Prisoner of Azkaban is our first glimpse into Harry's background since the opening chapter of Sorcerer's Stone. Through Sirius and Lupin (and the infamous Three Broomsticks scene), the details of the Potters demise become clear.
Sirius is one of my favorite characters in all of Potterdom - and that's saying something. His story, though, is one of the most frustrating and unjust of the series. And I realized something reading POA this time around that I'd never thought of before and never seen discussed (although I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm alone in my discovery).
We find out in HBP that Snape is who overheard the prophecy and carried it to Voldemort. And all signs point to the fact that when Snape heard that Voldemort was going after the Potters that he might have asked Voldemort to spare Lily. We also know that Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potters as their secret-keeper. So it follows that if Snape was asking Voldemort to spare Lily, he knew there was a reason to make such a request - because Voldemort had been given the Potters' whereabouts. So Snape knew who had told Voldemort where the Potters were. Which means that Snape knew all along that Sirius was innocent and he did nothing. It seems like the sort of thing that Snape would do...but, ugh. He could've cleared Sirius' name - I mean, as a reformed Death Eater, he could've testified that Sirius was never in league with Voldemort. But instead, he let Sirius rot. Talk about revenge. I still think that Snape will be a good guy in the end, but one of the most twisted, despicable good guys ever.
On to my other questions...
* Was there anything besides the murder of Peter Pettigrew/Muggles that made people so easily believe Sirius was a Deatheater?
* Who initially told Dumbledore that Voldemort was after Lily and James that prompted them to go into hiding under the Fidelius Charm?
* Why, why, why did the Potters not accept Dumbledore's offer to be their secret keeper?
* Why did Lupin and Sirius each suspect the other had turned spy for Voldemort?
* How did Percy get Scabbers/Peter Pettigrew?
* What else did Pettigrew pass on to Voldemort while he was spying?
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Questions & Theories: Prisoner of Azkaban
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2 cat calls:
OK, I'm totally missing the signs pointing to the fact that Snape asked Voldemort to spare Lily. . where are these references/inferences?
Most people think it because of Snape's worst memory. Like I said in my comments on the OOTP post, Harry already knew that Sirius and James detested Snape and that there was an intense rivalry there. We'd already learned a great deal about it in POA, and that it went so far as to almost cost Snape his life (when he was lured into the Whomping Willow while Lupin was transformed, before James got cold feet and pulled him back).
So there would be no reason for him to hide this memory from Harry. Surely Snape, a double agent, a once (and still??) Voldemort supporter would have way, way worse memories to hide from Harry. But he didn't.
And while we can surmise that having his undies flashed to the entire student body would be rather embarrassing, it's his treatment of Lily that we know Harry's never seen. He's never so much as mentioned Lily to Harry.
Furthermore, we know that Snape told Voldemort the prophecy. And that Voldemort oddly and far out of character for him gave Lily the chance to live. Why? And that shortly after the Potters death, he turned to the Order. Why? We know he had no qualms about James - as I point out on my POA post, he let Sirius rot in Azkaban knowing that he was innocent. The unique element in both situations is Lily - Lily, who even Slughorn, head of Slytherin house, finds so charming that he waxes poetic about her and eventually gives Harry the terrible memory about the horcruxes when he pleads to Slughorn on his mother's behalf.
It's still a lot of speculation...but that would also underscore why Snape has a bizarre alligiance to protecting Harry. What do you think?
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