[HPforGrownups] Spies and traitors,

[Bethany Romans]

No: HPFGUIDX 24010

Susanna wrote:
> IMO, in times like the last year of V.'s reign, you
> find it difficult 
> to trust anybody, even your husband or wife or, as
> in the 
> James/Sirius case, one of your best friends. As
> Sirius says in GoF, 
> everybody was suspecting everybody and after all it
> was clear that 
> one of the Potters' friends had to be the spy.
> Unfortunately, Snape 
> (if it was really him to provide that bit of
> information) didn't know 
> the spy's identity, otherwise things would have gone
> in a different 
> way.
> There is that things that keeps bothering me,
> though, let's see if I 
> can put it into words and it still makes sense: 1)
> There is a limited 
> number of Death Eaters 2) Not every DE knows every
> other DE's 
> identity 3) Snape was a DE and mole for Dumbledore
> (this begins to 
> sound like one of the logical puzzles).
> Peter Pettigrew has the Dark Mark on his forearm and
> I think (but 
> that could be the hole in the theory) he had to
> receive it before 
> Voldemorts downfall, for the simple reason that
> afterwards V. had 
> neither the strength nor the physical means to mark
> him. Now, if 
> Pettigrew had been a simple spy, seeing Voldemort
> now and then in 
> private to give him some information about the
> enemy, it would be 
> credible that Snape knew there had to be a spy, but
> couldn't very 
> well go to V., saying "Hey, Voldie old boy, tell me
> who is this spy 
> who provides such a lot of useful information about
> Dumbledore's 
> group?" But it seems that Pettigrew was a DE, he and
> Snape had both 
> been at Hogwarts, maybe even in the same year, Snape
> had spied on the 
> Marauders, and it strikes me as impossible that
> Snape shouldn't have 
> recognized him, even if he was hooded and masked:
> Pettigrew isn't 
> much taller than a child and has that squeaky voice-
> how is it 
> possible Snape couldn't identify him? 
> Or maybe he did? And couldn't tell Dumbledore in
> time? Or didn't tell 
> Dumbldore on purpose, playing a very dirty and
> highly dangerous 
> revenge- game with the Marauders, bringing them to
> distrust one 
> another?
> Comments and clarifications VERY welcome!

You make very good comments. I have a few to add: just
because Peter was a DE, doesn't mean he had to attend
all their "meetings" for lack of a better term. Since
he was supplying Voldie with insider info, and since
Voldemort may have realized that one of his Death
Eaters was supplying Dumbledore with information I
think it logical to assume he would want to keep Peter
as an ace in the hole so to speak. Besides, Pettigrew
isn't really the bravest or most reliable chap in the
world despite being apparently sorted into Gryffindor
and probably wouldn't want his true loyalty known. I
doubt if he even knows/knew his true loyalty, since as
Sirius said, he always wanted to be with the "biggest
bully in the playgound" so whoever won would be where
his *loyalty* would lie. I think Voldemort knew that
there was a good chance  that Peter would balk at the
possibility of having his identity uncovered and
having to face Dumbledore without LV's protection so
he either kept Peter out of site, or only his inner
circle of supporters knew. And as for Snape, if he was
the one to provide the tip, I think he honestly didn't
know who the mole was. Being the kind of vengeful guy
he is, he would have liked nothing more than to expose
one of the Marauders as a spy. Not to mention he could
have repayed his grudging debt to James for saving his
life. Besides the Snape we all know and loathe cannot
stand incompetence, and it seems that Peter was 
nothing if not incompetent; all the more reason for
him to hand him over. Oh, and I totally agree about
the brooms! Maybe Warner Bros. should have spent a
li'l more money on at least *sanding* the handles
first. Better yet, they could use the money devoted to
threatening 15 year olds to make halfway decent broom
handles. (I think poor Harry and Ron would even rank
WB lower than Hermione when she squealed to McGonagall
about the Firebolt!) Sorry this turned out to be quite
lengthy...hopefully I made sense... 
Bethany

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