CHAPDISC: HBP28, Flight of the Prince

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 163627

Brothergib wrote:
<snip>
> Hagrid was at Godric's Hollow soon after LV attacked - FACT!
> How did he get there? Portkey - very, very unlikely IMO. Apparition
- I think canon evidence suggests that Hagrid would not possess those 
> skills. Side-along apparition - i.e. DD takes Hagrid with him to GH.
> 
> But why would DD go to GH? If he had information that an attack was
imminent, then I'm sure he would have prepared a defence. If DD was
ignorant to LV's plan, then someone had to inform DD that LV had
attacked GH. An obvious candidate would be someone who a) was trusted
by LV or b) could at least track his movements. Obvious candidate -
Severus Snape.
> 
> Therefore Hagrid trusts Snape because he had seen direct proof of
his allegiance at GH that night.

Carol responds:

I agree that Hagrid probably knows something about Snape relating to
the night of Godric's Hollow, and I like your suggestion of side-along
Apparition (helping Hagrid get to GH), but why not Snape rather than
DD as Hagrid's escort?

I don't see how Snape, who was teaching at Hogwarts and did not know
the Secret, could have been at GH or why he would be there since his
supposed DE task was to spy on Dumbledore, not hang around with
Voldemort. I think that Snape had no clue that the Potters had been
betrayed until he felt a pain in his Dark Mark and then watched it
fade, which could only mean that Voldemort had been attacked and
defeated. I think that snape ran up seven or eight flights of stairs
to see Dumbledore, who had been alerted to the broken Fidelius Charm
(see my previous posts), perhaps by a nightmare, perhaps by the sudden
realization that he knew where the Potters were and a sense that they
were in peril. 

IMO, neither of them knew had been told the Secret by note or any
other means, but they deduced, by comparing notes and perhaps
consulting DD's instruments, what must have happened. The adult
Potters were dead and Voldemort was vanquished (though most likely not
dead), which could only have happened if Harry, the Prophcy Boy, had
somehow "defeated" him. The Secret Keeper, as far as they knew, was
Sirius Black, and it was imperative to rescue Harry before the seeming
traitor arrived and claimed him as Harry's godfather and guardian.
(Hagrid, however, was not entrusted with this knowledge; he knew only
that he was not to give Harry to anyone except DD. Hence, he
"comforted the murderin' traitor" when he arrived and accepted the
motorcycle without understanding why Black, whether he was the traitor
or the Potters' avenger, might no longer have a use for it.) I suppose
that Snape could have Apparated with Hagrid to GH and then returned to
Hogwarts immediately to consult with Dumbledore about Harry's future
and how to protect him. He certainly was not with Hagrid when Sirius
Black arrived. I would not be surprised if Snape examined the baby
after Hagrid's return in front of both Hagrid and Dumbledore to make
sure that he wasn't possessed or cursed before DD placed the
protective spell on him, extending Lily's love protection, and
returned Harry to Hagrid's care. DD would then probably have had to
deal with the MoM and maybe give a statement regarding Sirius Black as
SK--hence, "No trouble, was there?" when he finds out where Hagrid got
the motorcycle.

Carol, thinking that Snape was not at GH when the Potters were killed
(he was at Hogwarts) but agreeing that he probably played some part in
rescuing Harry after the fact, which accounts for Hagrid's trust in him