Hoax? (Re: That Bloody Man Again )

[Jen Reese]

> Pippin:
> But when did it go wrong? Would it take  Dumbledore any
> longer to realize this was the wrong locket than it did Harry? He
> would know he'd been decoyed, or at least that there was a good
> chance
> of it. Which, as I've said in another post, almost guarantees that
> the potion has no antidote. Voldemort doesn't need to find out how
> the drinker managed to find his way to the cave. He already knows.
> 
> His victim will be  allowed to live just long enough to realize
> that he's been snookered. I suspect only Dumbledore's great magical
> power allowed him to survive as long as he did. 

Jen: You make an interesting point here, Pippin, that the entire 
cave set-up was a hoax meant only to kill the person finding it. And 
that he or she would only discover the truth while being dragged 
down into the Inferi or slowly poisoned to death! Is that right?

My first thought was--'but that can't be, Only a handful of people 
know about the cave and we're lead to believe all were Muggles. 
Except Dumbledore.' Ding Ding Ding! One very important wizard knows 
about the cave and has the intelligence and skills to find it.

But if Voldemort set up the cave as a big gotcha for Dumbledore, or 
anyone else for that matter, why in the world wouldn't he take 
credit for it? Any person (un)lucky enough to find the cave would be 
going to the grave like we are, scratching his or her proverbial 
head--'hmmm, who is RAB and if it's *Regulus* how did he have the 
skills to do this? And if not....' glub, glub, glub down into the 
lake or death by posioning. No opportunity to know Voldemort won. If 
it's a hoax, Voldemort messed up big time. 

(Not to mention Riddle never knew Dumbledore heard the cave story 
from Mrs. Cole. But I don't think you were inferring the hoax was 
meant only for Dumbledore, that was just my own speculation).

I found JKR's journey through the psychology of Voldemort's evil 
extremely telling. Given his particular profile, Voldemort would not 
let the opportunity pass by to inform the victim he just got 
snookered by Voldemort himself. In fact, I'm not certain it fits the 
profile for LV to plan a hoax at all. Voldemort plans with a very 
specific purpose and outcome in mind. He doesn't waste time 
satisfying his morbid sense of humor with no other 'trophy'in the 
bargain. For instance, Voldemort's quite satisfied when one of his 
schemes makes a fool of someone, like transporting Harry to the 
graveyard right under Dumbledore's nose, but he doesn't plan the 
scheme with that being the *primary* outcome.

Much as I love the idea of a hoax, I don't think the glimpses into 
Voldemort's psychology support it. We have extensive information 
about Voldemort's magic: He fears death & darkness, believes blood-
letting weakens the enemy, overlooks the obvious to feed his 
particular obsessions, trusts no one, and is over-confident about 
his strategy for immortality. He doesn't need to 'get' anyone else 
because he assumes no one can touch him.

Jen