Snape in the Shrieking Shack (Was: Are appearances important to Snape?)

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 142250

>Hickengruendler:

>Yes, later he is known as Wormtail among the Death Eaters. But was 
>he
>already in the first war? My main objection is, that I don't think
>Voldemort would tell too many people the name of his spy. Why 
>should
>he do this and therefore risking that the spy would blow his cover?

a_svirn:

Which is why, I believe, he's known as Wormtail rather than 
Pettigrew. Why else? It's not a customary practice among DE to use 
assumed names. Indeed, apart from Wormtail and Voldemort himself 
they only ever use their proper names.  

>Hickengruendler:

>And Karkaroff told Crouch in GoF in the Pensieve scene, that many
>Death Eaters did not know every other DE's. I am aware that Sirius
>said that Wormtail hid himself, because many Death Eaters thought 
>he
>betrayed Voldemort. But I don't think this automatically means, 
>that
>all the DE's (including Snape) knew about Wormtail.

a_svirn:

Well, what does it mean then? 



>Hickengruendler:

>The Dementors still had to be somewhere close. Harry didn't drive
>them away from the grounds. And they were meant to protect the
>Hogwarts grounds after all.

a_svirn:

Harry drove the far enough nevertheless:

"What amazes me most is the behavior of the dementors... you've 
really no idea what made them retreat, Snape?" 
 "No, Minister... by the time I had come 'round they were heading 
back to their positions at the entrances...."

Also as Carol very rightly pointed out there was a werewolf out 
there at large. So no, a search for a Dementor wasn't an option at 
the time much to Snape's regret. 

>Carol adds:
>Not to mention that Snape knew very well that Lupin was at large in
>werewolf form. By conjuring stretchers and taking the unconscious 
>kids
>(and Sirius Black, whom I think he still believed to be a murderer) 
>to
>the castle, he removed them from very real danger and quite 
>possibly
>saved their lives. He could have left Sirius for the werewolf, but
>instead he took him to the castle to be placed in Fudge's custody.

a_svirn:
He could of course but wouldn't it be a rather stupid thing to? What 
if Sirius came to his senses before werewolf got him? No, I don't 
see that Snape really had any other option than took them all up to 
the castle. 

Carol:

>The DEs Sirius overhears in Azkaban talking
>about Wormtail are probably Bellatrix Lestrange and the Lestrange
>brothers, who enter Azkaban some months after the confrontation
>between Wormtail and Sirius that lands Sirius (or should I call him
>Padfoot?) in Azkaban. Quite possibly Bellatrix, as LV's most loyal
>follower, knew Peter's identity. She and her cronies certainly know
>that Sirius is in prison for ostensibly murdering Peter Pettigrew, 
>so
>they no doubt put two and two together and conclude that the 
>informer
>Wormtail is dead. But there's no indication that the DEs outside
>Azkaban, or the ex-DE Snape, had access to this same information. >
(As
>others have noted, the DEs don't necessarily know each other and 
>that
>it's infinitely logical for LV to keep Wormtail's identity secret.)

a_svirn:

There is even less indication that only Bellatrix knew about 
Wormtail, and that she had been more trusted follower than Snape. 
For one thing Sirius actually said:

"They *all* think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them.... 
I've heard *them* screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. 
Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them" 
(emphasis mine).

For another if they had known him only as "Wormtail" during the 
first Voldemort's reign it means that they WEREN'T privy to his 
identity.  

Carol:

>Snape's actions in the Shrieking Shack reflect his knowledge that
>Lupin is about to transform into a werewolf (which is why he 
>conjures
>ropes to tie him up) 

a_svirn:

As a Dark Arts expert he would have known that ropes would not hold 
when Lupin transformed. Why even chains didn't, did they? And what 
about gagging him was it also for a safety reason? 


>Carol:
>and his belief (clung to stubbornly, but he's
>believed it for twelve years) that Sirius Black is a dangerous
>murderer whom Lupin has been helping into the castle. When Snape 
>tells
>Harry, "I just saved your life. You should be grateful" (quoted 
>from
>memory), IMO, he believes exactly that.

a_svirn:

It would have been quite plausible if he hadn't witness their 
comfortable prose together. But he did, didn't he? He stood there 
and listened to their talk for a good hour and however much he would 
want (supposedly) to believe Sirius a murderer he should have been 
dim-witted indeed to suppose that killing Harry was indeed his 
purpose. And Snape is no dimwit.