Was Snape lurking in PoA or was he on his way to meet with Peter

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 120695


vmonte wrote:
> >
> > In PoA Harry sees Peter's name on the map and goes looking for him
inside the school. Is it possible that Snape was on his way to
rendezvous with Peter but was accidentally caught by Harry?
> >
> 
Fridwulfa responded:
> I'm sorry, but that's movie contamination. In the book Harry NEVER
sees Peter's name on the map. Therefore he never goes looking for him
in the middle of the night.


Carol adds:
And the Shrieking Shack is in Hogsmeade and off the school grounds,
which means that Snape didn't see Peter's name on the map, either,
though Lupin must have--while Ron and Scabbers were still above
ground. Maybe Lupin saw Sirius, Ron, and PP disappear together into
the Whomping Willow entrance. Snape would merely have seen the
direction Lupin took and followed him, knowing where he was going. He
would not have seen either Sirius or PP on the map. If he saw the
kids' names, it would have been only TT Harry and Hermione. I don't
think he expected to see them in the Shack until he found the
invisibility cloak, and even then he was very cautious, expecting to
(and hoping) rescue Harry from a murderer and his accomplice.

It's pretty clear from PoA that Snape doesn't believe the PP/Scabbers
story and shuts up only when he realizes that DD has somehow
interfered and arranged Sirius's rescue through time-turning. There's
no indication whatever that he knew about Peter Pettigrew being alive.
Only when Padfoot transforms into Sirius in front of him in GoF is he
finally and fully convinced of the animagus story--which makes Sirius
innocent of the murder of Pettigrew and Pettigrew guilty of betraying
the Potters. Snape is not in league with Peter; he wants Peter to be
the innocent--and dead--victim of his treacherous "friend" Black, who
also betrayed the Potters and tried to murder *him* (Severus) at
sixteen. Snape's behavior in PoA can be explained only by the tenacity
with which he holds this cherished view, which has been "true" for him
for twelve long years. 

Carol