Who needs Harry? (was: GoF CH 27-29 Post DH look/ Snape and Harry redux)

[Philip]

No: HPFGUIDX 182294

Betsy Hp says: <snip> Now, we don't actually *meet* any
intelligent or observant wizards or witches, so a certain
level of stupidity may well be part and parcel of JKR's
world. As Magpie points out, they kind of seemed eager
for some form of Overlord, whether Voldemort or Dumbledore
or Harry in the end. But, take away that base level of
stupidity, and some basic detective work would have given
those working against Voldemort the same information Harry
gains through his ability to eavesdrop on Voldemort.

This is part of the reason the series fell apart for me,
honestly. Not only did it not make sense that everything
relied on Harry, the WW suffered more *because* they relied
so much on Harry. There was nothing that occurred in book 7
that showed me why a crack group of wizards couldn't have
defeated Voldemort way back before Harry was even born. In
fact, it made it rather embarrassing for all involved that
Voldemort *wasn't* defeated. At least, IMO. </snip>


The thing is Betsy is that it’s alright for us to say, why
didn’t some crack team of wizards attack Voldemort. Or even,
why could the Death Eaters rise.

After all, there is perhaps 30-50 core members, with ten
to twelve ‘marked’ wizards and witches.

The simple fact is that people are scared and few will
overcome that fear and attack. Moreover, like Hitler,
Stalin, Lenin, Napeleon and every other singular force
for change in the world, Voldemort plays to the stereotypes
and problems in society. This allows him, despite his
half-blood nature toform a movement for change. The
singular problem is that: “All that is necessary for
the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” The
simple fact is that Harry is uniquely placed, because
he is an orphan thanks to Voldemort, to be willing
enough to do something about it. He is too young to
remember the fear behind the name – hence ‘Voldemort’
not ‘You-Know-Who’ from day 1. If Rowling wasn’t concerned
about attracting a young audience, perhaps it may have been
a different line and more realistic in it – but that’s by
the by.

However, it is misjudged of us to criticise the books when
at the end of the day there are hundreds of examples where
powerful and influential people haven’t done the sane thing
to stop an evil. Appeasement in World War 1, non-intervention
by League of Nations/United Nations down the years due to
disinterested foreign powers, the list is almost endless.
The fact is that this non-intervention but vague hope of
Harry is an entirely accurate portrayal, daunted only by
the fact that the book is aimed at children. And, as each
person in any of these conflicts can make an excuse, so can
DD.

In the issue of starting earlier, a key example here, is WW1.
France and the UK could easily have crushed Hitler’s show of
strength in the Rühr region – they had every right according
to the rules laid down by the Treaty of Versailles. Yet they
didn’t. It’s easy to say they could have
 but of course, you
wouldn’t be reading this is if they did. Nobody writes about
the people who were stopped... They are simply an entry in
the Wizengamot’s law books!

As for people realising reasons for his immortality
 some
thought he was dead after the GH incident. These people of
course would stick to Fudge at the parting of the ways. Most
people seemed to believe the obvious thing – that he was
alive and weak however. In order to guess how he survived
the rebounding AK however, you’d have to already know about
the power of the defence Lily gave him. In addition this
would only give a slight clue about his survival. Moreover,
DD was the only person who knew about LV’s early life and
one of few who knew he was Tom Riddle. So he would be
invaluable in such a hit-squad. It is also the case that
because DD is “a natural” at “Secrets and lies”, he will
have told few others. Given that he knows Harry has the
desire, and something of an edge, HP is one of the few
that learn these things.

Philip, hoping to have made some sense, also apologising
for the real-world refs.