McGonagall must know (was Some stuff about PoA, Moving Pictures, and Harry's permission slip)

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 15170

cryptykgrl at aol.com wrote:

>     2) At the end of PoA, when Harry is on the train home, Pig

*ahem* the owl soon to be known as Pig

> shows up at the window carrying a letter from Sirius.  Enclosed in
> that letter is a note giving Harry permission to go to Hogsmeade when
> the rest of the school goes.
> Wouldn't that cause some problems?  Early in the book, it's Minerva
> who collects the slips from all the Gryffindors, so you would think
> that to go to Hogsmeade, he would have to give his note to her in
> GoF.  However, correct me
> if I'm wrong, but she doesn't know that Sirius is innocent, does she?
> I mean, if all of a sudden, Harry gave her a note signed by a wizard
> who she thought had murdered 13 innocent people, then escaped from
> Azkaban and was still out there somewhere, wouldn't that make her just
> a little suspicious?

This has been discussed before, when Snape's knowledge was the question.
At the end of PoA, only Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Dumbledore know the
truth about Sirius. Snape still does not, because while he was present
in the Shrieking Shack during all the explanations and whatnot, he was
unconscious. He missed hearing or seeing anything that would have
changed his mind.

However, when Sirius transforms in front of him at the end of GoF, Snape
does not react to him as a dangerous murderer, a threat to anyone, or
anything on that scale. It's back to being simply a vehement personal
animosity.

So the conclusion is that at some point in the intervening year,
Dumbledore filled Snape in on the truth of events. Snape was probably
not happy about it, but he clearly believed Dumbledore, judging from his
[Snape's] reaction in GoF. Contrast it with Molly Weasley's, who has no
idea that Sirius is innocent, and it is clear that Snape knows the
truth. Therefore, by extension, McGonagall must also know. She's
Dumbledore's official #2, after all, so I'd be very surprised if Snape
had been informed and she had not.

--Amanda


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