Voldie's Wand and other details

[amiabledorsai]

No: HPFGUIDX 140402

manawydan:
I think that canon makes it clear that Dumbledore _hasn't_ spoken to
Hagrid between his rescuing Harry and the rendezvous at Privet Drive.

Amiable Dorsai:

I agree that there's been little detailed communication between them,
but I think there's room for some limited communication.  That or
Dumbledore knew a whole lot more than sees to have been possible.

I suppose an alternate explanation could be that Dumbledore Apparated
or Portkeyed them both to Godric's Hollow, instantly figured out what
had happened and what needed to be done, told Hagrid to take Harry and
deliver him to the Dursleys at Midnight the next night, then bugged
out, leaving Hagrid to his own devices, before Harry was pulled from
the wreckage.  This seems unlikely.

But if they had a few terse exchanges--say by Patronus messenger
and/or hastily written notes passed by Fawkes--then the odd mixture of
knowledge and ignorance shown by Dumbledore at Little Whinging is easy
to understand.


manawydan:
I also think that there is actually very little time available between
Voldemort's dispersal and all hell breaking loose for Harry to be
rescued and spirited away.


Amiable Dorsai:
I figure Dumbledore gave Hagrid a one-way Portkey to Godric's Hollow.
 Why one-way?  Because of the possibility that Hagrid might be killed
or captured, he didn't want to give Death Eaters, or Voldemort
himself, a ticket to Hogwarts.


manawydan:
The battle between Voldemort and the Potters must have created a lot of
noise, especially once the house fell down. The local Muggles,
observing the collapse of a house that they'd never really noticed
before, would have phoned for the police/fire brigade/ambulance. How
fast would they have arrived? Depends how remote a village Godric's
is, but they'd have been on their way post haste. In that small space
of time, Hagrid has to arrive, rescue Harry, converse with Sirius, and
fly off, not only before the Muggles start "swarming around" but also
before the Ministry arrive to clean up - if he's seen, then not only
will he be in trouble for using magic but there could also be all
sorts of questions about Harry's custody.

Amiable Dorsai:
Yeah, that's why I figure Hagrid has to arrive by Apparition or
Portkey.  Your point about custody is well-taken, but I think that's
simply another reason why Dumbledore had Hagrid bug out ASAP.  It must
have been too late, though.  The rumor that Harry had survived was out
before lunchtime. 

Of course, Hagrid, being Hagrid, might simply have run into, and
gossiped with, the wrong people.  Or Sirius told people that Harry was
alive, while he was grilling them for information on Peter's whereabouts.

manawydan:
My own theory is that Dumbledore learns of the attack (though not of
Peter's betrayal) _before_ the event, though not quite long enough
before to prevent
it.

Amiable Dorsai:
This idea has a lot to recommend it, particularly if all Dumbledore
knows is that there is to be an attack on one or both of the two
possible subjects of the prophecy.  He might only have had time to try
to defend one of them, so he flipped a coin and chose the wrong one,
or, assuming he didn't know where the Potters were hidden, he went to
the Longbottoms because he did know where they were hiding--perhaps he
was their Secret Keeper.

Perhaps he took Hagrid with him, then Portkeyed him to Godric's Hollow
to reconnoiter when the expected attack on the Longbottom's didn't
occur on schedule, or when he suddenly realized that he knew where the
Potter's were hiding, indicating that their Fidelius Charm had failed.
Not knowing that Voldemort had crippled himself, he would have stayed
with the Longbottoms, assuming that Voldemort was going to finish the
job that night.



Amiable Dorsai:
>Once it gets dark, he sends a message to Hagrid: Meet me at number
>four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.

manawydan:
Has to have been earlier than this, McGonagall is there quite early on
and keeps an eye on the place all day. Why? Possibly in case the
surviving DEs
decide to thwart Dumbledore's plans by attacking the Dursleys?

Amiable Dorsai:
McGonagall's presence at Privet Dive is troubling. Dumbledore
expresses surprise at it, and he is not forthcoming with her about his
real reason--the Blood Protection--for leaving Harry with the Dursleys.

It's possible that Minerva, who was Lily's Head of House, not to
mention a fellow member of the Order, simply put two and two together.
 Maybe she simply expected someone--not Dumbledore, necessarily--to
take Harry to the Dursleys because Petunia was Harry's closest
relative and that was simply standard operating procedure.  Maybe she
felt close enough to James and Lily to want to make certain that the
Dursleys would make suitable guardians.  

Maybe I'm multiplying assumptions.


manawydan:
I suspect that DD and the rest of the Order (together with the Aurors)
are been busy all day rounding up Voldemort's minions.

Amiable Dorsai:
There are a couple of problems: How does Dumbledore, or anyone else
who was not there, know what happened? What clues McGonagall to go to
Little Whinging?

manawydan:
One possible theory is that Hagrid wasn't alone. Someone else went
with him and stayed there to give the story to the Ministry and the
media when they
arrived. They also reported back to Dumbledore. But Dumbledore and
McGonagall haven't spoken before they meet that evening, Hagrid is the
one who gave her the message.

Amiable Dorsai:
Or maybe--and this just occurred to me--Sirius told her.  It might
have gone something like this:  Sirius lets Hagrid take Harry and
gives him his motorbike.  He goes rat hunting, contacting various
people who might have an idea where Peter could be.  One of the people
he contacts is Minerva McGonagall.  While he's talking to her, a
horrible thought occurs to him--Petunia is the other logical person to
get custody of Harry, besides him.  He asks Minerva to make sure that
doesn't happen.

Minerva is of two minds on this.  On the one hand, Sirius is Harry's
godfather, a position that apparently carries considerable weight
among Wizards.  On the other, she's not sure that Sirius would make a
suitable guardian.  She has seven years of experience with Sirius as a
troublemaker and irresponsible practical joker.

So she goes to Little Whinging herself, to see what kind of people the
Dursleys are for herself.

She concludes that they would be terrible guardians, but then
Dumbledore himself, her boss at Hogwarts, her leader in the Order, and
the acknowledged greatest wizard of his time, shows up with Harry and
declares that he must stay with the Dursleys.  Minerva tries to talk
him out of it, but ultimately capitulates.

Maybe she thought there would be time to sort things out later.

The problem with this theory is that Minerva doesn't seem to have
talked to an eyewitness--she refers to rumors.  Of course, if it was
Sirius who told her most of what she knows, perhaps she discounted it.
 After all, Sirius Black probably lied to her any number of times
while she was his head of house.

Amiable Dorsai