Snape finding Lily's Letter

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 174369

Christy:
(snipping)  
Maybe its not the letter but simply a letter.  Other plausible 
explanations for it do exist right?  (Sometimes JKR gives us details 
that foreshadow and sometimes she just gives us details.)

Potioncat:
JKR does give us details! It was the details that brought most of us 
to a list. Her details are like Bertie Botts Beans. 

But, to the topic at hand:

The Purloined Letter

I'm not sure if the letter has become a dead horse or a tennis ball. 
We all seem to agree that the letter was brought back to 12 GP off-
page. The saga of the letter works better for some of us than others, 
but there are some things the letter's story does accomplish. This 
brief, two-part episode packs a lot into a little space.

There had been a search for something.Harry doesn't know who or why 
or if that person found anything. Harry finds the first half of a 
letter and a torn photo of himself as a baby. These were apparently 
discarded in the search for something important. The letter 
establishes some names, brings the IC/DD connection to mind and 
teases us with an unfinished comment about DD. It also sets a mood 
with comments about Wormtail and general family life. Touching, I 
thought, that Sirius has given Harry two brooms over the years. 

When Harry (and the reader) does see the letter again, he gets the 
final bit about DD. He discovers it was Snape who went through the 
house. He sees Snape tearing off the section of the photo that has 
Lily, and sees for a second time, how deep Severus's feelings are for 
his childhood friend. 

There's several bit of irony connected to this little subplot. A 
character says that Moody's curses must be working, because Snape 
hasn't revealed the secret, yet Snape has already been there. The 
very thing that was taken from the house was the letter right in 
front of us. Harry and Snape are both hungry for keepsakes of a lost 
time.

So again, this probably did exactly what JKR wanted it to. 

And, no, the letter on the table in OoP probably isn't this letter---
but I like that version and I'm sticking to it! ;-)

Potioncat