CHAPDISC: DH26, Gringotts

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 184116

Pippin:
> Voldemort threatened to *kill* everyone at Hogwarts if Harry was
> not turned over to him. Do you think he planned to make an exception
> for Centaurs and Elves? More to the point, would the Centaurs and
> Elves think so? They weren't fighting to avoid enslavement by cruel
> DE's. They were fighting for their lives and homes. <snip>
 
Carol responds:
> When Voldemort demands Harry, he claims that he doesn't want blood. 
> If they give him Harry Potter, he says, he'll leave the school 
> unharmed (DH Am. ed. 610). After Harry's supposed death, Voldemort 
> says, "Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be
> slaughtered, as will every member of their family" (729). He's
> speaking to Witches and Wizards, to (magical) *humans*. It doesn't
> occur to him to mention "lesser" beings, such as House-Elves or
> Centaurs, even though one Centaur has already resisted him. Of 
> course, once he realizes that such a thing can happen, he intends 
> to kill the rebellious Centaurs and House-Elves, but there's no 
> indication that he intends to wipe out either species, any more 
> than he intends to wipe out Pure-Blood (or even Half-blood) Witches 
> and Wizards. 
<snip> 
> There's no indication whatever that they're fighting for their
> *lives*. They wouldn't have been slaughtered as rebels if they
> hadn't chosen to fight--or, to "resist," to use Voldemort's word. 


SSSusan:
I don't know.  I'm just not convinced of this.  

You say that it doesn't occur to Voldemort to mention them, as if 
that means he intends to spare them so long as they don't resist.  I, 
OTOH, might argue that if it doesn't occur to Voldemort to mention 
them, it's because he simply has even less respect for them than he 
does for humans and doesn't think he needs to *bother* mentioning 
them.  I don't see any reason why they wouldn't assume they're 
included in Voldemort's "Anyone." 

Also, whether Voldemort ever said he might spare them or not, I see 
no reason for any being, of any make or model, to trust those words.  
He's VOLDEMORT, and I don't see any reason they would not all 
*believe* they should quite reasonably fear for their lives.

I mean, let's look at this guy.  You're saying that as long as these 
humans or other beings don't *resist,* they won't be slaughtered.  
But let's take a look at what he did when he was p*ssed about the 
Gringotts theft.  

'*And they took?*' he said, his voice rising, a terrible fear 
gripping him.  'Tell me! *What did they take?*"

'A... a s-small golden c-cup m-my Lord...'

The scream of rage, of denial, left him as if it were a stranger's: 
he was crazed, frenzied, it could not be true, it was impossible....

The Elder Wand slashed through the air and green light erupted 
through the room, the kneeling goblin rolled over, dead, the watching 
wizards scattered before him, terrified:  Bellatrix and Lucius Malfoy 
threw others behind them in their race for the door, and again and 
again his wand fell, and those who were left were slain, all of them, 
for bringing him this news, for hearing about the golden cup--" [UK 
children's ed., p. 443].

Yes, the goblin was ostensibly killed because he "betrayed" 
Voldemort.  But the others?  What was their crime?  What had they 
done wrong?  In what way did they resist or defy Voldemort?  In no 
way!  Rather, they just *were there* and became the victims of his 
rage.  

This is the kind of man Voldemort is, and I don't believe *anyone* in 
the WW is unaware of that.  Even those considered his most loyal, 
devoted DEs were frightened for their lives and *threw* others behind 
them in order to escape.  These, who were in Voldemort's innermost 
circle, had no protection, had no doubt that they would each be 
killed... and in fact *were* killed, all except those who literally 
ran fast enough for their lives.

Granted, the centaurs, house elves & goblins [other than the dead 
one, natch] aren't going to know about this specific killing rage, 
but this is what Voldemort *IS,* and I have to believe that any 
statement made my Voldemort, to humans or to "lesser" beings, is not 
going to be taken as any kind of true promise.  Everyone knew his 
life was in danger, I have to believe.  Everyone had to know he truly 
*was* fighting for his life.

Or so it would appear to me.

Siriusly Snapey Susan