How did Black get into Hogwarts in PoA? (Was: Dumbledore on the Dursleys . .

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 151694

Annemehr:
><snip>
>  Perhaps the most telling lack of evidence of guards at the gates is
> in  Ch. 5, during their arrival at Hogwarts for the year (87): a
pair of dementors at the front gates is mentioned, setting the scene,
but there is no mention of anyone guarding the front doors.  
> 
> On the other hand, in the beginning of Ch. 14 (269), after Sirius
> Black had gotten into Gryffindor Tower with Neville's stolen
> passwords, Professor Flitwick taught the front doors to recognize "a
> large picture of Sirius Black."  After this, though, there is no
> mention of Sirius even trying to enter.
><snip>

Carol responds:

Thanks, Ammemehr. Please note that any annoyance you may detect in
this post is not directed at you but at JKR.

Let me get this straight. No guards or protective spells of any kind
on the front doors, not even after the first attack proved that Black
was on the grounds (or could get onto them), and the doors are not
even taught to recognize Black until after the *second* attack. 

So Dumbledore, who didn't want the Dementors at the school in the
first place, nevertheless relies on their presence *at the gates* to
keep Sirius Black off the grounds and thereby out of the school, even
after it's known that he can get past them and must be hiding out on
the grounds? No watch on the *doors* at all, even after Black got in
the first time, proving that Dementors *at the gates* were no deterrent? 

No need for Black to use the secret passages on the Marauder's Map at
all, since he could walk right into the school at any time (preferably
when no one was in the hallways to spot him)? All he needed was his
Animagus form to get past the Dementors *at the gates*, which he had
already done *months* before, after which he could hide out in the
Shrieking Shack (as we know he did and Lupin must have guessed that he
did), choose his time, and then just walk up to the doors in human
form (till Flitwick taught the doors to recognize him after the
*second* attack) and enter the school completely undetected and
undeterred? No one, not even Mrs. Norris, was watching the doors?

Was the fact that Snape and DD didn't know that SB was an Animagus
sufficient reason for them to be astounded that he could get into a
castle that *wasn't even locked*? And they both considered unlocked,
unguarded front doors (not so much as a Sneakoscope to watch them) and
a password-protected common room sufficient protection, not only for
Harry but for all the students, even after the attack on the Fat Lady
proved that Black could get inside? And Sir Cadogan, who apparently
doesn't even know what Black looks like, is considered sufficient
protection for the common room after the Fat Lady's painting is
slashed, with no additional protection for the school itself? 

If that's really the case, it's a wonder that Black even waited for
Halloween the first time around. If the doors were unlocked day and
night despite the threat of a "murderous, raving lunatic" (to quote
movie!Ron), he could have just walked right in at any time, preferably
after lights out.

I've always blamed Lupin for not telling DD about the Marauder's Map
because I assumed that the secret passages were important, that Black
must have used them to get in. But you seem to be saying that his only
important secret was that Black was an Animagus, and that was all DD
needed to know to protect the school against Black. (That and the fact
that he knew about the Shrieking Shack and was probably hiding out
there, as Lupin ought to have told DD and IIRC never did.) But being
an Animagus explains only how he could get onto the grounds despite
the Dementors. It doesn't explain how he could get into the school
itself, unless, as you say, the doors were unguarded and unlocked,
which makes no sense given the two attacks on Gryffindor tower, and
makes the existence of the secret passages completely irrelevant
(except as a way for *Harry* to get to Hogsmeade).

Sorry. I don't like it. It makes no sense to me that Black could have
gotten into Hogwarts so easily, at any time, just by virtue of his
Animagus form. If that were the case, why did he wait two whole months
(until the Halloween banquet) when he could have sneaked in any
*night* of the year? And DD knew he was already on the grounds, or
could easily get there again. Why, then, not put some sort of spell on
the front doors or teach them to recognize Black after the *first*
incident? Of course, both DD and Snape speak in later books about
protective spells placed on the castle, but they play no role that I
can see in PoA and they clearly didn't keep Sirius Black out of the
castle.

Isn't anyone besides me bothered that Dumbledore took so few
precautions, especially after the Fat Lady incident, and that the
secret passages seem to have played no role at all in Black's getting
into the school? Nothing but Dementors at the gates and a warning to
the students to watch out for them? Just unguarded, unprotected front
doors and the usual password to get into the common room.

So, yes, I do think this is a big deal. At first I was only wondering
how Black got into Hogwarts and why everyone else seemed to find his
Animagus form sufficient explanation for his getting into the castle
itself (as opposed to the grounds, which it does explain). Now I find
his getting inside disturbingly easy (walking right through the front
doors?!) and Dumbledore remiss in his duty to protect not only Harry
but every student in Hogwarts. (I do still think that Lupin should
have turned in the Marauder's Map to Dumbledore, but it seems less
relevant now.) Yes, I know that Sirius Black wasn't really a would-be
murderer, at least not of children, but what if he *had* been?

Will someone please convince me that it wasn't this easy, that he had
to use one of the passages, so I can go back to wondering how he
managed to do that undetected?

Carol, wondering if we have a precedent here for DD's presumption that
the protections in HBP were adequate and not at all happy with this
new incompetent!Dumbledore