Sirius's owl post

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 41586

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "sffcorgi" <corgi at S...> wrote:
> --- Catlady_de_los_angeles wrote:
> > Corgi wrote:
> > 
> > << Don't you think Sirius was writing back and forth with Remus
and 
> > maybe even the Old Gang the whole time?! >>
> > 
> > No, I don't think so. Sirius warned Harry to send a different owl 
> > each time, so that no one would get suspicious why an owl kept 
> > visiting that mountainside. Harry and Dumbledore could do that 
> > by using the school owls, but no one else had access to so many 
> > different owls.
> 
> <eyebrow>  Except by, oh, going to the local public Owlery?  When
> Hermione and Ron went to Hogsmeade the first time, they specifically
> mentioned to Harry about all the varied owls there, coded by
delivery
> speed (don't have references handy, can't quote).

The question is, how private is the public Owlery? Do the people who
run it keep track of where the owls come and go?  Can a public owl be
intercepted or traced?  Sirius is still the WW's Public Enemy #1; it's
likely that his known associates are being watched. And Remus, as a
known werewolf, is already under close surveillance, isn't he?

> 
> Let's turn this around -- why =wouldn't= Sirius want to keep in
touch
> with, at the very least, Remus, the only other (adult) person we
know
> for sure knows he's innocent and likes him?  

See above.  Such a correspondence could be dangerous for Remus.  A
Dark Creature like himself, caught exchanging posts with an escaped
mass murderer?  He'd be in Azkaban faster than you can say "grievous
miscarriage of justice."

Of course it's possible that Sirius could be writing to Remus using
Dumbledore as an intermediary.  I'm sure Dumbledore makes sure that
Hogwarts Owl Post is trustworthy and untraceable.  But I suspect that
would be reserved for emergencies.  Dumbledore's a busy guy, you don't
want to bother him with endless notes saying "Dear Remus, still stuck
in a cave, still eating rats, please send a new toothbrush, love,
Sirius."

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com