A new hypothesis concerning the DADA Curse

[sunnyskywalker]

You'd think by now I would have learned not to believe anything Dumbledore says uncritically. Let's take another look at the passage where he confirms the curse's existence:

"Oh, he definitely wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job," said Dumbledore. "The aftermath of our little meeting proved that. You see, we have never been able to keep a

Comments

Re: Er... on that subject

[sunnyskywalker]

It's disturbing how much it would explain. I do try to look for reasons everything isn't Dumbledore's fault, but he keeps refusing to cooperate.

You can at least argue that in this case that there weren't any clearly good courses of action, so maybe this isn't as clearly a terrible choice as some of his others, if you're so inclined. But you have to wonder what he'd have done if Voldemort started trying to get other positions instead.

You know, now that I think about it, the fact that Voldemort didn't try that is interesting. Why not kill a redshirt professor like Sinistra in late August and Imperius someone at the Ministry into Imperiusing the Minister to appoint him/his agent? If Voldemort cast the curse, he could continue by cursing any position he/his agents didn't get, making life very difficult for Dumbledore if he doesn't play ball. If Dumbledore cast it, Voldemort could go after each faculty position in turn and either succeed or fail but, again, make life increasingly difficult for Dumbledore and enjoy the bind Dumbledore's in (keep the curse and keep losing staff, or lift it and risk letting in a Voldie supporter with no guarantee of getting rid of them). How long will people follow a headmaster who can't keep any staff (or keep them safe)?

Is there something special about the DADA job that means other positions just won't do? Or did Dumbledore arrange the curse so that incumbents were protected, but any position that opened up and wasn't filled by Dumbledore's own appointment would be subject to the curse as well, and he let Voldemort know somehow?

Re: Er... on that subject

[oryx_leucoryx]

If Tom knew or had reason to expect the curse to hit his appointees regardless of position that might explain why he sent the 2 most expendable DEs to teach.