Snape's Messenger Patronus ((was Re: Snape's Dementor lesson

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 182633

Carol earlier:
> > I do think, though, that during the summers or holidays,
especially the summer between GoF and OoP and the OoP Christmas
holiday, that Snape preferred to appear at 12 GP in person rather than
communicate by Patronus. How he communicated with Dumbledore when DD
was away from the school, as he obviously did or DD would not have
known why he canceled the Occlumency lessons or that he had provided
fake Veritaserum to Umbridge and Snape would not have known that DD
would be coming to 12 GP within minutes of his own second message, I
don't know.
> 
> zgirnius:
> I find all of your questions above are answered simply by the same 
answer - Snape Apparated and contacted Albus (after Albus's departure
from the school), as well as Sirius and the Order (the night of the
DoM adventure) in person, just as you suppose he preferred to do in
the summer. Why should he do anything different during the school  year?
> 
> As soon as he leaves the school grounds, he can be in London, or
anywhere else in Great Britain, instantly. He could know Albus was
coming, because he met the Order members in person, and they 
mentioned to him that Albus was expected. 

Carol responds:

Er, no. Snape informs *them* that Dumbledore will be coming to Order
quarters shortly and tells Sirius to wait:

DD tells Harry, "Professor Snape requested that Sirius remain behind,
as he needed somebody to remain at headquarters to tell me what had
happened, for I was due there at any moment" (830).

So Snape has somehow been communicating with Dumbledore and knows that
DD will be showing up at HQ soon, and he passes on that information to
the Order members at HQ. He doesn't stay there himself, nor does he go
to Dumbledore himself to tell him what's happening. He relies on
Sirius to do it while he, Snape, searches the Forbidden Forest just in
case HRH and friends are still there and the other Order members go to
the MoM.

It's *possible* that Snape left his office, ran all the way to
Hogsmeade, and Apparated there and back, after which he searched the
forest, but it would be a lot faster and more efficient, especially
considering that Harry's going to the MoM was an emergency, to
communicate by Patronus. DD, of course, suggests that he has done so,
informing Harry that the Order members have more reliable means of
communication than Umbridge's fireplace (and we later see other Order
members using Patronuses to communicate). Snape could, of course, have
used Umbridge's fireplace to send the second message, since Umbridge
had not come back, but he could not have used it to send the first
one, since Umbridge was still there.

Another possibility, which makes more sense than taking the time to
run to Hogsmeade to Apparate, is Dumbledore's fireplace. Unlike
Umbridge, Snape probably still has access to Dumbledore's office, and
it's possible that Dumbledore somehow prevented the MoM from
monitoring it. If so, Snape could safely use it to communicate with
both the Order and DD. However, since no one mentions that possibility
and DD implies that Snape communicated with the Order using the usual
method, I'm pretty sure that he used his Patronus and the other Order
members simply didn't make the Lily connection, being too concerned
with the content of his message to consider the form of his Patronus
(Mad-eye, Kingsley, and Tonks would be unlikely to make the
connection, while Black and Lupin would be aware of the "Mudblood"
incident and would close their minds, IMO, to the possibility that
Severus Snape still loved the long-dead Lily Potter. Surely, the
ex-DE's Patronus couldn't represent the hated James's wife!).

zgirnius: 
> Needing to unexpectedly leave the grounds to Apparate is an 
eventuality for which he must have been prepared, anyway. He could 
hardly have sent his Patronus in response to a summons by Lord 
Voldemort. 

Carol responds:
Agreed that Snape wouldn't use a Patronus to communicate with LV and
the DEs. However, as we see in DH, Voldemort and his DEs can use the
Dark Mark to communicate. It's not just touching your Dark Mark to
summon LV, or his touching someone else's Dark Mark to summon the DEs,
in both cases, revealing the location. LV lets Snape know that he's
coming to Hogwarts so that Snape can meet him, and he orders Alecto
Carrow to enter the Ravenclaw common room because Harry Potter is
coming there. Probably that's how he communicated his threats to Draco
in HBP as well. (Barty Crouch Jr., who perhaps didn't have his Dark
Mark when he was disguised as Mad-Eye Moody, used an eagle owl,
probably Draco's, to communicate with LV in GoF, but it would probably
be unsafe for Draco to communicate that way in HBP since owl post can
somehow be monitored.)

At any rate, the only time we know of that Snape leaves the Hogwarts
grounds to communicate with Voldemort is at the end of GoF, when DD
sends him there to report in person. And, of course, he has to leave
Hogwarts at the end of HBP, having "murdered" Dumbledore. If and when
he communicates with him at other times, especially during the school
year, it's probably by Dark Mark (or in person if he's summoned).

With regard to the Order, Snape reports to Order HQ directly in OoP,
even when he's not presenting a report in a meeting or talking to
Harry about Occlumency lessons, possibly because Harry is there and he
doesn't want Harry to see his Patronus. But during the school year,
when Harry isn't there, a Patronus would be much more efficient.
(Besides, Snape reports directly to DD, even when DD isn't at
Hogwarts, to inform him about the fake Veritaserum and the failure of
Harry's Occlumency lessons. Whether he does so by Patronus or, since
it's not an emergency, Apparates to whereever DD is hiding is not
clear. It just occurred to me that DD could be staying at Order HQ, in
which case, Phineas Nigellus could be Snape's messenger. In any case,
he certainly knows where DD is and has been reporting to him in some way.)
> 
Carol earlier:
> > Carol, who likes to imagine Snape walking into Umbridge's office,
alerted by Pansy Parkinson, and seeing Draco with bats flying all
around his face

zgirnius: 
> zgirnius, amused to note that this is exactly how it plays out in
her fanfic.

Carol responds:
Makes sense, right? Otherwise, how could Snape have known that Harry
and his friends went into the Forbidden Forest? I expect he had his
hands full sorting out various jinxes and hexes while the
Inquisitorial Squad all clamored to tell him how they'd been
"attacked" by "Potter's" friends.

Carol, who doesn't usually read fanfic but would find this one amusing
if Zara would kindly offlist her with the link