Peter vs. Sirius once again

[Scott]

No: HPFGUIDX 12473

Katarzyna wrote:
"If it is possible (and easy!) to discover the last spell the wand 
performed, why isn't this procedure widely applied - also in Black's 
case?"

(Hi you guys. I have been so busy lately that, while I've tried to 
keep up on reading messages I've not had time to respond to them! 
Argh! Also I have NOT caught up on all messages so someone may have 
already posted their musings on this subject.)

So why didn't they use Priori Incantatem (PI) to see if Sirius was 
really guilty? 

Firstly there is the possibility that JKR didn't make it up until GoF 
and so it technically didn't "exist" before then. 

Secondly (and equally lame) is the idea that no one thought to use 
the spell. After all the scene seemed to speak for itself. A lot of 
people were dead and Sirius was there, and Peter wasn't. It did seem 
rather obvious to those who "witnessed" it I guess. 

Thirdly is an idea I had which is that indeed someone DID use PI on 
Sirius and indeed realised that he was innocent. This person also 
realised that a murderer was on the loose. Voldemort has just been 
destroyed. He/she really doesn't want to cause a panic (There's a 
derranged murderer on the run by the way). He/she also doesn't want 
to let on that they made a REALLY big blunder and sent the wrong 
person to Azkaban. In other words perhaps the whole thing is a big 
cover up.

Another interpretation of the above could be that someone inside the 
ministry helped to frame Sirius because he/she was a DE.

Fourthly maybe Sirius HAD killed someone last, and so the PI did in 
fact show AK as the last curse. It just wasn't the AK that they 
THOUGHT it was. (Maybe though this wouldn't work. Do all PI's of AK 
produce shades???)

Scott