Most of the proposed plans have the same flaw: They require Harry to act not merely as a precocious child, but as a full on dark lord. This is /not clever/ because the obvious conclusion to draw is that he is either someones puppet or an outright case of bodysnatching. Either invites people who are otherwise potential allies to Adavra him on sight and provides political cover for those who would be his enemy regardless if they choose to kill him. Harrys dark side reasoning might not care about this, of course, but still let us consider options that dont leave Harry as public Enemy Number One, shall we?
Comedic conspiracy: Timeturner back six hours, contact malfoy and have him exfiltrate the manor, visit Hermonie (like the guards are going to say no to this?) Marry Hermonie to Draco. Now the blooddebt is an internal house of Malfoy matter, which takes it out of the wizengamots hands. Dont think this is it, simply because I dont think Harrys dark side has a perverse enough sense of humor to come up with this.
Snape: Downed a philthre of felix last night and rescued Hermonie preemptively—they are about to send a simulacra to azkaban. Too Deux-ex-Machina at this point.
Spill the beans on dementors and the true patronus, all the while acting like a kid who has had a bright insight. Have Hermonie demonstrate the true patronus. This makes Azkaban untenable in the medium term because eventually everyone will learn the truth, and the sets of “people people capable of the true patronus” and “Willing to be an azkaban guard” are.. Unlikely to overlap. This also forces the wizengamot to preserve Hermonies health and sanity as a weapon against the dementors. I like this one because it forces the next several moves of the wizengamot, and probably wont alienate everybody.
Break the line of Merlin, using partial transfiguration. This would almost certainly be seen as Merlin himself expressing extreme displeasure from beyond the grave.
Calling in the debts from the death of Voldemort night also work. Dont like this one too much, but not really sure why. Lacks.. elegance? It would be Harry trading on being the boy who lived, rather than on being clever.
Break the line of Merlin, using partial transfiguration. This would almost certainly be seen as Merlin himself expressing extreme displeasure from beyond the grave.
Given that Dumbledore is on Hermione’s side, I’m not sure that destroying his badge of office would be a helpful move.
Fantasy precedents say that when a badge of office is destroyed, it’s a comment on the unworthiness of the officiant, and not some associated body For example, Saruman’s staff (‘line’?) in Lord of the Rings is broken as a comment on his own moral failings, and not, say, the Council that Saruman the White used to head.
If the enchanted stone that the Line is made of is subject to Harry’s power of partial transfiguration then instead of breaking the Line he could take a piece of the chamber and make it into a new Line for himself. ‘Merlin’s spirit and Magic itself have endorsed me, now actually LISTEN to what I have to say.’
ETA: Or, since a few months ago in Azkaban he had enough power/skill to make quite a large hole in the walls and he’s presumably improved further since then, and still assuming that partial transfiguration isn’t one of the things the special stone is protected against, he could reshape a portion of the wall to say “Release Her”. ‘The stones themselves cry out against the injustice of this!’
This would almost certainly be seen as Merlin himself expressing extreme displeasure from beyond the grave.
It might just as well be seen as Merlin expressing displeasure with the current carrier-on of the line when he protests a legal vote of the Wizengamot. Omens are usually interpreted opportunistically.
‘Not some kind of sign?’ said Cohen. ‘There must have been some temple I didn’t rob.’
‘The trouble with signs and portents,’ said Boy Willie, ‘is you never know who they’re for. This’n could be a nice one for Hong and his pals.’
‘Then I’m nicking it,’ said Cohen.
‘You can’t steal a message from the gods!’ said Mr Saveloy.
‘Can you see it nailed down anywhere? No? Sure? Right. So it’s mine.’
He raised his sword as the stragglers fluttered past overhead.
Most of the proposed plans have the same flaw: They require Harry to act not merely as a precocious child, but as a full on dark lord. This is /not clever/ because the obvious conclusion to draw is that he is either someones puppet or an outright case of bodysnatching. Either invites people who are otherwise potential allies to Adavra him on sight and provides political cover for those who would be his enemy regardless if they choose to kill him. Harrys dark side reasoning might not care about this, of course, but still let us consider options that dont leave Harry as public Enemy Number One, shall we?
Comedic conspiracy: Timeturner back six hours, contact malfoy and have him exfiltrate the manor, visit Hermonie (like the guards are going to say no to this?) Marry Hermonie to Draco. Now the blooddebt is an internal house of Malfoy matter, which takes it out of the wizengamots hands. Dont think this is it, simply because I dont think Harrys dark side has a perverse enough sense of humor to come up with this.
Snape: Downed a philthre of felix last night and rescued Hermonie preemptively—they are about to send a simulacra to azkaban. Too Deux-ex-Machina at this point.
Spill the beans on dementors and the true patronus, all the while acting like a kid who has had a bright insight. Have Hermonie demonstrate the true patronus. This makes Azkaban untenable in the medium term because eventually everyone will learn the truth, and the sets of “people people capable of the true patronus” and “Willing to be an azkaban guard” are.. Unlikely to overlap. This also forces the wizengamot to preserve Hermonies health and sanity as a weapon against the dementors. I like this one because it forces the next several moves of the wizengamot, and probably wont alienate everybody.
Break the line of Merlin, using partial transfiguration. This would almost certainly be seen as Merlin himself expressing extreme displeasure from beyond the grave.
Calling in the debts from the death of Voldemort night also work. Dont like this one too much, but not really sure why. Lacks.. elegance? It would be Harry trading on being the boy who lived, rather than on being clever.
Hmm. Any other options?
Given that Dumbledore is on Hermione’s side, I’m not sure that destroying his badge of office would be a helpful move.
Fantasy precedents say that when a badge of office is destroyed, it’s a comment on the unworthiness of the officiant, and not some associated body For example, Saruman’s staff (‘line’?) in Lord of the Rings is broken as a comment on his own moral failings, and not, say, the Council that Saruman the White used to head.
(And the wands of people like Hagrid. And the hat of that guy in Mary Poppins.
If the enchanted stone that the Line is made of is subject to Harry’s power of partial transfiguration then instead of breaking the Line he could take a piece of the chamber and make it into a new Line for himself. ‘Merlin’s spirit and Magic itself have endorsed me, now actually LISTEN to what I have to say.’
ETA: Or, since a few months ago in Azkaban he had enough power/skill to make quite a large hole in the walls and he’s presumably improved further since then, and still assuming that partial transfiguration isn’t one of the things the special stone is protected against, he could reshape a portion of the wall to say “Release Her”. ‘The stones themselves cry out against the injustice of this!’
It might just as well be seen as Merlin expressing displeasure with the current carrier-on of the line when he protests a legal vote of the Wizengamot. Omens are usually interpreted opportunistically.
Terry Pratchett, Interesting Times