DD and Horcruxes (WAS Re: In Defense of Scrimgeour & Offense against DD)

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 179549

> Mike:
> A side note - I didn't believe how easily the MoM falls. It's 
needed 
> to further the story, but I remember thinking there aren't enough 
> DEs to accomplish everything that LV was able to make happen.

zgirnius:
"Imperio!"

> Mike:
> And after all, the most brilliant 
> wizard of the age found one and a half Horcruxes in the four years 
> (at least) of searching. It shouldn't take three teenagers that 
long 
> to find and destroy the other four, should it?

zgirnius:
Dumbledore had, at the end of HBP, found the Diary (destroyed by 
Harry), the Ring (destroyed by him), Nagini, slated for destruction 
last so that Voldemort would not know what it doing on, and the 
locket which I deduce you are calling "half". That's 3 1/2, leaving 2 
1/2 for the three teenagers.

Dumbledore also arranged to get the teenagers the tool they would 
need to destroy the Horcruxes (the Sword, via Snape).

Still not great, but a bit better than your version.

I do not believe this was the original plan. In my view, Dumbledore 
planned to deal with all of the Horcruxes himself until just after 
the end of OotP. It was at this point that he foolishly put on the 
Ring, and Snape was only able to get him one more year of life with 
all his Dark Arts skills.

At that point, Dumbledore was forced to revise his plan for the 
Horcruxes, since he saw he would not complete the task himself in the 
time he had left. Based on his actions, I conclude that it was at 
this point that he decided to pass the task on to Harry after his own 
death, since it is at this point that he started training Harry on 
all that he had learned in his years of pursuit of the Horcruxes.

So to me, the question becomes, at the time OotP ended, was it 
reasonable for Dumbledore to keep the Horcruxes secret? My own answer 
is yes. Whether a wider circle of people than just the Trio could be 
trusted with the secret at that point is open to debate - with 20/20 
hindsight, for example, we can assert that Snape died still enjoying 
what passes for Voldemort's trust, so that the secret would have been 
safe with him despite his precarious position 'dangling on 
Voldemort's arm', and there are doubtless others of whom similar 
arguments could be made.

But to publish the secret in the Daily Prophet, I remain convinced, 
would have been a grave error. It could have jolted Voldemort out of 
his confidence in the secrecy of his Horcruxes and hiding places, and 
the number of searchers would not, in my view, overcome the 
possibilities in Rowling's universe for using magic to hide them 
irretrievably.




> 
> > lizzyben:
> > There's Scimgeour, tortured to death for refusing to reveal 
> > Harry's whereabouts. 
> 
> Mike:
> And barely getting a sidelong glance from the Trio. "Hmm, the guy 
> died protecting me. Maybe he wasn't so bad. Nah. Hey Remus, what's 
> up?"
> 
> 
> > lizzyben:
> > I think Scrimgeour was a good guy who was looking for Harry's
> > assistance in the battle against LV. And DD's attempts to 
> > isolate & control Harry prevented the MOM from getting that 
> > assistance - thereby allowing the MOM to quickly fall, & leaving 
> > Harry w/o any protection or assistance in his own fight. 
> 
> Mike:
> Speaking of protection, where was the Order. Did they just disband
> after the flight from Outhouse,... uh, Privet Drive? Kingsley did
> his turn at Pottercast and the rest,... went into hiding I guess.
> What exactly did Lupin's spying on the werewolves accomplish? What
> about his wife, the one that could assume any appearance she chose?
> Couldn't we have at least heard that Mr. Weasley turned Delores 
into 
> an actual toad before he went into hiding?
> 
> Mike, taking his tongue out of his cheek and seriously questioning
> why all these things about Tom Riddle had to be kept secret.
>