I agree, really, but I think that anyone advocating Wizarding Supremacy would probably still have pro-pureblood leanings and put them in the key power positions, simply because they ARE wizarding culture, their families are the ones with the 'oldest history' and are the most steeped in the culture, traditions and heritage you're trying to preserve.

Purebloods are the seat of Wizarding culture, the custodians of it, if you will, so it would still be pretty logical to place them in a position of superiority. Not to mention that they're less likely to balk at the notion of subjugating muggles.

You ensure that the proper guardians of your culture, the purebloods, are at the top and that the lesser magical folk (halfbloods, muggleborns...) have had the culture ingrained into them and are happily ignorant about the fact that all but the most exceptional of them will be at the bottom of the stack, after that it's smooth sailing (until you broach the subject of ruling over muggles).

You make certain that proper tradition is taught to muggle-raised children at Hogwarts so that their ignorance can't weaken the wizarding race as a whole. This way the culture is preserved and, after that, it comes down to who the better witches and wizards are so it all sorts itself out.

Having a 'kindler, gentler' message that includes halfbloods and muggleborn can only help Rookwood and Harry push their message. "We don't want to exclude anyone, we don't want to discriminate against magical humans based on heritage, we simply want to strengthen our cultural identity and share it with the 'new' witches and wizards entering our world."

Whether they have a more extreme agenda, like wizard supremacy, hidden behind all of this goodwill is something else...

In the end, it's the people with the most extreme vision and goals that use the most extreme methods. Kidnapping The-Boy-Who-Lived to raise and train him is an extreme method, so there has to be a fairly extreme reason for it.

If Rookwood's goals get toned down too much, the conflict disappears. Dumbledore was for wizard supremacy back in the day, he just objected to the killing. If Rookwood's message jibes with this, then who's to say Dumbledore might not let it be? *Poof* no conflict! Of course, wizard supremacy (even regardless of background) over muggles is fairly extreme and it's possible Dumbledore, having had a change of heart after his sister died and Gellert went bad, would still go against it, even if they didn't advocate killing muggles.

 

Looking forward to it.

@ Warlocke: I think there's a danger you're making Rookwood too smart, too knowledgeable - a Mary Sue, in fact.

 

Yeh that's something I have been thinking about. While Rookwood can do a number of things other character's can't do believably due to his position and training, it would be really boring if by year 1, all the death eaters that pose a threat have been killed off and PR makes it impossible for Dumbledore to attempt a counter.

Igor has to go, but I think that due to the extremely sensitive position Rookwood was in, only a few of Voldemort's select chosen knew Rookwood was a deatheater. Let's say for example that Igor knew because he needed direct communication and cooperation with Rookwood to at one time attempt a coup abroad favoring Voldemort. Maybe not...but the point is, Rookwood will not go about killing every other Death Eater, as once his own position can't be compromised, he wants to keep a low profile and 'create' Harry without undue attention.

As for Dumbledore...There simply has to exist a method to cloud the mind of an adolescent before they reach an age to learn occlumency - purebloods would have to begin training their heirs at a young age, but you wouldn't want anyone using your child as an involuntary leak of house politics. Something I'm thinking about, as there's no way an 11 year old Harry shows up after missing from the Dursley's and Dumbledore doesn't throw a shit.


PR could be utilized to make Rookwood's adoption of Harry accepted by the public and perhaps the ministry - who better to protect our hero than an auror (auror of course being his 'official' position, it makes no sense for people to know if someone is an unspeakable), but Dumbledore is going to do everything in his power to either figure out Harry/Augustus' motives, as well as direct his own influence...in short, precautions need to be taken if Harry is to evade a realistic Dumbledore.

I'm not sure how to do the early years. I'm going to shorten them considerably, as no one really cares about Snape asking Harry what a bezoar is, but it will be a necessary evil to some degree simply to introduce the supporting cast and roles. Also, it sets the dynamics in motion for how to deal with Malfoy, the Order, Hermione, and the seepage that spewed from Molly Wobbles' cunt.

 

Well, being an Unspeakable, he'd have to be right up there, intelligence-wise, but really, I was just explaining the potential attitudes and motivations that would lead someone in his position (a death eater) to raise Harry.

The stuff regarding the prophecy he only knows because Riddle told him. He only manages to retrieve it because he works there. He probably only manages to grab Harry because the wards know he isn't there to harm the child (so he doesn't even have to know about them to get past them). He knows that Voldemort was Tom Riddle because.... Shit, I'm not sure why more wizards don't know who he was. He was Head Boy, for fuck's sake, and magical Britain is a small community. Plus, with wizard lifespans, it hasn't been all that long ago that he was in school.

The business about using DoM funds to pay for Harry's upbringing is inspired by the stories people tell about secret government projects that get funded by overcharging other departments for shit. The whole notion that the real reason the government pays $250 for a hammer is because most of that money is actually being funneled to Area 51 , the NSA, insert British equivalent here...
In other words, it's something these clandestine government departments do on a routine basis, Rookwood's department already does it, so all he has to do is say 'I have a new project. It's a secret.' and the deal is done, he doesn't have to be an accounting whiz. He is the boss... (plus it was just something that popped into my head)

Basically, he's in a really good position to pull this stuff off. A lot of it is luck and timing. Canon Harry beat Voldemort, that didn't mean he was another Dumbledore, it meant he got lucky. Rookwood doesn't need to be a genius, he just needs to take advantage of the opportunity he's been presented with, without being a big enough douchebag to totally drop the ball.

Other than that, the only thing I described was someone with the attitude towards his culture that he and many others were raised with and an ounce of political awareness. Frankly, I know nothing about politics at all, so if I can come up with this shit, Rookwood certainly could.

It's really nothing more complicated than 'Use Harry's popularity to your advantage and don't show all your cards to the sheep until the time is right.'

It's not rocket science.

Edit: Also, there's nothing that says Rookwood is going to be doing all of this alone. He could bring any of the remaining death eaters into his confidence for assistance.

 

You'll probably do fine, at least as long as you prevent Harry from making stupid, Gryffindorish, canon-like mistakes. Characters and realism should come first. Original ideas are always welcome also.

This idea is simply brilliant, and it makes perfect sense to me! Looking forward to the story!