Conspiracies and re-assessments

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 113202

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "nkafkafi" 
<nkafkafi at y...> wrote:
>It seems that the Fudge-type wizards still don't see  much 
wrong in being an ex-DE. Remember that most of the 
purebloods actually supported Voldy's side for most of the war. 
They don't want  to start excluding anybody who had a connection 
with Voldy because  tomorrow somebody might decide that they 
belong in this category too.<

Oh, I don't think we'll ever agree there. I think the Fudge type 
wizards lost way too much to Voldemort's thugs to ever welcome 
them into polite society. Those who walked free pled innocence 
and ignorance and bewitchment, and perhaps those pleas 
weren't investigated as thoroughly as they might have been, 
everybody was sick of Crouch's witch hunting <g> ,but they were 
made. 

As for Karkaroff, hmm...perhaps Dumbledore's 
recommendation, along with Durmstrang not being so fussy 
about these things --Voldemort, according to JKR, worked mostly 
in Britain. I guess it was like the Nazi rocket scientists who went 
to work in America after the war. Would they have been as 
welcome in bombed out London? 

 
> Neri:
> Perhaps. But still, not even a simple request not to talk about it, 
> when DD does take the time to request the same about 
Neville's parents? Hardly sounds like proper secret keeping.<

Harry's been keeping Dumbledore's secrets for years now. He 
doesn't need to be instructed not to reveal to anyone that Snape 
was a DE anymore than he needed to be told not to tell anyone 
how Sirius escaped. It'd be a waste of space.  But Neville's 
secret is different -- it's not a matter of wizarding security, just 
Neville's sensibilities. Harry and his pals aren't always tactful 
about things like that. Honestly, I think Dumbledore was more 
worried about Hermione's officious do-gooding than anything 
Harry might say to Neville himself. 
 
> Neri:
> 200 top wizards from the justice system and from the Ministry 
with  tampered memories? Hmm. To quote Uncle Vernon: "no 
wonder the  country's going to the dogs" :-D<

Pippin:
Too good a line to snip! But after all, why not? He consented to 
Marietta's memory being tampered with, and she was his 
student.

Pippin:
>>Have we ever seen Dumbledore take the law into his own 
hands to punish someone? He much prefers giving people 
enough rope to hang  themselves.<<
> 
> Neri:
> Themselves yes, but I think he'd draw the line when they try to 
hang  his students.<

Pippin:
He did warn Lucius not to try anything like that again, and as far 
as we know, Lucius hasn't.

Neri:
> And while knowing next to nothing about WW law, I suspect 
that  modifying the memory of 200 top wizards and forging trial 
records  would also constitute taking the law into one's hands.<

Pippin:
Surely. As did helping Sirius escape. But I said, "to punish". 
Dumbledore's  willing to take the law in his own hands to save 
innocent lives and he encourages Harry to do the same.  I think 
this is a really important distinction. He will not take the law into 
his own hands to punish, even if it seems the punishment  might 
prevent future crimes. On the other hand, he's willing to abet 
breaking one of the most important wizarding laws to save lives.

>  > Pippin:
> > I agree that there's a Snape Malfoy connection and 
Dumbledore  finds it valuable, but I think it's white world, or was 
until the  end of GoF. That is, Snape and Malfoy were associated, 
but neither  knew the other was a member of Voldemort's Inner 
Circle during  the Voldemort era. 
> > 
> 
> Neri:
> I find this a slur on both Snape's and Lucius' intellect :-)

Pippin:
Why? Suppose each of them is ordered by Voldemort not to let 
the other find out that he is a DE, and both of them follow orders 
to the best of their not inconsiderable ability. Why give such an 
order? Because he was using them to spy on each other. He 
doesn't trust either of them.

> Neri:
> But according to both Sirius ("Malfoy's lapdog") and Umbridge 
> ("Malfoy always speaks most highly of you") the charade 
seems to  continue in OotP. And indeed, this is exactly why the 
charade was  needed at all. OotP (and probably HBP also) is 
when the investment  in the Snape-Malfoy connection finally pays 
off. If it doesn't, then  why have this connection in the first
place? Snape could have saved  his blood pressure.<

I've made myself unclear, I see. The relationship continues, but 
now in the knowledge that both are supposedly faithful Death 
Eaters who no longer have to hide their true selves from one 
another, though of course they still have to hide it from the world. 
Of course it won't be quite so useful to Voldemort, which might 
be another reason for the sudden movement.

Pippin