What Came First: Task or Cabinet? - The Plan v1 & v2

[julie]

No: HPFGUIDX 157699


> 
> Anna:
> I'm not sure if I should really jump in on this runaway train but if
> I recall, on the tower Draco tells Dumbledore that he came up with
> the cabinet idea by himself and that no one knew what he was doing?
> He resorted to using the necklace and wine because he did not
> believe he could fix the cabinet and was getting desperate. Don't
> you think that if Voldemort knew he was trying to fix the cabinet
> and failing at it...holding up the task..he would have contacted him
> in some way, punished him in some way?
> 
> I think JKR made it fairly obvious that Voldemort gave Draco this
> task as revenge on Lucius for failing him because he did not intend
> him to succeed-we know he is evil and would see Lucius losing his
> son as just punishment for losing him the prophecy. I don't think
> Draco told anyone about the cabinet until it was fixed and he knew
> he could use it for sure. So therefore, the cabinet could not have
> come first. This argument could go on for an eternity...which came
> first "the chicken or the egg"......or at least until book 7 comes
> out.
> 

Julie:
Great points, Anna. This is my first foray into the What Came First:
Task or Cabinet?" debate also, and I do agree with you. I don't see
any evidence that Voldemort is aware of or behind fixing the cabinet.
If he knew of its existence, you'd think he would have assigned 
someone a lot more reliable than Draco to work on it! 

And what about Draco's first two attempts on Dumbledore's life? If
it is all about the cabinet, and getting the DEs in as his "back up",
then why is Draco bothering to make these attempts on Dumbledore's
life, and on his own no less. Wouldn't the ineptness of it all 
annoy Voldemort a great deal? And we know Voldemort isn't very nice
when he's annoyed (you know, as opposed to when he's not 
annoyed...erm, yeah...) 

Anyway, if Voldemort knew about the cabinet all along, it seems 
to me he'd have additional priorities besides killing Dumbledore,
as this is his chance to get in and take over Hogwarts. (Which 
begs the question why he sent a band of second-stringers through 
cabinet with Draco, when he could have sent a truly powerful 
force--in fact he could have gone himself--and actually taken over
the school. Just another unanswerable question, I suppose ;-)

The faith version it seems to me is that Draco is making legitimate
attempts on Dumbledore's life the first two times, albeit inept and
half-hearted attempts. Clearly his main goal is to kill Dumbledore,
which relegates the cabinet to second priority. *If* he can get it
working, so much the better. If not, well, he still has to complete
his real task and kill Dumbledore. Hence the sleeplessness, the 
tears to Myrtle, etc. Not because he can't get the cabinet fixed,
but because he is steadily realizing he can't kill Dumbledore, and
even getting the cabinet fixed is not going to change that fact.
It's simply going to force him finally into the face-to-face 
situation against Dumbledore that he desperately tried to avoid
in his previous and deliberately distanced attempts. (If he can't
even make a decent go at it from an anonymous distance, how will
he ever succeed when he has to look the man in the face? He won't,
he knows it, and he's steadily falling apart because of it.)

IMO,

Julie