“Beyond all panic and despair his mind began to search through every fact in its possession, recall everything it knew about Lucius Malfoy, about the Wizengamot, about the laws of magical Britain; his eyes looked at the rows of chairs, at every person and every thing within range of his vision, searching for any opportunity it could grasp—”
-and then the pieces fit together, and in retrospect it was obvious. The Boy Who Lived announced his discovery.
“I can deliver you Voldemort.”
Harry knows enough to reasonably come to the correct conclusion about Quirrell’s true identity, yet hasn’t figured it out yet. If he’s as deep into his dark side as he seems to be, and remembering everything he possibly can, I think he could realize the truth. Probably not going to happen for story purposes, but still a possibility.
It should also be pointed out, everyone thinks Voldemort is dead. Remember what happened in Order of the Phoenix to everyone who was spreading the bad news? That’s more likely to be met by confusion than by bargaining.
He doesn’t know about the horcruxes. He may suspect that Harry is Voldemort, but Harry doesn’t know that, and thus has little reason to think that Lucius would believe him either. For the most part, the Death Eaters are as convinced as anyone that Voldemort is dead.
That means losing Dumbledore as an ally, and convincing the entire world that he really has gone Dark.
He might even lose Hermione. Would that really be worth it?
I think at this point, it’s fairly clear that the taboo tradeoff being referenced by the arc title is not one that Harry Potter will make, but the one that Lucius Malfoy refuses to make: revenge for the attempted murder of his son is sacred to him, and not to be traded off for mere political advantage.
I’m not sure that’s at all clear. Harry is going to extremely desperate measures to save Hermione—that he is willing to sacrifice any possible piece on the board, possibly including his own better nature, for one single person (no matter how special) certainly strikes me as a taboo tradeoff.
“Beyond all panic and despair his mind began to search through every fact in its possession, recall everything it knew about Lucius Malfoy, about the Wizengamot, about the laws of magical Britain; his eyes looked at the rows of chairs, at every person and every thing within range of his vision, searching for any opportunity it could grasp—”
-and then the pieces fit together, and in retrospect it was obvious. The Boy Who Lived announced his discovery.
“I can deliver you Voldemort.”
Harry knows enough to reasonably come to the correct conclusion about Quirrell’s true identity, yet hasn’t figured it out yet. If he’s as deep into his dark side as he seems to be, and remembering everything he possibly can, I think he could realize the truth. Probably not going to happen for story purposes, but still a possibility.
It should also be pointed out, everyone thinks Voldemort is dead. Remember what happened in Order of the Phoenix to everyone who was spreading the bad news? That’s more likely to be met by confusion than by bargaining.
Lucius, on the other hand, does know...
He doesn’t know about the horcruxes. He may suspect that Harry is Voldemort, but Harry doesn’t know that, and thus has little reason to think that Lucius would believe him either. For the most part, the Death Eaters are as convinced as anyone that Voldemort is dead.
That means losing Dumbledore as an ally, and convincing the entire world that he really has gone Dark. He might even lose Hermione. Would that really be worth it?
Taboo Tradeoff, remember?
I think at this point, it’s fairly clear that the taboo tradeoff being referenced by the arc title is not one that Harry Potter will make, but the one that Lucius Malfoy refuses to make: revenge for the attempted murder of his son is sacred to him, and not to be traded off for mere political advantage.
I’m not sure that’s at all clear. Harry is going to extremely desperate measures to save Hermione—that he is willing to sacrifice any possible piece on the board, possibly including his own better nature, for one single person (no matter how special) certainly strikes me as a taboo tradeoff.
It can be two things.