Who was with Voldemort at GH?

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 145667

Sherry:
> In the same way, Voldemort couldn't tell Snape where to find GH. 
> So, the secret keeper had to tell him. Even if Peter wrote it
> down, it still stretches Snape's credulity too far for me. i've 
> been thinking about this a long time, wondering how Snape could 
> not know the identity of the SK.

Jen: If Snape didn't know the writing on a note, he wouldn't know 
the SK; Harry only figured out the SK of Grimmauld because he'd seen 
Dumbledore's writing. I could see Voldemort ordering Peter to write 
a note for Snape and Voldemort requiring Snape to go with him, 
espcecially if he sensed Snape was having second thoughts. LV's very 
sadistic that way.

*But* this idea stretches credulity for me in a different way. Very 
simply, I don't think Snape was inside the house because he's still 
alive and Dumbledore still trusts him. If he was in the house and 
didn't intervene, I don't think Dumbledore would put such great 
faith in him. Harry doesn't hear anyone protesting Voldemort's 
actions in his dementor memories after all. And if Snape did 
intervene, Voldemort would have killed him.

Julie:
> Still, I *do* think Snape is a good candidate for the unknown
> person at Godric's Hollow. But if he was there (and assuming as
> DDM) then he was not there helping Voldemort. Here is my theory:
> Snape arrive at Godric's Hollow right *after* Voldemort had killed 
> James and Lily. Either he was following Voldemort, suspicious of
> what Voldemort was doing, or he was with Voldemort and waiting 
> nearby for Voldemort to finish a task about which he had no 
> knowledge (since Snape wasn't the secret keeper, he had no way of 
> knowing Godric's Hollow was the Potters hiding place). 

Jen: Another possible addition: If the house was indeed Dumbledore's 
and he offered it to the Potters for hiding, he would at least know 
the general area (even if it wasn't his house, I think). As in the 
case with the Order guarding the prophecy, I think he would have had 
a guard posted somehwere in the area to alert him if Voldemort was 
seen or if anything strange occurred. In that way Snape could have 
been near Godric's but had no way to intervene since he couldn't see 
the house. It may have been how Dumbledore was alerted so quickly. 

Julie:
> I also wonder if it could have been Snape who "destroyed" the 
> house, to hide the evidence of magic, while obviously insuring the
> bodies of the Potters, and the surviving boy-who-lived were 
> protected from the destruction. (I've frequently wondered how 
> Harry remained alive and safe inside the house if it was 
> completely destroyed by the failed AK.)

Jen: Like Ceridwen, I tend to think Peter was the one there because 
he had Voldemort's wand in the graveyard and must have picked it up 
at Godric's. I imagined the blowing up of the house was his spell, 
similar to the spell he used to blow a hole in the street and murder 
the Muggles. I could see him removing Harry prior to the spell, too 
fearful to murder him since Harry had just destroyed LV. Or more 
simply the backfire of the AK caused the destruction and Peter 
somehow didn't die in the explosion, grabbed the wand and apparted. 

Hmmm, I don't know. None of this fits very well for having Snape in 
the area at all. For one, why was he not there when Hagrid and 
Sirius arrived? Did he just leave baby Harry sitting there wailing? 
I guess Dumbledore could have said "keep your cover, make sure Harry 
is alive and in a safe place, I'm sending Hagrid to pick him up." 
That would still leave open a DE coming along before Hagrid arrived 
and killing Harry, as it seems the house was no longer under the 
Fidelius once James and Lily died. Sounds more like a Voldemort plan 
than a Dumbledore one!

No, I'm starting to think Peter was with Voldemort and Snape wasn't 
around. It fits for me Voldemort forced Peter to go along to ensure 
it wasn't a trick. Snape probabaly did warn Dumbledore something had 
happened to Voldemort when his Dark Mark changed or disappeared, but 
that was it for his involvement. Although I DO think he worked with 
Dumbledore prior to the murders trying to safeguard the Potters 
after being such a dummkopf and passing the prophecy information. 

Jen, thinking JKR might be keeping Peter-at-Godric's a surprise 
because something he saw that night will inadvertently help Harry 
and fulfill the life debt.