More on Snape, Pettigrew and Spying (post-Voldy)

[jodel at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 42305

I think that Snape (whether he was at Godric's Hollow or not) proved to be 
invaluable in the post-Voldemort mop-up of the DE activity. For example, I 
think that he was almost certainly the person who provided the information 
which resulted in the capture of the Lestranges and Barty Crouch (and an 
unidentified confederate). This, as well as the knowledge that Crouch is 
suposed to be dead, may account for his shock as well as the immediate 
recognition on Snape's part when the polyjuice wore off. Snape's student 
years at Hogwarts are very likely to have overlapped Croch Jr.'s, and I would 
suspect that the Crouches were another old Slytherin family. (Side note: I 
suspect that a good deal of the reason that Crouch and Petigrew were able to 
subdue Moody was the shock effect of finding himself under attack by two 
"dead" men. Ghosts may attack, but they cannot perform spells, so far as we 
know.)

By the time the Lestranges were arrested, there was no longer the 
consideration of leaving the small fry untampered with in hopes of catching 
the big fish. Now the emphasis was to get the as much of the inner circle out 
of commission as possible and leave the small fry without a potential hub to 
regroup around. Things on the DE's side were not helped by the apparant fact 
that the Dark Marks all disapeared when the Dark Lord did. That would have 
made a mess of their communication lines, and it is possible that sending up 
the image of the Dark Mark was no longer possible, either (giving additional 
reason for the panic on all sides at the World Cup when Crouch Jr. managed to 
do exactly that. The Marks were beginning to return once Voldemort was again, 
however vestigally, on the physical plane. But they may not have been visible 
even to their bearers yet.) 

Which introduces a note of ambiguity to Dumbledore's testimony regarding 
Snape at Karkaroff's trial, and his statement that Snape HAD BEEN a Death 
Eater. We do not know how long after Voldemort's disapearance that 
Karkaroff's trial took place. It is just barely possible that Snape may have 
used that lag in time to convince someone (*cough* Lucius Malfoy? Certainly 
not Voldemort himself) that Voldemort had previously (and privately) ordered 
Snape to keep an eye on Dumbledore and that Snape had managed to convince 
Dumbledore that he was working for him, feeding him small bits of 
misinformation at Voldemort's discretion and giving the impression that he 
had changed sides long before the debacle at Godric's Hollow. And that now he 
was going to spy on Dumbledore as a possible link to information regarding 
the fate of Voldemort. 

Whether this story is plausible or not is debatable. But it only needs to be 
plausible, it does not need to be true -- if it was only a cover story to 
allay suspicions and retain contact with the likes of Malfoy (who he knows 
damn well wasn't under Imperio, but cannot prove it. Malfoy dodged the bullet 
this time. Snape, and Dumbledore, are still hoping for a next time.). In 
order to carry verisimilitude, this story would depend upon Snape having had 
some obvious reason to have been in contact with Dumbledore during the later 
years of Voldemort's rise. Since Snape would have been no more than about 21 
or 22 at the time of Godric's Hollow, that would require some reason for him 
to be still in contact with Hogwarts after graduation, but before he was old 
enough to be hired as a teacher.

As a suggestion; I think I recall some interview comment by Rowling to the 
effect that there were not any wizarding universities in her view of her 
world. If this is the case, then advanced training would probably be a matter 
of either independent study or within a formal Master/Aprentice program. The 
study of Potions mastery, with its extensive physical component and its 
dependence upon wandless control would appear to be a field which would 
require some sort of advanced training.  It would stand to reason that the 
major wizarding training academies might have some sort of responsibility to 
oversee such independent study programs. If this is the case, then Snape 
would have had a built in reason to have retained contact with Hogwarts 
Academy after graduation. Certainly for the 5-7 years that one might project 
for either an Independent study program or an Aprenticship.

Given the fact that Dumbledore DID make that particular defense at 
Karkaroff's trial, WHY did Karkaroff go running to Snape once the Dark Mark 
started returning? Didn't the fool realize that it was probably information 
from Snape that had resulted in his arrest in the first place? I mean, really!

Of course, now that Voldemort really IS back the fat is in the fire. I don't 
quite know how Snape would be able to get around Dumbledore's testimony at 
Karkaroff's trial. Explaining his actions in PS/SS are a piece of cake in 
comparison. ("How was I to know that was you under Quirrell's turban? 
Quirrell wasn't one of your followers! Why didn't you TELL me?" [for that 
matter, why DIDN'T Squirrelymort contact his followers and get them to help 
him. What are followers FOR?] "How was I to know it was Quirrell hexing the 
broom? I thought it was one of my 7th years. Thwarting a youngster who is 
flirting with a spell in Azkaban is part of my JOB, damnit!") But the trial 
testimony can't be weaseled out of that easily.

(Side note: for the record, I think the reason that Dumbledore knew to send 
Hagrid to Godric's Hollow so soon was that either Snape told him the attack 
would be that particular night, or he had the house bugged at all entrances 
to alert him to any arrivals.)

Some More Thoughts on Pettigrew: Somebody, (i'm not going to go back to try 
to find the message) brought up the question of why Pettigrew chose to hide 
out with the Weasleys. I personally believe that one of the best reasons to 
suspect that Sirius's estimation of Petigrew is grossy inadequate is the 
shrewdness Pettigrew displayed in having chosen the Burrow as his bolt-hole. 
Pettigrew was on the run from both sides once it turned out that he had led 
Voldemort into a trap. (The DE's do not tolerate mistakes which 
"inconvenience" them.) If he had had a snowball's chance of convincing the 
DEs that he was still valuable enough not to be killed, Sirius would be dead 
from their encounter and Peter would have been acting the part of a live hero 
avenging his friends. But he knew there was no chance of that and that if he 
intended to go on living, there was no alternative but to disapear. It was a 
calculated risk leaving Sirius alive to pick up whatever information was 
making the rounds in Azkaban, but who would Sirius tell, and who would 
believe him if he did? And it wasn't like he was ever comming back...

Pettigrew knew the Weasleys. He had been spying for Voldemort within the 
ranks of Dumbledore's supporters for the previous year and even though I 
doubt that he was anything like part of Dumbledore's inner circle, he was 
high enough to know how close Arthur and Molly were in Dumbledore's 
confidences.

And the Weasleys had a horde of little boys who would have welcomed a pet. He 
knew he would be safely concealed with the Weasleys for YEARS. 

Also, Arthur worked for the Ministry and would have been likely to hear 
everything that was interdepartmental knowledge regarding Dumbledore, 
Voldemort AND the Death Eaters. And you just KNOW that Arther discusses 
*everything* with Molly after the kids are in bed. In fact it probably put a 
considerable spoke in Peter's wheel when Ron hauled him off to Hogwarts and 
away from his prime information source. But Hogwarts also had distinct 
possibilities for a self-employeed spy. (I suspect he slept so much during 
the daytime because he spent hours in surveylence during the evening and into 
the night. Somewhere in all this he learned that Voldemort was lurking about 
in Albania and kept it in mind.

Because he never lost track of the possibility of someday needing to make a 
break for it and throw himself on Voldemort's mercy. After all, it was Peter 
who nabbed Voldemort's wand. (Voldemort, after all, was in no condition to. 
(Strong corroborating evidence that Peter, at least, WAS indeed at Godric's 
Hollow.) And dead useful that, since his own had to be left at the scene of 
his "murder". He kept it with him all his time at the Weasleys, and if Remus 
and Sirius had had the presence of mind to search him when they forced him 
back into human form in the shrieking shack, they would have probably found 
it. But he was too comfortable living as a pet rat to take the kind of risks 
that any such desparate measure required unless forced to it. Which he was.

So far the gamble has paid off. From our observations of him it is clear that 
Peter Pettigrew clearly believes in giving the customer what he wants. If an 
enraged Sirius Black can be disarmed by a shivering supliant, shiver he will. 
Same to Voldemort. In spades. Twice on Sunday. Peter isn't proud. Not in that 
way. He never seems to have needed to lead the troups. 

But he LIKES being indespensible to powerful people. (A possible source of 
underlying friction between him and Sirius, that. They both were after the 
same position within James's little group.) And, whatever witless act he may 
decide to put on for the benefit of witnesses, his brain is the kind that 
doesn't have an off switch. We haven't seen the last of Peter Pettigrew. Not 
by a long shot.

 -JOdel