The Statute of Secrecy

[Emily]

No: HPFGUIDX 158972

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Ken Hutchinson" <klhutch at ...> 
wrote:
snip> 
> Ken:
> 
> I am well aware that Mrs Cole bears the greater share of the 
> blame for her drinking problem. Dumbledore used her problem
> to his advantage and that is simply shabby. A man of his 
> intellect and charm does not have to use such a method to 
> present a win-win proposal to Mrs Cole. A man of his moral 
> standing should not use such methods.

imamommy:
I didn't read it that way at all.  First, as far as we know, DD 
could have conjured a legal document.  Just because he conjured it 
in Mrs. Cole's office instead of his own doesn't necessarily make it 
less valid or legal.  Actually, he doesn't do anything of the sort.  
He shows her a blank piece of paper.  It's still blank when he shows 
it to her, but the spell he casts is on her.
     "Mrs. Cole's eyes slid out of focus and back again as she gazed 
intently at the back of the paper for a moment."  HBP, Scolastic 
p.265
So, maybe unethical if memory modification is not to your taste, but 
not forgery.

Secondly, I never read it as DD exploiting Mrs. Cole's drinking to 
get her to release Tom Riddle.  She's already said "'That seems 
perfectly in order'" to the blank piece of paper.  He gets her 
liquored up to get information.  He wants some insight into this 
new, unknown student's character, and he correctly perceives that 
she will not want to present TR in an unflattering light, when she 
is so close to sending him off, unless her tongue is loosened a 
bit.  Also, consider that when DD wants or needs information, a 
little gin isn't such a horrible thing, when you consider what a 
skilled legilimans he is.  He may have just invaded her mind with a 
spell, but at least this way he gave her a chance to be on 
reasonable footing.

> 
> Ken:
snip
 There really is no plausible reason why LV would have any horcruxes 
left at the time we meet Harry in the first book except DD's 
failings to deal with the matter.
snip

imamommy:  Except that I don't think DD absolutely knew about the 
horcruxes until CoS:

     "'Four years ago, I received what I considered proof that 
Voldemort had split his soul.'
     snip
     'A mere memory starting to act and think for itself?  A mere 
memory, sapping the life out of the girl into whose hands it had 
fallen?  No, something more sinister had lived inside that book....a 
fragment of soul, I was almost sure of it.  The diary had been a 
Horcrux.'"   HBP, Scholastic p.500

DD goes on to say how concerning it was that a horcrux should show 
up in this way, to be cast so lightly about, and how this brought 
him around to thinking that there must be more horcruxes of LV 
around.  So no, DD could not have hunted down all of the horcruxes 
before Harry came to Hogwarts, because he didn't yet know of their 
existence.  Perhaps he had suspicions, but he didn't yet know.

imamommy