Snape at GH? (Was: Snape Loved or In-Love with Lily?)

[exodusts]

No: HPFGUIDX 148717

> Carol:
> Thanks for answering. I'm not convinced, though, because Snape would
> have had to know that Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper and Sirius 
Black
> was innocent, which would make his behavior throughout PoA a 
horrible
> deception, an act that even he couldn't pull off convincingly.

Exodusts:
Given that Snape can out-Occlumens Voldemort, I reckon he could 
probably pull off any act he wanted BUT I agree that he would seem to 
lack sufficient motivation to bother doing so in this instance, 
unless it is heavy-duty-old-schoolboy-grudge AGAIN. I prefer to 
interpret Snape's hatred for Sirius at that point as being 
transferred guilt, blaming him for the death of Lily. 


> Carol:
> And I
> don't think he could have kept that sort of secret from Dumbledore,
> especially since he would have had to explain his presence at 
Godric's
> Hollow to Dumbledore, and he would have had to leave Harry lying in
> the ruins and then report the disaster to Dumbledore. The whole
> scenario is simply not reconcilable (IMO) with DDM!Snape.

Exodusts:
What if Snape only became DDM after the death of Lily? What if he was 
shocked and stunned by the events that unfolded that night at 
Godric's Hollow, and fled or wandered off after the destruction of 
LV, without thinking about the baby in the rubble?


> Carol:
> And there's
> really no reason for PP to inform him of the secret or to invite him
> to participate in a murder that LV could commit all by himself.

Exodusts:
Well, there is, if you assume that Peter couldn't get the message 
direct to LV and had to tell it via Snape because he had no other 
choice.


> Carol:
> Lily
> as reward for Snape is appalling, too, especially in a children's
> series. Reward for what? Telling him the Prophecy, an action Snape
> regrets? And surely he wouldn't expect Lily to love him or consider
> him as her rescuer. It makes no sense, at least to me.

Exodusts:
I don't think Snape came to regret telling LV the prophecy until 
after Lily was dead. Only then would Snape have something to blame 
himself for. I don't think that Snape could realistically expect to 
successfully claim ownership of Lily, but he would certainly ask LV 
to spare Lily's life. That might be sufficient reward for Snape to be 
going on with.


> Carol:
> The Snape subplot is already sufficiently complex without his being 
at
> Godric's Hollow, and he has plenty of grounds for remorse and
> repentance without being involved in some way in the murder plot. 
So,
> again, thanks for the explanation, but I'm not sold. I much prefer
> Snape showing DD his disappearing Dark Mark at the same time DD
> realizes through other means that the Potters are dead. Much 
simpler,
> with no need to throw in a whole new subplot in Book 7. And it would
> help to strengthen DD's trust in Snape, as his being at GH would 
not.

Exodusts:
I actually agree that, on the evidence we have at the moment, the 
most likely candidate for being at Godric's Hollow is Peter 
Pettigrew. However, his presence would seem to add even less to the 
story in terms of plot-relevance, and exciting additional 
revelations, than having Snape there (because we already know all 
about how PP betrayed the Potters). Additionally, I can still offer 
you a possibility for Snape being there WITHOUT him having to have 
known that the traitor was Peter. Suppose Peter wrote a note for 
Voldemort, and Snape read the contents of the note, but assumed it 
was a message from Sirius for Lord Voldemort. If Snape had heard that 
Sirius was to be Secret Keeper, and then came across the note (after 
arriving at DE HQ, or wherever, for a monthly briefing) saying: "The 
Potters are hiding at Number One Godric's Hollow", he would naturally 
assume it was from Sirius to LV. He might also think "LV has just 
left for GH. I must follow him now, and ask him to spare Lily. I will 
remind him that if it had not been for me, he would not even know the 
dangers of the Potter child. That may enable me to convince him to 
let her live."


> Carol:
> And someone else *was* at Godric's Hollow, the same person who
> betrayed the Potters and picked up Voldemort's wand: Wormtail. There
> is no canon evidence (I'm not talking about hints in interviews, 
which
> may be equivocal) that Snape or any person besides LV, the Potters,
> and Wormtail was present.

Exodusts:
Do we actually know that Peter was present? Isn't this an assumption 
based upon the fact that LV has his wand in GoF? Couldn't LV have 
retrieved his wand in some other fashion? Or couldn't JKR have simply 
made a (for her) rather typical administrative error, in forgetting 
that LV's wand must have been left on the floor in Godric's Hollow 
after the AK backfire (ie she just wrote LV with his wand in GoF 
without thinking about how he could have recovered it)?