[HPforGrownups] Snape & Quirrell in PS/SS/ Invisibility Cloak

[Richelle Votaw]

No: HPFGUIDX 41090


~~Porphyria writes:

> At Harry's very first sighting of Snape, Snape is talking to Quirrell, who
> is wearing a turban -- evidently for the first time. (According to JKR
> herself, Snape isn't keen on turbans, so he might have wondered about his
> colleague's choice of headgear. ;-)) Just as Snape happens to look past
> Quirrell and into Harry's eyes, Harry's scar suddenly burns. Snape quickly
> looks back at Quirrell. (Note: it happens exactly like this in the
> DVDTMNBN as well).

This is great, I never thought about that!  But Snape was looking directly
at Harry, so he had to see him grab his scar.  And none of the other
teachers noticed, so no one else would've thought anything of it.  And as
much as Snape knows about dark arts, I'm sure he knows all about curse
scars.  This could definitely be the moment that Snape began to suspect
Quirrell.  Not just that he was working for Voldemort, but possessed by
Voldemort.


> with Quirrell and his turban. It's possible that Snape felt some twinge in
> his scar at that moment as well.

That's also true, we dont' know enough about the DE's scars to know how
Voldemort's presence (even without being "reborn") would affect them.

> His conversation in the Forbidden Forest thus doesn't mention LV, but only
> admonishes Quirrell to be loyal to Dumbledore: "We'll have another little
> chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where
> your loyalties lie." (Note: at the end of the DVDTMNBN Quirrell implies
> that Snape did *not* know he was possessed, meaning Snape did not lead him
> to believe he knew about LV, which also supports this theory.)

When you think about the fact that Voldemort was listening to everything
Snape says, he is perhaps trying to make Voldemort think that he wants the
SS/PS and hoping to keep himself in "good standing" with Voldemort in case
he needs to return in the future as a spy again.  Voldemort could think
Snape wanted it for himself, or he could think Snape wanted it for
Voldemort--to restore his DE status or something.

> (my apologies to Eloise's lovely SUCCESS theory, #36503!). Snape could try
> to motivate Quirrell to do the right thing, and he could try to intimidate
> Harry from staying out of the matter entirely, but he could not physically
> stop Quirrell or try to rescue Harry on his own. To do so would risk
> Voldemort speaking up and demanding Snape's loyalty, and then Snape would
> be obliged to somehow help LV get the Stone or blow his cover.

I guess this could explain why Snape wasn't there to help Harry when he
REALLY needed it.  Perhaps Snape finally tipped off Dumbledore.  Dumbledore
says "No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the
place I should be was the one I had just left.  I arrived just in time to
pull Quirrell off you."  I had thought before that he found he hadn't really
been summoned by the MoM.  But what if Snape had sent a message?  Telling
his suspicions?

> Possibility 1: Snape wanted to handle everything himself, so he didn't say
> a thing. Evidence for this includes:

I think this is the correct theory.  Snape may have wanted to be certain
beyond the shadow of doubt before he told Dumbledore anything, perhaps not
wanting to taint his good terms with Dumbledore.  However, if my above
theory was correct then Snape nearly waited too long.  Which could explain
why he was always running to Dumbledore in later books (about Lupin, etc.)
Some were right, some not, but he was clearing himself of responsibility one
way or another.  Snape doesn't like Harry, sure, but he does his best to
protect him.

> For one thing, there is evidence that Dumbledore knew Harry and the Stone
> were in danger. He does show up at the second Quidditch match to keep an
> eye on things, and as Amanda suggested in post #36555, his use of the
> Mirror or Erised to protect the Stone seems like an extra measurement. He
> only resorted to it after Christmas, which implies that he might have had
> extra reason to suspect someone inside the castle after the broom-bucking
> incident and the Halloween troll.

I think Dumbledore suspected something on his own at this point. One thing
that's always bothered me, why is it that with all of the teachers there,
Snape is the only one to recognize the curse on Harry's broom and perform a
counter curse?  Everybody else is just staring at the broom, gasping, etc.
If it were me, I'd be looking around for someone responsible.  Surely
Hermione wasn't the only one to look around for the cause.

> So we can either conclude that a) Snape didn't tell Dumbledore what he
> knew about Quirrell, deeply regretted it, and vowed to keep him in the
> loop about every paranoid idea he had from then on,

I think this is it.  And in the future Snape's not always right, but at
least it's off his chest.

Denise writes:

> I do have a query on another matter. How DID Dumbledore come by James
Potters' invisibility > Cloak? they are described as being rare and valuable
so you'd think that the Potters would
> have taken it with them when they went into hiding. As we all know the
house was blown up and
> from the conversation on pg 16 PS, it doesn't sound as if Dumbledore was
there at all. So how
> did he come by the cloak?

At the end of SS/PS, when Dumbledore is talking with Harry in the hospital
wing, Harry asks, "And the invisibilty cloak -- do you know who sent it to
me?"  To which Dumbledore replies "Ah--your father happened to leave it in
my possession, and I thought you might like it."

Which is my one link between Dumbledore and the Potters as being more than
just friends.  What if the invisibity cloak was a family heirloom?  And
James, knowing he may be in danger, wanted it left with others in his
family?  Okay, I'm stretching it a lot, but I'd really like for Dumbledore
to be related to Harry some way!

Richelle