Snape's part in death of Sirius

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 107781

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" 
<willsonkmom at m...> wrote:
Neri:
>So Snape figured that Umbridge is the one who needs 
rescuing,although she had the wand, while Harry and Hermione 
were wandless.

Either Snape has a lot of respect to Harry's abilities, or very
little respect to Umbridge abilities, or both.<

Pippin:
Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna had overcome Warrington, Malfoy, 
Crabbe, Bulstrode and two other unnamed Slytherins, and  left 
for the forest already with Harry and Hermione's wands. Snape 
knew that skilled help was on its way. (He'd have to be an idiot 
not to know about the DA.)

Plenty of listies have remarked that Umbridge is no great shakes 
with a wand. And yes, I'd say Snape would be an idiot not to have  
a high respect for the abilities of someone who is a Tri-wizard 
victor, the best DADA student in the school (possibly the best 
Hogwarts has ever seen), has beaten Voldemort and his 
minions time after time, fought off one hundred Dementors, and 
lest we forget,  knocked Snape himself unconscious. Question: if 
Snape had caught up with Harry, how would you suggest he 
compel Harry to return?j

Neri:
>Is it possible that DD didn't tell him that Harry is "the one
with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord"?<

Yes, unless Dumbledore is lying. "I alone could prevent this" (ie, 
the flaw in his plan, that he would care too much about Harry to 
reveal his destiny to him.) 

Pippin previously:
> So, allowing Harry an hour to walk into the forest and deal with 
Umbridge, and another hour to make his way back, it would be at 
least two hours before Snape began wondering why Harry hadn't
> returned.
>
Neri:
>Slightly irresponsible, IMO, especially if we remember the level 
of security that the Order had kept around Harry in the beginning 
of the year. Two students went with the furious Umbridge into the 
dangerous Forbidden Forest, and Snape just sits and waits two 
hours for them to
return? <

Pippin:
 Snape is the *only* Order member left at Hogwarts. He *can't* 
leave. There are nine hundred ninety-nine other children at the 
school.  Snape can't abandon them. What if Harry had been 
decoyed away so that Voldemort could attack Hogwarts and take 
the children hostage for the Prophecy? 


> Potioncat:
> Where does the 2 hours come from? Do we know how much 
time passed  between Snape discovering Harry was gone and 
his notifying the Order?<

Pippin:
Dumbledore says Snape notified the order  when Harry didn't 
come back from the forest. The students were at dinner when 
Harry went into the forest, the sun was just above the tops of the 
trees, and it was setting when Harry took off for the Ministry. I'm 
guessing no more than an hour for that.

Snape knows that Hermione has a plan to deal with Umbridge, 
so he knows that she has thought of something in the forest that 
would attack Umbridge and not a wandless underage wizard. 
Hmm, not werewolves, not acromantulas, not unicorns, not 
thestrals, not Fluffy,  ah got it! Centaurs. If Snape didn't know how 
far Hermione would have to go to find  the centaur patrols, he 
could ask Firenze.

So Snape waits, hoping that one of those little idiots will 
remember to shoot sparks into the air if they need help, and 
really hoping that they don't, because he  hasn't got anyone 
who's capable of dealing with a herd of murderous centaurs.


Pippin