[HBP] Why didn't Voldemort Modify Hagrid's Memory?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 190186



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at ...> wrote:
>
> Cassie:
> > I was just listening to HBP ....). Voldemort modified
> > Morphin's memory ... and Hokey the House Elf..., but didn't
> > modify Hagrid's memory ...
> > 
> > Any thoughts as to why?
> >
> 
> Pippin:
> There were multiple attacks, not just the one that killed Myrtle. That would require more extensive memory modification ...
> 
> Also, ... if Hagrid thought Aragog was guilty, he would turn him in, and it would be immediately obvious to everyone, ...(it had not) attacked her.
> 
> Pippin
>

Steve:

Let's also examine Riddle's motives. In the case of the murder of his parents, and the framing of Morphin, he wanted to hide his hand in it and make sure the connection to him was never recognized, no matter how small or slight that recognition might have been.

However, in Hagrid's case, he simply needed a scapegoat. His goal was to stop the closing of Hogwarts. As long as that goal was achieved, he was happy. 

Further, as we HAVE discussed before, the case against Hagrid and Aragog was as thin and flimsy as tissue paper. Anyone who wanted to could have seen through that story in a second, but they didn't want to see through it, because they to wanted a politically expedient scapegoat, and Riddle provided them with just that.

They simply need an excuse to close the book and put it all behind them. I suspect Riddle understood these political motivations and knew that if he gave them any excuse, no matter how fimsy, to close the book, that book would snap shut like a steel trap. 

So, in the case of the murders of he want no trace however small of his involvement, so he had to be far more clever is his cover up. Further, he framed people with a high likelihood of being accepted as guilty. Morphin was a notorious muggle hater, and had attacked muggles before. Not hard to believe him guilty. As to Hokey, he/she was an elf, who are always given short shift by wizards. Again, another politically expedient solution to an embarrassing case for the Ministry.  

In all case, Riddle depends on the bureaucracy to want and need a quick and easy solution. But in the case of the two murders, he desperately wanted to hide his involvement. However, in Hagrid's case, Tom's involvement was clear. He received a Special Services award for turning Hagrid in. Once the presents of Aragog became known, the 'establishment' has the solution it needed to restore and protect its reputation. 

Again, as we have discussed before, the whole Aragog story was as full of holes as a colander, but no one wanted to see that. They had a perfect excuse to sweep everything under the rug, and they took it, as Riddle knew they would. But, there was no need for Riddle to hide himself, just the opposite, he made himself the hero in this little story.

Steve/bboyminn