I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good: Safety Planning

[alt_sally_anne]

Right, then.

I was thinking about trying to get everyone together in the secret room to talk about this but between quidditch and the revue and everything else, trying to work out a time when everyone can be there is just ridiculous. And this probably shouldn't wait until March.

We need to talk about ways to get away, if we have to. Hermione had a portkey, but apparently all portkeys now go to an MLE dungeon. If you go there by accident they'll (probably) let you go but if you're trying to get away from them it won't do.

Things Hermione suggested when we talked about it last night:

* We can go to Madam Pomfrey, Professor Sprout, or Headmistress McGonagall if we need help (can I just note that the Headmistress is rather difficult to get to? unless someone knows the password to her office, and that's only good as long as she doesn't change it). Mr Milland is 'sort of a friend,' I don't know if that means 'go to him as a last resort' or 'he's friendly but not terribly helpful' or what.

* Maybe we could turn part of Pansy's house in London into a safehouse? I'm not sure what would be involved but there's an attic that her mum NEVER goes into and she'd never notice if she stopped being able to get into it. If we could cast the Fidelius Charm -- but you know, the Fidelius Charm is really, really hard. I don't know if we could cast it or not. And it takes a long time, I think, it's not like casting 'lumos' or something. There's also the whole matter of getting there without a portkey. (Though we could floo to Pansy's house and then run up to the attic as fast as we could.)

* Hermione also thought maybe she could work out how to adjust the calculations to make a portkey that works. I don't know the first thing about making portkeys, actually! ... but if Hermione does, that's brilliant.

* And, she suggested we all make bolt bags like we made for Terry. Fred and George are making everyone beads for container bracelets, like the ones Terry and Hermione have. I have one already and I'm thinking about things to add to it. I can't remember what all was in Terry's bag, but everyone could at least nick a blanket and put that in, and some food with preservation charms, and some water. A spare set of robes, but better if they're not Hogwarts school robes (because those are awfully distinctive and they'll attract attention if it's, you know, term time.)

Other ideas? Someone should talk to Fred and George (and Lee) -- that was a good reason to try to meet in the secret room, but I just didn't want to risk wait.

Comments

[alt_evelyn]

But I don't think we'd have to stay there forever.

I mean, I know we want to do some things on our own, but they have to have a place. The Order, I mean. Where they keep all those people safe.

So maybe being able to get to a safe place and having enough supplies to stay put until we're able to go to where they are might be the thing.

[alt_sally_anne]

Well, the easiest way to ensure we have supplies is to stash them in bracelets. Because if we stock the secret room full of sandwiches with preservation charms but then we can't get to that corridor and wind up hiding in the supply closet in Professor Binns' classroom, they won't do us a lot of good.

Though really even if we have NOTHING, going without food for a week won't kill you (going without water might, but as long as you have your wand you can get water). None of us would be happy about it, but we could survive it.

It's the getting away to a safe place that's the hard part.

[alt_evelyn]

Yes. So food in bracelets, and then maybe one plan if we can get to a floo, and another if we can't.

Like the tunnels. Or the secret room. Or a place in the Forbidden Forest.

What about the Shrieking Shack?

[alt_sally_anne]

Wouldn't they check the Shrieking Shack? It seems almost obvious. I mean people talk about ghosts and so on but everyone goes there at least once, usually on their first Hogsmeade weekend.

[alt_susan]

This might be utterly ridiculous, but what about our brooms?

People often don't think to look up.

There's not much that can do true invisibility outside of a cloak, but maybe Disillusionment charms would make us blend with the sky?

[alt_ron]

That's an excellent idea, Sue.

I could fly right out of the Tower if I needed to. Excellent.

[alt_susan]

I mean, there are obviously limitations to them--we can't carry them everywhere, for one, and Accio only goes so far.

[alt_evelyn]

So maybe there ought to be three plans. A floo plan, a broom plan, and a can't get to either plan.

The floo plan could get us to Pansy's, the broom plan could get us to a village somewhere where we could hide out properly for at least a few days, and the can't get to either plan would be some place close by at Hogwarts.

[alt_evelyn]

Although we'd have to work on the Fidelius charm first for the floo plan to work, and even then it might be tricky. But it's still worth trying.

[alt_sally_anne]

Harder to fly out of Slytherin, but it'll work for the rest of you, and it's still a good thought.

What all is near here? Not in Hogsmeade, not in the Forbidden Forest?

[alt_pansy]

Well, the giant-person lives somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, so going to him might be safer than just the forest in general.

Are there any abandoned Muggle villages in short flying distance? We ought to check a survey map.

[alt_susan]

I could look while I'm out flying solo, and no one would think it suspicious, since I go out alone all the time.

Unless Umbridge finds a way to forbid solo flying, of course.

[alt_justin]

Hullo, Evelyn,

I say, do they have a single safe place? They can all Apparate, can't they? (Though.... Sirius has taken me side-along but he detests Apparation, what? It makes him violently sick.)

But you're quite right that we should have a rendezvous in mind, eventually. New London strikes me as too close to the Ministry, in its way. I say, perhaps the key is choosing a place well removed from anywhere.

-Justin

[alt_evelyn]

I'm not sure. But they have loads of babies, which means they have a place or several places that are safe enough for them. And food to feed them with, and adults to care for them, I'd imagine.