Dumbledore the General

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 124217


>>Pheonixgod: 
>1. Potion Master working for enemy--Poison Voldemort. He may not be 
able to die but he could have some wicked cramps while Harry kicks 
his behind. Alternately, poison his followers, lethally or not to 
remove his support.<

Betsy:
Not a bad plan.  Though it couldn't be implimented until the end of 
GoF anyway.  However, Voldemort doesn't strike me as the trusting 
sort.  Would he drink something brewed by another?  I don't think 
he's all that bad at potions himself - what with his immortality 
craving.  Could a poison be slipped past him?

But, Snape is sneaky, so maybe something could work.  Though Harry 
hasn't reached behind kicking status yet - so we'll put this plan on 
the back burner.  

>>Pheonixgod: 
>2. Metamorphmagus--Frame some of the more open death eaters for 
crimes in order to tarnish their good name and remove any credibility 
they might have. infiltrate the junior death eaters at school by 
posing as a student--perhaps turn one or more of the students against 
their parents or merely learn hom much of the infestation has taken 
root at hogwarts. Probably other idea's I can't think of at midnight. 
seems like an amazingly useful ability.<

Betsy:
Only useful now that the Order actually *has* a Metamorphmagus.  
Tonks was a young girl during the first war.  Haven't all the known 
Death Eaters already been swept up after the MoM battle, though?  The 
infiltration wouldn't be a bad idea.  I guess Slytherin would be the 
obvious house.  Who would she stand in for, I wonder?  And those kids 
have been togther for five years (if not longer - within pureblood 
circles) so it'd take some major acting.  Would Tonks be able to pull 
something like that off?

Personally, if the Order could win one of the Slytherins to their 
side, I think it would do more good.  The Slytherin would be well 
aware of his/her peers strengths and weaknesses and might be able to 
sway a few more JDE's over.  Dumbledore, through Snape, may already 
be attempting this.  It's pretty delicate work though.  You're trying 
to convince a kid to not only give up on his family, but also on 
centuries of tradition.

>>Pheonixgod:  
>3. The Media. Get out Harry's Story! Don't let the Ministry have all 
the airspace to get out their version of the truth. Own the people 
and you will have half the battle won. Fight the daily prophet on 
their own ground. Fight Fudge in the media and get someone competent 
like Madam Bones to run the show.<

Betsy:
Done and done.  Thanks to Hermione, Rita Skeeter put out the Order 
version of events.  And after the scandle of Voldemort popping up 
right in the middle of the Ministry, I doubt Fudge has such a 
strangle hold on the Daily Prophet anymore.

Also, don't underestimate the importance of knowing your true 
friends.  The unpopularity of Dumbledore for the OotP year allowed 
him the opportunity to learn who he could truly count on.  And it 
gave Fudge, and his people, enough rope to hang themselves.  Fudge 
has been exposed as a fool, and the Daily Prophet as biased.  Both 
lost a lot of power by the end of OotP that will take a long time to 
build back up.  And Dumbledore is unshackled exactly when he needs to 
be.

>>Pheonixgod:   
>4. Giant animagus dog.  Potential tracker and spy. Trail Lucius to 
DE meetings and maybe learn where Voldemort is holding up at for a 
raid at a later time. Possible trainer for other potential animagi in 
the order.<

Betsy:
Can animagus apperate in animal form?  Can an animal sniff out where 
a wizard has apperated to?  Would a stray dog ever be allowed on 
Malfoy grounds?  Would any living thing be able to penetrate the kind 
of wards most likely thrown up around super secret Death Eater 
meetings? Remember, this is wizards fighting wizards.  Most tricks 
have been used before.  And I'm sure the pure-bloods have histories 
of them all.  "Ah, great, great Aunt Gertie.  She once caught her 
second husband sneaking off in his earthworm form and..." 

>>Pheonixgod: 
>5. Use outside the system nature of the OOTP to raise hell with the 
DE who like to work within the system. Raid their homes. Use 
psychological warfare to undermine their morale. Hell, kidnap them 
for interrogation purposes-see 6. for more details.<

Betsy:
Again, the trouble is *finding* the Death Eaters.  I think this is 
exactly the reason for the masks.  Though Dumbledore did use this 
tactic on Lucius in the beginning of CoS.  Arthur Weasley was 
involved in raids on Lucius's home (and probably the homes of his 
friends and fellow Death Eaters), and I'm sure Dumbledore was the 
force behind those decisions.  Certainly wasn't Fudge.

And the raids did rattle Lucius.  He started selling things off and 
throwing money around. (That I'm not sure he could afford, for all 
the Malfoy talk of wealth - protesting too much perhaps?)  It 
precipitated Lucius's attack on the Weasley family (Tom's diary), and 
ended in Lucius losing his house-elf.  It may also have encouraged 
Lucius to show-out at the Quiddich games (letting off steam), which 
did not please Voldemort, which may have led to Lucius leading the 
attack at the Ministry.  And that's a lot of maybe's, I know.  But, 
it does go to show that there are behind-the-scenes things going on 
that Harry knows not of.

>>Pheonixgod:  
>6. Use the lovely Fleur and her charm or perhaps the more intense 
charms of her full blooded relatives to turn the male death eaters 
into putty. You can't tell that five minutes with a beautiful veela 
isn't going to have them singing all they know. And look, no morally 
objectionable torture. Neat :) <

Betsy:
Again, good only if you know who the Death Eaters are and can lay 
hands on them.  And again, Fleur was too young to use during the 
first year.  Will she play a part in this war?  Most definitely.  
She's not dating Bill for nothing.  Though I also seem to recall that 
Arthur Weasley was not overly affected by the veela.  There may be 
ways to protect yourself from their charms.

I will say using magical beings is something Dumbledore is definitely 
for.  He's tried time and again to get the Ministry to reach out to 
other magical folk, and the Ministry not only refused, but through 
their prejudice drove them to Voldemort's side.  This time around, it 
looks like Dumbledore is going around the Ministry and trying to get 
to the various beings before Voldemort can.  We'll only know how well 
he succeeded by the end of Book 7, I imagine.

>>Pheonixgod: 
>7.Use the prophecy for your own purposes! The most important thing 
of all. Voldemort was lying low the whole year and plotting to get 
his hands on it. Why not let information slip about the prophecy 
being transported to a more secure location as the bait for a trap. 
Force Voldemort into acting openly and most likely lose a few 
servants.<

Betsy:
Two problems:  Who do you slip that information to?  And would 
Voldemort believe it if he heard it?  I got the impression that the 
DoM is probably one of the more secure locations within the WW.  
(Voldemort certainly had to go to extremes to try and get his hands 
on the prophecy.)  And Voldemort is, I believe, cunning enough to see 
through any obvious traps.  He would certainly have had Lucius check 
with Fudge and I can't see Dumbledore allowing Fudge in on the ruse.  
And I can't see Fudge agreeing to anyone moving any prophecy, 
especially one concerning Voldemort.

Actually, the plan of protecting the prophecy so well it forces 
Voldemort out into the open to steal it himself seemed to work pretty 
well.  Voldemort's return got out and he lost quite a few Death 
Eaters, one of whom had been very well placed.  Not that I think 
Dumbledore wanted Harry to get involved.  But without Harry, 
Voldemort would have been forced to go himself, and he would have 
been trapped then.

>>Pheonixgod: 
>8. Use cool banker Weasley to cut off the wealth of Death Eaters if 
possible through banking red tape.<

Betsy:
I'm pretty darn sure that no pure-blood banks with Muggles.  And we 
do know that Dumbledore is working with Bill Weasley to get in with 
the goblins of Gringotts (with whom I'm sure the pure-bloods bank).  
Even if the goblins refuse to mess with the Death Eater money (I see 
them being more Swiss than the Swiss on this) they might give clues 
as to suspicious banking activity. 

>>Pheonixgod:  
>9. Train Harry. Get him out of his grief by putting him through an 
exhausting magical boot camp along side his friends and start 
preparing him for what is going to come.<

Betsy:
I think this has been ongoing from year one.  Harry wasn't chosen as 
the DA's teacher for nothing.  Harry is very good with his wand, he 
thinks well on his feet, and he's a good leader.  That he was able to 
hold off so many Death Eaters for as long as he did during the battle 
of the DoM, and that he kept his friends alive, speaks well for the 
training he has already received.  And I think it's incredibly 
important that he's got such a strong inter-house group at is back.

Lessons will continue, I'm sure.  And they may be more overt now, if 
Dumbledore has truly taken his gloves off (and I think he has).  But 
Dumbledore has been training Harry since Hagrid first showed up on 
that little rain-swept island in PS/SS.

>>Pheonixgod:  
>10. Start laying the ground work for all of the above *early*. DD 
knows that Voldemort is going to be back so he should have been 
plotting for the past decade and a half. Right now it looks like he's 
been flying by the seat of his pants.<

Betsy:
It looks like that to us, because we haven't been peering over his 
shoulder as Dumbledore spun out his plans and plots.  But I don't 
think it's a coincidence that Moody recruited one of the only 
Metamorphmagus witches around for the Order.  I don't think it's a 
coincidence that Dumbledore reached out to the other Wizarding 
schools when he did, gaining another half-giant, a part veela, and a 
well trained dark arts user (possibly) for his side.  I don't think 
it's a coincidence that Voldemort was unable to keep his return a 
secret for less than a year (less than an hour, really).  I don't 
think it's a coincidence that Voldemort *still* doesn't fully 
comprehend the threat Harry poses for him.  I don't think it's a 
coincidence that most of Voldemort's Death Eaters were exposed and 
arrested early into his first defeat, and I don't think it's a 
coincidence that several more have been exposed now, including one so 
perfectly positioned at the Minister's ear.

I also think it's a very big deal that for the first time in perhaps 
the history of Hogwarts (Hermione?) three out of the four houses are 
working so strongly together.  That kind of shift in a place so 
soaked in tradition speaks to a very powerful and influential 
headmaster.  

Harry will defeat Voldemort, and Dumbledore will position him 
perfectly to do so.

Betsy