Eagle owl wasRe: SNAPE the coward?

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 118209


Vivamus:
snipping quotes 
> So, an eagle owl bore the message to LV that Crouch had been 
killed.  The
> message would have to have come from Hogwarts, and Draco has the 
only eagle
> owl mentioned in the series thus far, so it *probably* was his.  I 
take the
> earlier bit with the eagle owl as a hint that spying had been 
going on for
> LV at Hogwarts for some time, with Draco's owl being the medium.
> 
snip

> Apparently, someone used Draco's owl to tell LV that Crouch was 
dead.
> Crouch!Moody was the only one we KNOW knew, but Moody being chummy 
with
> Draco Malfoy in ANY way would have been highly suspicious.  For 
Snape, it
> would have been easy.  OTOH, Crouch!Moody might have just gone to 
the school
> owlry in the early morning when no one was there, and sent it with 
Draco's
> owl.
> 
> So, ASSUMING it was Draco's owl, then we have two scenarios: (1)
> Crouch!Moody sent the owl by himself, or (2) he told Snape, who 
sent the
> owl.  (I'm dismissing that they would have included a foolish and 
boastful
> blabbermouth like Draco in something so important.) 
> 
> I'm inclined to think Snape is loyal to DD, for the simple reason 
that
> characters keep questioning it.  OTOH, it could be the final straw 
that
> teaches Harry that DD is in fact a fallible human being, when he 
has trusted
> Severus all these years, against all recommendations and warnings, 
and been
> wrong.  
> 
Potioncat:
I assumed the Eagle Owl was the Malfoy family owl.  But it could be 
Draco's personal owl.  What hits home now is that Lucius doesn't yet 
know that LV is back. So why is it Malfoy's owl being used at all? 

I would assume that just any owl wouldn't work.  LV must have some 
sort of charm to stay hidden from the post. I think Barty JR sent 
the owl...regardless.  There is enough in GoF to indicate that Snape 
didn't know about Crouch!Moody.