Order Only: Private message to Alice, Remus, and Sirius

[alt_rachel]

Heard from my contact.

It sounds like Bellatrix is contemplating exit strategies. They're trying to lay hands on Cedric Diggory (apparently Ginny told them he's the secret keeper to Dover. He's not, is he? I'm pretty sure he's not. Serves them right for expecting good intel from someone they've cruciated repeatedly) to get them into Dover, and considering some maneuver involving sacrificing Seamus Finnigan because they think it'll bring the wards down.

So.

This is an opportunity. In several directions.

First off, I'm going to talk to my Aurors (the ones who are on their feet and not sitting vigil for anyone) about baiting a trap with someone PJ'd as Cedric. (Justin would be ideal for this, but he's a bit distracted at the moment.)

But here's the other thing to consider.

We could offer them exile. I know that's not what we'd prefer, especially for Bellatrix. But they're clearly ready to give up and let us have Albion. Certainly some of them, if they're willing to swear an oath never to return, we could just let them out.

And, the other thing to consider:

Aurora's in the process of taking down the wards. When she's done, they're going to scatter. So if we DO want any of them to see the inside of an Azkaban cell, we'd better act fast to get our hands on them.

Oh, and finally, just for the joy of sowing dissent within their ranks, I think we should have Haruman tell Padma Patil what they're planning with Seamus, and encourage her to write to him. He apparently agreed to this plan of theirs, but surely he's not happy about it! Given what happened to his mother, maybe he just desperately doesn't want someone else to die for him again.

Comments

[alt_rachel]

It turns out I have a mildly hilarious addendum.

Jason Montague wants us to agree to send Seamus into exile, rather than making him stand trial. In exchange, he'll work for us as an Auror.

[alt_alice]

Oh, Merlin.

Thoughts?

Would he be a willing Auror?

Would he be more willing if we made a similar arrangement to Ms Patil's?

Speaking of -- yes, Haruman has my permission.

[alt_rachel]

I think he'd be a willing Auror. And as much as I hate to admit it, we could certainly use him. He's good at his job, he'd be a second legilimens, and we're already stretched thin.

As for an arrangement like Patil's... I'm not sure. I think his first preference would be a pardon, second probably exile, third some arrangement like Patil's. I suppose I could ask, though he'll interpret that as an offer, probably.

[alt_rachel]

And I'm still not thinking clearly.

The risk of having Patil write to Seamus is that it tips our hand rather clearly to the existence of a spy in that meeting, and even if we could trust Seamus to keep his mouth shut, which we probably can't, he's regularly in the presence of Bellatrix, who's a legilimens.

Probably best not to. Well, we could encourage Haruman to let her write to him and ask how things are going.

[alt_alice]

Right.

I can see the risk -- she might make it seem too convenient, as we can't depend on her for subtlety without completely monitoring everything she says.

[alt_alice]

They need to be neutralised as a threat. Were they to simply scatter, they would potentially be able to return. Ideally, they would all be put to trial, but if time is of the essence, that cuts into our ability to proceed.

If we cannot have justice for all, an oath to never return would be some small measure of what we need to be able to move forward. It's a viable choice, especially for those who serve in supportive roles -- without them, New London is ours.

The International Confederation of Wizards may be able to achieve some measure of sanctions as well, which is cold comfort.

[alt_rachel]

We could require a set of Unbreakable Vows similar to the ones we required of Lucius Malfoy. I think he had to vow not to use the Unforgiveable Curses or any spell with lethal intent. I can't remember if we allowed an exemption for self-defense. Maybe not. He can defend himself just fine non-lethally, if he wants to.

I think he also had to vow not to return to Albion without permission from the authorities, but I don't remember how we phrased that.

And I agree that trials would be preferable, but they're unlikely to hand themselves over. Capturing them one at a time is slow and risky. Persuading the lot of them to just leave would let us start rebuilding in earnest.

[alt_alice]

Yes. Agreed.

[alt_sirius]

Your comment made me curious, so I thought I'd go back and check. We didn't make Malfoy swear not to return - however, we made it plain that he would be killed if he did and we caught him. Probably should have also made him swear not to continue to aid the enemy, but I think we didn't insist on either of them just for the sake of expediency. Luckily, it doesn't seem like he's been too involved, unless it's by owl. And those hampers Narcissa sent Draco and Hydra would seem to indicate they're remaining at least neutral, if not withdrawing their support from Bella entirely.

As for young Finnigan, by all reports he's pretty lethal himself. On the other hand, he's the same age as Draco, Justin and Ron. I think he has to stand trial, but we can guarantee that he will not receive a death penalty. Exile could certainly be the sentence, provided Ireland were included - I don't want him going back to Belfast or Dublin and stirring up trouble there.

[alt_alice]

Frank and his team are in position to head over to Ireland late this evening. Calais was willing to lend us a vessel.

With any luck, he'll be able to reconnect with some of the people he worked with a few years back. If the situation on the ground is stable enough, he'll send for Sean Finnigan.