Order Only

[alt_lupin]

When we took Lucius to Saltash, he did have one suggestion I thought was interesting. Request, really, but he phrased it as a suggestion -- that we should offer to trade him for someone else. This would cover for Narcissa, I guess, and make it look like he was our unwilling prisoner being held as a bargaining chip. (As opposed to our reluctant prisoner being held because the alternative is Azkaban.)

I'm not sure what I think. I'll admit I'd be suspicious of his motives no matter what he were suggesting, though.

Comments

[alt_lupin]

Anyway I was saying to Alice that it doesn't have to be someone we actually want (and probably shouldn't be, actually, since this isn't meant to work). We could demand someone loyal, implying that they're not and possibly making them distrust them. We could say we'd trade him for Barty Crouch's head on a platter. We could demand someone we have, and confuse them because presumably they know that person's gone from Azkaban, so if they're not with us, where are they -- right?

The question isn't, 'who do we want,' the question is, 'who is it to our advantage to ask for.'

[alt_sirius]

All right. But we can't ask for the moon, either, because then they'll know it's meant to be refused.

But in that case, it might be better to ask for someone like Rosier or Rookwood.

[alt_pansy]

Well, I suppose confusion or misdirection are both possibly useful, even though it'd probably be limited.

Would there be a way we could use this to put someone under suspicion? Make it seem like they know something they shouldn't in a way that he'd find threatening?

[alt_lupin]

If that's the angle we take, it should preferably be someone we could plausibly think was being held against their will.

[alt_sally_anne]

Seamus Finnigan.

[alt_pansy]

Oh.

Oh, now.

That's interesting.

[alt_sirius]

I think it would be more interesting if we didn't know the part he played in detaining Professor Sprout and Neville, though.

[alt_sally_anne]

Do they know we know?

[alt_sirius]

Not necessarily, but the problem is that they have no reason to suspect Mr Finnigan, even if we tried to make it seem he's questionable. He turned in a classmate, which makes him extraordinarily cold even if he didn't know it would lead to such a major breach of the Order's security. If he had been a member of the Order, it would have been far too risky a move to make.

Rookwood's a better candidate to smear, given that he habitually writes to Malfoy in PMs despite Malfoy not having had a journal for months. But he's also enough of a liability for them (for that same reason - hey, I just thought of something. I wonder if we could get Malfoy to read us those messages if we showed him a journal?), that they just might take us up on the deal.

Have to give it more thought.

[alt_pansy]

Suggesting dissatisfaction sometimes is enough.

If we play it right, and it's an odd enough choice, they could wonder what makes that particular individual such a person of interest, too, which would be very uncomfortable for him or her.

Or we could make it seem like we're taking advantage of an opportunity to pull in a double agent because of the recent fallout at Hogwarts and the fact that we're worried about more people getting found out.

Mind, I've no idea how we'd give that impression without being too painfully obvious.