Who is Harry's guardian? or: On Dumbledore's extralegal actions

[quigonginger]

No: HPFGUIDX 158372

> Ceridwen:
> Harry came to the Dursleys a day after the death of his parents.  
At 
> some point durign that time, Sirius confronted Peter, if I recall 
the 
> timeline right, twelve Muggles were killed, a street was blown up, 
> Peter's finger was found at the scene so he was presumed dead, and 
> Sirius was sent straight to Azkaban (do not pass 'go'...).  So by 
the 
> time Dumbledore left baby Harry on the Dursleys' step, Sirius was 
> already incarcerated.  He was convicted without due process, this 
was 
> the culmination of VWI.
> 
> Sirius gave his motorcycle to Hagrid.  He knew he would be hunting 
> Rat.  He may have expected to die (he states that he was willing to 
> die for his friends in PoA), or possibly he expected to really kill 
> Peter and end up in Azkaban for that (how would he be able to prove 
> that Peter was the SK and brought LV to the Potters'?).  Maybe 
> the 'Lost Day' was spent partially in finding out what would happen 
> with Sirius.

Ginger stands and applauds Ceridwen:

Yes, yes, exactly.  I hope you don't mind me expanding on this and 
adding the canon references.  All are from the US paperback editions.

Let's look at the timeline.
Sometime between Harry's birth and his parents' death, Sirius is 
named as Godfather and guardian. (this was pointed out upthread, I 
believe credit goes to a_svirn)  (PoA, ch 20, p. 379)

The night of 31 Oct- LV attacks GH and kills J&L.  Harry gets his 
scar and LV is disembodied.

That same night-  DD sends Hagrid to the GH.  Sirius also shows up.  
Hagrid takes Harry.  Sirius gives Hagrid the bike. (PoA ch 10, p. 
206) 

The next day- MM sits outside Privet Drive waiting for DD.  She tells 
him later that Hagrid had told her that DD would be there that night.

The same day- Vernon sees Wizards out chatting excitedly in the 
streets.  MM is still there when he comes home. (PS ch 1)

Also that same day- Peter and Sirius have their tussle.  Sirius is 
framed for the murders of L&J, Peter, and 12 Muggles and sent to 
Azkaban. (PoA ch 10, p. 207)

That night- DD shows up, chats with MM, Hagrid arrives, and Harry is 
left with the Dursleys.

These are the infamous missing 24 hours.  Where was Harry during that 
time?  What was DD doing?  How much did DD know about Sirius' 
activities and when did he find out?

When Hagrid shows up, DD asks where he got the bike.  Hagrid states 
in ch 10 of PoA that he had no idea when he took Harry that Sirius 
was the secret keeper.  We, of course, know that Sirius never was.

I believe that it is possible that none of them had heard of the 
Peter/Sirius incident that night, but more likely that DD had.  When 
Hagrid told DD that he borrowed the bike from Sirius, he said that he 
needed to get it back to him.  No anger about Sirius' betrayal or 
anything that might lead us to believe that he had heard.  The lack 
of response from DD and MM would make it seem that they had heard 
nothing at the time either.  DD is, of course, known for playing his 
cards close to his chest.

So DD took Harry to the Dursleys and placed his protections around 
the house.  It has been discussed whether or not these protections 
are the same blood protection that came from Lily's sacrifice.  I 
personally think that they are two different things, but that they 
act together, with the whole being stronger than each on its own.

I think that during the lost 24, DD was putting everything in place.  

Sirius didn't stop and visit with DD that day- he went right out 
after Peter.  Had he stopped to see DD, he would have told him the 
whole story.  DD knew that Sirius knew that DD was in temporary 
custody or Harry.  DD had told Hagrid quite early in the day that he 
would be at the Dursleys that night.  Hagrid told MM, who was there 
before Vernon left for work.

So DD's plans to place Harry at the Dursleys were prior to the 
Sirius/Peter episode.  Is DD thinking here that something went wrong 
with the charm itself?  Or does he think Sirius is the traitor?  

If he thought that Sirius was innocent, he may have been planning the 
Dursley stay knowing that Sirius would agree to whatever was needed 
to keep Harry as safe as possible.  Knowing that Sirius knew that he 
had Harry, he may have expected Sirius to turn up that day, at which 
point he would have shared his plan with Harry's legal guardian. 

Sirius' seeming attack on Peter would have convinced DD that Sirius 
was the traitor, even if he had given him the benefit of the doubt 
previously.  Given DD's lack of response to Hagrid returning the bike 
to Sirius, I think this is a valid option.

If he was convinced of Sirius' guilt, he may well have taken 
temporary custody of Harry with a mind to appeal J&L's will before 
the WW courts.  He would have been able to convince the courts that 
(a) Sirius was a danger to Harry, (b) that Harry's relatives were his 
only living next-of-kin, and (c) that Harry would be safer nowhere 
else due to the protections, which he would, of course, have refused 
to elabourate upon at that time for fear of spies.

None of this was necessary, of course, because the Sirius ended up in 
Azkaban.  It is entirely possible that the WW courts did review the 
case and end up in agreement with DD that Harry was safest there, or 
that his next-of-kin, Muggles though they be, had the next right of 
guardianship.

It is also possible that DD was settling this matter legally during 
the lost 24.  Whether the news came in about Sirius/Peter before or 
after this is neither here nor there- DD knew at that time that 
Sirius had been the secret keeper.  The Sirius/Peter incident would 
just have reinforced DD's claim.  Perhaps this is where he "gave 
evidence" since Sirius didn't have a trial.

If this was the case, then he just didn't say anything to Hagrid when 
he went to return the bike.  Perhaps he thought that this was a chat 
for another time, and that settling Harry in with his relatives was 
of more importance.  

In summary, either DD knew about Sirius' supposed guilt or he found 
out sometime that day, or he found out after that day.

If he didn't know, he may have been awaiting Sirius' input, but when 
he didn't come to collect Harry, DD felt that he had to act 
immediately, hoping that Sirius would agree.

If he found out later that day or had guessed it all along, he may 
have continued his plan to place Harry at the Dursley's, and let the 
WW authorities know, whilst providing evidence against Sirius in the 
process.

All of this is, of course, speculation.  It could be any combination 
of the above, or none of it. 

Just giving my input, 
Ginger, yup. I've been quiet, but I'm still here.