A theory on the Harry Potter books.
Many thanks to my beloved beta singersdd, the Sirius sketch is for her ♥ Thank you!
Why did Albus have James' Invisibility cloak? (Take 2)
In my previous attempt to solve the riddle I thought perhaps Snape might be hiding under the cloak. On J.K.'s website she tells us this isn't the case (I love that she helps feed the theories). I'll go over the facts again and try to find why else Albus had the cloak. If you haven't read part 1, you can find it here. It isn't necessary to understand the following, but it already explains some of the dead ends.
To get a clear account of what happened in the night of 31 October 1981, the night Lily and James died, you can follow this link to the Lexicon.
The main questions, as it appears to me, still are:
Why would James hide/lend the cloak?
Where was Albus Dumbledore that night?
Where was Snape that night?
Where was Lupin that night?
Why wasn't there more protection?
1 The Prophecy:
"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 … "
This much is told by Snape to Voldemort. Voldemort knows two families who defied him three times: the Longbottoms and the Potters. (And I wish I knew what they had done to get so close to Voldemort and survive. Does this have to do with the Deathly Hallows?) Albus, knowing the full prophecy, probably decided to give protection to both families, and maybe that solves partly the riddle as to where Albus was that night. Maybe he expected Voldemort to go after the pureblood child. And he could have been waiting for him there. Was there a Fidelius cast on the Longbottoms' house?
2 The Spies:
Death Eater Snape goes for a job interview at the Boar's Head. Voldemort probably sent him there in order to get access to Hogwarts and let him spy on Albus. There is a chance that Voldemort's initial goal was to let Snape search after Gryffinor's sword. And after Albus refused the job of the D.A.D.A. teacher to Voldemort it was upon Snape to work his charm. But Snape becomes the double spy. It's not clear from the books when Snape joined the order but he must have been very careful not to give himself away as spy in front of a possible other spy. Peter had been spying on the Order for a while though it isn't clear when he started. Albus knew there was a spy in their midst and it made the Marauders not trust each other, everybody was a possible risk. Now Peter and Snape must have been dancing around each other very carefully not to give themselves away. My guess is that Voldemort didn't trust Snape, he informed Peter to keep an eye on Snape and not to give his true loyalties away. Possibly Snape never joined the order meetings and just worked close with Albus to maintain his cover. Peter might never have known Snape doublecrossed, not until the hearing where Snape is cleared in front of the ministry and that information is still not enough to prove Snape left Voldemort. (However I don't think Snape is still on Voldemort's side.)
3 The Mystery:
I'm missing something about the cloak, but as usual, it's invisible until afterwards when I'll be wondering why I didn't notice it. What could point me in the right direction so I fan blindly feel my way to the answer? Why didn't Lily fight Voldemort? Why didn't she pull her wand and tried to hex him a thousand times? Why didn't she took Harry in her arms and apparated to the burrow? Why didn't she sent her Patronus? (Though that would have been hard since it requires focus on a happy thought.) She instead suggests to take her life but to leave Harry alone. Perhaps she's hoping to delay Voldemort? She must have known he'll try to kill Harry after killing her. Did she try to buy time? Was she hoping for someone to come to the rescue? Who was under the invisibility cloak? Or, who wasn't there? Or who watched but didn't dare to give himself or herself away? Who notified Albus who in turn sent Hagrid to be the first one to arrive at the ruins?
4 Gryffindor's Sword:
Perhaps this is a strange jump from all the riddles above, I'll be entering the swamp of strange theories and hopefully no hinkypunk will lead the way. If Albus wasn't at Godric's Hollow he may have been at the Longbottoms' house. Sirius was after Peter to check if he was still all right. But where was Snape? Was he still at Hogwarts? Was he still trying to get what Voldemort was after in the first place? Or was he protecting it from others trying to steal it? Since no one knew what Voldemort had instructed to his other spy there is the possibility something lay vulnerable at Hogwarts. And Albus, enjoying games of hide and seek, from school letters in milk bottles to complicated magical mirrors, might have used to cloak to hide the sword. The sword couldn't have been kept in the sorting hat all the time (since children could be knocked on the head with it at the sorting ceremony) and Harry never saw it before in Albus' office. I don't know if the cloak would hide an object, and the sword might have cut the fabric. So maybe someone wore the cloak and the sword to keep the sword from being found? And this makes me wonder how James got the cloak, was it a Potter's heirloom? Did he use it to defy Voldemort?
5 The 24 Hour Gap:
There must have been a back up plan where someone (Hagrid) took either Neville or Harry to a safe haven. Harry and Hagrid spend a day together, Harry's only one year old but he can talk and walk and pull at beards and eat and fill his diapers. Someone must have changed, washed and fed him. Someone should have looked at that ugly wound on his forehead? Did Hagrid take Harry to the Weasleys where Molley had a little boy of Harry's age so she could lend him some clothes and help him with the diapers? It's a nice thought to imagine Harry and Ron playing for just one day before Harry is left on the Durley's doorstep.
6 After The Fall:
Voldemort has fled and so has Peter while Sirius is hunting him. McGonagall sits frozen on the garden wall, watching the owls flying past and the fireworks at broad daylight. Dumbledore is working on the charm that should protect Harry at the Dursleys and Harry is taking a nap at the burrow. The Longbottoms are still intact, though Bellatrix will probably want to know what happened with Voldemort and since she can't ask the Potters she might have decided to ask those who most likely will know more about it. Snape finds himself serving only one master while he wonders how Black could have fooled him as the other spy. Remus, heartbroken, helps the other order members to round up the the Death Eaters and Barty Crouch Sr. will soon start a process of trials.
7 The Invisibility Cloak:
When Albus returns to his office he has a lot to do. Voldemort isn't dead and the prophecy isn't fulfilled. A long stretch of time begins, in ten years from now Harry will be at Hogwarts as a small scrawny boy with unruly hair and fixed glasses. But for now the cloak is still in his care since he can't give it back to James.
One more question: How come the muggles could see the ruins if the Fidelius secret is being kept by Peter? Could they see the bodies from Lily and James?
