[HPforGrownups] Sirius and the Witch's Hump

[Laura Huntley]

No: HPFGUIDX 36067


Allright, I haven't completely thought out my theory on this yet, so there are probably holes, but here goes...

Cindy Said:
>In PoA, Sirius gains entry to the castle twice.  He does this (I've 
>always thought) by entering Honeydukes and entering and exiting the 
>castle through the witch's hump.
>In Snape's Grudge, Harry sprints through the Honeydukes tunnel to 
>get back to the castle quickly.  He "reached the inside of the 
>witch's hump, tapped it with his wand, stuck his head through, and 
>hoisted himself out; the hump closed . . ."
>If a wand is required to open the witch's hump from the outside or 
>the inside, then how is Sirius managing this?  Sirius clearly 
>doesn't have a wand, as he spends the last chapters of the book 
>using other people's wands.  If a wand is not required to open the 
>witch's hump from the inside, then why does Harry do it when he is 
>in such a hurry to get back to the castle?
>Similarly, once Sirius is inside the castle, how does he get out if 
>the witch's hump closes automatically?

>So . . . how is Sirius getting into the castle?

It's kind of assumed, by me at least, that Sirius has taken up some sort of residence at the Shrieking Shack during PoA.  So why wouldn't he have used *that* tunnel?  Especially after enlisting Crookshank's help, he would have had no problem freezing the tree.  There are no dememtors that close to the castle.  In dog form, after nightfall, he could have easily slunk across the grounds and found his way into the building (he is a marauder, after all, there have to be other entrances besides the main one).  Otherwise if he were using the witch's hump, why would Harry have seen him outside with Crookshanks?  Why sneak into the castle, only to sneak outside it when he could just as easily used the shrieking shack tunnel?  Also, don't you think the Owners of Honeydukes would have noticed a big black dog coming and going from their cellar?  They *do* live there.  I suppose it's possible, but it seems unlikely, while the shrieking shack tunnel is so much more convenient.

laura 



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