Malfoy Sr's Intent with TMR's Diary (CoS)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 114101

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman"
<susiequsie23 at s...> wrote:
> SSSusan, previously
> >> NO, Voldy isn't aware, I don't think.  In fact, I keep trying to 
> use this "Voldy didn't ask about/Lucius didn't offer up info about 
> the diary" scene as evidence that Lucius was attempting to use the 
> diary to advance his own agenda, *not* to bring Voldy back.  I'm not 
> sure anyone's listening, but that's what I've been trying to say for 
> months.<<
> 
> Carol:
> > I agree that LV doesn't know about the attempt, but that doesn't 
> > mean that Lucius wasn't trying to bring him back. (Otherwise, how 
> > can we explain Dobby's concern for Harry and Harry only since Harry 
> > isn't a Muggleborn? 
> 
> 
> SSSusan:
> Good question.  I'm not sure!  If we'd had the dueling 
> club/parseltongue scene in SS/PS rather than CoS, I think I could 
> make an argument for thinking Harry would be blamed, but....  One 
> point, though, is that while he is not Muggleborn, Harry is also NOT 
> a pureblood, and so might be targeted.  Or perhaps the goal WAS to 
> kill some "mudbloods," get DD ousted, and THEN attack Harry, and 
> that's what Dobby knew?
>  
> 
> Carol:
> > If Lucius tried to bring Voldemort back via diary!Tom and failed
> > spectacularly, why would he tell Voldemort? And in any case, he 
> > hadn't had a chance to communicate with him and didn't know he was 
> > restored to his physical form until he was summoned to the 
> > graveyard.
> 
> SSSusan:
> The fact that Lucius HADN'T talked to Voldy 'til the graveyard is a 
> big part of my argument.  It would have been Lucius's first 
> opportunity to protest about how much he'd done on Voldy's 
> behalf...but he doesn't.  And I'm also not sure that the failure 
> was "spectacular."  The plan actually came amazingly close to 
> success:  DD was out of the way; McGonagall was ready to close the 
> school; people were blaming Harry; Ginny was almost dead and Diary!
> Tom was almost "real."  I'd call it a near-miss, not a spectacular 
> failure.  (Of course, *any* failure by a DE is likely 
> considered "spectacular" to Voldy--look at him blaming Bella for the 
> broken prophecy orb.)
> 
> 
> Carol:
> > I'm not saying that you're wrong, SSS, only that I don't think we 
> > can rule out the restoration of Voldemort as a possible Malfoy 
> > motive based on LV's not knowing about it in GoF.
> 
> 
> SSSusan:
> And I agree with you that we can't rule out the motive of restoring 
> Voldy.  *But* "LV's not knowing about it in GoF" really *isn't* my 
> argument.  It's not that Voldy doesn't KNOW; it's that Lucius doesn't 
> use that first chance to MAKE SURE he knows.  "But, Master!  Let me 
> tell you how hard I worked 2 years ago to bring you back!"  Nope.  He 
> doesn't breath a word.  It *could* be because he knows the attempt 
> was a failure.  *I* think it's simply more likely that it's because 
> his goal wasn't to bring Voldy back.
> 
> Siriusly Snapey Susan

Carol again:
But how *could* Lucius tell Voldemort about the diary plot? Before it
happens, Voldy is in the back of Quirrell's head and Lucius probably
doesn't know about it until after the fact (if then--see the posts in
this thread about his motives for planting the diary on planting the
diary). Then we have CoS, in which the diary plot is coming to
fruition--and ends with the destruction of Diary!Tom.

Why didn't Lucius tell Voldy about it then (aside from the plan having
failed)? Presumably because Voldy was Vapormort again and remained in
that form until the end of GoF. Even though by March or so of the year
of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Lucius may have guessed that Voldemort
was coming back because his Dark Mark was growing more vivid just as
Snape's and Karkaroff's did, and he may even have heard rumors that
Voldemort was in Albania, but how was he going to find him?

True, Quirrell and Wormtail both found him, but there are significant
differences between their circumstances and Lucius's. Quirrell, who
wasn't even a Death Eater, wasn't looking specifically for Voldemort
(whom he probably thought dead). He was just trying, as far as we
know, to gain Defense Against the Dark Arts experience by encountering
vampires and hags and other Dark creatures. At any rate, it appears
from Voldemort's story in the graveyard scene that *he* found
Quirrell, not the other way around. And Peter Pettigrew (who certainly
had a stronger motive than Lucius to attempt the search for his old
master) had a great advantage over Lucius--he could turn into a rat
and inquire of other small animals whether they had seen or heard of
an evil spirit that possessed creatures little creatures. He heard
what he wanted to hear, followed the rumors, and found Voldemort. 

Lucius, on the other hand, simply had no opportunity before the
graveyard scene, when Voldemort finally took shape, to contact him.
Not being an animagus like Peter, he couldn't go after him even if he
wanted to-and he probably *didn't* want to. And even after Voldemort
returned to England and was staying, in his horrible infant shape, at
the Riddle House, he and Wormtail weren't in communication with any
other DEs until they "rescued" Barty Jr. and put his father under the
Imperius Curse, after which Barty Jr. and Wormtail kidnapped Alastor
Moody and Barty Jr. took Moody's place at Hogwarts. I know of no
evidence that Malfoy or any other DEs were aware of this plot. They
were all invited to the graveyard to see the restored Voldemort--
almost as much a shock to them as to Harry (except that they didn't
have to participate in the horrible ritual that restored him).

When in this sequence of events could Malfoy have contacted Vapormort
or Babymort and told him about the diary incident? Or is there some
opportunity for contact between Malfoy and Voldemort that I'm
overlooking here? It seems clear to me that the graveyard marks their
first contact in the nearly fourrteen years since Godric's Hollow.

Carol