Dumbledore & Voldemort as Generals in OotP (was: Dumbledore the General)

[sevenhundredandthirteen]

No: HPFGUIDX 124321


Alla wrote:

Nevertheless, if Harry blocks Voldemort, it means 
that Voldemort is still not sure that Harry himself 
will come by, correct? So, Voldie cannot be sure 
that "kill the kid" objective will be achieved. I
guess he still may want to come to find out how the 
novel ends, but he cannot be sure that Potter will 
be there to die. :)

Laurasia:

Was Voldemort planning on killing Harry then and there in the
Department of Mysteries? 

Wasn't his objective to get a cryptic Prophecy, decipher its obtuse
meaning and then form a way of killing Harry with this new
information? Even Voldemort can't do all that in one night. I think he
wanted to use the prophecy to make a very precise plan that
*guaranteed* Harry's death. Voldemort is primarily trying to protect
himself from another defeat, rather than launch another attack.

Voldemort wants to listen to the prophecy because he believes it
contains information on how to kill Harry. It's a strategic move. He
is not underestimating Harry anymore. He is not going to try to kill
Harry whilst there is a Prophecy that might tell him exactly how.

Sure, Voldemort wants to kill Harry as soon as he can, but Voldemort
is a schemer. He doesn't do things on the spur of the moment: he
spends years persistently learning about the Chamber of Secrets before
opening it; years learning the Dark Arts and years becoming immortal;
he feeds Ginny information for months so he might become human; he
uses Quirrell to gather knowledge about the Philosopher's Stone for
months and waits until the precise moment before going down the
trapdoor; he is happy to sit in a cold house for months while his
Potion ingredients are acquired, etc. etc. etc.

I don't think that the 'Kill Harry right there at the MoM' tactic was
in his initial plan *at all.*

Voldemort only appears at the MoM *after* the Prophecy is destroyed.
IMO, it's a last resort. Voldemort would have preferred a bit of
quality time with his prophecy, maybe he planned for his Death Eaters
to tie up Potter and then move him to a cage where he can sit and
starve while Voldemort figures out what to do with the Prophecy. He
only starts firing AKs at Harry because the Prophecy was smashed.
Voldemort lost his chance to form a planned, strategic method of
killing Harry. He had to go back to his old faithful- the blast of
green light.

Also, Voldemort also only appears *after* Dumbledore has arrived.
Voldemort's 'Kill Potter Plan B' tactic includes a few AKs in Harry's
direction, however, he still reveals himself when he *knows*
Dumbledore is downstairs. This suggests that the idea of getting
Dumbledore to kill Harry is already in his head. He ignores Bella when
she tries to get him to leave *because* Dumbledore is downstairs.
Voldemort *needs* Dumbledore to be there for his plan to work.

This is far more in keeping with Voldemort's scheming nature. Plan A
is get the prophecy and put Potter in a cage for safe-keeping until
death. Plan B is to cast a few AKs in his direction, but Dumbledore
will most likely intervene. So Plan C is to use Dumbledore's presence
to his advantage. If all fails he can always apparate.

My point is that I don't think Voldemort planned on killing Harry in
the Department of Mysteries. I don't even think he planned to go there
that night. I think the only reason Voldemort actually felt it
necessary to turn up was because all his plans went so badly: the
prophecy was destroyed; Harry wasn't captured; Dumbledore arrived. The
only advantages that Voldemort had were that he was standing on
apparation-friendly soil and he could possess Potter. He also had a
back-up plan which turns Dumbledore's presence to his own advantage.

IMO, Voldemort was *not* planning on going to the MoM that night. It
was the fortuitous circumstance that Neville kicked that Prophecy into
the air that ended up bringing him there. 

Voldemort realises that so long as he has the Prophecy's knowledge,
his next assault on Potter can be planned *FLAWLESSLY.* He thinks that
the Prophecy contains the last tiny piece of unknown information about
Potter. He missed the Blood Protection and Priori Incantatem but the
Prophecy will ensure he has every last piece of knowledge. This gives
him some time to strategise and plan, which he is very fond of doing.
If all went as Voldemort planned, the Prophecy would not be destroyed
and Voldemort would have month months to find a way to kill Harry.

IMO, the only way for Dumbledore to ensure that Voldemort would
personally come to the MoM and reveal himself was for Harry to learn
Occlumency. Dumbledore needed Voldemort to have no other option but to
pick up that Prophecy for himself. Dumbledore has known Voldemort for
decades and has seen him spend months scheming things to the best of
his ability. I think Dumbledore *knew* that if Voldemort got his hands
on the Prophecy he would spend many months deciphering its exact
meaning. Therefore, there is nothing to suggest that Voldemort was
even going to kill Harry that night, *unless* *the* *Prophecy* *was*
*broken.*

The reason why Dumbledore *didn't* destroy the Prophecy like he
destroyed the Philosopher's Stone (eventually) was because then
Voldemort would be forced to kill Harry is a much more basic and
impulsive way. There would be no scheme to spy on and thwart and no
misinformation to plant.

The comparisons between the Philosopher's Stone and the Prophecy are
pretty apparent. Their physical similarity only draws attention to
their similar roles. Both are small and glass-like. The Philosopher's
Stone offers Voldemort immortality and the prophecy offers Voldemort
the knowledge of his existing immortality with the exception of one
boy. 

Dumbledore protects both, but in very different ways. When protecting
the Prophecy, Dumbledore doesn't employ the tactics he used in defence
of the Philosopher's Stone. That is, he doesn't take it to the safest
place possible (Hogwarts) where he can personally watch it before
destroying it. Dumbledore leaves the Prophecy in an unsafe place that
is awkward and difficult to protect. He doesn't destroy it, even
though that method proved to be the most efficient way of dealing with
the Philosopher's Stone. 

These different methods demonstrate that Dumbledore has a different
motive in regards to each defence. Dumbledore didn't want Voldemort to
get that Philosopher's Stone and put up the best defence he could. His
different (and weaker) defence of the Prophecy shows (to me) that he
wanted to guarantee that Voldemort would *try* to take it. The
existence of the Prophecy protected Harry's life for a little while by
reassuring Voldemort that there is a prophetic solution out there. And
the allure of this solution forced Voldemort to reveal himself.

To me, the fact that Dumbledore didn't use his experience from his
defence of the Philosopher's Stone (and therefore destroy the Prophecy
ASAP) *proves* that protecting the Prophecy was a diversion.

Harry's failure to learn Occlumency did more than lead to Sirius's
death. It ruined Dumbledore's plan which involved trapping Voldemort
into revealing himself. Harry's presence the MoM only allowed
Voldemort to stay away longer.

It was *NEVILLE* who ensured that Voldemort revealed himself. Neville
and that tap-dancing spell and that broken Prophecy ensured that
Voldemort abandoned his plan and started casting AKs left, right and
centre. 

If Harry had not taken Neville with him to the Department of Mysteries
then the Prophecy would not have smashed and Voldemort would never
have to resort to Plan B and reveal himself.

It is Neville who is *really* to thank for Voldemort being revealed to
the Wizarding World.

~<(Laurasia)>~