JKR site update SPOILERS

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 158920


> Julie:
> I'm not sure JKR knows a Tuesday night from a Sunday night 
> in the HP Universe ;-) In any case, I don't quite get the
> argument that Snape couldn't have been at Godric's Hollow
> on a weeknight. Does he have a curfew or something? I'm 
> pretty sure Snape has snuck about town on weeknights before,
> and he's surely gone to DE meetings on weeknights (unless
> Voldy is scheduling meetings only on weekend nights for
> Snape's convenience, which doesn't seem too likely). So
> why could he pop out to Godric's Hollow, or anywhere else
> for that matter, on the night in question?
> 
> We don't know if Snape was at Godric's Hollow, though
> I agree he didn't openly waltz in with Voldemort (one
> theory is that he could have followed Voldemort and come 
> upon the scene once Voldemort had already been vaporized).
> What I do suspect is that Snape and Harry have something 
> that ties them together beyond what we've seen so far (HBP,
> DD's men--if Snape is DDM, James, probably Lily, etc).
> Something that Hagrid may know about, which would explain
> his long-standing acceptance, even defense of, Snape.  
> Snape somehow being involved with Harry's well-being 
> right after Godric's Hollow would be one such tie. 
> 
> As for the Invisibility Cloak, back to the drawing board
> on that one it seems!
> 
> Julie
>
Carol responds:
When have we seen Snape outside the school grounds except during
Christmas or summer vacation or the one meeting with Voldemort after
the graveyard incident in GoF? His excuse for not fighting in the MoM
battle is essentially that he has to stay at Hogwarts to avoid
arousing DD's suspicion. And his job as a DE is to spy on Dumbledore,
which he can't do if he's at a meeting. (Also, of course, you can't
Apparate from Hogwarts or Hogwarts grounds.) I think (and this is just
my opinion) that one of the reasons Dumbledore keeps him on as a
teacher (aside from his extensive knowledge of Potions and DADA) is to
keep him safe, which would include an excuse not to attend DE
meetings. Or maybe there were no meetings between September 1 and
October 31 of the year he was hired. I doubt that large meetings
occurred very often. Probably he met or corresponded one on one with
the DEs most of the time since, as Karkaroff said, he likes to operate
in secrecy and many of the DEs didn't even know each other's names.

At any rate, when we see Snape at night, he's always prowling the
hallways--and he has essays to mark. I can't see him leaving Hogwarts
for any reason during the school year (except on that one special
occasion at the end of GoF). And I believe that he showed Dumbledore
his Dark Mark on the night of Godric's Hollow, which is how Dumbledore
knew that Voldemort was (almost) destroyed. I don't think that either
dumbledore or Snape knew the secret of Godric's Hollow (I think DD
knew the location until the secret was placed inside PP and then he
magically forgot it, just as Bellatrix and Narcissa no longer know
that Kreacher lives at 12 GP, which they must have known when they
were younger. I don't think that PP told Dumbledore, much less Snape,
by note or any other means. so IMO, Snape did not know the secret and
could not have been at Godric's Hollow that night.)

Even if, by some chance, Snape did know the secret without knowing the
identity of the SK (it would have to be a note that DD showed him, and
I don't believe that happened), how could he hide at Godric's Hollow?
Voldemort wouldn't know that he knew the secret, so he wouldn't invite
him to come as a DE. There's no evidence that any DE except Peter was
there (in rat form so James and Lily couldn't see him). As I said in
another post, James says, "He's here," not "They're here." And we know
that Snape wasn't hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. I think that if
he did try to warn James against Sirius Black in person (instead of
referring to DD trying to warn him, as we know he did), it must have
been before the Fidelius Charm was cast.

Carol, who thinks that Snape was at Hogwarts on the night of Godric's
Hollow, just as he told Bellatrix