What about the Door(that wasn't at the end of the tunnel)?

[a_reader2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 99579

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "quigonginger" 
<quigonginger at y...> wrote:
(snip)  
> 
> So I put this out for debunking and/or comment:
> Suppose that a barrier, either magical or physical, was in place to 
> prevent Remus from escaping.  Sirius could have sent Snape safely 
> down the tunnel, knowing that Snape would have been properly 
> terrified, but that no damage would have come to him.  He would 
have figured (and correctly so) that DD would have told Snape to keep 
the info to himself, so there would be no problems for Remus either.
> 
> Suppose James rushed in, knowing that the barrier was in place, not 
> to save Snape, but rather to save Remus' secret.  When he got 
there, he could see no barrier (assuming that a magical one would be 
> visible).  
> 
> All Snape sees is a werewolf at the end of the tunnel.  The barrier 
> is gone.  He sees no one else.  Sirius could not be there, in 
either form.  As a human, he would have been unsafe, and as a dog he 
would have been big enough for Snape to see.  James was behind him, 
so he wasn't there.  Remus, we assume, can't undo the barrier.  
> 
> Who does that leave?  One who knows his way down there, and can 
make himself safe as he was no longer human, but small enough not to 
be seen.  Wormtail anyone?
> 
> Motive:  Unknown, but I am sure we can come up with one.  I'll try 
> this:  Perhaps he thought that if he got Snape and good, that he'd 
be rid of all those who bothered him.  Snape would be dead or worse, 
Sirius, James and possibly Remus would be expelled.  He would no 
longer be a toady for the popular guys to belittle, nor would he have 
that nasty Slyth on his case by association.
> 
> But it didn't work.  James came out the hero and Sirius didn't get 
> into big trouble.  So he stewed about it, joined the DE's and the 
> rest is history.  

Carolyn:

Yes, what was Wormtail up to whilst all this was going on. The only 
one small enough to satisfactorily fit down the tunnel. I think it is 
very possible that he slipped down there and removed the protection 
for the reasons you suggest, and perhaps this was always his role - 
the others had specifically taught him how to do this, because they 
were all too big to get down the tunnel in their transformed states. 
Some questions, however:

This still assumes a large werewolf could get out of that tiny, 
cramped tunnel, once the protection was removed.

Is little Wormtail strong/brave enough as a rat to lead a raving 
werewolf out through the tunnel alone?

If James knew the nature of the protection, and saw it had been 
removed, why did he not quickly reinstate it?

Why was the protection, if it existed, so easy to break? One might 
expect something a bit better of Dumbledore..perhaps Poppy Pomfrey 
isn't too good at this sort of spell.

If Snape has known the truth of all this for years, why is he still 
insisting they tried to kill him? It makes his obsession even more 
childish. Unless this is a deep-laid distraction, agreed between him 
and Dumbledore to cover up his spying activities. Have to say, his 
rage at the end of POA sounded pretty convincing !

Carolyn