Moody's death (was: Dumbledore's authority WAS: Re: Fees for Harry)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 179504

> a_svirn:
> Well, maybe you'd have made a better Dark Lord then. Moody certainly 
> relied on Voldemort being this stupid, didn't he. He said that if 
> *he* were Voldemort he'd leave only a couple of death eaters on the 
> look-out. 
> 
Pippin:
So it's a good thing Moody wasn't doing the planning, then. <g>

> a_svirn:
> So where were those dementors and animals during the chase? I seem to 
> remember death eaters only.

Pippin:
Why would you want them in on the chase? Dementors and
wizards don't mix, most animals can't keep up with brooms.

a_svirn:

> (By the way it beats me why Moody and Co didn't use the 
> Disillusionment charm this time around.)

Pippin:
Invisible decoys? ROTFL!


I suppose you could have used decoys and then disillusioned the
real Harry -- the difficulty would have been that as soon as the
fight started, Harry would've refused to stay hidden, 
and they would've known at once that it was really him. 

The question really  is, did Dumbledore's ruse give Harry more  time 
than he would have had if he he'd been easier to spot but there
had been only scouts waiting for him?

Since Harry gets all nearly all the way to Tonks's parents before
he's spotted, and Voldemort still manages to arrive before he
gets there, I think the answer is clear. Voldemort would have
had more opportunity to kill Harry without the ruse.

It was chance that defended Harry, but also chance that he
revealed himself, so chance was neutral in this instance. 

> a_svirn:
> To which prohibitions do you allude? 
> In any case, you seem also completely ignoring the undeniable fact 
> the order did flout the prohibitions. Harry used magic despite being 
> underage and he and Hagrid flouted the Statute of Secrecy in a rather 
> spectacular (in every sense of the word) manner. Yet Scrimgeour 
> forbore to press charges. Harry even taunted him about this in 
> the "Dumbledore's Will" chapter. 

Pippin:
The Ministry had made it an imprisonable offense to transport Harry
from Privet Drive by apparation, portkey or Floo powder. I speculate
Scrimgeour's motive for wanting Harry trapped was to force him to
endorse his regime. If he could arrest a few Order members
or force them into hiding, that would certainly help  to show Harry 
how hopeless his situation was without Ministry support. But
once Harry  escaped Privet Drive and came of age, Scrimmy's position
was weaker. Not much point in locking the barn door after the
thestrals have flown.

It'd be interesting to know if Kingsley tried to warn Scrimgeour about
Thicknesse, and whether Scrimgeour refused to believe it. 

 
> Pippin:
> Voldemort's coup would have happened before Scrimgeour delivered 
Dumbledore's legacy.
> 
> a_svirn: 
> No, it wouldn't have. Yaxley hadn't managed to infiltrate the 
> Ministry to that extent. Voldemort didn't want to risk the coup, 
> without Yaxley preparing the ground properly.
> 

Pippin:
Presumably the Order had something to do with the delay
in Voldemort's plans. They'd have had difficulty doing it if they
were in Azkaban or on the run.


> Pippin:
> While Harry's life is not worth more than any other man's,
> Harry's death would mean the deaths of countless others.
> 
> a_svirn:
> How do you arrive at this estimate? Harry's death would mean one 
> Horcrux down at least. And with other order members hunting down 
> other horcruxes they could do the whole thing faster and cleaner. The 
> Hogwarts Battle could have been avoided and it did cost at least 
> fifty lives. Not counting death eaters. 

Pippin:
Right, they hunt down the horcruxes and then they get possessed.

Oops.  

Dumbledore did at least know that Harry could resist possession,
whatever his fear that the V-chip might take over eventually anyway.
He couldn't be that sure of anyone else. 

Pippin