James Potter’s Invisibility Cloak

Absolutely! Snape under the cloak makes perfect sense, and also puts a different twist on the life debt idea — snape now has TWO life debts to James? Or perhaps this second one is to Lily if she threw the cloak on him? Although, I must say that if I knew LV was coming to kill Harry, I’d hide him before Snape…

Also, in OotP, we see that the Order seems to share and share alike when it comes to invisibility cloaks. Perhaps someone else in the order was using it, not even close to Godric’s Hollow. That doesn’t seem “crucial” to the plot, but it very well could be. (Snape spying at another location, mcgonagal doing some snooping at privet drive because dudley turns out to be magic… who knows)

If we’re going to assume its crucial because it involves the events at godric’s hollow, (which is fair), then I’ll point out that both Sirius and Hagrid were there right away. I like Sirius for the invisibility cloak hider because he was there immediately and we don’t know how he found out what had happened so quickly. But he’s also not the type to hide under a cloak and let his friends die! Although, do you think snape is?

Snape may be a lot of things, but if he was willing to run over to Godric’s Hollow, knowing LV was going after the Potters, I doubt he’d just hang out under the cloak and wait for them to be finished off. Perhaps James pulled a “Dumbledore to Harry on the Astronomy Tower” and froze him and threw the cloak on him?

I just can see Lily saving Snape over Harry. Nor can I see Snape hiding cowardly in the corner of the room under the invisibility cloak. Snape hates to be called a coward. There has to be something else. But what?

I love it something new to think about.

Hmmmm….but somebody else must have had the cloak. I mean, if it was there, Lily could have easily thrown it over herself and Harry and ran, at least to temporarily get away from LV. Just like tracydaisy said, Lily wouldn’t have given Snape the cloak while James and Harry died, nor, I think, would Snape have rushed over just to stand in a corner and watch LV kill the Potters and try to kill Harry.

But didn’t they all know that Harry, the prophesied child with the power to vanquish the Dark Lordd, was the most important weapon against Voldemort? Rowling said what happened due to Lily’s sacrificial death had never happened before, so no one could have predicted Harry would survive an attack. Moreover, there were three conditions:

1) Voldemort had to offer Lily the chance to live,
2) Lily had to refuse the offer out love for and desire to protect Harry, and
3) Lily had to die for Harry.

Snape, James, and Lily could not have predicted Voldemort would give her the chance to live, and even if by some chance they did have a hope that he would make the offer, none of them knew her sacrificial death would invoke an ancient magical protection upon Harry that would destroy Voldemort from his backfiring AK.

So at that moment, I can’t see that any of those adults would have considered Snape’s life the most crucial.

Also, I have a problem with the idea that Snape would just show up at Godric’s Hollow to warn James that Voldemort was on his way. I don’t think anyone in the Order knew Snape was spying for Dumbledore at that time. Dumbledore knew there was a traitor close to the Potters who was giving information about them to Voldemort, but he didn’t know who it was. There’s no canon evidence that Snape was working as a double agent at that point (in other words, he didn’t then have Voldemort’s permission to pretend to be spying against Voldemort for Dumbledore). So Dumbledore wouldn’t have told anyone he was getting information from Snape for fear that the traitor would pass it back to Voldemort. And IMO Snape clearly didn’t know that Wormtail was the traitor or he would have told Dumbledore.

And the timing is a problem. Just for fun, let’s say Snape showed up and told the Potters to get out because Voldemort was on the way. Why didn’t they all just run? Would James have really taken the time to give his Invisibility Cloak for Snape, assuming he even had it on his person? And is the Fidelius Charm so vulnerable that someone the Secret Keeper doesn’t plan to give the location to could learn it just by eavesdropping? That doesn’t seem right to me.

A few more things to consider:

Sirius didn’t find out Snape had been a DE until Goblet, so Snape wasn’t “openly” spying against Voldemort for the Order in 1981.

Karkaroff said during his trial that the Death Eaters didn’t know the full extent of each others’ identities, so that’s another reason why Wormtail’s DE status wouldn’t have been known. And since Voldemort wanted Wormtail to provide information about the Potters’ whereabouts, he’d have good reason not to let anyone in on it.

On the day Harry was delivered to the Dursleys, it was Tuesday, November 1. The attack on Godric’s Hollow was on Halloween night, a Monday, so Snape would have been at Hogwarts at the feast that evening and would have stayed at the school that night, especially if he had been made head of Slytherin house when he was hired, so that would be another logistical problem in terms of Snape’s being at Godric’s Hollow on the night the Potters were attacked.

As for the Fidelius Charm, Harry learned about the location of 12GP from a note Dumbledore had written down, so that’s probably how people like Dumbledore and Hagrid knew where to find Godric’s Hollow even though they didn’t know Wormtail was the Secret Keeper. And since Sirius knew about the switch, Sirius could have been the one showing people the note indicating the location of the Potters’ house. After Harry read the “Location of the OotO is 12GP” note, Moody took it back and burned it, so that’s either Moody’s paranoia prompting an unnecessary precaution or it means anyone picking up the note would know where to find the Order’s headquarters even though the Secret Keeper hadn’t intended the person to know the location. The second possibility doesn’t feel right to me since the Fidelius Charm was set up as such an immensely complex spell although Flitwick only said the Secret Keeper much “choose to divulge it,” so it’s a bit vague.

Dumbledore’s Invisibility Cloak note reads:

“You father left this in my possession before he died. It’s time it was returned to you. Use it well.”

So the note implies James personally gave the cloak to Dumbledore, not that a third party gave it to Dumbledore after the Potters had been killed.

I find it a bit unlikely that Snape would go himself to the Potters. The Order is using their patronuses to communicate almost instantaneously, aren’t they?

Also, The Order has access to more than one invisibility cloak. Harry sees Mundungas with one at the start of OOTP.

Was Pettigrew a Death Eater? Surely his tattoo would have been obvious to the order members. He’s a special operative for Voldemort.

When I picture Godric’s that night I picture a pitched battle a-la the end of HBP.

Where was Dumbledore that night? Could he have been at the Hollow? He knew Harry or Neville had a destiny to fulfil. Could he have had faith in it to unfold as it should?

Dumbledore said that the cloak was left in his posession by James. It hardly seems CRUCIAL, as Rowling has written, that James left it with Dumbledore for use by the order.

Nice ideas but none cut it.

Close but no cigar!

Matt

So I was thinking too last night — the Potter’s location was TOP secret. Dumbledore suspected someone close to the potters as working for LV, so why would he allow anyone who didn’t NEED to know to find out where they were. In fact, I’d imagine that he didn’t even go to Godric’s Hollow to visit or pass along into to them. He probably discouraged anyone else from going there as well. The fact the Wormtail and Sirius pulled a switch last minute and no one knew (all assuming Sirius was guilty), suggests that it was all kept top secret, even amoung the order members.

The only person, it seems, who can tell people where the Potters were hiding is Wormtail. If Snape was there, he was there because Wormtail told him (thinking him a fellow DE) or because he accompanied LV there, as we know Wormtail told LV.

Here’s another idea. DD insisted that the Potters go into hiding because he knew LV would be after them. I’d guess that the Longbottoms were also encouraged to go into hiding. (Yes, at this point Snape could have pass info to DD saying it was the Potters he was after, but Snape was new to the game at this point, and LV doesn’t need him to know, doubt he’d tell him). So the Longbottoms are in hiding, perhapds at Godrick’s Hollow as well, with the potters, instructed to hide under the cloak if anything were to happen. Perhaps DD, knowing LV, thinks that he’d go after the pureblood neville before Harry and sees him in more danger. It would also explain why the longbottoms were tourtured. I’ve always wondered why the DEs were so sure that the Longbottoms knew something about where LV went. If the DEs somehow knew that they were there that night it would make sense, say if Wormtail were there as well.

Long shot, I know. But nothing is really clicking on this one yet… so I’m throwing it out there.

I just hit on a theory that works for me. I’m not posting it here, but you can find it on my LJ if you’re interested:

http://felicitys-mind.livejournal.com/4129.html

Snape heard the prophesy in late 1979 and Voldemort went to Godric’s Hollow on October 31, 1981, so nearly two years had passed.

Fudge said in PoA that Dumbledore had “a number of useful spies” giving him information. I got the feeling that Dumbledore was telling people he had several spies so that suspicion wouldn’t fall on one head (Snape’s), so I have a very hard time believing Dumbledore would have divulged Snape’s identity, even to the Potters. He has not told any of his trusted colleagues and friends why he trusts Severus so much, so for me, Dumbledore would not have had any reason at all to tell the Potters the information was coming from Snape, and he would have had very good reason not to mention Snape’s name at all. The Potters were being protected by the FC, but that didn’t mean they were invulnerable, and there was always the chance that at some point over the years they could have been captured and tortured. After all, they couldn’t have been expected to never leave their house until Harry was 17.

As for the statement that “none of them would have known the weapon Voldemort would create when he went after Harry,” we aren’t reading the prophesy exactly the same way and we have a different understanding of what the Potters were told. The prophesy:

‘The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…’ (OP37)

Dumbledore said Snape only heard this much: ‘The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…. “ So Snape didn’t hear the part about the boy being marked as Voldemort’s equal, and there’s nothing in the prophesy that specifically says Harry would be “turned into a weapon” by the attack itself. The possibility of that happening is in the phrase “the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal,” and Dumbledore said if Voldemort had heard that part, he would have thought twice about attacking, but there is nothing definite in the prophesy—-certainly nothing Dumbledore would count on. Moreover, the power Harry had that the “Dark Lord knows not” was the ancient magic invoked by Lily’s sacrificial death of which there is not one hint in the prophesy. Rowling said on her website that if Lily had not been given the chance to live and had not thrown herself in front of Harry to protect him, Harry would have been killed that night, prophesy or not. So I can’t see that Snape, James, and Lily would have thought Snape was the most important person to save and that Harry would be OK because of the prophesy (if they had even heard the whole thing or anything about it).

IMO the Potters were hiding because they knew Voldemort was going after them. Period. Hagrid told Harry the reason Voldemort was after them was a mystery, so Order members had not been told about the prophesy. Dumbledore told the Potters that they were being targeted by Voldemort, but he didn’t need to mention the prophesy to get them into hiding. They trusted Dumbledore, and if he told them his spies had informed him that Voldemort was planning to attack and wipe out the Potter family, that would have been enough for them. They had defied Voldemort three times, they were members of an organization trying to defeat Voldemort, and they knew Voldemort was psycho, so they didn’t need Dumbledore to justify his request that they go into hiding. That doesn’t mean Dumbledore didn’t share part or even all of the prophesy with them, but it would have been an unnecessary risk, and it would have been downright reckless to tell them Snape was involved. So while Dumbledore may have mentioned that a prophesy had been made, I find it nearly impossible to believe he would have told them anything specific let alone anything about Snape’s involvement.

Voldemort, as we’ve seen, likes to plan things out. The Potters had been in hiding since at least the time of Harry’s christening, and they had been under the Fidelius Charm for a week before the attack on Godric’s Hollow. I think Wormtail told Voldemort where the Potters were hiding very soon after he was made Secret Keeper but that Voldemort wanted to attack them on Halloween night. At least I find it highly doubtful that Wormtail waited a whole week until Halloween night before telling Voldemort and that Voldemort jumped into action practically the moment he heard about it. So for me, the scenario where Snape happened to be nearby on Halloween night and overheard Wormtail tell Voldemort the Potters’ location and Snape happened to have James’s Invisibility Cloak and then rushed to Godric’s Hollow to warn James just isn’t working out for me.

Way too many unexplained things, starting with why Snape was close by when Wormtail was giving this crucial information to Voldemort. If no one had been told that Wormtail was the spy as appears to be the case, then Voldemort was meeting Wormtail in great secrecy. So how to explain how Snape overheard where the Potters were hiding?

If the Potters knew Voldemort would be at Godric’s Hollow momentarily, the only thing they would have run to get is Harry IMO. They wouldn’t have wasted a minute. They knew they were up against Lord Voldemort, ruthless and uber-powerful, and that he wanted them dead. Plus, from Harry’s aural memories of that night, the whole thing caught the Potters completely off guard. I just don’t see in those passages of James’s and Lily’s voices that they had been warned to expect Voldemort.

Where was Dumbledore the night the Potters died:

Voldemort is seeking to kill Harry Potter. He is said to fear only one wizard, Dumbledore. He would have wanted Dumbledore preoccupied somewhere else, so as to have an easier time killing Harry. Voldemort could have sent some death eaters to attack Hogwarts, where hundreds of children were. Dumbledore would have had to stay and protect the students and teachers. So, maybe Dumbledore was fighting another battle at the time the Potters were killed.

James invisibility Cloak:

It is difficult to think that James would give his invisibility cloak to anyone when it could have saved Lily or Harry’s life. My thinking is that James and Lily were somewhat confident in their secret keeper; they felt safe. Dumbledore must have needed it for something important, but what?

It seems to me we maybe limiting our thinking by focusing mainly on Snape. I can’t remember, but I’m sure someone will. Was Snape aware that James owned an invisibility cloak? It seems he was; so how did he find out? Did he find out prior to James dieing or did he discover it while Harry was at school. If Snape knew about this cloak before James’ death it is possible Snape maybe linked to this crucial element.

I think maybe helpful for us to think about what are some uses Dumbledore has made of invisibility cloaks, already.
I can think of 3.
1- Order of the Phoenix members used them to watch over Harry at the beginning of OoP.
2- Order of the Phoenix members used them to guard the entrance to the Prophecy room.
3- Dumbledore tells Harry to keep his invisibility cloak with him at all times in HBP.

Other then covering a person, is the invisibility cloak able to hide other things?

AHHH…..Felicity, your brilliant essay cleared up EVERYTHING. There is one person who MUST have accompanied LV to Godrics Hollow- Peter Pettigrew. That’s why when Sirius went to check on him…..HE WASN’T THERE. He was with LV.
Even MORE imporant, is the little matter of LV’s wand. SOMEONE MUST have retreived LV’s wand from the rubble, AND THEN given it back to him in time for book 4/GOF. The only person who would be able to do this is Wormtail. LV would have lost his physical body and could not have been able to retrieve the wand himself. IN GOF, he says “I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost…I had no body” But by GOF, he had his ORIGINAL wand back…and the only person who he had been in contact at that time who would have been able to GET the wand would have been Pettigrew.
Pettigrew would, therefore be THE most likeliest candidate to have been at Godrics Hollow on that night with LV.
About the cloak, its pretty up in the air. All we have to go on is the note left by DD, and that doesn’t say much, does it?