Over Kill with Dementors

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 98040

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, animal lover <theanimallover_11 at y...> wrote:
> Heather says:
> I deduced that the Dementors actually came onto the pitch
> that afternoon because they had tracked Sirius there 
> 
> I thought the only way that Sirius was able to survive in 
>Azkaban was in dog form.  The Dementors could not sense
> him and he was "protected" from them.  That was also how
> he was able to escape.  If this is the case then the Dementors
> were not there because of him.  I thought it was explained
> in PoA that they were drawn by the stands full of people 
>cheering.  It would be like am all-you-can-eat buffet of sorts.
> 
> animallover_11


Explained? Not quite - more like suggested, as in oh, that must
be the reason.

But to those who are fully paid up members of the League of
Conspiracy Theorists  (Paranoia Chapter) a more entertaining
explanation springs to mind.

If the Dementors were attracked by the large crowd, why did
they concentrate solely on Harry?
 "At least a hundred Dementors, their hidden faces pointing
up at him, were standing below."
Again, after they all leave the Shrieking Shack the Dementors
turn up again. It's worth noting that although Sirius leaves
the Shack in dog form, as the Dementors get closer Sirius
is so affected that he transforms back to human - and the
Dementors are still some way off. Even so it is Harry that
the Dementors concentrate on, ignoring Sirius:
"The Dementors were closing in,  barely ten feet from
them. They formed a solid wall around Harry and Hermione,
and were getting closer...."

Yes, Sirius did pass out but I doubt that it was the first time
one of their targets had done that as they approached. It
would make little difference to them IMO. It also begs the
question - how was it that they didn't have the same effect
on Sirius while he was supposedly escaping from Azkaban?

I  use the word "supposedly" deliberately.

Consider the sequence of events:
Fudge visits Azkaban the *night before* Sirius' escape.
He has with him a newspaper with a photograph of Peter in
animagus form which somehow ends up in Sirius's hands.
Sirius escapes.
Fudge lets the Dementors loose. 
Who seem a hell of a lot more interested in Harry than in
Sirius.

To  those  of a suspicious nature it all seems a bit too
convenient. Suppose Sirius didn't fool his captors but was
allowed to escape, thus giving Fudge an excuse to send 
the Dementors to Hogwarts. Where - surprise, surprise, 
they ignore Sirius and concentrate on Harry. 
But not by accident. Harry is the priority target.

Dear Dolly tries it again in OoP - Dementors go after who
they are *ordered* to go after. They  have no reason to
single out Harry unless instructed to do  so. 

On the surface PoA is an atypical book. It's the only one
in the series where Harry is not threatened by Voldy or one
of his minions. Or is it? The only difficulty is in deciding who
is the baddy -  Sirius or Fudge? Or both?

Was Fudge acting on his own initiative or was he 'persuaded'?
Did Fudge use Sirius as a  cat's-paw or was Sirius in on the 
plot?

(For those interested in an analysis of some of the oddities
in Sirius' story, try my post 79808 - Sirius Reservations and
the resulting thread.)

Kneasy