..Any Links?

[Alz]

The Brockdale Bridge -- he did it .....


Then


"So I suppose you're going to tell me he caused the hurricane in the West Country too?


Then


Trees uprooted, roofs ripped off, lampposts bent, horrible injuries --"


Then


And ... and we suspect giant involvement."


Then


We've had teams of Obliviators out trying to modify the memories of all the Muggles who saw what really happened, we've got most of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures running around Somerset ...


What do you think Voldemort and the Death Eaters were up to here?
I know they wanted to shake up the Muggles - but the things described above - I get the feeling they were almost looking for something or someone?

[Hermione]

What could they be searching for? The Prophet has guessed the phrophacy but no one has told them it was correct.

I think it may just be Muggle terror, or the giants making their way into Britian.

[Fortescue]

I thought they were just trying to cause mayhem. The Ministry spends so much energy trying to keep the Muggles from noticing magic, but with all the damage Voldemort caused, and the fact that the Muggles thought the damage to the neighborhood was due to a storm and not the giants. Well, the Ministry did go around and modify the memories of all the Muggles who saw the giants - so Voldemort was causing mayhem for them, though they seemed to be dealing with it all right.

[Tonks]

Why attack a bridge of all places if you're really looking for something? There seems to be no real reason behind striking a bridge except for a mass Muggle killing / "fun" .. as Fudge also seems to think:
HBP - Ch. 1: The Other Minister - US version p. 12
.. "Since they have moved into the open, they have been wreaking havoc. The Brockdale Bridge - he did it, Prime Minister, he threatened a mass Muggle killing unless I stood aside for him and - " ..
I really think the bridge was just that - again, why else would you attack a bridge?

Um - as far as the "hurricane", I did notice this quote:
HBP - Ch. 1: The Other Minister - US version p. 13
Fudge grimaced. "He used giants last time, when he wanted to go for the grand effect," he said. ...
The grand effect.. purely for attention?

[Horntail88]

Well the giant thing I would have to agree that it's just the giants moving in, and just having fun in their own maniacal way along the path. Voldemort MIGHT actually be looking for someone/thing, though...perhaps all this was a distraction?? While the majority of the Ministry's trying to calm things down, he's going around completely unnoticed compared to such other major events.

[Fortescue]

And the bridge was a big thing. The Ministry of Magic couldn't fix the bridge with magic like they could modify the memories of the Muggles who saw the giants. If they fixed the bridge after Voldemort destroyed it they would never be able to modify the memories of all the people who knew about it, and finding a brand new bridge where the destroyed one was the day before would completely give away the magical world. The entire thing was Voldemort's "Hi, I'm back!" to the world!

[The Frozen North]

Just a bit of speculation based on a JKR interview. Evil people thrive in times of disorder among others; it just gives them a lift and also provides a smoke screen for their actions and true intentions. Just look at the way terrorism works in the west (see IRA, ETA, Al-Qaida, etc), insecurity is their purpose (not necessarily their goal) among their enemies. Voldermort considers everyone who is not a pure blood wizard/witch (or at least half blood and willing to work for him) to be his enemy. Bear in mind that JKR said that magical wars have tended to coincide with muggle wars (see Grindelwold and WWII). Times of malcontent are when evil thrives and the way to combat it is organization and love (and that is what the Order is about) as in the quote below (yes I know I've used this one before but that does not make it any less true).

When evil men plot, good men must plan.
When evil men shout ugly words of hatred,
good men must commit themselves to the glory of love.

JKR makes a big deal of the fact that Voldermort has no understanding or experience of love and it has already been his downfall once. It is hinted at that it will be his downfall again.

Just to digress a little, one of my personal favourites puts the responsibility for combating evil in the hands of every good man, i.e. the majority.

All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

[Alz]

OK - I am gonna use a quote I put into another thread here as well :D

I have come close to using a chapter very like this in 'Philosopher's Stone' (it was one of the discarded first chapters), 'Prisoner of Azkaban' and 'Order of the Phoenix' but here, finally, it works, so it's staying. And that's all I'm going to say, but when you read it, just know that it's been about thirteen years in the brewing.

JKR seems to indicate that this is an important chapter - lead many of us to think it would finally be the night of the attack :rolleyes:
When i read it - it wasnt that mind blowing to me - in fact the opposit.
But then I looked at it a little closer and wondered what could be happening in here that JKR knows has to be in the plotline.
The West Country is where it seemed to be kicking off - why the West Country?
Somerset is in the West Country
Why was Voldemort, Death Eaters and Giants all concentrating their efforts in one place?
The I thought of Bristol - and Hagrid flying over there with Harry ...
It is plausible that Bristol can be passed from the West Country - south west England ..
I'm trying to apply some lateral thinking to a chapter that to me seemed 'boring' but JKR has been working on for 13 years :p

[Piper]

[quote]I'm trying to apply some lateral thinking to a chapter that to me seemed 'boring' but JKR has been working on for 13 years [quote]

I didn't like this chapter, and thought it was a very long way of telling us a few things that could have been told elsewhere. After I finished reading the book actually, I was thinking that the scene with Snape in Spinners End was the start of the book, and had to look back. Nothing until then really stuck in my memory.

In the first chapter, she does tell us a few things, like the murder of Ameila Bones, and Emmaline Vance, the dementors breeding, that Fudge has been replaced, that the secretary in the Muggle PMs office is a Wizard. When I was reading all of this, I was expecting some of these things to be focused on in the book, but nothing was. No mention of these attacks of Muggles was really focused on at the Dursley's either. We didn't get the details of Voldermort making demands to Fudge.

When I read the interview that this chapter was 13 years in the making, I was just thinking, 'well it really didn't fit in here either'.

??

[Hermione]

It simply could be Voldemort causing myham for the Ministery so they have less man power to look for him and his followers. Or that could be an adventagious side to the "fun" activities.

Just thinking about this geographically:


The Durselys live in Surrey.
In order to get from where Hagrid picked Harry up, they had to fly over Bristol.
Voldemort is attacking in Somerset.
We have no idea where in the continent Hogwarts is located.


For those who have no idea about the geography of Britian (like me), I've included maps.

If you look at the map and see Hagrid flying from Bristol to Surrey, where are they comming from? On the map, it is next to the coast.

However, Bristol is north and a bit west of Somerset. Could he have taken Harry from there? So perhaps we are looking at Somerset being the location for Godric's Hollow. In which case, Voldemort might have had more reason to chose to enter the country through that route, so he could look for things at the ruins of Lily and James resting place.

[Alz]

I suppose that is what I was hinting at - I wonder if Godric's Hollow is in Somerset and the sudden concentration of DE's and Giants was them looking around for something?
Hogwarts, I believe is up in Scotland or the northen part of UK ... the trains journey and the fact that the scenary is consitant with that part of the UK at least.

What I was saying was if Godric's Hollow was in Somerset - which is part of the West Country - when Hagrid said he flew over Bristol - they werent flying as the crow flies - as you will see from Mere's maps - although I challenge where Bristol is located - we are in the same neck of the woods.

If this was to be random attacks on Muggles for scaring purposes - why wasnt more locations hit?
I am assuming something or somewhere of value is in Somerset ... either easy access from the DE's or something or somewhere of interest.

[The Frozen North]

I've just had a another look at chapter 1 of HBP. Looking at the evidence I have a feeling that it all goes alot deeper than we have been thinking. I think that Voldermort has even greater ambitions than before and that he is destableising the muggle government with a view to taking over the whole country, muggles and magic community alike. Look at not only the disruption but the "breading" of the Dementors.

HBP page 20 (UK) The Prime Minister sank, weak-kneed, into the nearest chair. The ides of invisible creatures swooping through the towns and countryside, spreading dispair and hopelessness in his voters, made him feel quite faint.

Take another look and tell me what you think.

[Alz]

LOL - I found that line quite funny :D :o

I think you have a point there - the dementors would be a great way of supressing will and also the Muggle world - because they wont even see them!
Depress the mood of the nation - reduce them to quaking, scared and dare I say soul sucked shells ...
The Magical world seems to take it's responsiblity of policing it's 'own' very seriously - I mean wizarding race is powerful, in fact more powerful than the Muggle world just by default ... I think they realise how powerful they are in comparision to Muggles and rather than intergrate - they segregate themselves from the Muggle world and ensure that the two worlds dont cross - because the advantage is for sure on their side.

[Hermione]

I suppose that is what I was hinting at - I wonder if Godric's Hollow is in Somerset and the sudden concentration of DE's and Giants was them looking around for something?

If this was to be random attacks on Muggles for scaring purposes - why wasnt more locations hit?
I am assuming something or somewhere of value is in Somerset ... either easy access from the DE's or something or somewhere of interest.

I wonder if Harry knows this information. If Godric's Hollow is in Somerset, then he would be going into a very dangerous place. That could be one reason Voldemort chose to enter through there, to keep a lookout for Harry, or to truely destroy the last bit of Harry's parents by ruining their house and graves.

I do agree, it seems a bit strange, there should be more if it was for Muggle scaring alone. It would make it harder to explain to Muggles why 5 of their cities simultaniously experianced diasters, but I don't think the DEs care very much.

What I was saying was if Godric's Hollow was in Somerset - which is part of the West Country - when Hagrid said he flew over Bristol - they werent flying as the crow flies - as you will see from Mere's maps - although I challenge where Bristol is located - we are in the same neck of the woods.

So what was in Bristol? Was this what Voldemort was really after? Perhaps some Potter family history.

[Alz]

JKR mentioned Bristol as a landmark ...
Hagrid flew over Bristol - but then Harry was taken somewhere straight after the attack - where Dumbledore was looking after him ...
So where ever Hagrid left from - it was from either the West Country or maybe Wales.
This means that either Godric's hollow or maybe even Dumbledore's home was in and around this area.
Of course - it could have been Hagrid taking a diverted route to ensure he wasnt being followed.
We have a thread on the 24 hours that expired between the attack and Harry making it to the Dursley's.

[Fortescue]

I wonder if the devistation Voldemort caused in HBP doesn't lead back to SS/PS?

Didn't Hagrid tell Harry as he tried to explain some things about the Wizarding world that the reason the Ministry of Magic worked so hard to hide magic from the Muggles is that if the Muggles knew about the magical community they would seek them out to solve all their problems? Now the Wizarding world is causing some of the Muggles major problems - and Voldemort is at the heart of it. I wonder if some smart Muggle will put one plus one together and figure out what all the damage and odd happenings really mean and the Ministry will be forced to reveal their hand?!

[Alz]

I think I could point back to one point why I think this is specific - and that is if the DE's wanted to panic a nation - they would have caused several incidents up and down the country - it is like terrorism - while you can make one big hit - it achieves more of it's result if it is widespread and sporadic.
That is why I think there was a reason that Somerset was specifically hit - one location.

The Magical world is determined to remain 'concealed' from the Muggle world - I dont think the Muggles would be able to handle co-existance with the Magical world.
By Voldemort terrorising the Muggle world - he can keep large part of the Ministry busy and diverted while he continues in his bidding.
I'm not sure that there is enough pages left to try and get the Magical and Muggle worlds to reunite - as the Prime Minister said - it was the Magical worlds issue.

[kashlie]

It is possible Hagrid was instructed to take Harry a certain way to throw anyone off who might have tried to follow. If Voldemort was looking for something, it could have been Harry, because Voldemort doesn't know where Dumbledore put him, and still doesn't. If Voldemort thought there was any chance Harry might have been housed near where Godric's Hollow was... I mean, Voldemort views Dumbledore as weak and possibly sentimental...by sending the DE and giants to tear up the countryside bit by bit, the chances of flushing out Harry's hiding spot was high.


But again, I agree that it could have all been a diversion. Keeping the ministry busy while he perhaps tracked down his Horcruxes, or, as we saw unfold, get his DE into Hogwarts. There was always talk of a plan. And probably not just Malyfoy's plan. I don't see Voldemort sitting around idly, he had to have been doing something other than threatening the Minister of Magic.

[SnarkologyMajor]

If Voldemort has been checking his horcruxes -why was the fake one in the cave intact? I guess I'm hopeful he's not looking for them yet! :D It seems as though Voldemort's ultimate goal is to have the muggle world at odds with the magical world-he doesn't have allegiance to either one and frankly he would probably relish an all out war between the two worlds. Since the muggle world is far larger-they would more than likely win eventually. I can imagine that Voldemort would be very happy indeed to be the last wizard standing in the world-The Dark Lord of the entire earth! He is very ambitious:(

[Alz]

This might be a little off-topic but I was watching PS/SS film on TV the other day and right at the start when Hagrid arrives Dumbledore asks him if there was any trouble or something to that effect - suggests to me that Dumbledore might have used Hagrid as a diversion to get Harry to Privet Drive ... sorry that is well OT!

I still think there is a reason that these events all seem to take place in the same location ... It could be well organised meyhem - but I think there is slightly more to it .. afterall the location seems to fit in my mind with the likely location of Godric's Hollow - the West Country/Somerset area ... might also fit in with flying over Bristol ...

Such mayhem in one part of the country - ummmmm ...