Canon questions: 'Before he died' and Riddle murders
I was paging through PS earlier, and I saw something that made me frown.
The first line of the note Harry receives with his invisibility cloak (emphasis mine):
Your father left this in my possession before he died
Right. Because someone on the run, or better yet, in hiding from a murderous Dark Lord has absolutely no use for an item that helps you hide even better from people.
I honestly can't see James not realize that. He must have thought of such scenarios: should Voldemort ever find us, I can give the cloak to Lily and little Harry to hide them, so they can make a run for it while I fight the big evil or something heroic like that.
Or maybe this was just Dumbledore's way of not upsetting Harry too much? So instead of writing the truth - I ripped this cloak from your father's cold, dead hands right after he was brutally murdered in his own house - he made up a bit about James leaving him the cloak before he died. If so, why not simply write 'your father left this to me for the time being' or something.
And this whole 'before he died' sounds like James knew what was coming. Like: Hey, Dumbledore, we've got an appointment with Voldie around midnight, so I thought I'd give you this cloak now to spare you the trouble of having to search our entire house for it later and running the risk of stumbling across our collection of magical vibrators, ktnxbai, James. *g*
Anyway, it just seemed a bit odd.
Something else I was wondering about last weekend: how did the Ministry learn about the murder of Tom Riddle Sr and his parents?
Dumbledore doesn't actually explain this in HBP. He just says the Ministry knew at once that this was a wizard's murder. But how did they learn about the murders in the first place?
Muggle newspapers, maybe? Perhaps they have someone in the Auror office or department of magical law enforcement who reads Muggle newspapers for this reason? Do they check out every suspicious 'Muggle' murder?
It had to have been something like that, I think, since no other wizard could have reported it. Riddle wouldn't have risked tipping them off anonymously, for he wouldn't want the Ministry to know another wizard knew about the murders. And I can't see Morfin turning himself in, no matter how 'boastful' his confession was.
Or maybe they registered the use of magic in a Muggle residence? If that is the case, it contradicts my questions about why the Ministry never noticed Tom Riddle using (controlling!) magic before age 11 at the Muggle orphanage.
Or maybe I just shouldn't think so much little canon details like that.
The first line of the note Harry receives with his invisibility cloak (emphasis mine):
Your father left this in my possession before he died
Right. Because someone on the run, or better yet, in hiding from a murderous Dark Lord has absolutely no use for an item that helps you hide even better from people.
I honestly can't see James not realize that. He must have thought of such scenarios: should Voldemort ever find us, I can give the cloak to Lily and little Harry to hide them, so they can make a run for it while I fight the big evil or something heroic like that.
Or maybe this was just Dumbledore's way of not upsetting Harry too much? So instead of writing the truth - I ripped this cloak from your father's cold, dead hands right after he was brutally murdered in his own house - he made up a bit about James leaving him the cloak before he died. If so, why not simply write 'your father left this to me for the time being' or something.
And this whole 'before he died' sounds like James knew what was coming. Like: Hey, Dumbledore, we've got an appointment with Voldie around midnight, so I thought I'd give you this cloak now to spare you the trouble of having to search our entire house for it later and running the risk of stumbling across our collection of magical vibrators, ktnxbai, James. *g*
Anyway, it just seemed a bit odd.
Something else I was wondering about last weekend: how did the Ministry learn about the murder of Tom Riddle Sr and his parents?
Dumbledore doesn't actually explain this in HBP. He just says the Ministry knew at once that this was a wizard's murder. But how did they learn about the murders in the first place?
Muggle newspapers, maybe? Perhaps they have someone in the Auror office or department of magical law enforcement who reads Muggle newspapers for this reason? Do they check out every suspicious 'Muggle' murder?
It had to have been something like that, I think, since no other wizard could have reported it. Riddle wouldn't have risked tipping them off anonymously, for he wouldn't want the Ministry to know another wizard knew about the murders. And I can't see Morfin turning himself in, no matter how 'boastful' his confession was.
Or maybe they registered the use of magic in a Muggle residence? If that is the case, it contradicts my questions about why the Ministry never noticed Tom Riddle using (controlling!) magic before age 11 at the Muggle orphanage.
Or maybe I just shouldn't think so much little canon details like that.