ORDER ONLY: Private message to Charlie Weasley and Sally-Anne Perks

[alt_alice]

We're working through some logistics today at Grimmauld. You both have a knack for finding structural weaknesses, and would find it difficult to get away and join us.

I'm hoping you'll be able to share some additional thoughts you have now that you've had time to chew it over a bit, so we can consider them during our planning phase. And Sally-Anne, feel free to ask your fellows at school to weigh in too -- this message is not meant to be exclusionary, it's meant to narrow our focus a bit.

Comments

[alt_alice]

If we have to destroy the machine, that means infiltrating the Department of Mysteries one way or another. While we're there, it's worth trying for a rescue.

Polyjuice is a risk. If we question him extensively, we might be able to determine whether we can go that route or not, given his knowledge of security procedures.

I agree that we'd have to be careful about Tonks because she's one of our members living in the open, so it'd be risky to Laszlo's and Remus as well. What do you think might tip people off that she was a metamorphmagus? Would sensors be able to detect her? There are so few of her kind, I'm not sure they would've accounted for it. It's still worth thinking through.

If he appears to destroy the machine and himself in the process, that might be a cleaner story with less loose ends. We could have him leave a suicide note. And that would create enough confusion to get the victims out, possibly.

[alt_sally_anne]

Well she'd want to pick her appearance very carefully. She ought to look sixteen but only just, so that anyone who got away and told MLE what happened later would think, 'well, I thought she was sixteen but obviously she was just very young looking.'

That's a good argument for having her be a muggleborn and Imperiusing Strangeweale. Because if she impersonated Strangeweale and they DO have a way of detecting polyjuice they'll know that either the polyjuice detection didn't work OR the person was a metamorphmagus and then she'll be in terrible trouble.

[alt_alice]

That's a very good point, Sally-Anne -- to make her look young enough to qualify for the machine at first glance, but edging older so that people wouldn't jump to the conclusion it was a metamorphmagus.

I'm hoping that if we do things right, it'll be unclear enough as to what happened so that fingers might not point to the 'victim' in the first place -- we may be able to set Strangeweale up for a fall that places the blame on him.

[alt_sally_anne]

I'd rather rescue everyone.

But, if we stalk and pick off every person who works in the Department of Mysteries I don't know if anyone would be left who would even know what the machine did. Strangeweale and all his assistants. And then no one from the Order would have to go into Mysteries.

I mean Draco says his father doesn't like Strangeweale and doesn't have any idea what he's up to. And really, if he's not telling Mr Malfoy about it that probably means not very many people do know.

[alt_alice]

I think that might be a reasonable fall-back, in case we are utterly unable to gain access.