Amelia paused. “There’s a possibility that Augustus Rookwood left a ghost—”
“Exorcise it before anyone talks to it,” Harry said, conscious of the sudden hammering of his heart.
“Yes, sir,” the old witch said dryly. “I shall disrupt the soul’s anchoring a little, and none shall be the wiser when it fails to materialize. The second matter is that there was a still-living human arm found among the Dark Lord’s things—”
This seems like Amelia misplaying her cards for no good reason. I would expect her first to ask Harry what the ghost would tell her before accepting that she prevents the ghost from anchoring. Especially if she wants to test Harry political skills it would make sense to push him harder.
I read Harry’s suggestion not to investigate, and her responding smirk, as indicating that’s it’s already tacitly understood that the good guys actually killed the death eaters somehow. This room seems likely to be pretty ok with that, maybe except McGonagall.
I read Harry’s suggestion not to investigate, and her responding smirk, as indicating that’s it’s already tacitly understood that the good guys actually killed the death eaters somehow.
Yes, but she’s likely to be interested in how it happened. Allowing the 11 year old Harry to keep it a secret towards her means to give up power to Harry.
Keep in mind that Amelia herself is a powerful witch, and thus “you are not meant to know” is kinda-sorta expected in those circles, and a most valid excuse for basically anything weird or unexplainable.
Keeping it secret to the public makes sense on the other hand keeping it secret to the order of the phoenix is a different matter.
You keep secret without asking from people who are your equal or higher than you in status. If you get asked by someone lower than you to keep something a secret than you at least want to know the secret yourself.
In this setting, there are things you avoid learning even if you’re higher status than the secret-keeper. Some secrets are dangerous even to the listener.
I suspect Mrs. Bones includes anything rising from a fragment of Voldemort’s torn soul, whether the trick that decapitated dozens or revived an ancient dark lord, in that set. Part of the reason she distrusts Harry is that she believe he’s an eleven-year-old struggling with a dark spirit—which gives him a comparative advantage of knowing what evils needs must be kept under wraps
She knows it killed all the death eaters and that it doesn’t even register as magic on their wards. That’s somethjng she couldn’t do. And it’s thh kind of dangerous weapon she might think should be a secret to everyone.
This seems like Amelia misplaying her cards for no good reason. I would expect her first to ask Harry what the ghost would tell her before accepting that she prevents the ghost from anchoring. Especially if she wants to test Harry political skills it would make sense to push him harder.
I read Harry’s suggestion not to investigate, and her responding smirk, as indicating that’s it’s already tacitly understood that the good guys actually killed the death eaters somehow. This room seems likely to be pretty ok with that, maybe except McGonagall.
Yes, but she’s likely to be interested in how it happened. Allowing the 11 year old Harry to keep it a secret towards her means to give up power to Harry.
Keep in mind that Amelia herself is a powerful witch, and thus “you are not meant to know” is kinda-sorta expected in those circles, and a most valid excuse for basically anything weird or unexplainable.
It depends on trusting the judgement of the other person. Otherwise it doesn’t seem like she trusts Harry.
Even she is aware that when a powerful wizard tells you to do something as part of keeping a dark magic ritual secret, you do what you are told.
Keeping it secret to the public makes sense on the other hand keeping it secret to the order of the phoenix is a different matter.
You keep secret without asking from people who are your equal or higher than you in status. If you get asked by someone lower than you to keep something a secret than you at least want to know the secret yourself.
In this setting, there are things you avoid learning even if you’re higher status than the secret-keeper. Some secrets are dangerous even to the listener.
I suspect Mrs. Bones includes anything rising from a fragment of Voldemort’s torn soul, whether the trick that decapitated dozens or revived an ancient dark lord, in that set. Part of the reason she distrusts Harry is that she believe he’s an eleven-year-old struggling with a dark spirit—which gives him a comparative advantage of knowing what evils needs must be kept under wraps
She knows it killed all the death eaters and that it doesn’t even register as magic on their wards. That’s somethjng she couldn’t do. And it’s thh kind of dangerous weapon she might think should be a secret to everyone.
Keeping it secret to the public makes sense on the other hand keeping it secret to the order of the phoenix is a different matter.
I would expect her to first ask the ghost before mentioning its existence to Harry.
From the exchange it’s not clear whether the ghost actually exists or just a rhetorical maneuver.
Might just be indications of one in magical instrumentation without an actual conversation being possible yet.