Yes, Virginia, there is a traitor

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 159288


> > Pippin:
> > I've been thinking about Draco's movements on the night of the
> Tower, and
> > I've noticed a couple of curious things.
> > 
> > One, JKR  shows us in OOP that the Room of Requirement can be
> > locked from inside, presumably keeping anyone else from entering even if
> > they require it in its current form. Yet Draco must have  left it
> unlocked, 
> > because Trelawney got in after him. Why? Was Draco expecting someone?
> >
> 
> Neri:
> I see no sense in keeping it locked. It would just look suspicious to
> anybody trying to use the room for hiding something. Draco could
> simply let them in and hide himself somewhere in the room (big as a
> cathedral with many alleyway and roads) while they were at their
> business. He should have done the same with Trelawney too, except that
> she heard him whooping and he obviously panicked. 
> 

Pippin:
Why would it look suspicious? Any former member of the  I-squad or 
the DA could have been using the Room to hide things, and no one
who was hiding something would want to be discovered.

The vanishing cabinet cannot have been too far from the entrance. 
Draco  needed to be close enough to hear the clang of the 
dropped scales, which meant that any sounds he was making
could also be heard by anyone who came in. Clearly he would need
to  fear discovery. 
 
> 
> Neri:
> Ah, the Missing One Hour <g>.
> 
> First, an hour walk to Hogsmeade sounds a bit too much to me. At least
> it seems that in PoA everybody reaches the Shrieking Shack much faster
> than that. What exactly is the canon that it takes a whole hour?

Pippin:
PoA ch 10
It took ages, but Harry had the thought of Honeyduke's to sustain
him. After what felt like an hour, the passage began to rise. Panting,
Harry sped up, his face hot, his feet very cold. 

Ten minutes later, he came to the foot of some worn stone steps,
which rose out of sight above him.

PoA ch 17
On and on went the passaage, it felt at least as long as the one to
Honeydukes. 
--
An hour also matches with the PoA timeline. An hour for Harry and
co to walk out to the shack, an hour of conversation, and an hour
back again. Three turns should do it. <g>

Neri:
> An hour (or two or three) to organize of at least eight DEs and plan
> an operation like that seems quite reasonable, assuming they weren't
> prepared for it in a moment notice 24/7 throughout the year. 

Pippin:
Voldemort expects his DE's to answer his summons instantly. Snape's
failure to do so was a cause for suspicion. 

Dumbledore didn't keep his absences from the castle a secret, but 
we know he didn't inform Order members who weren't going to be 
on guard that he would be absent, or Tonks would have known. 
If the soonest Draco could have known that Dumbledore had left 
was when Rosmerta sent him the message, we have to give him 
some reason for hanging about in the RoR.

montims:
Maybe he was in Diagon Alley, finalising plans?

Pippin:
Good point! The cabinet would let him leave the school and go
to wherever the other one was, perhaps still at B and B's. From
there he might have been able to apparate.  But
would Draco risk being spotted elsewhere when he was 
supposed to be at Hogwarts?  And why would he be finalising
plans if he doesn't yet know when the attack will be?

Neri:
> BTW, who's Virginia?

Pippin:
A  young lady long noted for her skepticism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_Virginia,_there_is_a_Santa_Claus