Sirius's owl post

[sffcorgi]

No: HPFGUIDX 41612

<snip discussion of how anybody other than Dumbledore or Harry
might change owls frequently for sending to Sirius>

--- Marina Frants wrote:
> 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?

Good questions. Since Sirius warned Harry to use a different owl
each time, it might suggest that owls can be caught -- but in that
case, I've been forced to wonder why all the referenced
correspondents in canon weren't more paranoid about referencing
names and things. I mean, if you don't want there any chance of
you being found out, why sign things 'Sirius'?

But that's a different pool toy. ;)

I drew the inference that the Owlery isn't all that different from 
the Royal Post, except for the means of delivery of the mail.

> 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?

Do we have any sound speculation (since I don't think we have any
substantial canon) as to how closely werewolves are watched?

There's no mention in GoF of any wanted posters, newspaper articles
(and since the Daily Prophet is practically a major character in the
book, it would have stood out) or other notices that Sirius is still
as frantically sought for as he was during PoA. Could it be that his
plan to mislead the authorities has convinced them he left the 
country?

Dumbledore seems to be a prudent and subtle strategist; what would
his reason be for deliberately sending his most... hm, 'precarious'
agent into a situation (Lupin's surveilled house) where he would be
most at hazard?  That alone suggests to me that Remus is not
monitored... which leads to believing his mail isn't being
monitored, either.

> Corgi:
>> 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?
Marina:
> 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."

All it would take is one screaming child, and he'd be in Azkaban
that fast. Werewolves are victims of prejudice without any further
provocation. (I'm being reminded of Snape's constant complaints
about Lupin to Dumbledore's deaf ear. Help me out -- did he repeat
any of those to Fudge?)
 
> Of course it's possible that Sirius could be writing to Remus
> using Dumbledore as an intermediary.... But I suspect that would
> be reserved for emergencies.... 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."
 
LOL! Can't argue that one, no ma'am.

--- then Stephanie Howeth wrote:
 
> Another question is, are there other public owleries? We know
> Hogsmeade has one, but as its the only completely non-Muggle
> village in Britain, how common are owleries in other places? It
> may be that there are a few spaced throughout the countryside, but
> that would be unlikely as Muggles could happen upon them at any
> time. So, it may be that the one at Hogsmeade is a solitary
> instance.

If they've got the whole Ministry of Magic and St. Mungo's
Unplottable (or some equivalent effect), I imagine a little
Owlery would be a piece of cake to cover up.

Just my two knuts. :)

Corgi
@sff.net