CHAPDISC: DH36, THE FLAW IN THE PLAN

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 185241

jkoney65 wrote:

> I think Bellatrix has more of reverent love for Voldemort. Almost 
> like he is a god to her. 

Carol responds:

I partially agree. I do think there's a sexual component to her
love/desire (not reciprocated by LV who, I think, has lost the
capacity for sexual desire along with the capacity to love), but I
also see an element of worship. It might be a warped form of hero
worship or the slavish adoration of a lord by a subject (as in
medieval times) or a form of idolatry. As I said in my own response to
this question, she reminds me of an evil and perverted Mary Magdalene
in her attitude toward her lord (and master).
> 
jkoney65:
> 
> The last thing he saw was the DE's standing around and Voldemort
casting the killing curse. I think he expected them to cheer. I think
he realized the bit of Voldemort he saw was the piece from the scar
and therefore Voldemort should still be standing and gloating. <snip>

Carol responds:
But it wasn't the soul piece from the scar, which DD informs Harry was
totally destroyed. It's the thing Voldemort will become if he doesn't
feel remorse (as Harry informs him before the final duel). JKR
confirmed this interpretation in an interview.

jkoney65:
> They look like they shouldn't be there because they shouldn't be. 
They were followers of Voldemort, Draco let the DE's into the castle 
in HBP, etc. They should be arrested and imprisoned with Narcissa
getting  a lighter sentance for helping Harry out. <snip>

Carol responds:
That's an interesting perspective. I don't think that Narcissa was
ever a DE or committed any crimes (with the possible exception of
helping to terrorize the Muggles at the QWC0, so I don't think she
would be sentenced. And none of them took part in the battle. Clearly,
even Lucius's loyalty to Voldemort had dwindled by the end of the
book. In fact, he didn't take part in the pursuit of Harry in DH (LV
took his wand, which was later destroyed). It's possible that the time
Lucius was supposed to serve as a DE is nearly up, and he hasn't
committed any new crimes for the simple reason that he doesn't have a
wand (and maybe none of the wands that Bellatrix took from the
Snatchers work for him). Would he get off lightly with time already
served because he didn't fight for LV (and, no doubt, repudiated him
loudly if anyone questioned him afterward)? And what about Draco? No
one except Harry, a few DEs, and the now-dead Snape know that Draco
let the DEs into Hogwarts. McGonagall knows that Madam Rosmerta was
Imperiused, but she doesn't know that Draco did it. No one but Harry
knows that Draco tried to kill DD with poisoned mead and a cursed
necklace, which nearly killed his classmates. And Draco was only
sixteen at the time (possibly just turned seventeen when he let the
DEs in, given his June birthday). What sentence, if any, does anyone
think he received?

My thought is that the Malfoys have lost their influence in Wizarding
society. It's possible, though, that their wealth has increased with
Bellatrix dead and Andromeda written out of her will, making Narcissa
or Draco her heir. That's assuming, of course, that Rodolphus and
Rabastan are also dead. (Draco hasn't fallen so far that he can't find
a wife later.)

Anyway, I think that the Malfoys have been punished enough, with the
possible exception of Lucius, who might benefit from a year or two of
bread and water, solitary confinement, and no baths.

jkoney65:
 I would have kept the wand, because every evil wizard is going to be
gunning for Harry Potter. He's going to become the notch that they all
want on their wand. so I think it would be very helpful to him. <snip>

Carol responds:
I'm not sure that the Elder Wand really is unbeatable, and Harry
should do just fine with his own wand, especially since no one else
will have a supposedly unbeatable wand. The only reason for Dark
wizards to go gunning for him would be if he *did* use the wand. If he
kept it safely hidden, no one knew where, there would be no point in
killing or defeating him (except that he's an Auror) because the wand
would still be inaccessible. Besides, if he used the wand, he'd risk
being murdered in his sleep like the original owner, and the evil
cycle would continue. The only way to break the power of the wand is
not to use it and to let its power die with its undefeated master.

jkoney65:
> The flaw in the plan was something that wasn't anticipated. DD
didn't know that Voldemort was looking for the wand. Therefore he had
no reason to plan for that. I don't think he would have wanted to
leave Snape as the master of the eldar wand if he knew Tom was looking
for it.

> Carol:
But Snape would not have been the master of the wand. It would have
lost its power because DD *chose* to have Snape kill him. But I agree
that DD didn't intend for LV to think that Snape was the wand's master
and murder him. (That doesn't fit at all with the plan to reveal to
Harry that he has to die after LV starts protecting Nagini.) Nor could
DD have guessed that Harry's wand would act on its own, sending
Voldemort on the quest for a more powerful wand that he might have
undertaken but didn't after the Priori Incantatem, or that he would
obtain the wand (which had not lost its powers) before Harry destroyed
the last Horcrux. Just what DD *did* intend or anticipate is unclear.
But either way, Snape as master of the wand was never part of the
plan--nor was setting Snape up to look like its master and be
murdered. That would not have happened if it weren't for a chain of
events, which included Harry's dropping the portrait of Grindelwald,
that DD could not possibly have foreseen.

Carol, who sees DD as a manipulator but not the cold-blooded
sacrificer of his own troops that some people on this list seem to
envision