[HPforGrownups] Re: Was Snape at the 3rd Task?

[Tandy, Heidi]

No: HPFGUIDX 19811


Amy asked
> As regards option (b), I think it's more than 8 minutes between the 
> reappearance of the Mark and Harry's return.  It takes a few minutes 
> for the DEs to appear, then Voldemort goes round the circle, then he 
> tells his whole story, and then there's the duel.  I just 
> timed myself 
> reading a bit of Voldemort's speech to the Death Eaters (bwahahaha!) 
> and it took me 1 1/2 - 2 minutes per page.  Before he even 
> gets to the 
> duel, he talks for almost 15 minutes by my reckoning.  I'm not sure 
> how it would matter, given that Apparating takes only a second 
> regardless of where you're coming from (up to whatever the distance 
> limit is, that is).  Even if he was shopping in Diagon Alley at the 
> time (perhaps contemplating taking the plunge and buying off-black 
> robes for a change), it would only take him a minute to get to the 
> Hogwarts Apparition point and a few minutes to get to 
> Dumbledore--easily getting there before Harry reappeared.  But what's 
> the timing issue?  I'm confused.

The timing issue specifically relates to how long it would take Snape,
without apparating, to get from a location on the Hogwarts grounds to the
site of the 3rd Task to tell Dumbledore that not only is the Dark Mark
visible again, it's actually burning black - and that has only happened in
the past when Voldemort has summoned his Death Eaters to his side. In other
words, if Snape wasn't at the 3rd Task, but in his dungeon in the middle of
a potion, when the Summons came from Voldemort, he would've had to halt the
potion creation, leave the dungeon, lock it and either go on foot from there
to the Quidditch field and then find dumbledore or use the Fireplace
Traveling mechanism (which I am not sure is exactly floo poweder) to get to
the front of the school and go on foot from there. It could take 10 or 15
minutes to make this trip, easily, and during that time, we don't know of
any other way that he could let Dumbledore know about the Dark Mark.