Dumbledore on the Dursleys in OotP (LONG)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 151640

Pippin wrote:
> Who says he [Sirius Black] went door to door? I'm sure he used his
patronus. Any Order member who saw Sirius's patronus would get in
touch with Dumbledore at once, whether they believed the message or
not, which is what Dumbledore would want. 
> 
> Harry was supposed to be in a magically induced sleep -- if he'd 
taken all his potion as instructed, he  wouldn't have been awake at
all. There wouldn't have been anything Sirius could do for him in that
state.
> 
> I suspect the reason Sirius had to go into hiding immediately is
that Snape had been instructed to tell Voldemort that Sirius was back
in England and very close to Dumbledore. That is the sort of
information which Voldemort would regard as extremely useful.

Carol responds:
I agree, more or less, on the second and third points. Harry was
supposed to take his potion and sleep, and the last thing Sirius Black
would want to do is to sit by his bedside doing nothing while Harry
slept, especially with Snape out risking his life. Let Molly do the
bedside watching!

I also agree that Snape would tell Voldemort that Black was in
England, knowing that DD would hide him, as a seemingly useful bit of
information to "prove" that he was on LV's side. That would account
for his statement to Bellatrix that he had provided Voldemort with
information on her dear cousin other than the location of Order HQ,
which he couldn't provide, and information we know to have been
contributed by Kreacher or Wormtail. I'm not sure that he arranged
with DD in advance to give this information as he appears not only
surprised but shocked when the black dog transforms in front of him
(he clearly didn't believe the Animagus story until that moment, and I
don't think he knew that SB was in England, either). However, he knew
the kinds of information that he could safely provide to LV, and this
was one such bit. (No doubt he told DD afterwards, which is one reason
that DD wanted Black to remain at home. And he also informed Black
that Lucius Malfoy had seen him in dog form on Platform 9 3/4, clearly
making sure that Black knew his danger.) But, yes, I think that's why
Black had to go into hiding immediately, and DD couldn't tell Black
without triggering a dangerous reaction.

The point I don't agree with at all is that Black used his Patronus.
He's a man of action, and he would want to appear in person/dog form
if possible rather than simply sending messages via a magical
messenger. (BTW, just because he likes flying motorcycles and
hippogriffs doesn't mean that he can't Apparate, as others on this
list have suggested. He probably prefers the excitement of flying to
the dizzy, sickening sensation of Apparating. And if you're hiding out
in some tropical country, as he was in GoF before his return, it's
best to have a mode of transportation other than Apparition, which
appears to be limited to fairly short distances of, say, a few hundred
miles.) So IMO he could trot off to Lupin's, or Apparate there, and
explain the situation to him, knowing that Lupin, at least, would
listen to him. Lupin, in turn, could inform the others by Patronus
that he was coming and had something important to tell them--starting
with those who were least likely to harm Black when they found out who
he was, nonmagical Figgy and drunken, amoral Mundungus--and once he
got there he could explain why he had a big black dog with him. Or he
could summon "the old crowd" via Patronus and ask them all (other than
Figgy) to come to his house, where he could explain to everyone at
once the truth about Black, let Black transform in front of them, and
have Black finish the story about Voldemort returning and whatever
else he had heard from Harry. (Mad-Eye Moody might require special
handling, but Lupin could manage.)

At any rate, Black loved risk-taking and IMO would have wanted as
large and active a part in the process of "alerting the old crowd" as
possible, but Lupin IMO would have arranged it so that the risks were
reduced to a reasonable level. But for Black to use his Patronus would
not require him to leave the building or transfer to dog form, as he
does in that scene, and would not have been sufficiently "fun" to suit
his reckless nature.

Carol, who still doesn't understand how Black/Padfoot got into
Hogwarts (twice) in GoF unless he opened the heavy front doors with
his paws right under the figurative noses of the Dementors