Many greetings! I enjoyed this latest chapter immensely! Hmmmm....you'd think by now that Voldy would have realized he's literally bleeding followers - either they get screwed on missions or he's killing them off personally! At least a few of the DE's have realized what kind of a mess they're in; but why would they be dumb enough to make escape plans in the Master's lair? It looks as though their one working brain cell was overcome by the rest!Chuckle, I had this image of the DE's recrutiment poster - Lord Voldemort wants YOU! Join the Death Eaters, see the world, and conquere it! Meet strange and inferior people, then kill them! (written in very fine print - And whether you suceed or fail at your missions the Dark Lord will punish and/or kill you if the mood strikes him!) Contact a senior member near you for details! I bet the next set of deserters takes off without having a meeting first; and they might decide that the Aurors and/or the jedi are a safer bet. As for the Christmas cheer that Dobby spread around; well everyone knows that Saint Nick needs a little help sometimes, and those books will have a great home with Hermione! I think that Christmas was indeed memorable for Dumbles, Snape, Voldy and the Malfoys! Dudley really came through at the dance, and it's a pity that Harry doesn't know that Snape had a close meeting with a well delivered punch. Dudley would be quite popular with any of Snape's tortured students! It's also nice that Dudley and Marissa are close despite the set up for their meeting. I'm glad that Harry got Mrs. Figg out of there before Dumbles decided to "attend" to her; she might be able to give Amelia additional info on Dumbles' actions towards Harry and his relatives. Harry does have a point, Vernon and Petunia's behavior might have been influnced by Dumbles. At least Dudley was able to work against the conditioning, if indeed Dumbles did use spells on them. It was also nice to see Arthur get the recognition that he deserved with his new job. Will Dumbles think that this is a chance to undermine Amelia since "his" man is in the position? If so, I hope that Arthur and Amelia play him like the idiot he is! As for Amelia's new laws, the one about epithets could cost the Malfoys their fortune in less than a week via Draco's mouth! Dobby and Peeves are a great pair of conspiritors! I loved Dobby's evil laugh, and Peeves' reaction! It was also nice to see Dumbles fail at trying to stop McGonagall from attending the Christmas party! I liked seeing how the students reacted to McGonagall, Flitwick, and especially Moody! As for Fudge, well, when you cut deals with slime you should expect to pay for it. Did Rita decide to slam Harry via Dumbles and Diaz as a bit of petty revenge? If so, she should remember that prison on the continent. Harry can always find another journalist, after all. Kingsley really laid it out to Dias, and his career oppourtunities might plummet at the DMLE from now on. Pity, that. Will Snape ever see his mother in her portrait again, or did she leave years ago when her son became such an idiot? As always, I'll be looking ahead to the next chapter! :)
Author's response
Heya Teresa!
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed.
Voldy, get a clue? We are talking about Voldemort, right?
~At least a few of the DE's have realized what kind of a mess they're in;~
Ayup!
~...but why would they be dumb enough to make escape plans in the Master's lair? ~
Death Eaters are not chosen for their ability to think independently.
That recruiting poster idea was hilarious! I'd love to see that in print! A shadowy image of Palpatine...erm Voldemort with the dark mark behind him and dozens of Deez arrayed in front....being tortured.
If there is another group, you mean. Being forced to watched as your friends are tortured to death does kinda tend to dampen any thoughts of revolt. 'Sides, the dark mark can be used to call, punish 'and track'. Karkaroff discovered that in book five.
Still, if any more do decide to leave, well, I understand Antarctica is nice this time of year.
Christmas Cheer: Of course! After all, Dobby is an elf, and the elves help Santa, right????
Isn't it wonderful to know your gifts are well received? If nothing else, they will all remember this Christmas for a long while to come!
Harry won't be showing Hermione those books until after the final showdown. He needs to keep -her- on task!
Yeah, I figured since Dudley was trying so hard, he deserved something nice. His actions were, I think, well in keeping with his (slightly altered)canon personality.
I'm going to keep the 'how' quiet fr the time being, but Dumbledore did use something to 'enhance' the Dursley's natural antipathy for Harry.
Arthur: Ron mentioned that Fudge wouldn't promote him because he lacked 'wizarding pride' (Pureblooded bigotry) Unfortunately Scrimgeour wasn't any better. He finally did get an improved department but, like Snape's information, it came too late to do any good.
Dumbledore will try, but Arthur is already aware of what he's done to the Weasley family, so a bit of 'play' is not out of the question.
The Malfoy's don't have any gold to spare. Remember, the goblins have audited thirteen other accounts. Coincidentally that's the number of inner circle Death Eaters plus a few others.
All they have left is the gold in Malfoy manor, which Lucius has already given to Ol' Snake-breath.
On the other hand, I can easily see the ministry monitors 'dinging' every time Draco says something stupid.
Evil laugh: Dobby knows he has to keep a tight hold on Peeves. What better way than to make him think you're more dangerous than the Bloody Baron?
Dumbledore still has much to learn. Since learning of his machinations, Minerva has protected herself from his less than obvious attempts at control, and it seems to me that Filius and Minerva were the most popular teachers at Hoggy's.
Moody: Is a special case. they all 'know' he's working for Dumbley, so he was a visible threat.
Fudge: I agree. I really didn't want to kill him off, but he would have been a loose end. If he'd survived, he would have fingered Snape and not even Dumbledore could have protected him.
Rita: Not really. She hasn't violated the terms of Harry;'s 'imposed' contract, so she's safe.
Dias made a rookie's mistake. Rita has misquoted many others over the past year sand while she's an obnoxious jerk, she is very good at digging out the exciting. If he learns his lesson, he will go on to become a fine Auror. If not, he can always shine shoes.
Snape will see Eileen one more time.
Thnks for the wonderful review!
Alorkin