Ah the mysteries…

[Olivier Fouquet]

No: HPFGUIDX 149913

 > Why did Snape enter the tunnel? Why was Snape so convinced
 > that Lupin was part of a plot to murder him?

Sirius and Lupin both give the same kind of answer: Snape wanted to  
know what Lupin and the others were up to. In my book, Snape is not  
convinced that Lupin was part of a plot to murder him. He thinks  
Sirius was though. All he says about Lupin is that he thought he was  
in on "the joke".

 > How did Peter Pettigrew elude Albus Dumbledore, who
 > knew someone close to the Potters was  a spy?

Well you have to answer this even with ESE!Lupin because Pettigrew  
was most definitely close to the Potters and a spy.

 > Why didn't James want Dumbledore to be his secret keeper?

Well you have to answer this even with...

 > Why did Sirius think that Lupin was the spy, and why
 > did James go along with not telling Lupin about the secret
 > keeper switch?

Someone was a spy. They thought it was Lupin, Lupin thought it was  
Sirius. The whole point of the switch was not telling anybody. They  
didn't tell Dumbledore either.

 > Who sent the Lestranges after the Longbottoms?

Arthur Weasley.

 > Who killed the unicorns? Who was the stranger Hagrid met in the
 > Hogs Head?

Arthur Weasley.

 > Why couldn't JKR tell us why the diary plot  would have
 > made present day Voldemort stronger?

Because it would have been too big a hint that Arthur Weasley, who  
knew exactly what the Diary was, had staged a fake fight with his old  
accomplice Lucius so that his own daughter would be subdued by the  
Riddle's memories.

 > Why is there an anvil-sized  hint that Lupin is an occlumens?

Why is there an anvil-sized hint that Arthur Weasley can do the  
Imperius curse? Beside, Lupin is a very able wizard. Why shouldn't he  
be able to do legilimency and occlumency? Snape can do both and Draco  
is an occlumens.

 > Why was Lupin so willing to kill Peter Pettigrew, when it
 > is against the philosophy of the Order to kill DE's who
 > have given themselves up? Why does he show more
 > emotion at the thought of losing Dumbledore's trust
 > than at killing a helpless man who is begging for his life?

Because this man has betrayed his friends and because it is an  
apparent important plot point that Pettigrew owe a life-debt to  
Harry. Note that you could ask the same question about Snape, who was  
willing to kill two innocent people the very same night, who contrary  
to Lupin, did not listen for a second to the opinion of the other  
person in the room and who never expressed any visible remorse about it.

 > Why does the  moon appear and disappear
 >  *before* Lupin transforms? Why did JKR give an evasive
 > answer when asked whether Lupin transformed inside the shack?
 > She's usually  willing to admit it when she just flubbed up.

Because the way she wrote it was by far the most enjoyable way that  
she could write that scene. The feeling that Harry's lost because  
he's trapped with Sirius, the feeling that everything is lost when  
Lupin turns out to be in league with Sirius, the feeling that  
everything is lost when Snape would not listen and finally, when  
everything seems finally right, fate strikes again and Lupin transforms.


 > What drove Peter Pettigrew to return to Voldemort and
 > forced him to stay when he wavered in his loyalty?

Hum, let me see. He has tried staying at Hogwarts and it didn't work  
too well, did it?

 > How are Order members once again being picked off one by one?

Sturgis was imperioed by Lucius (or maybe Arthur Weasley), Sirius  
died in a fight with Bellatrix and Emmeline Vance was killed because  
Snape gave LV useful information about the Order.

Of course, I could write such a list of "mysteries" about any  
character, and one twice as long about Snape. But let us have a look  
at the official mysteries of the series. Isn't it strange, if the  
above questions are important, that no one ever asks them? Isn't it  
strange that Harry, who was an eye witness, never seems to doubt that  
it was Bellatrix who killed Sirius? Isn't it strange that Hermione,  
who had guessed long ago that Lupin was a werewolf, never stops and  
asks "but how come didn't he transform before"? That neither Sirius  
nor Harry nor Dumbledore nor any member of the original Order seems  
to have any doubt about the secret-keeper switch? That DD has so  
little doubt about it that he mentions Lupin twice as someone he  
trusts to start over the Order?

Isn't it strange, on the other hand, that ESE!Lupin brings absolutely  
no new light on the last remaining mysteries: where the Horcruxes are  
and, tangentially, what is Snape's allegiance?

Olivier