Snape at Godrics Hollow

[snow15145]

No: HPFGUIDX 120692


Carol:
While I agree that Snape must have tried to warn James in some way, I
don't think he could have gone to Godric's Hollow without being told
the location by Peter himself, which goes against everything we know
about Snape's later reactions and events in PoA. Also, I don't see how
he could have continued to spy while he was teaching at Hogwarts, much
less have been absent from school (presumably without leave) to be a
GH when the Potters were killed. I can see him being at school and
alerting Dumbledore to some change in his Dark Mark. I can *almost*
see him trying and failing to alert James to the treachery of one of
his friends at some location other than GH while he was still a spy
and not yet a teacher, but the problem there is that he would have had
to give away his identity as a(n ex-) Death Eater still attending
their meetings in order to inform James of these developments. It
makes more sense (to me) for him to tell Dumbledore and have
Dumbledore tell James. James would still be ignoring Severus's
warning, though he wouldn't know whose it was, and Severus would still
resent his stubborn loyalty to Sirius despite Sirius's seeming
treachery. ("How dare he ignore my warning and let himself be
murdered, leaving me with this unfulfilled life debt?")


Snow:
I agree with most everything you had to say to this point but 
envisioned a little different scenario: where James was aware that 
Snape was Dumbledore's informant about the Potter's being in danger. 
Could you just imagine James face when Dumbledore tells him that he 
now trusts Snape, no specific details as to why, and reveals the 
information that Snape had divulged to him. Continuing, Dumbledore 
announces that, under the circumstances, they should hide under the 
Fidelius charm and that he should be secret keeper. James would be a 
little skeptical about the source of the information coming from a 
known death-eater whether Dumbledore trusted him or not. James tells 
Dumbledore that he will go into hiding with his family but Sirius 
being his best friend would be secret keeper. James did allow 
Dumbledore to know that Sirius would be his secret keeper (not 
something I would imagine you allow others to know when hiding under 
the Fidelius charm). James then talks over with Sirius everything 
that Dumbledore has told him. Sirius is more skeptical over the 
source of information (Snape) than James and even more so the fact 
that James allowed Dumbledore to know that he would be the secret 
keeper. Sirius decides that it may not be the best idea to have 
himself as secret keeper now that Dumbledore knows and may possibly 
confide in Snape, whom James nor Sirius trust even if Dumbledore 
does. 

This little scenario would explain why Dumbledore was not made secret 
keeper and why Sirius suggested to James to switch secret keepers. 
Snape would have known, at some point, from Dumbledore that James had 
told him he chose Sirius as secret keeper to have made the statement 
to Harry in the Shrieking Shack about being as arrogant as his father 
to believe he might be mistaken in Black. Snape felt he risked his 
life in confiding that the Potters were at great risk and that Sirius 
could not be trusted and James did not heed his entire warning 
therefore James was too arrogant.

Snow