Spy/Snape

[ats_fhc3]

No: HPFGUIDX 47647

Bish wrote:
 
"Though not specifically stated in canon, it appears to me that the 
trials of the death eaters were not open to the public, and IIRC 
only the defendant accused of the crime being tried was present."

to which phyllis responded:
"The trial at which Dumbledore announces to the entire courtroom 
that Snape was a DE but turned spy for the good guys was 
Karkaroff's.  In Ch. 30 of GoF, (p. 508 UK edition) it's noted that 
there "were at least two hundred" witches and wizards in attendance 
at Karkaroff's trial.  It's not clear whether the trial was open to 
the public, but there were a lot of witches and wizards in 
attendance nonetheless. And some of them could have been Imperio'd 
former DEs for all we know.
In addition, Rita Skeeter, newspaper reporter, is noted in 
attendance at Bagman's trial.  While it's not noted whether she was 
at Karkaroff's trial, her presence at Bagman's trial implies that 
these trials are public events."

I'm going to be very bad here and not check the canon, because I 
have to go to class in 5 minutes, but the thing is, Karkaroff's 
trial wasn't exactly a trial. He had already had a trial, and was 
thrown in Azkaban. Either that or he was simply just thrown in 
Azkaban. The second trial was to see if he could give up enough 
names for his freedom. 

Secondly, as phyllis pointed out, the appearance of Rita Skeeter is 
only noted at Bagman's trial. Since Harry didn't note her during 
Karkaroff's trial, I'm pretty much sure that she wasn't there. And, 
since karkaroff was giving up names of former DEs, or current DEs, I 
doubt the MOM would want this to be public. People would start 
accusing everyone and their grandmother of being a DE. It's just not 
good publicity.

Thirdly, we don't know if Snape even had a trial, though since DD 
cleared him, we can guess that he had some sort of a trial, or 
something to the effect of. Especially since Crouch says that he had 
already been cleared by the court. How big is the MoM, anyway? 
Perhaps all in attendence were MoM employees. Okie, late for class, 
must go.

-Acire