Will the Real Severus Snape please step forward?

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 167743

Goddlefrood:
> A further matter that has been of interest to me, and for which I 
have yet to see an explanation is how come Snape seemingly never 
figured out that Scabbers was Wormtail and that may bear further 
examination. Not by me here and now, but perhaps one day in the not 
too distant future I will look into it more closely again, unless 
someone wants to offer an explanation, which would be welcome.

Ceridwen:
Not an explanation, but my contribution to the conversation.  ;)

I don't find in canon anything saying that Snape knew (and, 
conversely, didn't know) that the Marauders less Lupin were 
Anamaguses (Anamagi?  I like this one better).  I do see that it 
doesn't seem as if he knew.  It also doesn't seem as if Dumbledore 
knew.  But with Dumbledore, he might have just played dumb until they 
came out and told him - second chances means first chances, after 
all, a chance to come clean without being confronted.  Being an 
Animagi without registering seems to be a violation of Wizarding law.

But, did Snape know?  It doesn't seem as if this was a power that 
they flaunted in the schoolyard.  This was what they did to 
circumvent the rules in order to keep Lupin company during his Furry 
stage.  They weren't given permission, that we know of, to accompany 
him at full moon.  I'm not sure any more if this is canon or just 
inferred, but the evidence of Peter's demise was based on no one 
knowing he could transform into a rat and escape into the sewers.  
The lack of body seems to have been attributed to his being at the 
focus of the spell's explosion.

Sirius heard the DEs in Azkaban complaining about Wormtail, but did 
those DEs know that Wormtail was also Peter Pettigrew?  Sirius would 
have known, of course.  But, did the DEs?  Did all of the DEs know 
about Wormtail, or just a select few who had a need to know?  If this 
code name was known to only certain DEs, would Snape, in his early 
twenties and younger than many of the others, have been included in 
the need to know?  Surely Voldemort would have wanted to guard the 
identity of his spy in the Order.  Would he have told Snape about 
Wormtail?  Would he have told Snape who Wormtail was?  Would he have 
told Snape that Pettigrew, as Wormtail, was a rat Animagus?

Could Snape have guessed?  I think that would only be answered if we 
could determine how much Snape knew or inferred.  Did he know the 
Marauders were unregistered Animagi?  Some people have suggested that 
it was easy to lure Snape into the Prank because he suspected their 
Animagi status, and jumped on the chance to see proof.  This 
speculation segues into a plan to then have them expelled for illegal 
activity.

If he guessed that they were Animagi, could he have known their 
Animagus names?  This is where I wonder.  He may have known that 
a "Wormtail" was working for Voldemort, but not have associated the 
moniker with a particular person, or with the reason the person had 
that name in the first place.  Or, he may have known the nicknames if 
they used them in general conversation or called each other by them 
in class.  But again, would he know why Wormtail was Wormtail, or why 
Prongs was Prongs?

If Snape did not know that Peter Pettigrew was an Animagus, then he 
would not have the foggiest idea that he was also Scabbers.  If he 
did know he was an unregistered Animagi, could he have known what 
form he took?  If Snape did know what form he took, he probably 
wouldn't have recognized Wormtail from any other rat of the same 
sort.  I doubt if the Marauders would have transformed around Snape 
so he could become familiar with their animal forms.

The only clue, really, would have been Scabbers' longevity, and 
there's no reason to believe that Snape paid *that* much attention to 
the pets of Gryffindor students.  If he didn't know that Pettigrew 
could turn into a rat, why would this cross his mind?  If he did 
know, then Pettigrew was still supposedly dead.  The death was 
apparently straightforward, with several witnesses.  Why suspect that 
a dead man was living in the pocket of a Hogwarts student?

Maybe the question is, why didn't Lupin know?  He was closer to Peter 
in school.  He saw his Animagus form.  He knew Peter transformed into 
a rat...

Okay, I think I do have a possible explanation.  Scabbers was AWOL in 
a lot of PoA.  Lupin was the DADA professor that year, which 
explains "Scabbers's" absence.  If Pettigrew thought that Snape would 
recognize him, I think he would have gone missing a lot sooner.  LV 
was gone, DEs were scrambling to claim Imperius or to otherwise 
distance themselves from having been DEs.  Why wouldn't Peter think 
that Snape - petty, vengeful Snape, Snape who had been tricked into 
the Prank - would turn him in for being still alive?  So, I think 
that even Peter didn't think that Snape should recognize him.

Ceridwen.