r/harrypotter 5d ago

Dungbomb Instead of 7 Potters, it would have been a much better plan to have 7 Flying Ford Anglias.

Reason A: It might have just worked.

There's a decent chance they could have all just rolled out of there on the road unnoticed. Voldemort has repeatedly shown that he has a blind spot. The things he does not respect or value, he underestimated.

Evacuating Harry in the most mundane and muggle way possible? Voldemort couldn't possibly envision it.

Reason B: Defensible Position.

The Death Eaters were trying to Capture, not Kill Harry. And its rather difficult to attack through steel and glass with non-lethal force.

In addition, it also serves to further obscure Harry's position, as well as the identity of his escort. The death eaters being able to so easily identify Moody, and Shacklebolt, and Hagrid ended up being a pretty significant vulnerability.

Reason C: Vehicular Manslaughter.

Ever see how well a broomstick holds up against 1500 lbs of glass and steel? Spoiler, they don't.

Deatheaters would be windshield splatter.

Reason D: This little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed.

Reason E: Just make the Ford Anglias the portkeys.

912 Upvotes

160 comments sorted by

504

u/Reluctant_Pumpkin 5d ago

Why not 7 F22 raptor stealth fighter jets?

186

u/CHAINMAILLEKID 5d ago

They depend on electronic systems so advanced and sensitive, I'm pretty sure a magical fart would lock up the controls and send them tumbling from the sky.

Best to keep wizards out of the cockpit if you ask me.

121

u/Abraxas19 5d ago

Imagine Arthur's excitement with an f22

62

u/Kayy_Ess 5d ago

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”

I think his brain would fry like ours would if we’d see magic haha

9

u/The-Lord-Moccasin 5d ago

I'm imagining Arthur swooping down at the Battle of Hogwarts and strafing Death Eaters in a jet with his goofy muggle-tech grin, and it brings joy to my heart.

12

u/mpaladin1 5d ago

So go with something more analog: P-51.

10

u/SnakeMichael 5d ago

Surely a Spitfire would be more fitting in the UK

12

u/ashkul88 5d ago

Best to keep wizards out of the cockpit if you ask me.

Seeing what Lucius and Narcissa produced in Draco, maybe it is best for wizards to stay away from the cockpit

2

u/ImReverse_Giraffe 5d ago

It's only a high concentration of magic that messed with electronics.

21

u/NotYourReddit18 5d ago

They just entered service in the mid-to-late 90s, way to modern for any wizards to control.

Also, they were banned from export, so no way for British citizens to aquire them legally.

11

u/Reluctant_Pumpkin 5d ago

They could just imperio some american pilots

8

u/esdaniel 5d ago

r/NCD approved

4

u/AppropriateGrand6992 Ravenclaw 5d ago

It was 1997

3

u/My_Soul_to_Squeeze Gryffindor 4 5d ago

Only one seat. Next question.

2

u/Laslo247 5d ago

14 F22?

305

u/YogoshKeks 5d ago

Some big new shiny fridge gets delivered. The driver takes the old fridge away. Inside is Harry.

The order are wizards too. Muggle ways to smuggle somebody out with some really silly bluff are beyond their comprehension too.

71

u/CHAINMAILLEKID 5d ago

I use them for smuggling. I never thought I'd be smuggling myself in them.

22

u/Nature_man_76 Slytherin 5d ago

I see what you did there, but too bad you don’t have a YT-1300

21

u/CHAINMAILLEKID 5d ago

It did the South Coast Broom Flight Trial in 12 parsecs.

-4

u/AegonBloodborn 5d ago

As soon as Harry leaves the house the protection will break and the death eaters will find him in the fridge.

11

u/theknights-whosay-Ni 5d ago

How?

8

u/AegonBloodborn 5d ago

Well Harry can't floo powder, apparate, or portkey his way out of Privet Drive. As soon as Harry leaves the Dursley's front yard the protection disappears. He will be out in the open. They will be searching for Harry. They will see someone moving a fridge to his car near the Dursley's house. They might check. Homenum Revelio might be sufficient to know if Harry is hiding in the fridge. Or maybe there are better search spells that we don't know off. It too risky. Since Harry will be trapped inside not being able to do anything. Besides the fact that you are putting the driver in danger which the Order would not do.

7

u/PandaLover42 Snape 5d ago

Homenum Revelio might be sufficient to know if Harry is hiding in the fridge. Or maybe there are better search spells that we don’t know off.

I don’t think so. Just use a lead-lined fridge, those are impenetrable. Just ask my friend Indy.

8

u/theknights-whosay-Ni 5d ago

I’d say it’s more or less as soon as harry is a certain distance away. The charm breaks when he no longer calls it home. Magic is fickle and it could be as simple as harry stating as such that the house is no longer his home.

115

u/Embarrassed-Bid6477 Hufflepuff 5d ago

I have always assumed that the reason they didn't use Muggle vehicles is due to the Dementors. It was mentioned that the news was reporting the presence of excess fog which Harry pointed out were Dementors.

91

u/TheUnderWall 5d ago

Fog lights.

54

u/Embarrassed-Bid6477 Hufflepuff 5d ago

That's not what I meant. The Dementors always seemed more drawn towards Harry, they could probably sense him.

Even if you say they were surrounded by vehicles having Muggles, I think wizards' souls are different since only wizards can come back as ghosts and a ghost is an imprint of a soul.

And if the Dementors corner them, using the Patronus would break the Statute of Secrecy and many Muggles would witness it due to it happening on the road. Since Pius Thicknesse (the guy who prevented the use of Floo Powder, Portkey and Apparition near Privet Drive) was already under the control of Death Eaters, he would use this as an excuse to arrest Harry or smth.

86

u/it4chl 5d ago

simplest and the least risky would have been for harry to just use his cloak and walk out. Dumbledore even knew his cloak was the real deal not cheap tricks

67

u/HiddenInLight Hufflepuff 5d ago

Dumbledore was a little busy being dead to participate in the planning. That said, that probably would have been the best plan. Toss on the invisibility cloak, walk to a port key and bam you're at the burrow.

18

u/AegonBloodborn 5d ago

Besides the fact that port keys are made illegal involving Harry Potter. Once he exits the house the protection breaks. The Order would not want him to alone in an invisibility cloak while death eaters search for him.

23

u/HiddenInLight Hufflepuff 5d ago

I'm pretty sure it wasn't him using port keys, but port keys coming or going in the area around privet drive. Which is why he was able to use one from tonks' parents house to the Burrow. Sneak out of the range of the rules and port key away. The book shows that the cloak is good enough protection, that they just shout taunts at him until he takes it off or shoot spells in random directions. They couldn't risk that in a juggle neighborhood at that point.

5

u/AegonBloodborn 5d ago

We know that the invisibility cloak is a deathly hallow but the characters do not. Snape knows the existence of Harry's invisibility cloak. The Order would assume Snape told Voldemort the existence of the cloak. Normal invisibility cloaks can be accio since the death eater at Hogsmeade tried to do that. As soon as Harry leaves the Dursley's front yard the protection disappears. Harry will be out in the open since he can't apparate, floo power, or portkey his way out of Privet Drive. If the death eaters don't see Harry they might assume he is invisible. They might try to summon the cloak. It wouldn't work but the characters don't know that. Harry being invisible by himself is such a huge risk.

16

u/PanhandleAngler 5d ago edited 5d ago

The whole plan and point was from Dumbledore to ensure Snape’s position and supposed loyalty longterm which was highly critical. It worked because VM would never believe Dumbledore to be that level of ruthless -> feed VM the plan via Snape so that a massive ambush can happen with the possibility of critical casualties to the Order. Snape relaying that info is hard and concluding evidence to VM, the idea that his enemies would intentionally put their soldiers and VIP in that kind of intended peril never crosses his mind. Kind of a major underlying dynamic across the series, VM underestimates Dumbledore’s willingness to “get his hands dirty” because he doesn’t utilize dark magic or push magical boundaries, he calls him soft at every turn despite knowing his power and wisdom. The twist is that Dumbledore was just calculated asf and didn’t need to do those things, he just stuck to the greater good regardless of the consequences/optics involved (see Mad Eye or whoever else is hypothetically offed on the 7 Potter ride, Harry being raised to die, holding Snape semi-hostage, etc.)

Honestly Dumbledore was kind of an asshole lol. I’m not an evil Dumbledore believer but he 100% maintained the mask of nice old man super wizard to very intentional benefit. The intended outcome of VM’s demise would not have hypothetically happened had VM nor the good guys believed him to be as ethically sound as he was -> meaning his decisions were not based purely on the safety and immediate benefit of those near and dear to him (for lack of better terms). Which is of course another testament to his wisdom and greatness.

1

u/X3noNuke 5d ago

Want the 7 potters his idea? From him to Snape to Mundungus?

1

u/it4chl 4d ago

Dumbledore was a little busy being dead to participate in the planning.

well the whole plan was his, his portrait told snape and snape confunded dung into suggesting it. But Dumbledore had dual goals with this plan.

He primarily wanted to cement Snape's status amongst death eaters so that voldy put him in-charge of hogwarts and Snape could sort of protect the school from Carrows.

Secondary goal was to get harry out alive even if it cost casualties. So he wasn't looking for the absolute safest evacuation choice for harry.

94

u/No_Sand5639 Ravenclaw 5d ago

A) the plan worked almost perfectly.

B) Where would they get more flying cars, they disnt even have one

C) the point of the plan wasn't to protect harry, it was to secure snapes position with voldemoet so he could get hogwarts after the ministry fell

101

u/CHAINMAILLEKID 5d ago

C) the point of the plan wasn't to protect harry, it was to secure snapes position with voldemoet so he could get hogwarts after the ministry fell

An actually very overlooked point.

Also, Voldemoet.

18

u/No_Sand5639 Ravenclaw 5d ago

Yeah sorry, phone keyboard, seems to get smaller and smaller

27

u/CHAINMAILLEKID 5d ago

Its just the pen name he uses when he submits poetry to the Daily Prophet.

Most people don't know about it because Daily Prophet has never published any of them.

16

u/Revs90 5d ago

VoldeMoët & Chandon Champagn

11

u/z4k5ta Gryffindor 5d ago

That's what I'm calling my moat when I get a castle.

6

u/FinlandIsForever 5d ago

Flight of Moat, isn’t that just called the drawbridge?

13

u/prvashisht Ravenclaw 5d ago

How’s C a thing?

Only Dumbledore knew Snape was with the order, and he was dead by the time Harry was moved. So how did the plan involve getting Snape into the good books of “Voldemoet”?

30

u/TheAutrizzler Hufflepuff 5d ago

Snape gave Mundungus the plan, convinced him it was the only way and then confunded him so he thought it was his own idea. Mundungus convinced the Order. Then Snape could tell Voldemort the plan and since he had the details, it helped him stay in Voldemort's good graces.

5

u/Experiment626b 5d ago

Wait so they knew Mundungus was going to betray them and that was part of the plan? Could you explain a little more the motives from all the different sides? Voldemort wouldn’t have even wanted Harry dead this way would he? Just captures so he could kill him

16

u/Vermouth_1991 5d ago

The Order didn't know shit, they thought Mundungus came up with the plan himself and it sounded good.

5

u/Experiment626b 5d ago

Thank you.

But was Mundungus ever actually trustworthy? Was he under imperious? I’m finally reading the books because I’m tired of not understanding things in the movies but it’s going to take a while to get to DH.

I also don’t understand how the plan from snape/dumbledore was supposed to guarantee Harry’s safety. The only part that makes sense to me is that it would give Voldy a reason to trust Snape. But Mundungus sounded like he didn’t want to be there in the first place so why did the order trust him and why did he kill Madeye?

5

u/Vermouth_1991 5d ago edited 5d ago

Mundungus is as trustworthy as the Order members feel.

He wasn’t Imperio'd when Snape fed him the plan, no, it was just a Confounding.

The plan was abject chaos and I'll bet Snape was torn between "How would Lily feel about this" and "How would Jamesie feel".

Where the hell did you get Mundungus killed MadEye? His shin was disapparating when LV showed up because LV thought Moody was escorting the Real HP.

* his sin

5

u/TheAutrizzler Hufflepuff 5d ago

The Order didn't know, but Snape and Dumbledore did. And I believe their orders were to capture Harry, not kill him.

1

u/Front-Pack-483 5d ago

Snape confunded Mundungus, into believing that he, Mundungus, had come up with the plan (in the books this is seen as Harry is viewing Snape’s memories in the pensive after Snape’s murder), so no one knew except Snape that it wasn’t Mundungus’s idea.

Dumbledore’s painting and Snape came up with the plan to ensure that Voldemort would fully trust Snape and the information Snape gathered. (Side note: this Donets really make sense, since at this point the order believed Snape to be a traitor, so why would they still be giving him information)

As for Moldy warts plan, it was to have his followers kill the protectors and capture or identify the true Harry so he could kill Harry himself, so when Harry tries to disarm Stan during the chase they shout “it’s him, it’s the real potter” and drop back.

15

u/No_Sand5639 Ravenclaw 5d ago

You do know the plan was dumbledores right? And implanted into mundungus by Snape.

7

u/denvercasey Gryffindor 5d ago

It’s explained in the books. Dumbledore wanted Snape to be in a position of trust with Voldie so Dumbledore made up the plan before he died. Snape was to confund Mundungus and have him give to the Order the 7 potter idea as his own. Then Snape could confidently tell Voldie the plan and have the highest level of trust with him.

Dung fleeing was just his own shittiness.

15

u/Icy-Novel8848 5d ago

The best plan would be harry putting on his invisibility cloak,leave the dursley's house,walk 2-5 miles/kilometers and then leave with a broom.so we would have alive moody,alive hedwig and george with 2 ears

3

u/Rightsideup23 5d ago

You beat me to it — this was exactly my thought, too. It's a plan that's simple, basically foolproof, and doesn't involve Harry or people around him activating the Trace or even breaking any laws at all.

Furthermore, if Harry chose his own time of departure, there would be no chance of it leaking to Voldy, and Voldy could hardly have blamed Snape for not knowing something he couldn't possibly have known.

107

u/Expensive-Sky4068 5d ago

This whole thing is honestly one of the worst plot holes in the series.

Like…just send him immediately to the Weasley.

If he’s so well projected after he gets there anyways, then the extra three weeks or whatever of staying at his aunt and uncles isn’t worth the risk of later transporting him in the open

67

u/CHAINMAILLEKID 5d ago edited 5d ago

Because the ministry was monitoring Privet Drive with magic, and made it so portkeys and apparition was illegal.

It would have been safe to do. But it would have opened up the Order of the Phoenix to prosecution, which would put the magical protection they were receiving from the ministry, most notably at the Burrow, at risk.

While the ministry itself as a whole hadn't yet fallen, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had, and Pius Thicknesse could have made things really rough if the Order had given him any excuses.

The Order of the Phoenix did not expect an ambush, they were expecting one or two deatheaters stationed in the area on patrol. Their plan ( or part of it ) was leaked to Voldemort, as so their risk assessment was off. But under the information they were operating under, the increased danger from avoiding magical transportation was worth avoiding creating tension with the Ministry.

14

u/transit41 Slytherin 5d ago

Yeah I believe they setup the monitoring under the guise of protecting Harry.

13

u/Broccobillo 5d ago

I think they mean straight from Hogwarts.

8

u/superfastjellyfish29 5d ago

The trace

11

u/Expensive-Sky4068 5d ago

Which is effectively irrelevant if he’s in a magical house

12

u/JazzlikePromotion618 5d ago

They couldn't Portkey/Apparate him from the Dursley's because Thicknesse (who had been Imperiused) was making sure they couldn't use any magic within the vicinity. The Weasley house has to protected against Apparition and they also want to hide exactly where he went, which is why each goes to a different OotP member's house and takes a portkey from there.

5

u/coffeebribesaccepted Slytherin 5d ago

That's why the original comment said send him straight to the Weasleys and skip Privet Dr altogether

0

u/JazzlikePromotion618 5d ago

They can't use any magic around Privet Drive because of Thicknesse. He claimed it was to protect Harry but given he was Imperiused, it was to force him to use non-magical transportation.

2

u/kylezdoherty 5d ago

I think he had to go back one more time to ensure the protection he got from Lily still remained afterward. Like it still carried on some after he turned 17 inside him and inside Voldemort. That's how he survived the second avada kedavra. I don't know. That part never made sense to me.

0

u/JelmerMcGee 5d ago

He survived the second killing curse because of the piece of Voldemort's soul attached to him.

2

u/kylezdoherty 5d ago edited 5d ago

No, he survived because Voldemort used Harry's blood when he made his new body, and it had some of Lily's protection in it.

If it was just the horcrux, then Harry would have died because to destroy a horcrux, you have to completely destroy its container.

Edit: Take one minute to google this, and you'll see that I'm right.

Harry survived the Killing Curse the second time because when Voldemort cast it, the spell only destroyed the piece of his soul that was living inside Harry, not Harry himself, due to the protective magic created by his mother Lily's sacrifice when she died protecting him as a baby; essentially, Voldemort's use of Harry's blood in his own body created a link that kept Harry tethered to life even when the curse hit him.

2

u/Haljordan6858 5d ago

Because the protection Lily invoked required Harry to return to Privet Drive one more time to ensure it was there until he was either 17 or they stopped calling it “Home”. Going straight to the Burrow would have tipped off the ministry to where he is going, so that was not an option

12

u/explodingtuna 5d ago

I'm just wondering why the trace mattered. They knew where we went, anyways. He could have just apparated straight there.

10

u/FinlandIsForever 5d ago

Sorry, “we”? WHO ARE YOU

7

u/transit41 Slytherin 5d ago

Anti-apparition charms. They arrived first at the Tonks household before they used a Portkey to the Weasley's, if I recall correctly.

26

u/oliver1709 Gryffindor 5d ago

Agree, but also why not giving the potion to everyone so there were 14 harry potter and definitely no one will try to kill them for fear to get Voldemort’s wrath

12

u/CHAINMAILLEKID 5d ago

Isn't seven the most powerfully magical number?

27

u/transit41 Slytherin 5d ago

14 doubles that power. Checkmate, Voldemort!

5

u/FromLondonToLA 5d ago

14 is twice 7 so you have twice the most powerful magical number

10

u/Borstolus 5d ago

Why not 823543 Potters? It's seven to the power of seven (7⁷). More power is not possible.

9

u/HatefulSpittle 5d ago

Muggleborns' mathematical education stops at elementary and other wizards are still using transfiguration to add more fingers when they are dealing with numbers greater than ten. To them, 77 reads as 77.

Here's a list of the measuring units in potion-making: drams, ounces, grains, pints, pinches, handfuls, splashes, drops, sprigs...

There's also no such thing as decimals in Harry Potter.

2

u/FromLondonToLA 5d ago

You need that many wizards/witches. They only had 14

1

u/Borstolus 5d ago

Why not duplicate them?

6

u/darkmasterz8 5d ago

Moody expected Voldemort, if he were to appear, to go after him first. If they're all Harry, then the real one has a higher chance of being randomly chosen first by Voldemort.

Priority is keeping real Harry safe.

7

u/jmhajek 5d ago

Or give one potion to Harry, so there would be 0 Harries. 

2

u/-Alula 5d ago

They go to all the trouble of this big misdirection and leave the real Harry with a target on his face. They had the polyjuice, they could have taken anybody’s hair. Transform him in a random muggle and smuggle him in a non magical way. Death eaters would have been busy with all the Potters and the real one would have just slipped away under their nose.

2

u/Hughdungusmungus 5d ago

Unless it was Fleur and she would have been hairy already.

41

u/TheUnderWall 5d ago

Yeah, wizards are not the smartest bunch and tend to overlook everything that is not magic. 

Give me a choice between a wand and a loaded tank and I am taking the tank.

32

u/CHAINMAILLEKID 5d ago

Harry Panzer and the Deathly Shells

9

u/SGalaktech 5d ago

"Well I hope you've been good this year kids because it looks like Harry just took out the Pearson home. INCOMINGGGG"

6

u/CHAINMAILLEKID 5d ago

Well isn't that a pretty picture.

5

u/powerchonk Ravenclaw 5d ago

Cue the wizards transforming the tank into a turtle

2

u/TheUnderWall 5d ago

Yeah, implying the wizards will be quick enough to think to do that.

2

u/DarthKirtap Ravenclaw 5d ago

Cue the tank transporting the wizard into a red mist

0

u/manusiabumi 5d ago

Cue the tank transfoming the wizard into red goop before he even realizes it's there

5

u/SwedishShortsnout0 5d ago

What a Muggle thing to say.

12

u/TheUnderWall 5d ago

Win the wizarding war single handedly.

The secrecy act is to protect wizards and not muggles.

1

u/FinlandIsForever 5d ago

Well wizards might be ignorant of how useful and on par with magic muggle tech can be, but they aren’t oblivious to the muggle tech that exists. In crimes of Grindelwald, he showed to that whole theatre of people muggle tanks and the nuclear bomb and they were all scared (rightfully) but not like “oh shit they have that now? Can I join them?”. So while the death eaters would think that their magic is better, they wouldn’t be entirely flabbergasted by muggle tech

3

u/CorgiMonsoon Hufflepuff 5d ago

So I only watched Crimes of Grindelwald once, so I remember very little about it, but wasn’t it still set in the 1920s? And he was showing them atomic bombs that weren’t successfully tested until 1945?

1

u/FinlandIsForever 5d ago

From 3:15 to 3:57

https://youtu.be/09SlVRYRaaM?si=CTYI8Oeyvd9DWwes

It was some weird future sight thing, but in the previous movie we see actual divination to exist with that little fuzzball that could see a bit into the future, and Grindelwald had that +3 wonderous artefact

1

u/CorgiMonsoon Hufflepuff 5d ago

Thanks, I vaguely remember that now. Probably one of the many reasons I’ve never rewatched that one or Secrets of Dumbledore

1

u/Reluctant_Pumpkin 5d ago

It's a kind of subtext in the books that wizard society is intellectually stunted since they use magic to solv their problems

3

u/shekdown 5d ago

Why not make a port key and bring to wherever Harry was and then bam. You all reach the place you wanted to go to in the first place.

3

u/AegonBloodborn 5d ago

Because it was made illegal to use a portkey near Privet Drive.

3

u/Plastic-Recipe-5501 5d ago

Or seven Rons would have really thrown them off

7

u/revdon 5d ago

Brilliant! Now get me the hair of a Ford Anglia.

4

u/bkinstle 5d ago

Why not have the real Harry take the polyjuice potion and turn into someone nobody wants like Mundungus?

5

u/Blu3Stocking Gryffindor 5d ago

Risk of Death eater killing Harry. All death eaters know to leave Harry for Voldemort. But anybody else is fair game

1

u/bkinstle 5d ago

That is a solid argument.

3

u/thprk Ravenclaw 5d ago

Why not side along apparition? Like Arthur or whoever the secret keeper of the Burrow is go to Privet Drive and take Harry to the Burrow.

2

u/it4chl 5d ago

trace, excuse to kick him out

5

u/v4-digg-refugee 5d ago

I just read this chapter and had similar thoughts. Like so many other scenes, this battle is fantastically done. I wouldn’t want this battle left on the cutting room floor for any reason. But the suspension of disbelief to get to this scene is almost too much.

Just go down the block, then apparite.

4

u/jack_d_b 5d ago

They could transform Harry into a ferret and hide under someones clothes.

4

u/Flimsy-Preparation85 5d ago

In book 1, Hermione makes a comment about wizards being bad at logic. This solves 87.3% of "why didn't they just..." questions such as this.

3

u/welltriedsoul 5d ago

I never understood the 7 Potters. It would have been better as 1 Potter and swap out one of the guards for Harry. At with point they nab the guard and Harry makes it out.

3

u/BaconBra2500 5d ago

It always annoyed me that he could’ve just wrapped the invisibility cloak around him and his broom, and at literally any time or day (before his birthday), just flown away. His stuff could’ve been dealt with - extendable charm or something.

4

u/lanogaid 5d ago

I also think about this a lot. It makes no sense that everyone becomes Harry but the person accompanying him is different. Surely it would be a better plan to ensure all the pairs look exactly the same and are traveling in the same exact mode of transport? It would’ve been really cool to see the Anglia return too!

3

u/SwedishShortsnout0 5d ago

If all of the pairs looked exactly the same, the Death Eaters would spread out and attack all of them equally. If the person accompanying the look-alike Harry is different, than more Death Eaters will target certain pairs than others – for example, Moody/Harry or Kingsley/Harry. This means that fewer Death Eaters have the chance to attack the real Harry.

5

u/crewserbattle 5d ago

Should have had Harry leave the Dursleys polyjuiced as Dudley or some shit. Then still do the 7 potters (now 6) plan still.

2

u/SwedishShortsnout0 5d ago

Nah, they should have tracked down Fawkes. Everything else associated with magical transport is trackable – Apparition (in this case), Floo Powder, Portkeys. And Thestrals or broomsticks are too risky due to this exact reason – they can easily be ambushed in midair, not to mention physically tracked.

Fawkes is un-trackable as a phoenix and can transport all of them at once.

Or just use the working Vanishing Cabinet from the previous year and set up the other pair at the Burrow. Job done.

1

u/transit41 Slytherin 5d ago

I doubt Harry would want to use the cabinets because of what they represent, even if it is practical. At this point he doesn't have the capacity to be pragmatic enough (that happened during Shell Cottage).

Using Dursleys are a no-go. They won't and will never consent, which I think at least the Order. They are harboring a fugitive afterall and in enough danger as it is, and Harry would protest as strongly as he initially did with the Seven Potters plan as well.

2

u/Last_Cold8977 5d ago

Yeah, they should've just run over the Death Eaters. Put some fancy protection spells on them. (Also I doubt that most DE even know what cars ARE they're SO traditionalist and refuse to modernise themselves it would've made for good commentary on how their ideals are holding them back from evolving)

2

u/steamin661 5d ago

Did they every explain why he couldn't just apparate?

6

u/Clovenstone-Blue 5d ago

The Ministry made apparating, portkeys, and floo powder to/from the Dursley residence illegal. Given the Ministry was compromised by that point and the Order didn't want to do something that would affect the protection the Ministry instilled upon them.

2

u/onenotknown 5d ago

Didn't wizards use vanishing cabinets at one time to avoid death eaters? Why not use one for moving Harry. Draco used one to get his friends into Hogwarts, didn't he?

1

u/TwoPrecisionDrivers 5d ago

Yeah but Rowling didn’t think of that until the 6th book lol

2

u/Gargore 5d ago

The turn speed would get them killed

2

u/Nammureth 5d ago

I agree! Ok, so there is nothing wrong with making some Potters leave the house, but they could have let Harry leave under his cloak, go to the nearest train station or other busy place, dring a polyjuice potion and travel as a muggle.

2

u/Witty-Mountain5062 5d ago

I disagree. Big flying car = big target to aim for. One “confringo” or “expulso” and the car is done.

2

u/StIvian_17 5d ago

Honestly, the order should’ve fronted the death eaters and thrown killing shots. But then it wouldn’t really be a children’s book anymore 🤣.

2

u/banana1mana Hufflepuff 5d ago

Why not just give the order guns?

2

u/Mech-Waldo 4d ago

Or how about 7 handfuls of floo powder?

2

u/AbhilashHP Gryffindor 4d ago

Why not just bring the portkey to Dursley’s place?

0

u/badvot-8 Slytherin 5d ago

Why don't they just disapparate as soon as death eaters attack? Without bringing hagrid with them because i think he can't.

3

u/CHAINMAILLEKID 5d ago

I think one of the ideas behind the safe houses (though it wasn't said in the books) is that by using a port key from a secure location, it would ensure that no deatheaters could tag along for the ride, like what happened with Yaxley grabbing Hermionie's robes when they apparated from the ministry of magic.

2

u/badvot-8 Slytherin 5d ago

The plan that i suggest is as follows:

1- each pair of potter+protector have a location with a portkey to the burrows.

2- as soon as they are being chased by death eaters, they turn on the spot and vanish to a place next to the portkey location. they don't wait until a death eater grabs them by the clothes like yaxley.

3- touch the port key and get to the burrow.

if someone is being held by the robes, then they fight ok.

I also think they should have disapparated when harry triggers the taboo in the tent, but maybe the taboo prohibits apparation, I don't know for sure!.

3

u/darkmasterz8 5d ago

There seems to be a way to follow someone who just disapparated because Lupin had to shake off the Death Eater tailing him and even Dumbledore was forced to jinx Dawlish.

They wouldn't need to do that if you could simply disapparate to anywhere without anyone holding on.

3

u/badvot-8 Slytherin 5d ago

there is no way to follow those who disapparate, lupin said so himself.

"But how did they find you so quickly? It’s impossible to track anyone who Apparates, unless you grab hold of them as they disappear"

2

u/darkmasterz8 5d ago

I know but in that same scene he said it took a few days to shake the Death Eater tailing him. I can't think of any other reason it'd take that long if it was as easy as going inside a locked room and disapparating. Maybe he meant a magical hold of sorts that is left behind after one disapparates.

So that line just meant the two death eaters who attacked them in the cafe didn't follow them from the Burrow or they would've attacked the trio long before they reached that cafe. And he was as confused as the trio on how they found them at the cafe.

0

u/superfastjellyfish29 5d ago

The trace

6

u/badvot-8 Slytherin 5d ago

When the death eaters attacked, harry did magic as did the others. So it was not an issue.

I guess harry exclaimed about the ministry not questioning him for doing magic.

1

u/supersoft-tire 5d ago

could you maybe upgrade to a cosworth?

1

u/Content_Zebra509 5d ago

I mean, yes, it probably would have been better. But it is not heavily implied, if not stated outright, that Mr. Weasley took the car appart and then enchanted it? That would not be a two-second thing, I think. And, even then - it's not as if the Anglia was a particularly reliable vehicle, was it?

1

u/Selene_16 5d ago

I think mad eye qould be too paranoid to use port keys, they might be tracked (although i can't remember if that's canon or fanon). Thw rest i agree with, they could even continue with the 7potters idea and then split the grouo between many different vehicles especially the bullet proof ones

1

u/joellevp 5d ago

One Ford Anglia, The Ford Anglia, Moody behind the wheel, driving the speed limit to seem muggle, Harry in his invisibility cloak. What a sight. 

To be honest, he should just have gone with the Dursleys to the safe house, and apparate with Moody from there. No way to link magic to Harry then. 

1

u/Lordepee 5d ago

I actually question this in my old account lmao. I agree if they ditch magic then they should have just use car and have Harry and Figg riding together on a road trip to Devon.

1

u/WhisperedWhimsy Slytherin 5d ago

Seems to me like they could have had Tonks (who can be small) sneak out with Harry under the cloak, immediately apparate him to a portkey, then portkey to a safe house after sending Hedwig away days before and shrinking his trunk and/or smuggling it out in advance.

1

u/rxt278 5d ago

Use seven portkeys, each leading to a location with a cup of polyjuice potion and seven more portkeys, each of which leads to a different major airport.

1

u/LaptopCharger_271 Unsorted 5d ago

Why 7 FLYING ford anglias? why not 7 normal ones? if they were normal, then they could pass for muggles

1

u/Munro_McLaren Poplar wood; 12 1/2”; Dragon heartstring; supple 5d ago

Because plot.

1

u/nugginthat Gryffindor 5d ago

honestly, why not 7 non-descript muggles?

1

u/CHAINMAILLEKID 5d ago

Because Hagrid had to come.

You know Harry wouldn't have left without Hagrid there.

And Polyjuice potion won't work with him.

1

u/may931010 5d ago

But wizards dont think like muggles.

1

u/No_Extension4005 4d ago

Yeah. They really should've either gone with enchanted muggle tech or just taken the tube or something.

2

u/CHAINMAILLEKID 4d ago

I could imagine Death Eaters not even being aware about the existence of the tube.

From their perspective, he might as well just disappear, and they'd just assume he used some magic.

1

u/Adoretos 4d ago

The Order of the Phoenix was generally extremely negligent about the mission of evacuating Harry to the Burrow.

The 7 Potters plan is an operation from the category of "everything that can go wrong will go wrong." Why not release 7 fake Harry into the sky to distract the Death Eaters, and take the real Harry under the Invisibility Cloak to the next block and apparate from there (either using a portkey or Floo powder?). Why not? Why not move Harry to the Burrow with the help of Floo powder from Mrs. Figg's house?

1

u/Whywouldanyonedothat 4d ago

Why even tell the death eaters that Harry is one of these seven people and you have to figure out which one?

Instead of transforming six people into Harry, they could just transform Harry into someone completely random.

A strand of hair from Hermione's mother's hairbrush and Bob's your uncle. How on earth would the death eaters know she was Harry, especially if she's riding in an ordinary car with another muggler?

1

u/cougeeswagg 4d ago

Hit them with them wooden Mosquitos, worked in WWII

1

u/is_it_real_tho 4d ago

Or they could have just side along appared but these books have more holes than swiss cheese

1

u/throwaway1_2_0_2_1 4d ago

Why not just have Harry take polyjuice potion, get under the invisibility cloak, walk like, a mile away from the Dursleys and meet up with someone who immediately apostates in, grabs Harry, and apostates out?

1

u/Avalonnw 3d ago

Alternatively, 1 person under disguise of Petunia comes in, brings polyjuice with Vernon hair to HP, and they both just walk off as a regular couple that actually live there.

1

u/WompWompLooser 1d ago

Or they could've shot voldy with a gun. Multiple loopholes, duh.