[HPforGrownups] 7 reasons why (was Re: Snape finding Lily's Letter

[k12listmomma]

No: HPFGUIDX 174675

> CathyD:
> As I have said before, there is no way it could come to be in that
> house as Sirius left the house when he was 16, to return when he was
> 35-36 once it was made HQ of the OotP.
>
> Potioncat:
> I've tried to get back to the beginning of this thread, but the
> server is too busy. So I'll just jump in. And another disclaimer,
> I've only read the book once.
>
> I actually agree with you. Snape's finding the letter makes no sense
> at all for these reasons:
>
> 1. If he got into the house before Moody set the curses, why did no
> one notice the house had been ransacked?
>
> 2. If he came after Moody died, how did he get past the curses. (Oh
> never mind. Fred and George cooked up worse things in the name of
> jokes.) And anyway, the curses should have faded when Moody died.
>
> 3. What was Snape looking for? How did he know a letter from Lily
> would be there? It would make sense if he was looking for something
> else and came across it, but if that's the case, what was he looking
> for? When I first read the earlier chapter, I thought someone had
> come looking for the locket. But we find out later that LV doesn't
> yet know it's missing.
>
> 4. It makes no sense for the letter to be forgotten in Sirius's
> childhood bedroom. In fact, I don't think it makes sense for the
> bedroom to still look as it did. I would think that Mrs. Black would
> have blasted all reminders of Sirius out of the house. (If Sirius was
> using that bedroom as an adult he really was emotionally stunted.
> Right down there with Severus.)
>
> 5. If anyone ever asks JKR, I'm sure she'll say he had his old stuff
> sent over. She'll either say he had it sent after he returned to
> 12GP, or she'll say the MoM sent it when  he went to Azkaban. But
> first she'll have to recall that he ever had a different place. I'm
> sure she's forgotten.
>
> 6. As for the photo: It's been awhile since I had a one-year-old
> around the house. Does anyone really think a baby could sit a broom
> by his first birthday? (Does anyone remember the discussion about
> Dudley and Harry's developmental stages in SS/PS)
>
> 7. And again, how did Snape know there would be a letter/photo in the
> house?
>
> So my earlier post was my fairly reasonable explanation, sticking as
> close to canon as I could.


Shelley:
I agree with all the reasons why Snape finding Lilly's letter is highly 
problematic, and is the biggest hole in this story because it just doesn't 
fit with the rest of the facts.

I will comment on one thing though- the antics of a one year old. My highly 
troublesome son was walking at age 9 months. So, by age one, he was doing 
things like climbing up on items to get to what he wanted, and putting 
himself at great risk. He could stack items to make a tower to climb. He 
routinely flipped himself out of the crib. He tried to climb a windowsill. 
He would worm out of his carseat while I was driving down the highway. The 
child loved to give me a heart attack with the things he would do!

To ride a broom that hovered a few inches above the floor, all the child 
would need to learn to do is balance on it, and I could tell you without 
blinking an eye that my son would have mastered that within a week of 
getting that broom. He had a Jolly-Jumper, and learned how to "swing" on it 
at about 6 months of age, about 3 months before he learned to walk. Now, my 
other son wouldn't have, because he didn't walk until 15 months, but for a 
very early walker, they have an amazing sense of where there body is and how 
to move it. Based on this, it's my guess that Harry had to have learned to 
walk by 9 months of age, and was a very troublesome tot by then. Thus, the 
story of the broom is very believable for me, because I could see my son 
doing it. That, and chasing the cat too. My son was very mischievous.