Sirius...Door_to_Door (was: Dumbledore on ...Dursleys...)

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 151654

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "kiricat4001" <zarleycat at ...> wrote:

> 
> Marianne:
> 
> ... I always felt there was something a little dodgy about
> sending the most wanted fugitive in England wandering about 
> door-to-door chatting up old Order members. 

bboyminn:

Oooh...just one small problem, Dumbledore didn't send Sirius
'door-to-door' to alert the Order memeber, he sent him to Lupin.

- - GoF; Am Ed, HB, pg 713 - - 
Dumbledore:

"...Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus
Lupin, Arbella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher -- the old crowd. Lie low at
Lupin's for a while: I will contact you there."

- - - end quote - - -

Notice, he is to first contact Remus Lupin who knows he is innocent.
Then they are to contact other order members. Also, since the previous
book (POA, that is) Dumbledore and Lupin have probably been spreading
the word that Peter Petigrew is alive and back which in turn means
that Sirius Black was innocent of the crimes he was charged with. The
knowledge at the time may not have carried any urgency, so people may
have not given in much wieght. But now that the situation is critical,
now that Voldemort is back, it would mean more. Further, if certain
individuals in the Order were now contacted by both Remus and Sirius
with information supposidly straight from Dumbledore indicating that
Voldemort was back, I'm certain they would have higher priorities than
questioning Sirius's personal story. 

Also, note the Order members mentioned - Arbella Figg and Mundungus
Fletcher. Mrs. Figg would certainly be kept up to date on what was
happening since it is her job to watch Harry during the summer
holiday. She would have certainly known by that late date that
Dumbledore considered Sirius innocent, so no problem contacting her.
Mundungus Fletcher, being a thief and generally shady character,
probably wouldn't care whether Sirius was innocent or not. He
associates with criminals all the time.

Now, once Remus, Mrs. Figg, and Mundungus were on board, the word of
both Sirius's absolute innocence and full trustworthiness, and of
Voldemort's return would spread quickly among the relevant people. 

So, the idea that Sirius Black was running door-to-door alerting Order
members is not correct. First Dumbledore sent Sirius to the one person
that Sirius, Dumbledore, and the Order all trusted, then they together
moved on from there speading the word.


> Marianne:
>
> Especially as it seems that Sirius, at that time, traveled by 
> Hippogriff or on shaggy dog feet, not by Apparation. If time was of 
> the essence, wouldn't it be better to send a message by someone who 
> could Apparate ...? 
> 

bboyminn:

Sirius was a brilliant student one of the top students to ever come
through Hogwarts, it's completely unreasonable to think that he can't
Apparate. Now, he has been out of Azkaban for a while, but not that
long. Logically there would be a period of time during which he would
need to recover his strength and his health. Certainly being weak and
'defeated' by the Dementors would have affected his ability to
Apparate, but it has been over a year now, and I'm sure he is
sufficiently recover to Apparate if he had to. Still, I'm sure it is a
strain. 

Also, he has the hippogriff, he has to do something with it, it was
entrusted to his care. It is also a convenient way to travel that
doesn't require a detectable burst of magical energy. Plus, after all
those dark and desperate years in Azkaban, it is probably nice to have
a companion around. Further, that particular 'companion' was given to
him by Harry, so there is a certain amount of sentimentality there.

> Marianne:
>
> Would DD, sometime before sending Sirius off, have contacted these 
> people himself telling them that he believed Sirius to have been 
> wrongly accused and unjustly imprisoned and that, though he had no 
> proof, they should also accept Sirius's innocence?  If not, the 
> problem of people with wands (except Arabella) finding what they 
> believe to be a mass-murderer on their doorsteps has not been dealt 
> with. 
> 
> Marianne, ...

bboyminn:

I think by now you see the basic flaw in your logic. The particular
people specifically mentioned either knew Sirius was innocent by
virtue of first hand experience, trust in Dumbledore, or generally not
caring whether he was innocent. 

Once Sirus has accomplish his basic state mission, he now has three
other diverse people who can begin to spread the word. Although, I
think Mrs. Figg was told, just to keep her informed; I think her
ability to help was limited. I think Mundungus was told simply to
alert him that the Order was reforming. I suspect it was mostly Remus
along with Sirius who did the bulk of the work spreading the word to
critical 'old' Order members. As they spread the word, the rumor of
Sirius being innocent was merely confirmed. 

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn