Draco and Dumbledore/ Molly and Harry-Treated like Family

[quick_silver71]

No: HPFGUIDX 160030

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at ...> 
wrote:
<snip> 
> Carol responds:
> The lives that were in danger (other than Draco's own) were Snape's
> and Dumbledore's, and, yes, Dumbledore did what he could to protect
> all three lives, mostly by staying out of Draco's way. Once Snape
> stopped Draco from resorting to other methods, the students were
> safe--until and unless the DEs got in. And Dumbledore took 
protective
> measures there, too. 
<snip>

Quick_Silver:
I agree with what you're saying about whose lives are in danger and 
how Snape and Dumbledore are planning on controlling Draco but at the 
same time it's a
reckless strategy. I mean Snape only applies the 
pressure on Draco after the Katie incident and that doesn't prevent 
Draco's poison from finding a victim either. 

<snip>
> Carol again:
> Sorry. That doesn't answer my question. Snape stopped Draco from 
using
> amateurish methods like the mead and the necklace. Dumbledore had
> already increased the protections on the castle (locked gates,
> searching the students, eliminating owl mail. I repeat, what else
> could either Snape or Dumbledore have done?

Quick_Silver:
I thought about this question for a while and I think I have an 
answer
they should have used Harry. Of course there are a thousand 
and one reasons why they shouldn't have used Harry but I think that 
including him could be been beneficial. He's Draco age (meaning they 
have roughly the same skill levels), he doesn't seem to have an age 
bias (since Harry has been some pretty wild things for his age), he's 
motivated, he can be creative (i.e. House-
elf surveillance
even Snape can only be so many places at once), and 
I don't think that Draco would expect Harry to actually be in on any 
actual counter-measures against him.  

>You're ignoring the fact
> that the students were safe until the moment of confrontation and 
that
> no students would even have been involved if Harry hadn't ordered 
in a
> few DA members. If it weren't for that, it would have been the Order
> vs. the DEs, and Snape got the DEs out of Hogwarts and off the 
grounds
> as quickly as he could, tossing in an extra lesson or two for Harry
> along the way.

Quick_Silver:
Sorry but this touched on some interesting points about the plot 
against Dumbledore. I think that you're correct in saying that after 
Snape reined in Draco no students were really in danger (although 
Snape spoke to Draco before Christmas and Ron wasn't poisoned until 
March). However I think that the DA's involvement was important 
perhaps even vital to controlling the Death Eaters because I think 
Snape and Dumbledore did to a certain extent underestimate Draco and 
didn't know what to expect from Draco (or that it would come from the 
Room of Requirement). 

I'm going to go off on a tangent here but I wonder if it's possible 
to really separate Harry from the plot (I realize that Harry as the 
narrator has to involved from plot reasons but those aside
). See 
mainly its viewed as a Snape-Draco-Dumbledore thing with Harry 
observing (like on the Tower) but on my re-read of HBP I noticed that 
Harry was in many ways an "active observer" of the plot, plotting, 
and stratagems. By "active observer" I mean that the plotting 
effect's Harry, the best example being when Ron is poisoned which 
disrupts Harry's attempt to get Slughorn drunk (most people tend to 
overlook that the Felix Felicis set up for a second go at the same 
idea) and that Harry effects the plotting, the best example of this 
being the bathroom duel which probably had an effect of Draco's 
psyche. Add to that Harry secretly trailing Draco, getting reports on 
the Room of Requirements from house-elves, hearing things from 
Moaning Myrtle, Harry being on the scene first of two attacks, and 
observing Draco in general and you realize that Harry was involved.

What's different from previous books is that whereas before Harry was 
usually directly involved in the plot and Dumbledore, Snape, and (to 
a lesser extent) Draco were on the outside nudging and interfering 
with plots around Harry that concept is inverted (ahh
a nice math 
term) in HBP. In HBP Draco, Snape, and Dumbledore are head-deep in a 
plot and it's Harry on the outside nudging and interfering with the 
plot.

Quick_Silver (who was really impressed with HBP Harry after re-
reading it)