TBAY: Definitely NOT a Snape Theory (long)

[spotsgal]

No: HPFGUIDX 145395

> > Alla:
> > 
> > No, Pippin THAT was of course pure speculation of mine, but I was 
> > definitely trying to point out that the idea that without Snape 
> > blabbing to Voldemort the contents of the Prophecy, Voldemort 
> > would have killed Potters anyway does not have much canon support
> > either, IMO.

> Gerry
> Actually, I think there is. Somewhere in OoP I believe it is Remus 
> who explains how the first time the DE's were killing the hugely
> outnumbered Order members one by one. 
> Gerry, who is too lazy to find the exact quote

Christina:

(OotP, Scholastic, page 177:)
" 'Molly, that's enough,' said Lupin firmly.  'This isn't like last
time...we're much better off than we were last time, you weren't in
the Order then, you don't understand, last time we were outnumbered
twenty to one by Death Eaters and they were picking us off one by
one...' "

Add to that the fact that out of the 22-or-so members of the Order who
are in the original photograph, only about 15 lived to the night that
the Potters died.  That's not counting James and Lily, who were
effectively out of the Order when they went into hiding.  That left 12
wizards opposing LV's regime (the 13th was a traitor).

As a matter of fact, if Snape hadn't blabbed about the prophecy, I'd
argue that the Potters would have been in *more* danger.  Voldemort
targetted them specifically because of the news from Snape, which sent
them into Fidelius.  Now, obviously we know that Peter betrayed their
position, but generally speaking, Lily and James were safer under the
Fidelius (and even before that when they were "in hiding") than they
would have been if they had been out visibly fighting.  I'm not saying
that Snape did them any favors, but I think it definitely supports the
thought that Voldemort would have killed James and Lily anyway.  I
don't know how much it matters that LV would have killed the Potters
even without Snape's information, but it absolutely has canon
evidence.  The Order and the Death Eaters weren't equals in the old
war- the Order was more like an underground resistance that the Death
Eaters hoped to squash.  And with 12 wizards countering an entire
regime (with at least one traitor thwarting their efforts), well...the
picture seems bleak.

Christina