The Seven Harrys (was Re: Dumbledore and other leaders WAS: Moody's death)

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 181989

Lee wrote:

> I'm also wondering what Hagrid was doing there. As much as I like
the guy, LV isn't too far off the mark calling him an "oaf". Brings to
mind a description of Samwise Gamgee: He's a stout fellow, who'd leap
down a dragon's throat to save you, if he didn't trip over his own
feet first.

Carol responds:
OTOH, voldemort probably had a similar opinion and thought that Hagrid
was the least likely escort for Harry (not to mention that he probably
did think that Harry would be flying on a broom).
> 
Lee:
> 
> I've found a partial answer to some of my earlier questions at the
beginning of chapter 6:
> 
> "Well, you can't do anything about the" -- Ron mouthed the word 
Horcruxes -- "till you're seventeen. You've still got the Trace on you."
> 
> The implication here is Harry can be traced (ahem, *Traced*) by the
MoM. Does this mean he can be traced even through an Apparation? If
Harry had Disapparated (legalities notwithstanding) out of Privet
Drive, would the Ministry be able to see where he Apparated to? 

Carol:
That makes sense. In fact, Moody himelf says that they're going to use
"the only mans of transport left to us, the only ones the Trace can't
detect because you don't have to cast spells to use them: brooms,
thestrals, and Hagrid's motorbike" (DH Am. ed. 47). that would also
explain why they don't use Side-Along Apparation, which would also be
detected. (And I know it isn't mentioned, but I think they needed a
way to bring along Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage; there'd be no
going back for them once the protective charm broke.)

Lee:
> And so, since the Order's intent was to surprise the DEs by moving
Harry early, they couldn't wait until the Trace broke.

Carol:
Right. Which is why the Order members can't cast spells around him,
either.
> 
Lee:
> It still doesn't explain why Harry was sent back to Privet Drive in
the first place, instead of a safehouse, or what in the Wizarding
World DD was thinking setting him and half the Order up for a suicide
mission, or why the Order couldn't, say, have polyjuiced Harry into
Dudley and snuck him out with the Dursleys. But at least it may
explain why he didn't just Apparate.

Carol:
They couldn't Polyjuice him as Dudley because the real Dudley had to
be removed, along with his parents, before the protective charm broke.
Two Dudleys in the same car would look suspicious, right? (Maybe as
Dudley's friend Piers, but they didn't know about him. or he could
ride under the Invisibility Cloak until they got to the safe house
where the Dursleys were staying and Port-Key from there.) 

As for staying at a safe house while the protective charm is still in
place, why risk it? A safe house isn't as safe as the Dursleys while
the charm is in effect. Dedalus Diggle's house is set on fire
(fortunately, he's not there), and, later, Ted Tonks and his wife are
tortured and Ted is forced to flee. Evidently, safe houses aren't all
that safe--unlike the protection on the Dursleys' house, which is
based on Lily's blood sacrifice and is absolute as long as Harry calls
the place "home." Even the Weasleys' protections are broken through
once the DEs are united with the MoM employes (who are either
"converted," to use LV's word, or Imperiused). They crash the wedding,
remember? Nothing of the sort ever happens at the Dursleys'.

As for the "suicide mission," I think that the Order was merely trying
to "eschew" the Floo Network and Apparition and that, had it not been
for Dumbledore, Harry would not have had multiple escorts. The
polyjuiced Harrys became necessary as decoys (chiefly to protect Harry
himself) once DD decided that Snape should reveal the time and date to
preserve his cover and LV's trust in him. Had they gone along with
what must have been the original plan, a few Order members escorting
the real Harry, it would indeed have been a suicide mission. 

Lee: 
> In re-reading chapters 4 and 5, however, another thought has
occurred to me. The Order has at least a dozen safehouses scattered
around England, hidden behind magical shields even LV can't penetrate,
at least if the Weasleys' house was any indication.

Carol:
He can't immediately penetrate the protective shield surrounding the
Tonks's house, the one that Harry goes to, but the DEs and the MoM
officials later break through the protection and both the Weasleys'
and the Tonks's. It's only a safeguard to protect Harry and the others
long enough to Port-Key to the Weasleys', apparently. (I'm not sure
how the Dursleys remained safe; maybe no one was interested in them
after Harry left their house.) And it seems naive of the Weasleys to
think that the Burrow would be safe for Harry once the MoM fell--good
thing he left when he did.
> 
Lee:
> So why didn't they just turn Privet Drive into another safehouse? It
would appear the Order's magical protection around the safehouses was
at least as effective as Lily's charm in keeping out the baddies, so
why not wrap up the Dursleys' place while they were at it?
> 
Carol:
I disagree. Dumbledore's charm (not Lily's though it was based on her
"blood") seems to have been impenetrable, in contrast to the so-called
safe houses, not to mention that Harry needed to leave the Dursleys
and return to the WW when (or just before) that protection expired.
There would be no point in placing protections on the Dursleys' house
once everyone had evacuated. (I hope they had good insurance, though.
I imagine that the DEs trashed or even burned the house once Harry had
escaped!)

Carol, who thinks that Harry is lucky to have escaped at all and
wonders why Hermione's charms worked so well when nothing short of a
Fidelius Charm seems to have protected anyone else
> CJ -- still scratching his head, though maybe not so much in that one 
> spot anymore.
>