COS Chapter Twelve: "The Polyjuice Potion"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

* Sincere apologies for the lack of postage over the past few weeks; suffice to say that, whilst I’d be happy to log on regularly, RL seems to have other ideas.

 

* Slytherin are so evil that even the thought of being there is enough to make Harry feel sick. These books are such a good argument for tolerance, don’t you think?

* “Harry was just thinking that all he needed was for Dumbledore’s pet bird to die while he was alone in the office with it” just makes him sound so self-centred. Never mind about the dead bird, or Dumbledore losing his beloved pet, I might get in trouble for it! Even though I’d have no motive in killing it and it was pretty obviously sick before I came in.

* Fawkes is usually very pretty, just in case we were worrying that Harry might end up having his life saved by something ugly.

* Given what we now know about Dumbledore’s views on personal loyalty, the emphasis on the word “faithful” looks rather sinister.

* Any guesses on why exactly Hagrid needs to carry the rooster around with him in the castle?

* That’s right, Harry, don’t tell DD about that mysterious voice you heard! Heaven forbid that you might actually help him solve the mystery before anybody is seriously hurt.

* I think it’s rather sweet that Crabbe and Goyle are staying behind with Malfoy. They really do seem to care about each other. (Well, until the abomination that is DH, that is.)

* Harry’s glad that most people are leaving, despite the fact that this’ll narrow down the potential list of suspects and make it more likely that they’ll be caught.

* “[Harry] was tired of people skirting around him in the corridors, as though he were about to sprout fangs or spit poison; tired of all the muttering, pointing and hissing as he passed.” I wonder if that’s what the Slytherins feel like all the time?

* I have to admit, F&G’s heir of Slytherin routine is pretty amusing. But since it’s so different to their usual brand of “humour”, I think I can like it without feeling too guilty.

* I wonder why Fred, George and Ginny have decided to stay? Is it because the fine Mr. Weasley had to pay means they can’t afford to take them, and they’re too proud to admit the real reason?

* I’m sure that the teachers of Hogwarts appreciate Percy staying behind to help them, even if Harry doesn’t.

*How rude of the Dursleys to send him a toothpick like that, especially when Harry gave them an expensive luxury hamper bursting to the brim with Honeyduke’s finest chocolate. Or nothing. I forget which.

* BTW, it seems odd to go to all the trouble of sending Harry such a silly little present. Unless DD sent Hedwig to keep bothering them until they sent something…

* Ron gives Harry a book about Ron’s favourite Quidditch team, rather than something Harry would be expected to be interested in.

* I hope Mrs. Weasley gave her real children presents which were at least as good as the ones she gave Harry.

* F&G have bewitched Percy’s Prefect Badge to make it say “Pinhead”. Oh, the hilarity!

* Crabbe and Goyle eat four helpings of pudding. Harry and Ron, who aren’t greedy pigs, limit themselves to three.

* Hermione’s telling the Slytherins that Millicent Bulstrode came back would backfire spectacularly once they realised that Millicent had not in fact returned, and that they had, therefore, been tricked.

* It’s a shame that nobody’s written a HP/Hercule Poirot crossover fic, in which Poirot investigates the Polyjuice incident. He’d probably solve the mystery within half an hour, and then work out who’s petrifying all those students for good measure.

* Ron and Hermione are prepared to knock out two of Draco’s friends based on extremely flimsy evidence. Remember this is HBP, when they refuse to believe that Draco’s up to something, despite having much better evidence than they do here.

* At least Harry and Ron didn’t strip Crabbe and Goyle. Be grateful for small mercies, I suppose.

* Millicent Bulstrode is “no pixie”, apparently, which seems like a polite way of saying “fat”. Outside of fandom, are there any pretty Slytherin girls, or are they all fat and ugly?

* You’d have thought it wouldn’t have been beyond the Trio to change into their new clothes before taking the Polyjuice Potion.

* Ever since reading Draco Dormiens, I’ve always imagined Harry surreptitiously checking to see whether Goyle is bigger than he is.

* And now they’ve got to find the Slytherin common room. Gee, guys, would it have been impossible to find that out before you took the Potion? Even if you don’t arouse suspicion by not knowing where it is, you’ll waste valuable time trying to find it.

* All this makes Ron’s quip about Goyle being dumb look rather silly.

* I don’t know why, but I’ve always thought that this Ravenclaw girl was Penelope Clearwater. Perhaps she’s just been meeting Percy in one of the disused dungeons.

* Whoever she is, her reply to Harry and Ron is rather rude. Is that what the Slytherins are treated like all the time? It’s a shame Harry and Ron never consider this, and maybe get a bit of sympathy for the Slytherins.

* The Slytherin password is “Pureblood”, just to remind us that they’re all racists, and, therefore, evil. Never mind that Slytherin’s most famous alumni, Tom Riddle and Severus Snape, were both halfbloods, and in Tom’s case, there was no way to know whether he was a muggleborn, pureblood or half-blood.

* The Slytherin common-room doesn’t look particularly luxurious, which seems odd for a supposed bastion of aristocratic privilege. Perhaps it’s like that to try and inculcate some humility into the children, like the fag system in old British public schools.

* I think it’s rather sweet of Mr. Malfoy to send his son newspaper clippings like that. “Here, Draco, let’s both laugh together at these guys!” I still think it odd that such an evil bully as Draco apparently is wouldn’t make greater use of it to humiliate Ron. Maybe he’s not so bad after all.

* Mrs. Weasley has threatened to set the family ghoul on reporters, apparently not realising that that sort of action is extremely bad publicity.

* Draco’s theory about DD hushing up the attacks is probably correct; at any rate, nobody seems to refer to them much in later books.

* Do racists normally go on about how much they hate [insert ethnicity here] as much as Draco’s doing in this scene? It just comes across as really false and over-the-top, at least to me. Perhaps he’s twigged that there’s something wrong with “Crabbe” and “Goyle”, and is deliberately acting oddly in order to see if they notice.

* Draco wishes that Hermione would get killed by the monster. Knowing what she’s going to become in later books, I can’t help but wonder whether that might not be for the best after all.

* For all Harry and Ron’s jokes about C&G being thick, they seem to be arousing Draco’s suspicions by being slower on the uptake.

* Harry and Ron are “hoping against hope that Malfoy hadn’t noticed anything.” I wouldn’t count on it, guys; he seems like a good Potions student, so he probably remembers what Snape said about the Polyjuice Potion; Harry and Ron were the least convincing Crabbe and Goyle imaginable; a boy who can notice Harry’s foot slipping out of the invisibility cloak for a split second would almost certainly notice his best friends changing into somebody else before his eyes; and the real Crabbe and Goyle would tell him that they weren’t there. He probably knows what happened, and feels really annoyed that DD doesn’t do anything about it.

* What’s the point of Cat!Hermione? It doesn’t advance the plot, it doesn’t contribute to characterisation, and it doesn’t add to the atmosphere of the story. Perhaps it’s to stop people questioning her plan by making them feel sorry for her.

* “Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions…” Given what goes on in Hogwarts, maybe it’s time she started.

 

Comments

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Slytherin are so evil that even the thought of being there is enough to make Harry feel sick. These books are such a good argument for tolerance, don’t you think?

It's amazing how black-and-white JKR's depiction of their world is, and yet people treat it like she created this intricate, complex world full of subtleties. If she'd stuck to writing children's books, that's fine to have people as caricatures, but what bothers me is people treating these books as the very best thing to ever happen to literature when it's full of cliches and so very one-dimensional and exaggerated. But for some reason, fans act like she's teaching real life lessons about morality and tolerance, like wtf? When does that ever happen?

* “Harry was just thinking that all he needed was for Dumbledore’s pet bird to die while he was alone in the office with it” just makes him sound so self-centred. Never mind about the dead bird, or Dumbledore losing his beloved pet

This I took more as sarcasm. Harry can be wry at times, I didn't really see it as 'omg, the bird might die, what will I do, I might get in trouble!' but more of, 'My life sucks right now. How could it get any worse? Oh, this awful thing might happen, I suppose'.

Given what we now know about Dumbledore’s views on personal loyalty, the emphasis on the word “faithful” looks rather sinister.

Oh, yeah. I'm seeing parallels between Fawkes and Snape now- talk about carrying heavy loads and being faithful to Dumbles, and look at their penchant for saving Harry's ass, while he takes all the credit for heroism.

That’s right, Harry, don’t tell DD about that mysterious voice you heard! Heaven forbid that you might actually help him solve the mystery before anybody is seriously hurt.

Okay, so he's thinking about how everyone's whispering about his behind his back and how he might be responsible for people being hurt...so it makes him LESS inclined to tell Dumbles everything in the hopes of clearing up what's going on, he chooses to keep his mouth shut on that tantalizing clue, which makes for a greater possibility kids will get hurt? Oh, yes, THAT's going to endear him to the student population.

Seriously, someone who's got a grudge might be like, 'Screw them all, I'm not gonna open my mouth, they can all die, serves them right'. But Harry hates being the center of attention and suspected Heir, so he has more reason to confide in Dumbles, but no! Logical fail...

Harry’s glad that most people are leaving, despite the fact that this’ll narrow down the potential list of suspects and make it more likely that they’ll be caught.

I've read a few snark recaps of CoS and each time this is brought up, I headdesk over and over. IT MAKES NO SENSE to be happy at the limited suspect pool!

I have to admit, F&G’s heir of Slytherin routine is pretty amusing. But since it’s so different to their usual brand of “humour”, I think I can like it without feeling too guilty.

I felt kind of dirty for snickering at their banter- but this is one case where they're actually funny and not hurtful, so it's okay!

BTW, it seems odd to go to all the trouble of sending Harry such a silly little present. Unless DD sent Hedwig to keep bothering them until they sent something…

That seems in character. Saddle them with an unwanted kid they have to clothe and feed and educate without any access to the money in his vault to pay for any of that, bully them into keeping this kid with threats at any hint they might want to give up this responsibility they never asked for, throw glasses at their heads YEARS too late to be ranting at their abuse, which he knew about and never bothered to address...yes, I can see him being sanctimonious and insisting on them making some sort of gesture in the Christmast spirit. Ugh.

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/Oh, yeah. I'm seeing parallels between Fawkes and Snape now- talk about carrying heavy loads and being faithful to Dumbles, and look at their penchant for saving Harry's ass, while he takes all the credit for heroism./

Good point, I didn't notice the parallels there.

/Okay, so he's thinking about how everyone's whispering about his behind his back and how he might be responsible for people being hurt...so it makes him LESS inclined to tell Dumbles everything in the hopes of clearing up what's going on, he chooses to keep his mouth shut on that tantalizing clue, which makes for a greater possibility kids will get hurt? Oh, yes, THAT's going to endear him to the student population./

Does Harry think that if he says anything, Dumbledore will think that he's the Heir, too? That's the only reason that I can come up with for why Harry doesn't tell him anything. (Well, either that, or it's because life with the Dursleys caused him to distrust authority figures and keep things to himself.)

/That seems in character. Saddle them with an unwanted kid they have to clothe and feed and educate without any access to the money in his vault to pay for any of that, bully them into keeping this kid with threats at any hint they might want to give up this responsibility they never asked for, throw glasses at their heads YEARS too late to be ranting at their abuse, which he knew about and never bothered to address...yes, I can see him being sanctimonious and insisting on them making some sort of gesture in the Christmast spirit. Ugh./

I know, I don't see how anyone could think that Dumbledore came off well in that chapter in DH where he confronted the Dursleys. Yes, Albus, their abuse of Harry was terrible, but you *knew* that they were abusing him and you didn't do anything about it! You knew that they were the types of people who hated and feared magic, and you left Harry with them anyway! And what's even worse is that you of all people should have known what the Dursley's treatment could have done to Harry, given that your own *sister* was abused by magic-fearing Muggles. And you didn't keep tabs on Harry; you didn't regularly drop in to see how he was doing or send anybody else to meet regularly with the Dursleys to give them pointers on how to deal with Harry's magic, you just dropped him off and left. The Dursleys may be guilty of abuse, but you're also guilty of criminal negligence.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Does Harry think that if he says anything, Dumbledore will think that he's the Heir, too?

All he thinks is that 'hearing voices isn't a good thing, even in the wizarding world' and decides not to say anything. So he's worried Dumbles will think he's a crackpot, I guess.

(bizarre, because:

a) how does Ron know it's not a good thing in the Muggle world, what about those spiritual healers, shamans, etc? He doesn't know anything about our world, after all, like, people pay psychics a lot of money to contact spirits and whatnot!

b) who does Ron know that heard voices and was reinforced that this was a bad thing? Or where did he learn that it was a bad thing? I mean, he lives in a magic world where the impossible happens on a daily business- talking to snakes, well, that's obvious, snakes are associated with Slytherin, therefore, EVIL, but hearing voices alone is bad?)

I don't see how anyone could think that Dumbledore came off well in that chapter in DH where he confronted the Dursleys. Yes, Albus, their abuse of Harry was terrible, but you *knew* that they were abusing him and you didn't do anything about it!

YES. But nobody acknowledges that! I hate it sfm. What double-standards. Dumbles puts him in an abusive situation and he's glorified. I mean, wtf, honestly.

Also, guess who it was that made it so Harry HAD to live with his hateful Muggle relatives? Dumbledore! Because he was the one who figured out that Harry was responsible for ending Voldy's reign, it was only him, Sirius and Hagrid who were at Godric's Hollow.

Sirius was busy angsting over his dead loved ones and at having his godson taken away and then seeking vengeance against Pettigrew.

Hagrid was busy spiriting Harry away to the Dursleys.

So who is it that was left to spill the beans on an infant taking down Voldy? Dumbles! If he hadn't said anything, Harry wouldn't have been in danger of a swelled head and had to be put with relatives who would mistreat him.

That's how I see it, anyway.

[oryx_leucoryx]

If swelled-head syndrome worried Dumbles so much he could have avoided encouraging the public admiration of Harry once he was at Hogwarts - eg not letting him play Quidditch as a first year and not giving him those tons of House points at the leaving feast. I don't believe Albus was sincere in the reason he gave Minerva for Harry's placement with the Dursleys. Nor do I believe he did so to keep him safe from Voldemort's followers. Certainly not through blood-protection. This protection only works against Voldemort himself.

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly. It just seems stupid to promote the idea they wanted him humble but at the same time once he gets into the magical world he's given all sorts of privilages other students/people are denied.

Hell, that would go both for Dumbledore and JKR - Harry just happens to have a stash of gold that means his money troubles are over. We don't have Harry every question the authority figures in his life to ask what happen for the last 11 years. It might have been nice to have some new shoes, clothing of his own instead of his aunt and uncle just having to buck up and pay for a kid they never expected to have to pay for.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Harry is unrealistically well-adjusted and unquestioning. Any normal kid would've been so damaged by that life he was forced to lead- and the moment when Dumbles is like 'but your power of love made you withstand hardship so wonderfully' makes me want to spit because no, it's not any virtue of Harry's that he turned out well, it's because that's what the plot needed. All those people who talk about how great it is that JKR has realistic characters, pfft! A real child in those circumstances would be angry, depressed, resentful, antisocial like all get out, for starters.

But Harry just laps up all the privileges as his due and swans around majestically and doesn't even question why the hell he had to suffer all those years. No wonder I can't take the Dursleys seriously, they had pretty much zero effect on his growth if he can shrug off their abuse that easily.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Let's be realistic- Dumbles never had Harry's wellbeing in mind. He needed the kid downtrodden and desperate to be rescued so that he'd give Dumbles his loyalty and die on cue. That's all there was to it. And yet we're supposed to praise him because over the years, he developed some smidgen of affection for the boy- supposedly, I'm not sure I believe that- but not enough to waver from his plan of 'Operation: Harry the Sacrificial Lamb'.

Nor do I believe he did so to keep him safe from Voldemort's followers. Certainly not through blood-protection. This protection only works against Voldemort himself

THIIIIS.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

Also, guess who it was that made it so Harry HAD to live with his hateful Muggle relatives?

That whole "Harry needs to go back to the Dursleys to recharge the magik blood bond thing" is so lame. If Harry needed to be in close physical proximity to Aunt Petunia or Cousin Dudley to get his yearly booster "shot", then why not just have the Dursleys have to host a birthday party for him every year, but have Harry live the rest of the time with wizard foster parents?

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

Because he had to be able to call Privet Drive home. JKR's typically unclear on what this actually means, but it's probable that it means the Dursleys had to be willing to let him live there, and that he actually had to live there for some minimum amount of time each year.

[oryx_leucoryx]

But did he really need to call this place 'home' while Tom was bodiless? It couldn't protect him from anyone else, despite Twinkly's attempts to imply that it did. And when Tom returned, the moment there was trouble Harry was spirited *away* from 4PD.

[condwiramurs.livejournal.com]

Even though living in a place and truly being able to call it home are not necessarily identical. Harry *feels* much more at home in the WW, while he never feels truly at home at the Dursleys.

So what does 'home' mean in the context of being near his blood relatives, really. If the magic functions it can't be based on an internal sense of home; but if it's merely permission for physical proximity, why wasn't there some other way of working it that wouldn't have had Harry left with neglectful guardians for a decade and more?

Really, I suspect it's a bit of BS Dumbledore dreamed up as an excuse to shape Harry's environment for his own ends. Then again, I've stopped trusting DD completely now.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

If a couple of months during the summer sufficed from the time Harry turns 11 and attends Hogwarts, why did he have to live with the Dursleys more than a couple of months a year from the start? And, as time goes on, he spends less and less time with the Dursleys and more with the Weasleys so it's possbile to think that Harry could spend Christmas holidays with the Dursleys and that would do it, so long as he and everyone else said this was his home. "Home" could be used in the sense of the ancestral or familial seat as well as the actual abode.

But, if he lived with the Weasleys and grew up as Ginny's step-brother, that would be too squick-able when they married at the end, never mind that there is no immediate (and, therefore, incestuous) blood connection.

[oryx_leucoryx]

If we believe there was anything real in the 'protection' then home is where one thinks of going when not at school. Remember in OOTP when Harry believes he might be expelled, he thinks he'd have to stay with the Dursleys for good. He doesn't think he'd be living with the Weasleys or Sirius, but at 4PD.

After that he asks Sirius if he can come live with him and Sirius deflects the question - so it looks like Albus told Sirius Harry's home can't be with him, only with the Dursleys. (Still doesn't help us decide whether thre was any real protection or if it was just a show.)

Minimum time living at 4PD

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

The minimum time is one night per year, as long as he called it home. Per HBP, when Twinkles negotiated with the Dursleys for one final return.

Re: Minimum time living at 4PD

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

The minimum time is one night per year, as long as he called it home. Per HBP, when Twinkles negotiated with the Dursleys for one final return.

Which then means that Harry DID have to spend most of his time with the Dursleys when growing up (as opposed to being taken in by a wizard foster family and only visiting the Dursleys once a year) for it to gain the proper designation of "home".

But by the time he started attending Hogwarts, he shouldn't have had to spend his entire summers back at 4PD -- and definitely at the end of Book 6/beginning of Book 7, why didn't he just leave Hogwarts right after DD's funeral, stay one night at the Dursleys, and then leave for the Weasley's?

Baby Harry - who knew what when

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

So who is it that was left to spill the beans on an infant taking down Voldy? Dumbles! If he hadn't said anything, Harry wouldn't have been in danger of a swelled head and had to be put with relatives who would mistreat him.


Yes, exactly. Who would have know anything, Voldemort was taking his vapor-bit-of-soul-self somewhere else. I don't think he stopped along the way and put up banners stating that Harry Potter did this to me, etc.

Although we do know Hagrid does have a big mouth and tells secrets, so there is that.

Plus another thing I'm remembering is that Bellatrix and other Death Eaters went to the Longbottoms and attacked them after the attack on the Potters - in fact if memory serves me right it was described as being a while after when everyone started to think Voldie and his DE attacks were over.

I have always wondered, why would Bellatrix go to the Longbottom family 'a while' after Voldemort had gone and torture them in an attempt to get information leading to the location of Voldemort.

At least that is what I remember as to why the Longbottoms were attacked.

So did Bellatrix assume it was the Longbottoms Voldemort went after instead of the Potters - but that doesn't quite make sense either because if the attack on the Potters happened before, then Bellatrix would have known that Voldie disappeared after the potter family was dead.

Anyway, back to the original point - it leaves Dumbledore in charge of either keeping the secret that Harry defeated Voldemort or telling everyone.

Seriously Dumbledore could have easily just told everyone that Harry Potter died with his parents. Which to me would have made more sense considering that Voldemorts followers would have been likely to want the baby dead.

So why Dumbledore is putting the baby in the most obvious place, and not changing the kids name is pretty stupid. So much for being a brilliant wizard.

Dumbledore could have changed the kids name, does some kinda magic to dye Harry's hair red and given him to the Weasley's; since magical people don't seem to know each other all that well WHO would have known any different if the Weasley's had one more red headed kid around the house?

Especially considering that the whole deal with the blood stuff seems null and void to me. Doesn't Harry himself have Lily's blood in him so what was the point in torturing him to live at the Dursley's since he already had the magical protection anyway?


Or there should have been any number of families who DD could have trusted to keep the secret of the baby and who the baby was. Hell, give him to Snape...could baby Harry have been much worse off with Snape as a caretaker than at the Dursleys?

DD just charged Snape with t he future task of keeping Harry alive and safe. We know that for the whole rest of his life Sev was up to keeping the kid alive.

The abuse Harry suffered at the Dursleys probably wouldn't have been any worse at the house of Snape. In fact, Harry might have become a pretty frickin formitable wizard living under the Snape household.

Again, back to the point, Dumbledore should have just told everyone that harry Potter died - it would have been a lot simpler.

Re: Baby Harry - who knew what when

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

I have always wondered, why would Bellatrix go to the Longbottom family 'a while' after Voldemort had gone and torture them in an attempt to get information leading to the location of Voldemort.

At least that is what I remember as to why the Longbottoms were attacked.

So did Bellatrix assume it was the Longbottoms Voldemort went after instead of the Potters - but that doesn't quite make sense either because if the attack on the Potters happened before, then Bellatrix would have known that Voldie disappeared after the potter family was dead.

Dumbledore says (yes, I know) that Bella thought the Longbottoms, as prominent Aurors (and, presumably, as members of the Order) might have known where Voldemort had vanished to.

Especially considering that the whole deal with the blood stuff seems null and void to me. Doesn't Harry himself have Lily's blood in him so what was the point in torturing him to live at the Dursley's since he already had the magical protection anyway?

Dumbledore says (again, yes, I know) that putting him with the Dursleys sealed his protection. The impression I got was that Lily's sacrifice was a one-shot protection against the AK (Voldemort would have killed him in DH had it not been for them sharing blood), but living with his biological family (maybe it had to be the family of the relative who performed the sacrifice?) made his home a permanent protection against Voldemort when he returned. Harry's touch burning Voldemort could be a side-effect of this rather than just the original sacrifice. The problem with this is that it gets complicated by Voldemort sharing his blood - he gains the ability to touch him, but no one seems to think that this might break the protection on Privet Drive.

Re: Baby Harry - who knew what when

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

The impression I got was that Lily's sacrifice was a one-shot protection against the AK (Voldemort would have killed him in DH had it not been for them sharing blood), but living with his biological family (maybe it had to be the family of the relative who performed the sacrifice?) made his home a permanent protection against Voldemort when he returned.

[...]

The problem with this is that it gets complicated by Voldemort sharing his blood

That really *is* a problem, because it suggests that Harry didn't need to live with the *Dursleys*; all they needed was to find a suitable wizarding family with at least one member of a compatable blood type, and to give them a transfusion of a few drops of baby Harry's blood. Simple.

Re: Baby Harry - who knew what when

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

Blood type is taking it a bit literally - the impression I got was that it has to be family (and yes, you can argue that every human is related to some degree, but this is magic we're talking about here, and this sort of ancient blood magic always uses more limited definitions of family), and as I said, probably family that shared Lily's blood (in the metaphorical sense - the protection would, I'm sure, still have worked had their blood types been different).

Re: Baby Harry - who knew what when

[condwiramurs.livejournal.com]

It also doesn't protect Harry against the Death Eaters - only against Voldie himself. ANYONE could have snatched the kid in the street, and since DD didn't bother to change Harry's name or hide any info regarding his parents, an enterprising DE could have looked up Lily's maiden name and information such as her Muggle address as a child, then tracked down the Dursleys that way. Or done a "point me Harry Potter" spell and simply have tracked down his physical location.

Since none of the DEs other than Bella and co. took any steps like this to try to bring Voldie back or kill Harry until Voldie returned, it doesn't really look like they were all that keen on Voldie being around now does it?

Re: Baby Harry - who knew what when

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

Given how the DEs lurk in wait in DH even when Voldemort shares Harry's blood rather than attack at once, we can assume there was some sort of protection. Probably only on the house, though. It would help if we knew if any of Dudley's gang had hurt Harry at No. 4, Privet Drive, because if not, we can assume that he's protected there from anyone except the family whose home it is (well done, Albus!)

Re: Baby Harry - who knew what when

[oryx_leucoryx]

The problem with this is that it gets complicated by Voldemort sharing his blood - he gains the ability to touch him, but no one seems to think that this might break the protection on Privet Drive.

Which is why it looks like the protection against touching or direct spell-casting was permanent from Lily, and the 4PD protection was about something else, though I'm still not clear about what. At the least - a protection against Tom himself finding Harry at 4PD.

Re: Baby Harry - who knew what when

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

The whole thing with Harry being 'safe' at the Dursleys is BS. The only person he'd be safe from is Voldy- who wasn't even CORPOREAL for eleven years. So why couldn't Harry be in the WW? (aside from Dumbles needing him to suffer so he could be malleable)

And I don't even understand how the protective charm works that way. Lily's sacrifice is so special and awesome it saves Harry from the CURSE THAT ALWAYS KILLS, but not only that, it keeps him safe from the evil villain even years after? Her love through Harry's touch even destroys a body holding the spirit of the original baddie she died to protect Harry from? Not bad for a woman who was just screaming helplessly. (makes you wonder why nobody else ever got a magical love shield, there had to be others who died for their loved ones)

And for him to go back to Privet Drive after HBP makes ZERO sense. Dumbles is dead, his mission is about to begin in earnest, wtf was the point of going somewhere the enemy knew about and to leave on a date that Dumbles apparently told Snape to tell Voldy about? I mean, seriously, what was that supposed to accomplish? Snape already had his trust after killing Dumbles, why put Harry and co in unnecessary danger?

But putting that aside, why did he have to return to the Dursleys at all?!

The problem with this is that it gets complicated by Voldemort sharing his blood - he gains the ability to touch him, but no one seems to think that this might break the protection on Privet Drive

SO CONFUUUUSED. *clutches head*

Re: Baby Harry - who knew what when

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

...Bellatrix and other Death Eaters went to the Longbottoms and attacked them after the attack on the Potters -

I had always thought it was because Voldemort had an itinerary that night: Off the Potters, off the Longbottoms. Dumbledore mentioned, at least once, that Neville was a potential "Prophecy boy" with his birthday just the day before Harry's, IIRC; also, the Longbottoms matched the description, too, having defied Voldemort 3 or more times. It made sense to me that Voldemort would want to destroy both potential trouble-makers. He wouldn't have had to tell anyone why he was targeting those two families or, he could have said he needed to make examples of them for their continuing defiance.

So, Voldemort was apparently successful at the Potters' home. With both parents dead, who would destroy him? Possible option left: he confronted the Longbottoms and was offed or somehow made to disappear. This would make sense if he didn't say he was going after the children, instead giving the impression that he was going after the parents for their defiance.

Only by putting out the story that baby Harry had defeated Voldemort could Dumbledore protect the Longbottoms, not counting on crazy Bellatrix going after them anyway or, possibly, not being so crazy after all and not accepting DD's story. In fact, this gave DD the option of two "Prophecy boys" and if Harry was offed, he would still have Neville. Only, Voldy's marking of Harry by turning him into a Horcrux precluded that option.

Now, if that was what was in the stories, it would have flown with me, and it would have jibed with either a manipulative DD or a beleaguered DD. But, it wasn't there. DD put all his bets on Harry from day 1 and didn't give a second thought to Neville until he needed to make Harry feel guilty.

Re: Baby Harry - who knew what when

[oryx_leucoryx]

I don't think anyone but Tom, Severus and the Dumbledore brothers knew there was a prophecy or that Neville was a potential threat the same way Harry was.

There is no sign of the Longbottoms being protected in any way, whether before or after Halloween 1981. Frank was an active Auror the whole time.