There'd be no way to tell, with a body. (With a living person it's rather easy to sort out if you know to look, but a body is going to be indistinguishable.)
If we kidnap someone high profile to provide the corpse it'll be more suspicious, however. Shame Strangeweale is already dead, this would've been a good use for him.
Still preferable to providing the living article, though.
Please reassure me you are not under any circumstances going to let him go back. I have seen Truncheon's results. It's very unlikely that anyone in the Order could cast a memory charm powerful enough that Truncheon couldn't break it. It's completely outside the realm of possibility that he would not try. The best-case scenario if he goes back is that he's tortured into madness without giving us away.
If Draco insists on returning, he can't do it alive.
Kidnapping Lucius and Narcissa would be extremely difficult and holding them prisoner even more so.
I might be able to put Lucius into a vulnerable position and let the Order know when to show up, but I don't have any sort of access to Narcissa, and MLE keeps an eye on her -- not ordinarily because she's a hostage, mind you, but simply because she's the wife of a powerful man. And we would need to take them both before either were missed -- I don't think Draco would thank us for saving Lucius, if Narcissa paid the price.
You'd have to take them to Saltash. Even that might not be enough.
But I cannot exclude it as an option. A difficult, costly, and dangerous option, yes, but something we can work through that doesn't involve killing Draco, or turning him over for torture, which are both unacceptable.
Turning over a body in his place also has a great deal of merit.
It's a good idea, Rachel. And it might work, if Draco weren't the product of two of the oldest pureblood families still in existence in Britain.
They'll have a tapestry. Narcissa will have a portrait, maybe more than one. There are ways they can check to determine if he's really dead - and while Narcissa might not have been sure in the case of my brother, or may not have wanted to call attention to the lack of a death date, she'll certainly avail herself of every possible hope of life in Draco's case.
Perhaps, if they're painted by someone who doesn't really know the trade.
Can you see Narcissa Black Malfoy paying for anything less than the best quality?
There could be a number of tapestries. I'm not sure. He would certainly be on the Malfoy one. He might be on the Lestrange one (I've no idea - Hydra, do you know?); I don't think he'd be on the Jugson one. And, of course, he's on the Black tapestry here but that wouldn't matter. I don't think my Aunt Druella has a duplicate, at least I don't recall ever having seen it. In any case, this one would be the master, if she did have a slave, so we could, if necessary, change it here to make the other change. But then, if it's not the same we'd have no way to reconcile the differences.
There are potential complications but the Malfoy tapestry's probably the biggest threat.
He is on the Malfoy one. He's not on the Lestrange tapestry; it only includes Lestranges and those who married Lestranges, and then their offspring. So I'm on it, but not Draco. Other than that he ought to only be on the Black tapestry.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2014-06-12 05:23 pm (UTC)I don't mean actually killing Draco. Polyjuice someone, kill them, leave the body on the doorstep of Buckingham.
It might buy some sort of clemency.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-12 05:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-12 05:45 pm (UTC)If we kidnap someone high profile to provide the corpse it'll be more suspicious, however. Shame Strangeweale is already dead, this would've been a good use for him.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-12 05:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-12 05:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-12 05:53 pm (UTC)That's not
Right. Point.
Private message to Alice Longbottom
Date: 2014-06-12 05:53 pm (UTC)Please reassure me you are not under any circumstances going to let him go back. I have seen Truncheon's results. It's very unlikely that anyone in the Order could cast a memory charm powerful enough that Truncheon couldn't break it. It's completely outside the realm of possibility that he would not try. The best-case scenario if he goes back is that he's tortured into madness without giving us away.
If Draco insists on returning, he can't do it alive.
Re: Private message to Alice Longbottom
Date: 2014-06-12 06:00 pm (UTC)He has to realise it isn't possible.
I think he's an intelligent enough person to have already come to that conclusion, despite his current state.
So it's just a matter of letting him process it, and then we can talk about our other options.
Once he gets round to actually opening the door, that is.
Re: Private message to Alice Longbottom
Date: 2014-06-12 06:11 pm (UTC)I might be able to put Lucius into a vulnerable position and let the Order know when to show up, but I don't have any sort of access to Narcissa, and MLE keeps an eye on her -- not ordinarily because she's a hostage, mind you, but simply because she's the wife of a powerful man. And we would need to take them both before either were missed -- I don't think Draco would thank us for saving Lucius, if Narcissa paid the price.
You'd have to take them to Saltash. Even that might not be enough.
Re: Private message to Alice Longbottom
Date: 2014-06-12 06:17 pm (UTC)Believe me.
I know.
I will be careful not to raise false hopes.
But I cannot exclude it as an option. A difficult, costly, and dangerous option, yes, but something we can work through that doesn't involve killing Draco, or turning him over for torture, which are both unacceptable.
Turning over a body in his place also has a great deal of merit.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-12 07:57 pm (UTC)They'll have a tapestry. Narcissa will have a portrait, maybe more than one. There are ways they can check to determine if he's really dead - and while Narcissa might not have been sure in the case of my brother, or may not have wanted to call attention to the lack of a death date, she'll certainly avail herself of every possible hope of life in Draco's case.
And Bellatrix knows that.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-12 08:07 pm (UTC)The tapestry is harder. Where is it kept? Malfoy Manor?
no subject
Date: 2014-06-12 08:33 pm (UTC)Can you see Narcissa Black Malfoy paying for anything less than the best quality?
There could be a number of tapestries. I'm not sure. He would certainly be on the Malfoy one. He might be on the Lestrange one (I've no idea - Hydra, do you know?); I don't think he'd be on the Jugson one. And, of course, he's on the Black tapestry here but that wouldn't matter. I don't think my Aunt Druella has a duplicate, at least I don't recall ever having seen it. In any case, this one would be the master, if she did have a slave, so we could, if necessary, change it here to make the other change. But then, if it's not the same we'd have no way to reconcile the differences.
There are potential complications but the Malfoy tapestry's probably the biggest threat.
And any portraits she has.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-12 10:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-13 04:02 am (UTC)You can blast people off those tapestries. In fact, it's rather an essential part of that whole tradition.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-13 04:15 am (UTC)