RAB case is broken - all Aurors please read!

[Neri]

No: HPFGUIDX 153349


> Debbie:
> I have to say I can't muster much enthusiasm to scout for R.A.B.
> candidates.  With all the loose threads hanging about after six
books and
> only one book remaining tie them up (or not) it just doesn't seem
likely to
> me that JKR will introduce a new character for this purpose when she
has in
> Regulus Black a perfectly good one with a ready-made tie-in to Sirius,
> another character whose story arc seems incomplete even though he's
dead.
> In addition, no other R.A.B. candidate has any connection to 12
Grimmauld
> Place, where we saw a good candidate for the real locket *and* have been
> provided with leads regarding its current whereabouts.  I just
wouldn't bet
> on those things all being red herrings.
>
> <snip the rest of a good summary>


Neri:
It seems to me that the simplest RAB scenario that works with all the
different sources we have would be something like this:

1. Regulus joins the DEs because he supports their ideology and hasn't
realized Voldemort's true colors yet.

2. Regulus is somehow informed about the locket Horcrux in the cave
(I'll discuss the how later).

3. During a typical DEs operation, Regulus is required for the first
time to kill somebody (or worse). Like Draco on the tower, he balks
and runs away. This is the event that Sirius (and apparently Lupin
too) later learn about.

4. Regulus realizes that once the DEs capture him he's a dead man.
He's too deep in it now so even if he goes to the Ministry with his
information he's likely to end up in Azkaban, and Voldemort might be
able to reach him even there, not to mention his family. The only
thing left to him is revenge. He decides to destroy the Horcrux in the
cave.

5. Regulus leaves a note to Voldemort in the cave: "I want you to know
that it was I who discovered you secret". After all, what's the point
in revenge if Voldemort wouldn't even learn who got him? Regulus knows
that the DEs will catch up with him in a few days ("I face death" and
"I know I will be dead long before you read this").

6. Regulus runs to 12GP with the locket, but he fails in destroying it
(there might be additional defenses on it Kreacher wouldn't know
about) or he simply doesn't have time before the DEs indeed catch up
with him and kill him (Sirius and Lupin's information). The locket
remains in the Black house.


The only problem I see with this scenario is in (2): how could
Regulus, a beginner DE, discover Voldemort's secret and, furthermore,
penetrate all the cave defenses?

The most likely answer to that is Kreacher. Perhaps Voldemort had
borrowed Kreacher when he went to hide the locket in the cave, to do
all the menial work for him (it wouldn't be like Lord Voldemort to do
that himself). Perhaps he thought he could ensure secrecy by having
Mr. Black ordering Kreacher never to tell anyone anything about this
service. But as we know, this isn't a complete insurance and Regulus
found a way to make Kreacher tell him. Regulus might have known what a
Horcrux is from one of the Dark Arts books in 12GP, and figured out
this is what the locket was. It is obvious from his note that he
thought Voldemort, like some previous Dark wizards before him, had
made only one Horcrux. Kreacher also helped Regulus penetrate the cave
defenses and possibly drank the green potion for him. Or Regulus drank
it himself, knowing he didn't have long to live anyway. But in any
case, as Dumbledore says after he drinks the potion himself: "the
protection was after all well-designed. One alone could not have done
it". This strikes me as an intended clue that RAB had a companion. 

Kreacher is also the most likely solution to another problem with any
RAB scenario, which is how Harry is to learn all about it in Book 7.

If this sounds *too* simple, remember that we have three additional
Horcruxes to destroy in Book 7 and they seem to be better hidden.


Neri