Commenting that Diggle 
had once *bowed* to him in a shop? Diggle had recognised Harry on that 
occasion, and he doesn't seem the type to keep his mouth shut about 
meeting the WW's most famous missing celebrity. Unless he was 
instructed to - in advance. And remember -  at the time of GH Fudge was 
not the Minister.

No, I tend towards the 'Third Party' scenario, that there was somebody 
else at GH. The odds are against it being a DE - or there would be no 
reason to question the Longbottoms about the where-abouts of Voldy. 
Though if it was someone close to DD, it still seems odd that the news 
spread so fast. But if it was a betrayer, then spreading the news would 
be a good way to warn the DEs to keep their heads down, especially if 
this individual expected to  be fully occupied or in hiding for a 
while. The favourites seem to be Peter, Lupin or Snape, with Sirius or 
the Longbottoms as outside chances.

So, the house at GH blows up (why?) and Sirius arrives, or says he did. 
(If he's the 'Third Party' he never left), Hagrid arrives, sent by DD. 
When did Hagrid arrive? The natural assumption would be that it was 
quite late in the day - he'd want to hand over Harry to DD as fast  as 
possible, not hang around a ruin for hours with a toddler on his hands. 
Not so, it seems. (See below.)

Conversely Minerva, on her own initiative, arrives at Privet Drive  
early in the morning and waits for something to happen. Very  strange.  
It was term-time (Halloween), but she leaves her teaching duties and 
chooses to sit in a cold street for 16 hours or so on the basis of what 
she calls rumours, rumours she can only have heard very  early that 
morning.

DD, with no teaching duties, disappears from the radar. He's certainly 
not at GH, so what was he doing? Where was he? At Hogwarts? But if he 
was why didn't Minerva just pop along to his study and ask a few 
questions? Why sit in a street, out of contact, all day? And she's not 
certain why they're in Privet Drive anyway - "And I don't suppose 
you're going  to tell me *why* you're here, of all places?"

Odderer and  odderer -  she's been here all day and doesn't know why. A 
case of a "Go to Privet  Drive and don't  ask questions," instruction 
from DD? Apparently not, Hagrid told her that DD would be there 
(another indication that Hagrid knew early on of the events). She was 
obviously expecting DD to turn up much  sooner than he did. But DD's 
comment "Hagrid's late," this after looking at his odd watch indicates 
that there was a pre-arranged time for Hagrid to deliver Harry. DD knew 
he wouldn't arrive at Privet  Drive until late.

So where was DD all day and what was he doing?

Hagrid finally  arrives with Harry. DD recognises  the significance and 
cause of Harry's scar, even though according to him "We may never  
know" what happened at GH.

Dunno about you, but  I find it suspicious that DD knows so much. 
Firstly he knows were Harry's non-magical sole relatives are and 
decides to dump Harry on them - arranges it all within a *very* short 
time of the news breaking. I sniff forward planning here. That  he knew 
(or suspected) what might happen to the Potters in advance and made 
plans accordingly. But I would, wouldn't I?
It adds credence to my interpretation of the Prophecy.

Secondly he knows much more about what happened at GH than he lets on. 
No questions for Hagrid, except "No problems, were there?" He seems 
remarkably sanguine about the deaths of James and Lily , too. No  
questions about  them either. Hardly any reaction at all, "I know...I 
know.." being his only epitaph for fellow members of the Order. And no 
questions about Voldy. None.

It's almost as if he's spent the day interviewing witnesses or 
debriefing  an agent. Now  who would that be, I wonder?

Kneasy