24 hours - again

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 103112

Mel:
> Anyway...and here I go again after preaching about never giving 
any 
> credance to anything JKR utters outside of the books 
> themselves...she gave it away when she told us about that DE she 
had 
> to write out, what was his name? Pyrites? He was supposed to meet 
VD 
> at GH. Why did she write him out? (Writer's training kicking in 
> here.)Because she had someone else there already. Someone who was 
> supposed to meet VD there, yes, but also had another job prior to 
> VD's arrival. Warning the Potters, perhaps? A warning that was 
> arrogantly ignored.
> 
> Do we need to wonder about the identity of the one who took over 
the 
> role of this ill-fated Pyrites?

Jen: 
There was something else to the Pyrites story--he was "Voldemort's 
servant and meeting Sirius at the Potter's house" in one of JKR's 
first drafts. What was that all about?  Sirius wouldn't meet with a 
known servant of Voldemort right in front of the Potter's House (and 
certainly not with Snape). So Pyrites and the Muggle, who was 
initially drafted to play the betrayer, were rolled into one person--
Peter. 

Scenario 1: Peter invited Sirius to the Potters for some trumped up 
reason, expecting Sirius to be killed with the Potters. Then no one 
would have any doubt that Sirius betrayed the Potters by bringing 
Voldemort to Godric's Hollow. But Sirius got there too late and 
Peter fled as soon as the house started blowing up.

Scenario 2: Peter pretended to be Lupin and sent a message by owl to 
Sirius, saying the Potters are in trouble and need help fast. 
Sirius, suspecting Spy!Lupin is getting cold feet about helping kill 
two of his best friends, goes to GH too late. Again this would be a 
ruse to get Sirius killed in a way that looked like he was in league 
with Voldemort.

In these two scenarios, Peter would be the one who goes to 
Dumbledore with the news about the Potters, expecting to tell him 
Sirius the betrayer is also dead. Instead, he only reinforces the 
idea that Sirius was the Secret-Keeper and therfore the betrayer.

Scenario 3: Another thought to add to the 'third person at Godric's 
Hollow' debate: Was this the same person who overheard part of the 
Prophecy? Surely whatever Voldemort learned about the Prophecy he 
kept between himself and the eavesdropper. So that person must have 
been the same one to accompany him to Godric's Hollow. Snape is the 
most likely candidate here. But Snape, finally unnerved by what 
Voldemort was asking him to do, turns spy and tries to warn the 
Potters first. He would then be the one to go to Dumbledore.

Therefore, my short list is Peter or Snape.

Jen Reese

(The information about Pyrites is on JKR's website, under Extra 
Stuff/Edits/First Chapter of Philosopher's Stone)