The Lucius Sting Theory/Bella's "cadre of maniacs" (Was: Where'd He Go . . .)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 150936

Talisman wrote:
> The Sting Theory is a rather old and a theory to which I have always
adhered.  Indeed, it has only been validated by succeeding evelations.   
> But, I don't agree that it was set up by any unknown spy, and  I 
certainly don't agree that Lucius was too young to manage it at ~26-27
years of age. 
> Nope.  It's all slippery Lucius. <snip>
> The DE retirement program was strictly feet first, and it was an 
unfortunate occupation for wizards with personal ambitions.  Start 
looking too interested in your own advancement, and you were likely 
to get the Usurper Special.  Unfortunate indeed, because where 
ambitions were concerned, Lucius Malfoy was Slyth all the way. So for
Messer. Malfoy, Halloween 1980 turned out to be Christmas. Break out
the elf-made wine, Narcissa.  Whoo-hooo. 
> Our Lu had already managed a level of respect within the ranks, and
 with the DL out of the picture, he could use established DE networks,
and his considerable wealth, to make sure the WW was run, more every
day, the Malfoy way. Might even be able to groom a puppet for MoM. <snip>
> Yes, the future was looking bright. Sure, there were rumors that the
Dark Lord was still out there. Some sort of putrid mist in Albania.
But he seemed incapable of so much as summoning anyone to his
aid--and, oddly enough--no one was in the mood to go looking. No one
but Malfoy's whack-o sister-in-law and her cadre of maniacs, that is.  
> Oh, yes, she'd been around to the manor regularly, exhorting Lucius
to do his bit to find her beloved Master.  It was mighty inconvenient
to have her suggesting there was more to be done. Better to cultivate
an alibi of resignation to You-Know-Who's demise, just in case he ever
*did* manage a return.   
> Worse yet, that band of die-hards might actually succeed in bringing
him back. Nope.  Something must be done--and in true Malfoy style. 
Nothing obvious.  Nothing that would point back to Malfoy himself.  A
nice little sting.  
> Easy enough to feed Bella & Co. a nonsensical story about how this 
Longbottom Auror knows what happened to the Dark Lord.  Get her all 
pumped up on Glory and Restoration.  Then, when the date's fixed, 
have a little talk with a certain ambitious Junior Minister in the
Department of Magical Catastrophes.
> 
> Explain how you'd like to keep a low profile, ratting out your 
sister-in-law and all.  And by the way, Cornelius, it's a shame but I
think Crouch's son will be with them, too. Tsk, tsk. Imagine what 
this could do to old Barty's career, and him a shoe-in to be 
Minister, and all. <snip> 
> Too bad for the Longbottoms, but they really weren't important, 
anyway.  Just the bait. The spring snaps and Bella, Barty Jr--and the
Dark Lordfs remaining would-be rescuers--are safely neutralized (it
is supposed)  for life.  
> I don't think Lucius worried about being named in a prosecutor's 
deal, at all.  For one thing, Bella's crowd was too fanatical to cut 
deals--but better yet--Fudge would vouch for him as the informant. >
Plenty of insurance.
> As icing on the cake, some Muggle-Loving Dark Wizard hunters have
been Crucio-ed to a fate worse than death, that bastard Crouch Sr.--
who authorized Ak-ing DEs--will never be Minister of Magic, and an 
upwardly mobile little politico is eating out of your hand. <snip>
> As houyhnhnm points out, Lucius may have accompanied Voldemort to 
GH, and may have known that the Longbottom's were next.  Lucius does 
seem to know something about the Potter's deaths when he sneers, in 
CoS, about Harry meeting the same *sticky end.* 
> For whatever reason--and Bella wouldn't have needed much of one--if
 Lucius merely suggested Frank had information, he would not have had
 to *order* her to go anywhere.  Just pointing the finger--embellished
by assurances that she might get information useful to bringing the DL
back--would have been more than enough to *send her* after anyone. 
> Talisman saying, It fits like a glove, as long as *you* don't fall
for Lucius's story.  ; )

Carol responds:

I hated to snip any of this delightful post, most of which I agree
with, so I, erm, squished it together. 

I agree that it had to be Lucius who "sent" (not "ordered"--good
distinction) Bella et al. to the Longbottoms. It's in character,as
you've demonstrated beautifully: he had the motive (make that multiple
motives), the opportunity (Bella was his sister-in-law and no doubt, 
a frequent guest at Malfoy Manor, perhaps with the Lestrange brothers
in tow), and the means (Bella was an expert Cruciatrix and a sadist to
boot). (I'm guessing, BTW, that Narcissa knew nothing about it or she
might have tried to dissuade her sister from such a risky mission.)

I also agree that the Longbottoms knew nothing about LV's
disappearance and that it was all a set-up to land the fanatical
faction in Azkaban and free slippery Lucius to get on with his plans
to influence a certain upcoming MoM employee who happened to be his
contemporary (and maybe others as well) to run things his way.

The only point (and it's a minor one) that I disagree with is Lucius's
possible presence at Godric's Hollow. There's no indication from the
Dementor-induced memories that the Potters saw anyone except
Voldemort. (We know that Wormtail was there, too, but he could hide in
rat form and the Potters would not have seen him. Lucius, AFWK, has no
such advantage.) Lucius's sneering reaction to the Potters' deaths in
CoS is interesting--he sounds like a loyal DE who really mourns
LV--and maybe he's convinced himself that he does--as long as LV is
never coming back. And of course, the Potters were Order members and
by definition the enemies of any DE (and a blood traitor and
"Mudblood," respectively). His evident dislike of Harry, even though
the boy had unwittingly done him a favor by vaporizing Voldemort,
would fit in with that view. Or maybe he's just sneering at the brat
who interfered with his plan to kill off Muggle-borns at Hogwarts via
the monster in the Chamber without getting his hands dirty, get
Dumbledore sacked, and get even with the Weasleysby involving their
daughter in the murders. And now, in addition to thwarting this lovely
plan, Harry has caused him to lose his "servant," Dobby (I'm hearing
Jason Isaacs' voice here and can't remember the wording from the
book!) so he has an additional grudge against Harry. Still, just
hoping that Harry shares the same sticky end as his parents doesn't
seem to me to be sufficient evidence that Lucius was at GH. (This
incident does, however, show how Lucius's mind works and how he
operates through others, pretty good evidence in itself that he's the
instigator of the attack on the Longbottoms.)

That aside, I want to mention that Bella's "cadre of maniacs" (can you
tell that I like the phrase?), aside from the mad little fanatic,
Barty Jr., consists of her husband Rodolphus and her brother-in-law,
Rabastan. We get glimpses of them, without knowing which is which, in
the GoF Pensieve scene, and again in the Battle of the DoM in OoP.
Bellatrix and Rodolphus start out together. Rabastan is with Crabbe,
who, if I've figured out the sequence of events correctly, ends up
with a baby head. (Is he still in St. Mungo's or in Azkaban, I
wonder?) We later see Bella with two men behind her as they burst
through a closed door; evidently Rabastan, having lost his assigned
partner to a Time Turner, has rejoined his leader, Bellatrix.

It's an interesting little triangle that seems to involve the
brothers' devotion to her and hers to Voldemort, with no love in the
ordinary sense, or sexual attraction, either. (It's no coincidence,
IMO, that despite young Bella's sultry beauty and her marriage to
another pureblood, she's childless.) Yet her husband and his
brother(!) apparently follow her around, obedient to her wishes and
commands--a follow-the-leader syndrome, with Bella as near-royalty
(note her haughty demeanor in the Pensieve scene) and perhaps the Dark
Lord's favorite, as she claims. So when Bella suggests Crucioing Frank
Longbottom to force him to tell what he knows about LV (picking up, I
agree, on Lucius's strategically dropped hint), her boys (who would
actually be men in their late twenties if they're close to her age)
would eagerly have done her bidding. And young Barty Crouch, equally
fanatical and wanting to help bring back his leader (not to mention
practice his new Crucioing skills) would easily have been talked into
joining them.

Carol, still trying to figure out why Rabastan is so often overlooked
when people talk about the Lestranges ("They're a married couple") and
why JKR bothered to give Rodolphus a brother when so far he seems
unnecessary to the plot