Caring about people

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 184577

Potioncat:
> What really makes less sense, is that Mundungus was allowed so much 
> information within the Order, given his lack of scruples.

Pippin:
When Harry's escort arrives, he says, "But I wasn't expecting this
many of you!" (DH ch 4)

I don't think Mundungus *was* involved, originally.   Moody's Plan A
used one of the magical means prohibited by Thicknesse. Order members
would  have been needed mostly  to protect and   transport the
Dursleys, plus one or two to accompany Harry just to make sure he got
where he was going.

 There wouldn't have been any question of Snape revealing Harry's
actual departure date, because Mundungus wouldn't have needed to know
it and wouldn't have been told. 

Dumbledore  would find it useful for Snape to meet with Mundungus,
ostensibly to serve Voldemort, but actually to keep Dumbledore
informed about things he might not have been able to find out from his
portrait pals. (I don't suppose there are portraits of former
headmasters in the sort of pubs where Mundungus hangs out.) As you
say, there should have been little chance that Mundungus could tell
Snape anything obviously vital.

But Thicknesse's edict meant Moody had to come up with a new plan at
short notice (which could explain why it wasn't that well
thought-out). Dung knows something about smuggling and evading the
Ministry's means of detecting it, as we learned in OOP. He'd be a
logical person to consult if you had to transport something and didn't
want the Ministry to know about it. 

And of course, having involved Mundungus in the planning, Moody would
want him in on the execution also, just to make sure he remembers
which side he is supposed to be on. 

Uh oh. Now Dumbledore and Snape have a problem.

Voldie must know that Mundungus is "the source we discussed." 

Polyjuice *may* keep Voldemort from finding out that Mundungus will be
part of the escort. But what if it does not? 

I wouldn't want to be in Snape's shoes, trying to explain  how
Mundungus showed up to take part in an operation that he didn't know
the time of. I wouldn't want to account to Voldemort for how I somehow
failed to extract that rather important piece of information.

Voldemort does not trust anybody. But he does take people for granted
--as long as they haven't made him suspicious. This would. Snape could
try to claim that Mundungus must have been told the real date at the
last moment. But there's no way to be sure that Voldemort will believe
him.

So, Dumbledore chose to take a calculated risk with Harry's life. 
He allowed Voldemort's forces to intercept the escort a few seconds
sooner than they would have anyway. 

But the Order chose  a calculated risk when it decided to
end the blood protection early. If its goal was to keep Harry as safe
as possible from moment to moment and let the future take care of
itself, it would have left Harry  at Privet Drive until
midnight of July 30th. 

If being willing to risk Harry's present safety in order to increase
his chances in the future is proof that Dumbledore does not care about
him, then I guess the Order does not care about Harry either.


Pippin