Eureka! Snape and the Marauder's Map

[jklb66]

No: HPFGUIDX 34694

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> wrote:
> 
> I believe I have solved the mystery of Snape's behavior when he 
> interrogates Harry about the Marauder's Map in PoA. That is, if 
> Snape knew something about "the manufacturers", why didn't he 
> question Lupin more directly?
> 
> <theory>
> I am kicking myself, because I should have realized this as soon 
> as I finished GoF. The name Snape recognizes from the Map is 
> *Wormtail*. He doesn't know it from Hogwarts, he knows it from 
> being a Death Eater, and (this is the kicker) he thinks "Wormtail" 
> is Voldemort's code name for the traitor  *Sirius Black*.  

Yes!  LV does consistently call Peter "Wormtail."  If he does in GoF, 
why wouldn't he have done so in earlier years.  Snape figured out 
that "Wormtail", whoever he is, has given LV information that only 
someone CLOSE to the Potters could have.  Snape already "knows" that 
Sirius is capable of murder, so he assumes that "Wormtail" must be 
Sirius.

Snape doesn't call Lupin to his office because he knew Lupin was 
Moony, but rather because  (A) he IS the DADA teacher and this 
map "is full of dark magic" and/or (B) Lupin was friends with Sirius, 
may still be helping Sirius, and may recognize the name "Wormtail" as 
being Sirius.  Snape wants to see how he reacts.

>Later Snape finds the activated Map in Lupin's office, the map which 
> proudly bears the name of someone Snape knows to be  Death 
> Eater.  It's obvious to Snape that Lupin is in league with Black, 
> either as ally or dupe. He runs out to the Shack, and discovers 
> that Sirius has hostages. Then the kids start telling him some 
> wild story about Pettigrew. Snape is in no mood to listen, and 
> there's no time. Lupin could turn into a bloodthirsty monster at 
> any moment and he hasn't had his potion. *Of course* Snape 
> ties  Lupin up.  It's quite sensible of him.

Yes!  It is!
> 
> But Snape doesn't behave like a reasonable man, and this, I 
> believe, is why. Suppose Snape is the spy who revealed to 
> Dumbledore that someone close to the Potters was giving 
> information to Voldemort. Snape told Dumbledore he suspected 
> this person, known only as Wormtail, was in reality Sirius Black.  
> Snape has believed all these years that James chose to 
> disregard this warning and trust Sirius anyway. His berating 
> Harry for arrogance in the office gives some basis for this. Then 
> he's told that James actually did switch Secret Keepers, and 
> picked Pettigrew who really was the traitor. So it's  all Snape's 
> fault. Snape can no more admit to guilt than Lupin admit to 
> anger. Snape goes into hysterical denial and no wonder.

I've always thought Snape was the one who warned Dumbledore that LV 
was after the Potters.  It fits perfectly with his being in James's 
debt for saving his life and wanting to repay that debt so he could 
go back to hating him guilt-free.  The fact that he turned spy aginst 
LV with this crucial information and then it failed to save James 
must have been gnawing at him for years.  And yes, Snape's statement 
in the Shreiking Shack to Harry, "You'd have died like your father, 
too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black--"  definitely 
could indicate that he not only warned Dumbledore and James about a 
spy, but that his warning specificly named Sirius.

Great theory, Pippin!

"jklb66"