Dumbledore on the Dursleys in OotP (LONG)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 151649

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:
>
> 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). 

Pippin:
I don't think  Snape knew what animagus form Sirius took.
IRRC, all he overhears  in PoA is that it's an animal large enough to control
a werewolf. I don't think that would automatically bring to mind a 
bear-sized dog. Sirius  popping up right under his nose, completely
unsuspected, would be a shock even if he'd known for certain Sirius was
back. But it would be just like Dumbledore to have said "You may tell 
Voldemort that Sirius is in Britain and is in close contact with me" 
leaving Snape in  the dark as to whether it was true or not until
Sirius actually appeared.

Carol: 
> 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. 
<snip> 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.)

Pippin:
As you've probably remembered by now, Mad-eye was unconscious
in the hospital wing at the time. There was at least one dementor
at Hogwarts that night so getting Sirius off the premises ASAP would
have been a good idea, especially if there was magic he needed to
do in human form.

I guess he actually went to the Hogs Head first, then notified Lupin,
Arabella and Fletcher from there. It would make sense if Aberforth
knew about him already. I think Dumbledore mentioned those three
specifically because increased surveillance on the werewolves,
Privet Drive and the WW's criminal element were Dumbledore's
top priorities. Those three probably already had orders contingent on 
Voldemort's return.


> 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
>

Pippin:
The dementors were stationed at the gates, far away from the doors,
which had been trained to recognize Sirius, not Padfoot. He could
also have followed the twins through the one-eyed witch from 
Hogsmeade, perhaps with the aid of a 'borrowed' wand. Presumably
the Twins were already experimenting with their fakes, which would
have come in handy if you needed a wand for a while and didn't 
want the owner to notice it was missing.  

Pippin