Traitors, or Bad Guys in Disguise

[Darq Ali]

The HP books {& films} deal with major themes of Life, including Loyalty and Betrayl.

There is a lot of misdirection. Harry spends all the first book trying to make a Bad Guy of Snape, while all along stuttering Quirrel/Mort is the real enemy among them.

In the second Book, Harry himself is suspect by many as being Slytheryn's heir; Harry directs his energy at Malfoy; and all the while, it is innocent Ginny W in the clutches of the shade of Tom Riddle/LV ........... and we learn, long ago, the same Tom Riddle was at work at Hogwarts, but managed to get poor Hagrid punished in his place; and his pet spider was incorrectly cast in the role of the 'monster', while it was the Basilisk who was the real monster.

In book 3 Harry and all others are focused upon Sirius Black; Snape is focused on Lupin, who does hide a furry little problem ..... yet the hidden Bad Guy was, of course, Peter the Rat.


I could go on .......... We've got on-going mixed cues about Snape in all the books, of course, is he in LV's camp, or Dumbledore's Man, or, out for himself?

But we can be certain someone we think we know as "on the Good side" will in fact serve LV. A case can be made for many ...... the Twins, for example, or Percy, and so forth .........

But my prime candidate is: Sybil Trelawney

Huh? Barmy, annoying, but harmless Sybil?

Yep.

How do I arrive at this?

Well, for starters, her Prophecy started the events that left Harry an orphan. Not exactly "harmless", Sybil.

Then there is the content of her two true Prophecies, as well. Re-read each, her first {which Dumbledore plays for Harry in the Pensive} and the second, which Harry alone heard, about Peter rejoining LV in P of A.

How does she refer to Tom Riddle, aka LV?

Not by his true name, Tom Riddle. Not by his self-created name, Lord Voldemort. Not by oblique reference favored by the fearful, "You Know Who" or "He Who Must Not Be Named".

She uses the same term each and every time: The Dark Lord.

And only the Death Eaters called him that.

[Arcadia]

I hadn't thought of the signficance of her calling him the Dark Lord. I wonder if it is an indication of her being a DE. She surely doesn't come across as a DE. And Dumbledore liked her, at least he insisted that she could stay at Hogwarts. Although this could be because he wanted to keep an eye on her, supposing that your idea is valid.

[Darq Ali]

She may not be a Death Eater, but still, on the side of LV.

How do we account for her naming him "The Dark Lord" and nothing else, otherwise?

Also: her name is of Cornish derevation. Cornwall was an independant kingdom, next to Wales in the SW of England, one of the last to come under the rule of a central king, as was Wales. Many of the stories we associate with "English" folk tales and literature, like the King Arthur stories, are actually in their earliest form, Cornish.

When such tales were re-told for a more "English" audience, often the bad guy was Cornish. My mother read me a book of Arthur tales, in which Sir Modred was always characterized as "the wicked Cornish knight".

A reference many American audiences would be wholly unaware of, but my paternal grandfather immigrated to the US from Cornwall, and my last name begins with "Tre-" just as Sybil's does. [English surnames starting with Tre-, Pol- and Pen- are of Cornish origin. King Arthur is "Arthur Pendragon" in the oldest form of the tales ...........]

So, her Cornish surname is also a clue she may not be as "good" as our impression of her .............

And yes, D might have kept her close to keep an eye on her for more than one reason.

[RobRoy]

Trelawney may be on Voldemort's side, or she may have been used to guide or misguide others through her "prophecy". Hard to say.

For my money, though, I would say that Ron will end up doing something that will betray Harry. For the best of intentions, howqver, I think the Ron will end up doing something that will in fact work against Harry in the worst way. Perhaps not to his death, and it will likely be friendship that saves them both, but I think that Ron will end up doing something deeply hurtful and regretful before the end draws nigh.

[Darq Ali]

Ron? I don't see it. He may screw up, but Ron the Sidekick is pure of heart.

As is Hermionie.

The twins, however, are a whole 'nuther kettle o fish! Their "pranks" from the get-go have always had a nasty streak. They hurt people. And in that debacle at Hogwarts ... it was the twins Peruvian Darkness Powder that assisted the Death Eaters to elude the guards ..... if the twins turn out to have a real dark side, it would not surprise me. They are at best 'amoral' in their temperment ........

Ditto Percy. O.K., he began life as a self-serving, ambitions prig. But still, a member of the Weasley family and at least nominally 'on the good side'. But his failure to reconcile after LV made his M of Magic appearance, ending all doubt that LV had indeed returned in flesh .... that boarders on the unforgivable. And his alliance with Umbridge ..... geeze, if Umbridge isn't an ally of LV, who is? Willing to use unforgivables, an snitches, and so forth ..... her evil dark magic punishment quill .......... if she is on the 'good side', I would have trouble telling 'good' from 'bad'.

[RobRoy]

Ron? I don't see it. He may screw up, but Ron the Sidekick is pure of heart.

I didn't say that he wasn't pure or heart, that he might not even have the best of intentions. But Ron has proved, a couple of times, to be self-serving as well, which has impacted Harry greatly. I see Ron making an error of judgement, likely for the betterment of himself that he would not initially see as hurting or harming Harry at all.

[mike.lyon]

Darq Ali: if you dont mind me askin where r u from??


I think he has a very good point about ST BUT also she went into a trance but at the same time did indeed not call him by n e of his other names

[Darq Ali]

I currently reside in Dakota Territory USA

Raised near Detroit MI

Admit to being long of tooth .... graduated college 1969