Why Leave Harry at HW at the End of HBP?

[dungrollin]

No: HPFGUIDX 148181

Jen: Your post made me think of another question rather than an
answer: What exactly *was* Voldemort's goal in HBP?

Dungrollin:
('Lo, Jen!)
I reckon he had three goals (most important first). 
1. Test Snape's loyalty.
2. Get rid of DD.
3. Punish Lucius.

Actually 1 and 2 are pretty equal in terms of importance, I think; 
getting Draco involved was just the icing on the cake.
 
Voldy's already tried to kidnap/kill Harry, twice before, and 
neither time worked out great, so he switched strategy, and decided 
(particularly after it became obvious in that duel in the MoM that 
he couldn't beat DD in a straight fight) to get DD out of the way by 
more Slytherin means. I think, after two failed attempts on Harry 
Potter's life, he was justified in changing tic-tacs.

Jen:
We can piece together he expected Draco to fix the Vanishing
Cabinent under threat of death to himself and parents, even though
likely he didn't expect Draco would be capable of killing DD. For 
that job, his 'spy' placed at Hogwarts for 16 years was the more
likely of the two to complete the job. That's speculative from
Snape's words but fits with Voldemort's thinking.

Dung:
I was under the impression that it was all Draco's idea (at least 
the vanishing cabinet was), his task as presented was simply "kill 
Dumbledore". Obviously, Voldy's best chance, once he's decided that 
DD has to go, is Snape. Snape is highly competent (he has the 
means), he his perfectly positioned at Hogwarts, with Dumbledore's 
trust (he has the opportunity), and he is a loyal Death Eater (he 
has a motive) – isn't he?  

Jen:
So Voldemort's goal was to get Dumbledore out of the way, but not in
order to kidnap Harry. In fact, it's possible Dumbledore was even
aware Voldemort had another goal because when you think about it,
Dumbledore didn't make any obvious attempt to protect Harry after
his death. Fawkes left, Snape left. The Order didn't immediately
spring into action and take Harry to a secure location. For whatever
reason Dumbledore seemed to believe Harry was safe even if he died.
It's interesting. Makes you wonder if there are some other
protections he set up which are activated upon his death or the like.

Dung:
I think you're right, that Snape and DD knew all along that DD was 
the target, and that Harry wasn't in too much danger (except the 
usual being in the wrong place at the wrong time stuff that he 
always gets up to). You can bet your best hat + stuffed vulture that 
if Bella doesn't quite trust Snape, neither does Voldy. Voldy 
doesn't trust anyone.

Many posters (or perhaps just a few – it's so difficult to tell, 
sometimes) want to make Snape unaware of Draco's task. They read him 
as bluffing in Spinner's End when he said that he knew what it was, 
trying to get Bella and Narcissa to give him information. I don't 
buy that at all. I think Snape knew all about it before Narcissa 
came to visit him, and he'd already discussed it with Dumbledore. 
("He intends me to do it in the end...")

I therefore hypothesise that before Snape took the vow, DD was aware 
that a) Draco had been instructed to kill DD, b) Voldemort was doing 
this to punish Lucius, c) Voldemort never expected Draco to succeed, 
and d) Snape was expected to fulfil the task when Draco failed.


Jen:
<snip> 
So I do think he *was* following orders not to bring
Harry, and that Voldemort must have had another goal in mind with
getting Dumbledore out of the way.
I guess LV could have found out Dumbledore was chasing the horcruxes
and thought he could get rid of him before he told someone else. Or
he wants something at Hogwarts and needs Dumbledore out of there.
Trelawney maybe? He does seem awfully obsessive about knowing the
prophecy.

Dung:
I don't think Voldy found out that DD knew about the Horcruxes, that 
would (to my mind) count as a major emergency, and he wouldn't hang 
about for a year letting Draco fail, he'd have got Snape on the job 
immediately, or launched a full-on assault on Hogwarts. You know, 
try to kill DD before he *told* anyone or anything...

As for orders to leave Harry alone, it seems perfectly plausible 
that Voldy had had enough of failing to kill him, but was angry 
enough about it to not want anyone else to have the pleasure. Going 
at it piecemeal, getting rid of DD The Protector first sounds 
sensible to me. Plus the fact that Voldy's now using Occlumency 
against Harry, makes it rather look like The Harry Problem was put 
on hold for a year.

Regarding the prophecy, it does seem a little odd, doesn't it? To 
spend an entire year and a lot of effort trying to find out its 
contents and then the next year petulantly stamp your foot and 
shriek "I didn't want to know anyway, and I'm going to have the man 
it was told to murdered, so there!"

Has Voldy got over his obsession? Has he decided it doesn't matter 
any more? Or has someone already told him what he needs to know?
Argh, don't ask me to fathom the way an evil overlord's mind works...

Dungrollin

Btw, can anyone tell me off the top of their head whether the 
following has been proposed:
Instead of Time-Turned!Ron = Dumbledore, Time-Turned!Gred&Forge are 
Albus and Aberforth. 'Spect someone must have done, but thought I'd 
ask, becuase it would turn DD's comment about G&F's beards when they 
crossed the age line into a fine bit of foreshadowing.