Slytherin as villains / Ender vs. Harry SPOILERS for Ender's Game

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 179137

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at ...> wrote:

> Potioncat:
> Actually, it would be even farther. The DEs are camped at Aragog's 
> lair. That was a pretty long walk into the Forbidden Forest after 
> getting back to the castle. Although, it doesn't seem as long in DH 
> as it was in CoS. How would the Slytherins know where the DEs were? 
> Harry had to follow two DEs to the site. We know that some form of 
> communication is possible with the Dark Mark, but we don't know if 
> any of the Slytherins have the Mark. Oh shoot. These students could 
> just Apparate...but I'll bet that not all of them are good at it yet.

Montavilla47:
I don't think the Slytherin students would need to go all the way 
to the camp in the forest.  After all, the Death Eaters were in
control of Hogsmeade.  So, as soon as they got to the Hogshead,
they had only to step outside to be in Voldemort's territory. 

We don't (as far as I know), have a map showing the proximity of 
the FF to Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.  I assumed that the Death
Eater forces assembled in Hogsmeade and proceeded through
the forest to Hogwarts, rather than going through the gates.

It may have been a shorter route, and it seems like a weak spot
in the defenses of the castle--that was how Crouch, Sr. was able
to approach the castle in GoF.  I always figured that Dumbledore
(and all the Headmasters before him), relied on the dangerous
beasts of the forest to deter any attackers.

Potioncat:
> McGonagall's purpose for evacuating students was to get them out of 
> danger, and obviously to remove any enemies. Of the of-age students 
> who chose to leave we have half of Gryffindor, a little more 
> Hufflepuffs, even more Ravenclaws and all of the Slytherins. The 
> Slytherins left because they did not want to fight for Harry and St. 
> Cripin. Well, come to think of it, that's why the others left.
> 
> Aberforth comes into the castle as the battle is starting and 
> comments that children of DEs were sent to safety. Slughorn doesn't 
> return till after the first battle. He's with Charley, leading a new 
> wave of fighters. (Hogsmeade folk, and parents of those who remained 
> behind.) So we can imagine that Horace saw to it that Slytherin 
> students were "sent to safety" whatever that means and by whatever 
> process. 

Montavilla47:
I wonder how the students got to safety, given that the Death Eaters
were controlling the town and had set anti-Apparation alarms.  I 
suppose it wasn't worth it to the Death Eaters to capture the children.
And, after all, they were all purebloods and, since they were headed
home, they weren't obstructing Voldemort in any way.

Which makes me wonder why Voldemort said, "rest of the Slytherins,"
rather than "the rest of the students."  There would have been a 
steady stream of students leaving the area.

Unless they flooed from the Hogshead, which really makes the most 
sense of all.  In which case, Voldemort wouldn't have seen *any*
students, unless the students made a point of leaving the Hogshead
by the door--going directly into the Death Eater camp (in 
Hogsmeade).  At which point, Voldemort might have patted them
on  the head and sent them home, or given the older ones masks,
or set them to non-combat tasks, like gathering wood for their
fire, cleaning up the Shrieking Shack, etc.

Incidently, Aberforth seems to think that the Slytherin students are
all the children of Death Eaters, since he criticizes the Dumbledore
forces for not keeping them all hostage.

Montavilla47