Hogwarts ongoing staffing problems

[Richard]

No: HPFGUIDX 138672

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboyminn at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Richard" <darkmatter30 at y...> 
wrote:
> > "profuloth" <hpfgu at j...> wrote:
> > > Maybe Harry will use Hogwarts as his base of operation and
> > > skive off classes to find the remaining horcruxes. I can
> > > see the remaining DA members being used to help him reseach
> > > ...
> > > 
> > > Jason
> > 
> > Richard here:
> > I don't see Harry using the DA to do research on horcruxes, ...
> > 
> > Here's how I see the team.  The research staff is, I believe, 
> > Hermione.  The aide-de-camp is Ron.  Bill will be the curse 
breaker, 
> > and the thief ... the breaking-and-entering specialist. I suspect
> > that Ginny will end up the fourth musketeer ...
> > 
> > Since Snape knows about 12 Grimmauld Place, it isn't a safe 
haven, 
> > and Godric's Hollow isn't, either, ...
> > 
> > I see Hogwart's as the best base for Harry, even if he is not a 
> > student there.  ...it has about as good research resources ..., 
> > isn't under the control of the Ministry ..., ...
> > 
> > But, that's all just my opinion ... which can be (and often is) 
dead 
> > wrong.
> > 
> > 
> > Richard, 
> 
> bboyminn:
> 
> I don't think Harry wants to drop out of Hogwarts, afteral it is the
> place he loves the most, but I think he sees higher priorities than
> getting his NEWTs. As he said in the first book, if Voldemort wins,
> Hogwarts won't matter much, it will either be destroyed or turned 
into
> a school for the Dark Arts. So, the highest priority is for 
Voldemort
> not to win.
> 
> Personally, I am surprised that Harry training has lagged behind so
> much. It seems reasonable that Harry would demand of Dumbledore much
> earlier that he train him long and hard with serious efforts 
directed
> toward defeating Voldemort. Of course, we know it is the flow of a
> good story rather than common sense that is driving the plot in the
> direction it has gone. It's very important for the hero to be the
> underdog and (mostly) working alone. It is the fact that the hero is
> illequipped to face the powerful villain, yet still willing to go,
> that makes him a hero. None the less, I think Harry true education 
has
>  been sadly neglected.
> 
> I'm not willing to write off 12 Grimmauld Place just yet. Harry or
> someone else could still become the Secret Keeper under the
> application new Secret Keeper Charm. The Secret Keeper Charm doesn't
> necessarily prevent someone from knowing where a place is, but it
> prevents them from finding and entering it. Certainly many in the
> Black extended family know that 12 Grimmauld Place exists. Even 
after
> Kreacher betrayal, Narcissa may have suspected that it was the
> Headquarters, but she is prevented by the charm from conveying that
> information to anyone. Snape say it himself, that even though
> Voldemort knows that Snape knows the location of Headquarter the 
Charm
> prevents him from saying it in any way. 
> 
> Now let's say the Narcissa suspected that 12 Grimmauld Place was the
> Headquarters and she came to investigate. Too bad, whether she knows
> where the house is or not, she still wouldn't be able to find it. As
> far as she is concerned, as long as Dumbledore or the current Secret
> Keeper hasn't reveal the information, the houses go from #11 to #13,
> and #12 simply doesn't exist. 
> 
> So, as painfull a place to live as 12 Grimmauld Place may be, I
> believe that Harry will still use it as a home or maybe just a 
house,
> if not a headquarters because it is still capable of being
> sufficiently protected.
> 
> Even if that is true, I still see Harry spending a lot of time at
> Hogwarts, not as an active student, but doing research, taking 
private
> tutoring, and consulting with the wizards who are available to him 
there.
> 
> That said; you have convinced, or nearly convinced, me that Harry
> might make the school the headquarters of the Order. I mean it is a
> fortified castle, it's remotely located, it's surrounded by walls,
> it's surrounded by the strongest protections possible short of the
> Secret Keeper charm. That's one reason why I think Slughorn will 
stay,
> because Hogwarts is a protected fortress with plenty of talented
> wizard close by to provide protection. 
> 
> Plus there is the convenience factor, living at the school, Harry
> would have access to all the resources he needed.
> 
> Still, as much as you have convinced me, I still say that 12 
Grimmauld
> Place is not out of the picture yet.
> 
> For what it's worth.
> 
> Steve/bboyminn

Richard here:

I don't think it is so much a matter of convincing anyone of 
anything, as simply speculating.  JKR will tell us what happens, and 
we'll either like it or not.  In a sense, I think the best way to 
read the story the first time is without speculation.  This isn't a 
murder mystery, wherein part of the charm is figuring out who did the 
maid with the ... Oh never mind ... just my dirty mind getting 
carried away with me.

Much though I enjoy speculation over whether Dumbledore is really 
dead or not, where Harry will spend his time, etc., my real 
preference is to let the story be the story.  We are shown Dumbledore 
dead, and even if he isn't, it is going to be important in 
appreciating the story for us to understand that everyone "knows" he 
is dead.  Tearing the story apart can come after JKR is done.

Having said all that ... back to speculation because it is just plain 
fun!

I don't think Harry gets to determine where headquarters for the 
Order is located.  Without Dumbledore, the Order has to first decide 
who is in charge.  Harry, "Chosen One" or not, is quite young, and 
now only he actually KNOWS (canonically) that he is.  While I am 
confident he will be given a significant voice in such things, the 
facts as known even within the Order do not necessitate his being 
declared leader.  The question is rather, "Where will Harry spend his 
time as he hunts down and destroys horcruxes, and prepares to meet 
Voldemort?"  The headquarters of the Order are one logical place, but 
so is Hogwart's.  If the protection of 12 Grimmauld Place has lapsed 
with the death of Dumbledore, and I were an enterprising Dark Lord, 
I'd be sure to put SOMETHING in that old house that can keep me 
informed of what takes place there, regardless of whether the 
protection is restored with a different secret keeper.  Ergo, as an 
enterprising Order member or leader, I wouldn't want to vest that 
place with too much significance for quite a while, and were I Harry 
(rather than just hirsute) with all those Sirius memories about the 
place, I'd stay even clearer for a while.

I don't think it IMPOSSIBLE that Harry will use 12 GP, just unlikely, 
just as I think it likely that he will need the resources of 
Hogwart's enough to at least visit frequently, and possibly even use 
it as his primary base.

>From a pure story-line perspective, if Ginny, Neville and (possibly) 
Luna are to remain significant in the story (but still not central), 
it is hard to see how Hogwart's wouldn't be a major base, as I can't 
see all of their parents pulling their children from school unless 
the place were closed by the board of governors.

An interesting point is that the Room of Requirement can still figure 
heavily in the story ... as the headquarters for Harry's Army.  Draco 
demonstrated that it can be made quite difficult to gain entry, if 
you don't know what you must concentrate on needing.  (The fact that 
Harry saw the vanishing cabinet when he was hiding the potions book 
shows it isn't impossible.)  Couple the inherent complexity of 
getting in and use of a Secret Keeper, and it is potentially the most 
secure place in all the Wizarding World.  (Let there be two secrets: 
the fact that it is the headquarters, and the thing that must be 
required in order for the room to become the headquarters.  Now, let 
Voldemort figure THAT one out!)

Now, I agree that Harry's highest priority is to defeat Voldemort, 
but that doesn't necessarily preclude Harry being a student at 
Hogwart's.  He might well become the school's first wholly privately 
taught student ... In classes of one student for all subjects 
required for an Auror, so as to arm him as best as possible for the 
search and the battle.  He would thus remain in school, which would 
be camouflage his activities in quest of the horcruxes to a certain 
extent, as well as giving him considerable latitude and accelerated 
training.

Some of the problems with this are that someone has to approve such 
treatment, and thus must be given a sufficient argument to justify 
it, and the treatment has to be kept reasonably confidential.  These 
seem to be contradictory.  So, I still have an open mind about other 
possible residences-qua-bases-of-operations.

Speculation must wait, though, as I have other crises to deal with 
besides Voldemort's impending ascension to power.  So, until another 
time ...

Richard