CHAPDISC: DH32, The Elder Wand

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 184784

> Pippin:
> 
> It *was* important -- to Dumbledore. 
> 
> In retrospect, Dumbledore's efforts to recruit non-wizard allies and
> reform the ministry were long shots and you might wonder why he
> bothered. He must have known how entrenched the opposition was.  

Montavilla47:
I'm not sure what you mean by Dumbledore's efforts to reform the
Ministry.  I didn't see him ever make any effort in that regard.  He 
seemed to regard the Ministry as a nuisance to be ignored whenever
possible.  Although, he was willing to advise Fudge before their
break.

Perhaps Dumbledore saw the overtures to the giants and werewolves
as long shots, but I certainly didn't get that impression in GoF.  I 
got the impression that they would make a big difference in the 
upcoming struggle.  Therefore, as a reader, I'm disappointed that
they ultimately seemed irrelevant.  It was a set up that didn't pay off.

Pippin:
> But if even one of those long shots  had paid off, Voldemort's
> takeover might have been prevented. If it wasn't necessary to kill him
> to stop him, then along with saving many other innocent lives, that
> would mean *Harry* didn't have  to die. 

Okay.  How exactly would one of those long shots have prevented
Voldemort's takeover?  How would they have made a darn bit of 
difference?  The giants were stupid and unable to organize into 
any effective political or fighting force.   The only werewolf we ever
saw (apart from Lupin and the guy he visited in St. Mungo's) was
Fenrir Greyback.  It's pretty obvious he'd stick with Voldemort
no matter what the other werewolves did, and we don't see any
other werewolves fighting for either side.

Nor, if the werewolves had come over to the Ministry (we don't 
actually know if they did or not), could they have been particularly
effective--unless they were sent to eat Death Eaters or something.

Pippin:
>  It's not until after Lupin has given up trying to persuade the
> werewolves in HBP that Dumbledore confided the last part of his plan
> to Snape. Up until then he might still have been hoping it could be
> avoided. 

Montavilla47:
When did Lupin give up?  I saw him complaining about his assignment,
but I never saw him give it up.

Pippin:
> Plotwise, of course, JKR needed a way to keep Hagrid and Lupin
> offstage for long periods but still available for their parts in the
> last book. 

Montavilla47:
I have to disagree with even this statement.  The only time JKR
*needed* Hagrid offstage was when Harry arrived late at Hogwarts.
(If Hagrid hadn't been visiting his brother, he could just as easily 
have been busy escorting the firsties across the lake at that moment.
And, by the way, I wonder who got stuck with that job in HBP?)

There was no plot need to remove Hagrid during OotP.  

As for Lupin, he was only really around during PoA.  He could have
been given any sort of mysterious assignment to keep him off-stage
if needed.  It wasn't like anyone was obsessively writing essays 
about there Bill was during the bulk of HBP.  

The obsession with Lupin's activities was more likely fueled by
the idea (planted by that ending scene in GoF) that the werewolves
were ZOMG IMPORTANT!  Because of this, people wondered what 
exactly Lupin was up to, imagining that he was doing something 
very dangerous and intense, and worried that he didn't seem to be
getting very far with it.

Without the set up, we probably wouldn't have wondered about it
at all.