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Reader Comments: (Page 9)

Yes, I know the Longbottoms were attacked after the fall of Voldemort. My understanding is that the Potters only went into hiding about a week before they were attacked, which is when the fidelius charm was performed, and in response to specific information given to them by Dumbledore. Someone told Dumbledore that Voldemort was after the Potters, he immediately told them and they went into hiding. Given they only went into hiding in response to specific information I don't think the Longbottoms were in hiding in the same way. Actually I wonder whether Neville's Grandma doesn't wish he had been chosen instead of Harry! How much did she know about the prophecy?

(I wander why Sirius was about to go into hiding himself at about the same time as the Potters.)

If Dumbledore warns everyone who might fit the description given in the prophecy and the prophecy never comes true as a result...does that mean that Voldemort couldn't be defeated? Would he not take steps to ensure that the prophesy came true?

Posted by Joe from England on May 24, 2007 5:02 PM

Joe,
I agree with you that Dumbledore had probably decided that the prophecy needed to play itself out with little or no interference from outside parties. Before Voldemort attacked the Potters, little could be done to stop him. The prophecy gave Dumbledore a weapon, which Voldemort himself would trigger by his own choices. I think Dumbledore sent Snape to inform to Voldemort, or at the very least, let him go, with full knowledge of what was on Snape's mind.
When Dumbledore couln't bring himself to tell young Harry about the prophecy, it was his own guilt holding his tongue.

Posted by Patty from Quincy,Massachusetts on May 25, 2007 07:12 AM

Joe - You are correct, it was "barely a week" after the charm was performed when James and Lily were found. However, they were being tailed for at least a year prior to that, and decided on their own to go into hiding. By that time, Albus would have known to whom the prophesy could have referred. It is entirely possible that Frank and Alice were warned of this and decided to go into hiding around the same time or even earlier if Albus had warned them that Voldemort may come after them.

I would think that Sirius would have been the first person Voldemort or the Eaters would attack to get information about the Potters, and because of this, he was in danger and so planned to go into hiding. That was the reason for the bluff use of Peter instead as Secret Keeper, after all.

Posted by Monkeeshrines from Orlando FL on May 25, 2007 08:14 AM

this is indeed an excellent article. I have to admit I never thought of this before. I think Jo may have given us a subtle hint that Emmeline Vance play a role in the final book when she said there is still one character of the Order whom we have to meet properly. Many think it may be Aberfoth, but could it actually be Emmeline?

Posted by Abhay Doshi from India Mumbai on June 1, 2007 06:13 AM

oh, what a good point! I think Snape might have done it to prove his loyalty.

Posted by Katherine from Southend, England on June 3, 2007 08:59 AM

But why didn't the Potters want Dumbledore to be secret keeper? It seems to me that if you really want to keep your secret a secret you would choose Dumbledore as your secret keeper (like the Order of the Phoenix have done for 12 Grimmauld Place)...and in the end, they chose Wormtail, the one who was most likely to betray them.

Posted by Joe from England on June 5, 2007 2:26 PM

Joe: The Potters chose Sirius, James' best friend, to be their secret keeper. The Potters didn't make the decision to switch to Wormtail, Sirius did, on his own. He meant it to be a "fake out", the last person Voldemort would ever suspect. In hindsight he realized, of course, that it was bad decision.

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on June 6, 2007 09:54 AM

But that still doesn't explain why they didn't choose Dumbledore...surely you would choose the person most likely to keep your secret and Dumbledore, being the most powerful wizard in the world, would be the obvious choice. I keep wondering about how and by whom the prophecy was set in motion. Is Snape the person responsible entirely because he over heard and went to Voldemort...thereafter everything being determined purely by Voldemort's action (i.e Voldemort for reasons of his own chose the Potters and Harry) or...were others active in directing the prophecy...did the Potters somehow put themselves forward or did the Longbottoms (by bewitching Neville's memory to make him appear to be a squib) swing the balance in favour of the Potters.....

I wasn't aware that Sirius on his own made the decision to switch to Wormtail..could you point me at the text?

Posted by Joe from England on June 13, 2007 07:23 AM

Prisoner of Azkaban, US page 365:

"I as good as ed them," he croaked. "I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret Keeper instead of me. I'm to blame, I know it. The night they d, I'd arranged to check on Peter make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didnt feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents house straight away. And when I saw their house destroyed and their bos I realized what Peter must've done..."

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on June 13, 2007 1:55 PM

Thanks Dave, I guess that pours cold water on the idea that it was a set up and the secret was meant to be revealed.

On JK Rowling's official site and she says that the Lestranges weren't in on the secret of the prophecy...so they went after the Longbottoms for other reasons...i.e they thought they knew about Voldemort for reasons independent of the prophecy.

Posted by Joe from England on June 18, 2007 09:45 AM

On the Yahoo Movies website for the Order of the Phoenix movie, there's a picture of a lineup with their brooms. You can't see her but Emmeline Vance is listed (second to the far end), played by an actress named Brigette Millar.

Posted by Linda from Fort Wayne, IN on June 25, 2007 07:03 AM

The Longbottoms were both Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix. In their desperation to bring the Dark Lord back, it made sense to the Lestranges that they might know his whereabouts.

Posted by Connor K from Rigby, ID on July 5, 2007 5:08 PM

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