I guess the healer who has sole care of Longbottoms has never gone on vacation or taken ill before now -- in 15 or so years? I guess Dumbledore has been obliviating quite a few people for no one to have figured out that their care is highly irregular and suspicious (if not illegal). And Neville so readily tells everything to Dumbledore? And no one has ever figured out before this that the mail is going to where it is supposed to. I guess that's been Dumbledore's obliviating too. And the deaths. Is the Order (and Ministry?) so gullible not to notice Dumbledore's coverup (nobody to guard them, so sad; I wasn't busy last night, I wonder why he didn't call me -- you weren't busy, neither was I; so why did he say no one was available to help?). Unless they are all part of his scheme, and accomplices in what should be considered murder. Dumbledore is not merely manipulative here, he is evil; and the members of the Order are either equally evil (which is apparently the case with Snape) or just incredibly stupid. How is Harry going to champion?
Author's response
You have brought up several points here - let me address them one by one.
1) Have you any idea how many people do not go on vacation? I can show you two dozen people (at least) here at my university who have not gone on long leave in the last fifteen years. Also, people are not reassigned unless someone goes off on long leave. Any minor absence would be normal and would be left to the person in charge to come back and handle it.
2) Excuse me - who would figure out that their care is illegal or irregular? Do you know of regular audits of the patients' treatments? People leave it to the expert - which is what they did in this instance. And they were obeying Augusta's orders regarding the secrecy.
3) Most light side families have been brought up to trust Dumbles. Remember the Weasleys and Neville's grandmother blithely taking Dumbledore's word that Voldemort is back. What makes you think that Neville has reasons to mistrust Dumbles?
4) The mail - who said Dumbles is in the habit of intercepting mail routinely except in the case of Harry (which the other Order members know about and accept - Harry needs protection and it is not impossible that someone might send some cursed object to Harry to damage him permanently)? I cannot answer your question about the mail without spoiling the plot.
5) guards - there are two parts here. Dumbledore did inform the Ministry, as he said. You will find out why the Ministry did not act on the warning. Besides, neither Amelia, nor the Longbottoms are Order members - why would the Order bother with what is essentially the Ministry's job?
And as for the Order itself - let me see. Sirius - dead. McGonagall - cannot walk without a walking stick. You cannot assign Snape to fight the Dark Lord. Tonks, and Kingsley were soundly thrashed by Bellatrix and are still recovering. Moody is in a similar state - remember his eye splattered all over the place in the DoM. Sturgis is in Azkaban. Dumbledore is rather above guard duty. That does not leave a great number of fighters in the Order, does it?
6) Dumbledore being evil - he has very little choice, as you will find out.
I could not follow the last question - what do you mean by `how is Harry going to champion'? Harry is playing his own little game here, and he has some tricks up his sleeve.
If you want fuller answers, I can send them to you in a PM. I am sorry if the answers seem incomplete here, but to answer some of your questions would spoil the plot.
Regards,
Maidros