Snipping Puppetmaster!DD

[Barry Arrowsmith]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Smythe, Boyd T {FLNA}" <boyd.t.smythe at f...> 
wrote:
> Howdy again, OC! Have been happily watching Kneasy try to draw you all out
> and belatedly realized he had done it to me--damn you, old man! But your
> keen intellect is no match for my poor sportsmanship, so I hereby announce
> that in this thesis I shall withhold canon-based arguments in favor of
> simple logic. En guarde!
>

Draw people out? Moi? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Would I  do  a thing like that?
 
> 
> Ah, yes, the eternal HPfGU question: is DD a scheming Puppetmaster or merely
> a powerful wizard? Do we believe that DD is so smart that he has caused
> Weapon!Harry to be, or at least positioned him for success? The rebounded
> AK? Turncoat!Peter? Priori Incantatem? The prophecy, Harry's visions,
> Harry's victory in the MoM? All thanks to DD?
> 

Sounds silly, doesn't it?
Maybe it is. 
Mind you, there are variants on the Puppetmaster Theory  and the one
I espouse doesn't postulate that DD manouevres Harry in every situation.
Nor does DD direct every jot and tittle of his existence. Deary me, no.
Just the important stuff.

A little list, by no means comprehensive - events in the life and times of 
H. Potter Esq. where DD's actions/inactions (either at the time or previously)
have had a marked/significant effect on the path Harry's life has taken.

Secret Keeper. Where was the much vaunted Legilimancy?

Old Magic protection - which *requires* the death of Lily to work.

Placement at Privet Drive - a place so unpleasant that he leaps at Hogwarts
as an escape.

A wand with Fawkes's feather- what a coincidence, it matches Voldy's.

DD's gopher just happens to reinforce Harry's initial feelings re Slytherin
- and apparently lies in the process. Peter and Sirius were Gryff - yet one
of them was the biggest traitor of the lot.

The same gopher drops important clues re PS.

Just happens to be aware that Voldy 'powers' have been transferred to Harry.
Riiiight. When did he know? During the 24 hours, perhaps?

Suggests use of the Time-turner for Harry (a neophyte) to save himself.
Why not go himself? Anybody else think there was back-up in the bushes?

Does bugger all when the Goblet in GoF is obviously fixed. It's not credible
that he's not aware of dirty work at the crossroads. He makes sure there's
one safeguard - resistance to Imperius. Even though Moody's a fake, he
can't slide past this one. The Portkey!Cup was a surprise, I think, yet it 
all ends with the 'gleam'.

Reveals the Prophecy, tells Harry what he is expected to do.

See, stuff like the MoM fight, that's happenstance. DD didn't plan it,
though I suspect he knew about it while it was happening and was ready
to act if and when it was required. Because Harry didn't win - DD did.
He already knew that Harry was full of something (no sniggering please)
that Voldy couldn't cope with. An AK could  have knocked Harry off, little
else IMO.
Same at the climax of PS/SS; monitoring via the Mirror probably.

DD whitters on about choices. He just hasn't allowed many to Harry.
Not big stuff, anyway. His business has been in forging and putting an
edge on Weapon!Harry. He has no choice, there is no other alternative, not
since Godric's Hollow.
 
But. Yep. There's a but. 
DD can't control or predict one important thing.
The Voldy fragment that's in Harry. That's the wild card. That could screw 
his plans completely. I'm willing to bet it was that invader than affected
Harry's attitudes in OoP - stroppy, stubborn, argumentative, and resulting
in the Occlumency cock-up.

You don't believe me, I can tell.
'Twas ever thus.
And if I'm wrong?
Who the hell cares? I'm having more fun just thinking up these devious
theories than I get from straight readings of the books.
Thank you Jo. You've given me a fun playground to romp around in.

Kneasy