Order Only: Private message to Alice, Remus, Poppy and Hydra

[alt_rachel]

Haruman Patil turned up this morning to help in the hospital wing. We sat down for a chat a little while ago, and I told him our proposal: Miss Patil will turn herself in and debrief with us complete, giving us a full account of her own actions and any intelligence we might find useful. We will not use cruciatus on her, nor any other form of torture, now or in the future. She will serve five years in prison; before her release she will take an Unbreakable Vow to refrain from all use of the Cardinals Unforgiveables, as well as any spell that will cause death if cast properly. She will then serve an additional five years where she is supervised by someone who regularly inspects her wand for Dark spells; during those five years, she will seek out opportunities for service to muggles. At the end of this, she will be deemed rehabilitated and allowed to fully move on with her life (though I don't think we should ever lift the Vow).

Haruman's counterproposal was this. The debriefing, the Vow, the supervision, those are all fine with him. But he wants her imprisoned just until the end of the war, and he wants her somewhere other than Saltash and to be allowed to use her journal, at least as her jailers have time to supervise her. In exchange for these considerations, he's offering us Sean Finnigan. Not Seamus. Sean.

Thoughts?

Comments

[alt_poppy]

That's rather apples and oranges. We're not talking about her safety, we're discussing her punishment. And rehabilitation. What she and her brother might consent to do today of their own accord may be radically different than what they would actually do (if it's left at the level of house arrest) six months or three years from now.

But I think you are in fact planning to lock her up, and in that scenario my concern is that we should negotiate with the less rosy outcome in mind as well as the hoped-for one. What if she hardens during her time in prison and is not, then, a good candidate for release into the population? Ought we not retain some control over what we must do with her at that point? One changes a great deal between the ages of 17 and 23 even without having been first a war criminal and then a prisoner. I'm suggesting that what she is today may bear little resemblance to what she will be in five-years' time, and predicting how that change will manifest is impossible, even with the services of a powerful legilimens to help us.

[alt_rachel]

Well, we can legilimise her in six months, say, but what would be the benchmarks? I don't actually care much whether she likes muggles, so long as she follows the laws of our new society.

I'm not sure Haruman will agree to an indefinite term for her. And I think we want Sean Finnigan.

[alt_poppy]

Is negotiating down the punishment for the former the only means we have of obtaining the latter?

That's yours to determine, of course, with Alice and Remus. I'm merely suggesting that we not place too much expectation that five years' incarceration will have a predictable outcome. We may accept that that is true and still be glad to make this bargain.

[alt_rachel]

I see. Maybe it would be better not to mention rehabilitation, and simply say that incarceration and supervision and the rest would be sufficient.

I just wanted to make it clear that her punishment would be over at some point -- she'd be allowed to rejoin wizarding society and do whatever she likes with her life, provided it doesn't involve casting Cardinals.

[alt_alice]

I admit -- if we were to win the war in a month's time (highly optimistic, but the point holds), I would find it difficult to release her.

Determining to our satisfaction that she would no longer be an active threat may be a proviso of any early release -- and an immediate re-imprisonment should she violate the guidelines of her supervision. We can include language to imply that any such determination could be corroborated by uninvolved parties, although Merlin knows how we'd do that short of shipping in someone from the Americas who has no stake in it...

[alt_rachel]

We could say a year, minimum. Or two years. Or 'evaluate for release when the war ends,' but I think in that case Haruman will want to know what sort of standard we'll be using, exactly.

I don't think we should count on bringing in some neutral arbiter.

[alt_alice]

If we were to release her early, the burden would be placed on her and her family to establish that she was no longer a threat.

An interview under Verisatum with a family member present?

More importantly -- what would be your primary security concerns -- both in terms of holding her in a place that isn't a null zone, and in terms of what may happen were she to be released prematurely?

[alt_rachel]

I think the main thing that would happen, if she escaped and tried to rejoin the other side, is that Bellatrix would kill her.

She's no particular threat to us. She's a clever student but a mediocre fighter. She's capable enough in Dark Arts but not a prodigy.

The reason to imprison her isn't because we're concerned she's an actual threat; it's because we need to demonstrate that we take her crimes seriously.

[alt_rachel]

I should say, I do think she was a threat to our people before the 16th. Much like Seamus Finnigan, I doubt she'd have hesitated to turn in Ron, Pansy, or Sally-Anne, if she'd had anything on them. Though it's worth remembering she lost her nerve and sent a warning to her sister.

In any case, we disarmed that threat when we liberated the school.

[alt_rachel]

How badly do we need Sean Finnigan? I haven't been paying close attention to the wards project -- it's not my field.

Haruman and Inderpal thought maybe we'd want him because he has contacts in Ireland. Dogstar doesn't know much about the wards, they've never had the expertise to research them like we have. (I told Poppy but not the rest of you: Haruman and Inderpal are in Dogstar. They know now that I was, as well.)

[alt_alice]

Quite.

With him, taking down the Ireland wards are difficult, but not impossible. Without him, we'd have to capture Seamus alive, or invent something to work around it, which are lengthy propositions indeed.

The fact he's alive is a bloody miracle.

[alt_rachel]

I'd much rather come to an accord with Haruman, even if that means letting Padma Patil off too easily, than to send Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ron Weasley to try to bring back Seamus Finnigan without killing him.

[alt_alice]

Agreed.

See what you can hammer out.

[alt_rachel]

Right. They're fine with a minimum sentence followed by consideration for parole based on an interview with a legilimens or under veritaserum, seeking sincere regret and a commitment to harming no one in the future. We'll need to figure out where to keep her -- I think a prison under Fidelius is an excellent idea, but maybe Bedford? Would they be willing?

They'll bring in Padma, and Sean Finnigan, later today.

[alt_alice]

I'll send Wayne over to see if he can negotiate a space.