Moody WAS:Leader of Order of the Pheonix -Harry, Moody, Arthur, other

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 149092

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Ralph Miller" <papa at ...> wrote:
>
> bboyminn: 
> ... I don't think Harry is in a position to be the official leader 
of the
> Order. ... While it could be Arthur, for the moment I am going to 
vote for
> Mad-Eye Moody.
>  
> Geoff:
> I hope that the suggestion in the last sentence will prove to be 
the final
> "truth". ... Personally, I would not favour seeing Moody as the 
head of
> the OOTP, not because I do not trust his loyalty but because I do 
not trust
> his paranoia.
>  
> bboyminn:
> I do agree about Moody's paranoia being his biggest draw back, but 
he is
> still the most senior member, and the most skilled, experienced, 
and effective
> Dark Wizard fighter. 
> 
> Ralph:
> Excuse me for being dense, and I don?t have the books handy, but 
does canon
> say that Moody really is paranoid? It?s suggested by characters, 
but not
> borne out by his actions. Remember we have to ignore all actions by 
the
> fake Moody. It seems to me that he thought he might be attacked by 
DEs so
> he took precautions by drinking from a flask etc. Seems to me, 
considering
> what  did happen, that wasn?t paranoia, but foresight.

Geoff:

I think there is enough evidence in canon which supports the view 
that Moody is perceived as paranoid and also that he /is/ paranoid. 
Look at a handful of references to him:

`Amos Diggory's head was sitting in the middle of the flames like a 
large bearded egg. It was talking very fast, completely unperturbed 
by the sparks flying round it and the flames licking its ears.
"
 Muggle neighbours heard bangs and shouting, so they went and 
called those what-d'you-call-`ems – please-men.  Arthur, you've got 
to get over there –"
"Here!" said Mrs.Weasley breathlessly, pushing a piece of parchment, 
a bottle of ink and a crumpled quill into Mr.Weasley's hands.
"- it's a real stroke of luck I heard about it," said Mr. Diggory's 
head. "I had to come into the office early to send a couple of owls 
and I found the Improper Use of Magic lot all setting off – if Rita 
Skeeter gets hold of this one, Arthur –"
"What does Mad-Eye say happened?" asked Mr.Weasley, unscrewing the 
ink bottle, loading up his quill and preparing to take notes.
Mr. Diggory's head rolled its eyes. "Says he heard an intruder in his 
yard. Says they were creeping towards the house butt hey were 
ambushed by his dustbins."
"What did the dustbins do?" asked Mr.Weasley, scribbling frantically.
"Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I 
can tell," said Mr. Diggory. "Apparently one of them was still 
rocketing around when the please-men turned up –"
Mr.Weasley groaned. "And what about the intruder?"
"Arthur, you know Mad-Eye," said Mr. Diggory's head, rolling its eyes 
again. "Someone creeping into his yard at the dead of night? More 
likely there's a very shellshocked cat wandering around somewhere, 
covered in potato peelings."'
(GOF "Aboard the Hogwarts Express" pp.141-42 UK edition)

`"Did someone say Mad-Eye?" Bill asked. "What's he been up to now?"
"He says someone tried to break into his house last night," said 
Mrs.Weasley.
"Mad-Eye Moody?" said George thoughtfully, spreading marmalade on his 
toast. "Isn't he that nutter – "
"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," said Mrs.Weasley 
sternly.
"Yeah, well, Dad collect plugs, doesn't he:" said Fred quietly as 
Mrs.Weasley left the room. "Birds of a feather
"
"Moody was a great wizard in his time," said Bill.
"He's an old friend of Dumbledore's isn't he?"  said Charlie.
"Dumbledore's not what you'd call normal, though, is he?" said 
Fred. "Imean, Iknow he's a genius and everything
"
"Who is Mad-Eye?" asked Harry.
"He's retired, used to work at Ministry," said Charlie. "I met him 
once when Dad took me into work with him. He was an Auror – one of 
the best
 a Dark-wizard-catcher," he added, seeing Harry's blank 
look. "Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him. He made 
himself loads of enemies though
 the families of people he caught, 
mainly
 and I heard  he's really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't 
trust anyone any more. Sees Dark Wizards everywhere.""
(ibid. p.143-44)

`The stranger at down, shook his mane of dark grey hair out of his 
face, pulled a plate of sausages towards him, raised it to what was 
left of his nose and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of 
his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it and began to eat. His 
normal eye was fixed upon the sausages but the blue eye was still 
darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the 
students. `
(GOF "The Triwizard Tournament" p.164 UK edition)

`The real Mad-Eye Moody was at the staff table, his wooden leg and 
his magical eye back in place. He was extremely twitchy, jumping 
every time someone spoke to him. Harry couldn't blame him; Moody's 
fear of attack was bound to have been increased by his ten-month 
imprisonment in his own trunk.'
(GOF "The Beginning" p.624 UK edition)

His reputation is obviously based on events and his behaviour here – 
and in various other scenes in GOF and OOTP which I have not quoted 
underline his over-reaction of events. This is why I have suggested 
that he would not be a suitable leader for the Order because is 
experiences mean that he has developed a "shoot first, ask questions 
afterwards" attitude of mind whereas the order needs a calmer, more 
calculated approach to the war against Voldemort.