Pettigrew the Secret Spy

No, Severus hasn’t let Sirius rot in Azkaban

Introduction

The First Wizarding War ended with the deaths of James and Lily Potter. Barty Crouch Sr sent Sirius Black to Azkaban without a trial. He will spend 12 years in Azkaban for a crime he didn’t commit.

How was this possible? Most importantly, did Severus Snape know that Sirius was innocent, or that Pettigrew was a Death Eater, and yet “let him rot in Azkaban” just because he hated him?

Let’s consider the evidence to determine who knew what, who had the influence to make critical decisions, and how this mess of a situation emerged in the first place.

Snape didn’t know Peter was a Death Eater or that Sirius was innocent

Sirius says in the Shack that among the DEs in Azkaban, some of them knew Peter was the Potter’s Secret Keeper and, most importantly, a traitor. 

“You haven’t been hiding from me for twelve years,” said Black. “You’ve been hiding from Voldemort’s old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter… They all think you’re dead, or you’d have to answer to them… I’ve heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them.”

You could think that as lots of Death Eaters knew Pettigrew was a “double-crosser”, then surely Severus Snape knew it as well. But no: all the evidence suggests that Snape didn’t even know Peter was a DE spy, let alone the Potters’ Secret Keeper.

Voldemort didn’t let Snape know that Pettigrew was a Death Eater

Karkaroff said that Voldemort’s servants were factioned to minimize the chances that too many DE names would be given if one of them went to trial. 

“You must understand,” said Karkaroff hurriedly, “that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named operated always in the greatest secrecy […] — we never knew the names of every one of our fellows — He alone knew exactly who we all were —” 

“Which was a wise move, wasn’t it, as it prevented someone like you, Karkaroff, from turning all of them in,” muttered Moody. 

This is, admittedly, the same strategy used by Albus Dumbledore:

“It is essential that I give the boy enough information for him to do what he needs to do.” 

“And why may I not have the same information?” 

“I prefer not to put all of my secrets in one basket, particularly not a basket that spends so much time dangling on the arm of Lord Voldemort.” […]

“You refuse to tell me everything, yet you expect that small service of me!” snarled Snape, and real anger flared in the thin face now. //

“And you still aren’t going to tell me why it’s so important to give Potter the sword?” said Snape as he swung a traveling cloak over his robes. 

“No, I don’t think so,” said Dumbledore’s portrait. 

If Dumbledore can refuse to put all his secrets in one “basket” that “spends so much time dangling on the arm of Lord Voldemort”, then we could expect the same from Voldemort, prudent now that Snape spends so much time apparently spying closely on Dumbledore during the First War.

Both Voldemort and Dumbledore, leaders of their respective camps, gave information to their followers on a need-to-know basis, particularly the mission-critical information. 

Voldemort didn’t tell his followers everyone’s identities or their missions. For instance, he didn’t tell anyone about his Horcruxes except Regulus Black, and he only told a select few about his plan with Draco. Dumbledore only told the Trio about the Horcruxes, he didn’t tell anyone that his own death was planned with Snape, and he didn’t tell anyone but Snape that Harry had to die. 

This ensured that in case one of their own was captured and interrogated by the other side, whatever information that person could give up was limited, as was the damage done to their respective causes. 

Logically, it would be supremely stupid for Voldemort to let his two spies know each other’s identity. If one of them got caught by the Ministry or the Order and was interrogated, they could offer up the name of the other spy in exchange for their pardon, resulting in Voldemort losing both spies. War is won in large part based on intel, and Snape and Pettigrew were uniquely critical in their roles as spies. 

I’d like to remark that even Draco Malfoy genuinely thought Sirius Black was the Death Eater who got Harry’s parents killed:

“Thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed, Potter? […] Maybe you’d rather not risk your neck,” he said. “Want to leave it to the Dementors, do you? But if it was me, I’d want revenge. I’d hunt him down myself.”

When Harry learns what Sirius Black has apparently done, he tries connecting the dots together:

“Malfoy’s dad must have told him [his son],” said Harry, ignoring Ron. “He was right in Voldemort’s inner circle — […] so obviously, the Malfoys knew Black was working for Voldemort —”

But obviously, since Sirius Black was not a Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy couldn’t have learned that info from Voldemort. Did Lucius Malfoy know that Pettigrew was the real traitor, and he never told Snape and his son? Or was he as ignorant about the matter as Severus Snape has been? Who knows.

Snape would have told Dumbledore that Pettigrew was a traitor if it could have saved Lily

At that point in the story, Severus has defected from the winning side of the war and is working for Lily’s survival as a double agent. Fudge says in PoA:

“Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding.”

In DH, we learn that Snape was the spy who tipped Dumbledore off, warning him that Voldemort was after the Potters and that they should go into hiding: 

“I – I come with a warning – no, a request – please – […] He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down – kill them all –” 

[…] “Hide them all, then,” he croaked. “Keep her – them – safe. Please.” 

“And what will you give me in return, Severus?” 

“In – in return?” Snape gaped at Dumbledore, and Harry expected him to protest, but after a long moment he said, “Anything.”

He did this, risking his own life in the process, expecting Dumbledore to try and kill him on sight:

Then a blinding, jagged jet of white light flew through the air: Harry thought of lightning, but Snape had dropped to his knees and his wand had flown out of his hand.

“Don’t kill me!”

As it couldn’t be made clearer by Dumbledore himself:

“Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, he rejoined our side before Lord Voldemort’s downfall and turned spy for us, at great personal risk. He is now no more a Death Eater than I am.” 

To suggest that Snape has done everything he could to keep Lily alive, or in his own words:

“I have spied for you, and lied for you, put myself in mortal danger for you.”

and yet that he hasn’t told Dumbledore that Pettigrew was a traitor spy when he could have, simply makes no sense. Why would Snape risk torture and death by spying in order to save Lily in the First War, to honor her memory in the Second War… but not tell Dumbledore that Peter was the spy, when that information could save her life?

Here is what Snape screams at Harry in the Shack:

« You’d have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black […] » 

Notice the word “mistaken”. It’s very clear that Severus wholeheartedly believes that Sirius Black is a Death Eater and that James was mistaken in trusting him. As it is, James–and Sirius–were mistaken in trusting Pettigrew. But Snape didn’t know that yet.

If Snape wanted revenge on his bullies so badly–one of whom is also Pettigrew–and if he knew that Peter was the spy, it would be in all of his interests to tell Dumbledore, so that Pettigrew could be imprisoned and meet justice for being the traitor. Getting revenge on Peter and protecting Lily at once, that is what Severus would have done had he known that he was the traitor all along. And you might argue that Snape might have preferred James or Sirius to meet their demise rather than Pettigrew, but remember this is the same man who became a spy for Dumbledore’s cause despite the enormous risk it represented, because while James was guaranteed to be killed, Lily could be killed as well even though Voldemort had promised to spare her. Why would Snape become a double agent to protect Lily and her family, only to purposefully fail at his spy job at the cost of her death? Wasn’t it literally one of his purposes to catch if there was any traitor in the Order? 

It is, may I add, the same man who agreed to protect the lives of all the Potters:

‘Hide them all, then,’ he croaked. ‘Keep her – them – safe. Please.’
‘And what will you give me in return, Severus?’
‘In – in return?’ Snape gaped at Dumbledore, and Harry expected him to protest, but after a long moment he said, ‘Anything.’

The same man who shook hands with Sirius, his personal enemy, when asked by Dumbledore, to make it clear that in matters of the war, they worked together:

Very slowly – but still glaring at each other as though each wished the other nothing but ill – Sirius and Snape moved towards each other, and shook hands. They let go extremely quickly.

Snape, who in Order of the Phoenix, gives fake Veritaserum to Harry to protect him and Sirius:

“Harry, you know that Professor Snape had no choice but to pretend not to take you seriously in front of Dolores Umbridge,” said Dumbledore steadily, “but as I have explained, he informed the Order as soon as possible about what you had said. It was he who deduced where you had gone when you did not return from the forest. It was he too who gave Professor Umbridge fake Veritaserum when she was attempting to force you to tell of Sirius’s whereabouts…”

And while Snape certainly aims to piss off Sirius, he also remarks that he gave himself away under his Animagus form, which is an implicit message that unless Sirius wants to be caught and executed, he’ll have to stay at his mother’s house:

Speaking of dogs,” said Snape softly, “did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognized you last time you risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform … gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey-hole in future, didn’t it?”

Snape is oftentimes shown protecting and saving people he doesn’t like or even hates, for Lily’s sake, Harry’s sake and finally the bigger purpose of saving the world. Not only doesn’t it make any sense for Snape not to tell Pettigrew was a traitor if he knew, but it goes against his character. 

As it is, the only people who knew Peter was the Potter’s Secret Keeper were James, Lily, Sirius and Peter himself. They didn’t even tell Lupin because they suspected he was the spy:

“You don’t believe this — wouldn’t Sirius have told you they’d changed the plan?” 

“Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter,” said Lupin. “I assume that’s why you didn’t tell me, Sirius?” he said casually over Pettigrew’s head. 

“Forgive me, Remus,” said Black.

It’s extremely interesting that Sirius thought Lupin was the spy over the rat (for a year no less), and was willing to stake James and Lily’s life on that. But ok, fair enough. Better safe than sorry I guess.

Except that from then on, the soundness of Sirius Black’s choices will make a nosedive. 

Sirius Black Fucked Up

So, at this point in the war, Dumbledore and some of the members of the Order, including Sirius Black, knew there was a spy amongst them passing information to Voldemort about where the Potters were hiding:

“He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements,” said Professor McGonagall darkly. “Indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to You-Know-Who.” 

They knew this had been going on for a year:

“YOU’D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!” 

Sirius Black suspects Lupin, Severus is gambling his life for months on end trying to keep the Potters safe, and Dumbledore suggests using the Fidelius. And then…

Sirius persuaded James and Lily to make Pettigrew the Secret Keeper. 

Here’s his explanation for this choice: 

“Harry… I as good as killed them,” he croaked. “I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me… […] “I thought it was the perfect plan… a bluff… Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they’d use a weak, talentless thing like you…”

Let me explain how stupid that “plan” was.

Sirius Black could totally have been the Secret Keeper, even though he knew Voldemort would try to come for him. Simply because a Secret Keeper cannot be broken through whatever form of coercion. 

[Fudge – Prisoner of Azkaban:] “The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find — unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!”

[Pottermore – Rowling’s Notes:] “The Fidelius Charm is not without its weaknesses. If the Secret Keeper wishes to do so, they may divulge the information at any time (although the secret cannot be forced, bewitched or tortured out of a Secret Keeper who does not wish to give up their secret; it must be given voluntarily).”

Even if Sirius Black had been captured and tortured, he wouldn’t have given up the Secret. 

In fact, he says that he was ready to pretend that he was the Secret Keeper, making him a target. Which is also stupid, because if he had been captured, Voldemort could have extracted from his teeny little brain the information that Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper as well as his hiding place. Well yeah, as far as we know, they didn’t keep those facts under Fidelius. So Voldemort would have gone to get Pettigrew anyway, making the whole plan useless. 

And apparently, Sirius thought the Death Eaters wouldn’t attack Pettigrew, despite the Death Eaters thinking (in Sirius’ point of view) that Pettigrew was an enemy working against Voldemort. Which is idiotic, especially coming from a guy who knows Voldemort preys on the weak.

“Voldemort doesn’t march up to people’s houses and bang on their front doors, Harry,” said Sirius. “He tricks, jinxes, and blackmails them.”

Furthermore, Sirius could be sure that he would rather die than betray the Potters:

“Believe me,” croaked Black. “Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them.”

But by insisting that Pettigrew should be the Secret Keeper, all the while knowing one of his friends was a traitor, Sirius made the probability of choosing a traitor as the Secret Keeper rise from 0 to 50% (between Lupin and Pettigrew). 

Also, what if Pettigrew had been captured, and the Potters as well as Sirius had been blackmailed to either join Voldemort, let him kill Harry, or let Pettigrew be tortured to insanity? Would they let Peter die for them? If Sirius was to remain hidden, knowing someone would come after him, then why plan to check on the actual Secret Keeper, when that could lead a Death Eater to Pettigrew’s hiding place by following him? Why didn’t they hide Pettigrew and Sirius Black under a Fidelius as well, or hide them with James and Lily in Godric’s Hollow, instead of waiting to be captured elsewhere, expecting an attack? [The night they died, I’d arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he’d gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle.] Because–they’re–stupid.

Not only that, but Sirius could have persuaded James and Lily to choose Dumbledore as Secret Keeper instead; the only one Voldemort ever fears, basically untouchable. Dumbledore had offered to be the Potter’s Secret Keeper, as McGonagall reminds us:

“I remember him offering to be the Potters’ Secret-Keeper himself.”

But no, Sirius goes with whom he calls “a weak, talentless thing”. 

Sirius incorrectly suspected Lupin as the spy and it didn’t even occur to him that it could have been Peter. 

He didn’t tell Dumbledore that Peter was the Secret Keeper during the whole week it took for Voldemort to attack.  

This is incredibly stupid, because even if they didn’t want Dumbledore to be their Secret Keeper, him knowing who the real one was could have been a failsafe in case the worst happened. As members of the Order, it was their duty to tell their leader about this crucial fact. This was war, not a game.

He didn’t tell Dumbledore that he, James and Pettigrew were Animagi

Even though we know a person’s Animagus form can be used for clandestine activities and that Pettigrew certainly had the experience and the size for it. [Beetle Rita Skeeter, Rat Peter Pettigrew]. 

He told Dumbledore 13 years too late:

“Last night Sirius told me all about how they became Animagi,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “An extraordinary achievement — not least, keeping it quiet from me.” [PoA]

Had he told Dumbledore sooner, perhaps Pettigrew would have been detected in Hogwarts early on.

After the Potter’s death, Sirius tracked Peter down with the intention of killing him. 

He didn’t use this time to find Dumbledore and tell him what really happened, or even send him a message (for instance with a Patronus). Instead, he wanted to take his vengeance on Peter even if it meant killing the only witness and source of testimony that would prove his innocence. 

What would have happened if he’d succeeded in doing what he wanted–as in, killing Peter singlehanded? The exact same thing that happened when everyone thought he killed Peter. He would have ended up in Azkaban anyway, with no one to prove his innocence. A fair trial wouldn’t have helped him at that point, as all of the circumstantial evidence pointed to him being guilty, with nothing to support the contrary. And this time, not even Pettigrew’s corpse could have helped his case.

(By the way, this highlights the narrative’s hypocrisy. Sirius is to be pitied for being imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, but what they don’t explicitely say is that he was imprisoned for a crime that he tried to commit and thought that he’d achieved. Attempted muder alone warrants prison. Pettigrew had betrayed the Potters, sure, and they were in times of war, so surely it was justified to try to kill him on sight? And yet, isn’t it Sirius who was bitter that they condemned or even executed criminals without a trial during this war? By his own logic, he should have simply tried to capture Pettigrew to make him face justice. If not, then Sirius should suck it up for getting exactly what he promotes. Or almost exactly: he’s lucky that the Aurors didn’t kill him on sight just like he tried for Pettigrew.

(Also, what if Pettigrew had been blackmailed or manipulated into betraying the Potters? In Rowling’s off-canon website, they say the Fidelius cannot be forced through, but that doesn’t mean someone cannot be indirectly forced to « give the password », so to say: what if Pettigrew was told that if he didn’t let the Potters die, the whole Order would be instantly killed? a scenario like when Harry was considered being offered to Voldemort on a silver plater if it meant sparing everyone else? Pettigrew betrayed the Potters out of cowardice, but Sirius had no way to know exactly why before interrogating him in PoA. That’s why trials exist by the way.)

Once Peter faked his death and killed 12 Muggles, Sirius laughed maniacally. 

“I — I will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him… a heap of bloodstained robes and a few — a few fragments —” 

To everyone else, it just looked as though he’d made a bloodshed and he found that funny. Way to go to think he was guiltless. Okay, that wasn’t really his fault [raise hand], you can have a nervous breakdown in the form of laughter… but it definitely didn’t help his case. 

By his own behavior throughout his time, notably at school, Sirius had already acquired a reputation that made it very easy to believe him capable of treachery and murder, notably with his attempt on Snape’s life and his disregard for people, even for those he called his friends. 

It is very telling that Dumbledore remained worried when James assured him that Sirius Black wouldn’t betray them. Meaning that Dumbledore thought Sirius Black could very well be the spying traitor.

“James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself… and yet, Dumbledore remained worried.”

Perhaps this is a consequence of the Werewolf Incident, where Dumbledore had to cover up the fact that Sirius Black once lured a teenage Severus Snape to werewolf!Lupin, a “trick” which nearly killed him and could have ruined Lupin’s life in return.

“[…] Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me —” 

“Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen,” he breathed. “You haven’t forgotten that, Headmaster? You haven’t forgotten that he once tried to kill me?” 

“My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus,” said Dumbledore quietly. 

Sirius may have been innocent of the crime he was imprisoned for, but he was a young criminal, as attempted murder is a crime. At least, Dumbledore saw it as such (and probably Lupin as well, as Lupin never seemed to have bothered questioning Sirius on what he’d done, once Sirius had been thrown in Azkaban). Consciously or not, this, with Sirius’ general violent and volatile attitude, may have influenced Dumbledore, the public and the Ministry’s opinion on him.

But forget repeatedly withholding war-critical information from Dumbledore and all that shit; perhaps the most infuriating thing is that none of this would have happened if a very simple choice had been made.

Lily should have been the Secret Keeper. 

It was totally possible to make Lily the Secret Keeper, as we see in Bill and Fleur’s case. Bill Wealsey became the Secret Keeper of Shell Cottage so that the young couple could hide together from Voldemort and his servants. [“I’m sick of this shit” meme]

‘Who is it?’ Bill called. 

‘It is I, Remus John Lupin!’ called a voice over the howling wind. Harry experienced a thrill of fear; what had happened? ‘I am a werewolf, married to Nymphadora Tonks, and you, the Secret Keeper of Shell Cottage, told me the address and bade me come in an emergency!’

That’s how much imbecility was put into this mess.

There is no reason Pettigrew or Sirius, or even Dumbledore, should have been the Secret Keeper when she was there. When she was the person who had to be hidden the most securely: the mother of the Chosen One, second place to Voldemort’s hit list as far as they know.

What happened instead? James chose Sirius, his best friend, over his own wife. And when Sirius suggested Peter for stupid reasons, James agreed and our dear “Wormy” Rat became the Secret Keeper instead of the person who obviously should have filled that role. 

Meditate on what this all means.

Oh, and last one: the Fidelius is criminally underexploited.

They could have chosen a Secret Keeper to hide themselves from Voldemort and his allies, become unknown, invisible and undetectable. This way, instead of remaining in a house waiting for their doom, they could have gone to Voldemort to rip and tear until it is done. They could also have locked away the knowledge of how to use Crucio, or even made Voldemort unable to remember anything. Fidelius allows you to lock away any form of Secret you want. It shouldn’t be used solely to hide yourself from a threat.

The British Ministry of Magic is Corrupt

The circumstances that led Sirius Black to be imprisoned were much bigger than Snape: it was a problem throughout the British Wizarding Society, and in particular, within the rotten juridical system of the Ministry of Magic.

The Ministry took draconic measures against Voldemort’s supporters

The first thing you have to understand is that the Ministry of Magic is intensely corrupt and powerful; near authoritarian. During the First War, the Minister Barty Crouch Senior made room for unethical, brutal measures against Death Eaters.

“Crouch […] started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort’s supporters. The Aurors were given new powers — powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn’t the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects.”

Crouch authorized the use of the Unforgivables on suspects. People who were not convicted yet, who were still to be proven guilty. And what do you get when you torture an innocent? You get a fake confession, just so the pain can stop. Oh, hello Amnesty International…. Also let’s just remark that Sirius Black was lucky not to have been killed on sight by the Aurors just after Pettigrew faked his own death.

In any case, here are some examples of Crouch’s decisions:

“Rosier and Wilkes — they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges — they’re a married couple — they’re in Azkaban.” //

“While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them.”

Or as Sirius remarks:

“Oh I know Crouch all right,” he said quietly. “He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban — without a trial.” 

It’s not Snape who left Sirius to rot in Azkaban… it is Barty Crouch Sr.

The sentence for any high-ranking Death Eater was Azkaban, Dementors or death. As long as there wasn’t evidence of Sirius Black’s innocence, there was no reason he would be an exception.

The Ministry’s judicial system is a failure

During and after the First War, the Ministry sent people to Azkaban without trial. And yet, despite Crouch’s inhumane measures, many Death Eaters avoided punishment. Death Eaters who were ready to join Voldemort again if he ever returned. Macnair, Avery, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle… Lucius Malfoy:

“I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy —” […]

“Malfoy was cleared!” said Fudge, visibly affronted. “A very old family — donations to excellent causes —” 

Lucius Malfoy was cleared because he came from a very old (pureblood) family and he made donations to some “excellent causes”. In Harry’s world, you can buy your pardon if you’re rich enough. 

Death Eaters could claim to have been Imperiused, and they would be free to go:

“Avery — from what I’ve heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he’d been acting under the Imperius Curse — he’s still at large.”

Take Karkaroff’s trial. Karkaroff isn’t a forgettable Death Eater, oh no:

“There was Antonin Dolohov,” he said. “I — I saw him torture countless Muggles and — and non-supporters of the Dark Lord.” 

“And helped him do it,” murmured Moody.

So Karkaroff committed a war crime–in fact, a crime against humanity: mass torture. And yet:

“Crouch is going to let him out,” Moody breathed quietly to Dumbledore. “He’s done a deal with him. Took me six months to track him down, and Crouch is going to let him go if he’s got enough new names.”  

Ludo Bagman’s trial is a chance for his fans to showcase their adoration for the Quidditch player, even though he’s guilty of having passed information to Lord Voldemort’s supporters like Rookwood, in exchange for a post at the Ministry.

“Ludovic Bagman, you were caught passing information to Lord Voldemort’s supporters,” said Mr. Crouch. “For this, I suggest a term of imprisonment in Azkaban lasting no less than —” 

But there was an angry outcry from the surrounding benches. Several of the witches and wizards around the walls stood up, shaking their heads, and even their fists, at Mr. Crouch. […]

As long as you were popular, you could avoid Azkaban.

Many of the witches and wizards around the walls began to clap. One of the witches on the jury stood up. 

“Yes?” barked Crouch. 

“We’d just like to congratulate Mr. Bagman on his splendid performance for England in the Quidditch match against Turkey last Saturday,” the witch said breathlessly. 

Mr. Crouch looked furious. The dungeon was ringing with applause now. Bagman got to his feet and bowed, beaming.

In summary:

“And not all Voldemort’s supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they’ve seen the error of their ways.”

But if so many DEs managed to worm their way out of Azkaban, why wasn’t it possible for Sirius Black?

The Ministry’s trials are a joke

Let’s say for a moment that Sirius Black had gotten his hearing before the Wizengamot. Even in this case, it wouldn’t have sufficed. The Ministry’s trials are all for show, as Sirius says:

“Crouch let his son off? […] Crouch’s fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn’t much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy… then he sent him straight to Azkaban.”

Just look at the circus show that was Harry’s hearing in OotP for having used the Patronus Charm against two Dementors to save himself and Dudley. Dumbledore had to personally intervene on Harry’s behalf, arriving three hours earlier, because he knew Cornelius Fudge would try to prevent Dumbledore from defending Harry by making him miss the trial. He repeatedly tries to dismiss the eyewitnesses and their evidence, tries to accuse Harry for things he was innocent of, brings up Harry’s troubles in Hogwarts even though it does not concern the current trial. Conclusion? The Ministry is unethical, dictatorial and corrupt to the core:

“Laws can be changed,” said Fudge savagely. 

“Of course they can,” said Dumbledore, inclining his head. “And you certainly seem to be making many changes, Cornelius. Why, in the few short weeks since I was asked to leave the Wizengamot, it has already become the practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic!” 

Additionally, given many “ex-”Death Eaters were working in the Ministry, they may have used their influence to keep Sirius Black locked up in Azkaban, at least for those who knew he was an enemy of their Lord in truth. For Lucius Malfoy in particular, it may represent a way to avenge his “protégé”/friend Severus from his bully, regardless he thought Sirius Black a DE.

[Umbridge to Snape:] “I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you!” 

Besides, would the Ministry have admitted that they mistook the true culprit of the Potters’ death for an innocent man? I don’t think so. Sirius Black’s capture was a matter of great importance: all the public was too happy that the Ministry had captured the traitor who murdered the parents of the Boy-Who-Lived. The Ministry wouldn’t have admitted they’d made such a grave, false judgement, sending the Chosen One’s godfather to Azkaban unfairly while giving an Order of Merlin First Class to the Potters’ murderer, at risk of tarnishing their own image. Especially in Crouch’s time:

“Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again — doesn’t that tell you what he’s like?”

In PoA, Fudge fears becoming a laughingstock because Black and Buckbeak escaped:

“The Daily Prophet’s going to have a field day! We had Black cornered and he slipped through our fingers yet again! All it needs now is for the story of that Hippogriff’s escape to get out, and I’ll be a laughingstock!”

Then, in GoF, Fudge refuses to remove the Dementors from Azkaban because he fears losing his power: 

“Preposterous!” shouted Fudge again. “Remove the dementors? I’d be kicked out of office for suggesting it!”

Next, he refuses to form an alliance with the Giants because it would give him a bad reputation:

“If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants — people hate them, Dumbledore — end of my career —” 

And in OotP, the Ministry kept publicly shaming Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore, because Fudge feared losing his post out of unpopularity for having announced that Voldemort was back.

The Ministry remains corrupt because the public opinion would get a dissident Ministry official shamed and sacked if they went against what the public wanted. And the public’s opinion matters a lot:

“I would say he [Crouch] became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. He had his supporters, mind you — plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic.”

So the problem was not only systemic but also societal. Alastor Moody? According to Sirius:

“I’ll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters.”

Oh no, Moody didn’t kill, he always made sure those he captured were alive if possible. So then he can throw them to the Dementors. Which is what a Death Eater would do actually.

“Let’s hear his information, I say, and throw him straight back to the dementors.”

Dumbledore made a small noise of dissent through his long, crooked nose. 

“Ah, I was forgetting . . . you don’t like the dementors, do you, Albus?” said Moody with a sardonic smile. 

“No,” said Dumbledore calmly, “I’m afraid I don’t. I have long felt the Ministry is wrong to ally itself with such creatures.” 

“But for filth like this…” Moody said softly. 

This isn’t only a Moody problem by the way. It touches many of the “good guys”. Sirius and Lupin?

“You should have realized,” said Lupin quietly, “if Voldemort didn’t kill you, we would.”

Lupin advised Harry to kill, even those victim of the Imperius like Stan Shunpike, the conductor and helper of the Knight Bus:

“Harry, the time for Disarming is past! These people are trying to capture and kill you! At least Stun if you aren’t prepared to kill!”

“We were hundreds of feet up! Stan’s not himself, and if I Stunned him and he’d fallen he’d have died the same as if I’d used Avada Kedavra! […] I won’t blast people out of my way just because they’re there,” said Harry. “That’s Voldemort’s job.”

Lupin’s retort was lost […].

And yet, not even Harry is an exception. Here’s Harry “sparing” Pettigrew:

“We’ll take him up to the castle. We’ll hand him over to the Dementors… He can go to Azkaban… but don’t kill him.” 

Get Pettigrew tortured for years or have his soul destroyed? No matter. All that counts for Harry is that Sirius and Lupin do not directly become killers. Sirius and Lupin agree too. 

Harry becomes an adult, and he uses the Unforgivables. In particular:

As Amycus spun round, Harry shouted, “Crucio!”

The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor. 

“I see what Bellatrix meant,” said Harry, the blood thundering through his brain, “you need to really mean it.”

Just because:

“He spat at you,” said Harry.

The point is: If even the protagonists of the series would murder, torture or destroy the souls of criminals… then the problem really goes deep. As I said, as long as Sirius Black was publicly a convicted Death Eater, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. He would be treated like filth, like they treat any criminal.

Only one thing could have helped Sirius Black, and he blew it up when he seemingly killed Peter:

“[…] without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius’ sentence.”

Dumbledore reasons that even bringing Pettigrew dead to the Aurors could have got Sirius Black free in 1994; we can deduce that’s because the public would have another sensational story to be fond of, and would have a new criminal to hate. But there is no reason Sirius Black would have been cleared of charges if they had found more than Pettigrew’s finger in 1981, because by then, the alarming evidence that Pettigrew faked his own death for years wouldn’t have existed yet. The public and the jury may not have been convinced of Sirius Black’s innocence. Had Pettigrew truly died, Sirius would have been done for.

Almost nothing could be done for Sirius Black

“There is not a shred of proof to support Black’s story, except your word — and the word of two thirteen-year-old wizards will not convince anybody. A street full of eyewitnesses swore they saw Sirius murder Pettigrew.”

Snape is only one voice. The main source of testimony however came from a whole street full of eyewitnesses. Probably dozens of people. [add images of people almost hiding Snape from view] You’re not gonna convince me that even if Snape had argued that Sirius was innocent, he would have been listened to by the Ministry. He, an ex-Death Eater, would only cast himself as a suspect and risk being yeeted to Azkaban as well. As for Dumbledore, he only told the Ministry what he was allowed to know. 

“I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potters’ Secret-Keeper.”

Because no one informed him that Pettigrew had been made Secret Keeper at the last minute. 

There’s a reason Sirius Black doesn’t resist the Aurors as he’s taken away or doesn’t plead his case even when he can. In PoA and I reckon, way sooner than that, he could have asked Fudge for Dumbledore to use Legilimency or Veritaserum on him so that he could prove his innocence; something we know Dumbledore is capable of even when the prisoner thinks themselves guilty, as we see in Morfin’s case.

“I was able to secure a visit to Morfin in the last weeks of his life, by which time I was attempting to discover as much as I could about Voldemort’s past. I extracted this memory with difficulty. When I saw what it contained, I attempted to use it to secure Morfin’s release from Azkaban. Before the Ministry reached their decision, however, Morfin had died.”

And yet, Sirius merely remarks he misses doing the crossword, seemingly unaffected by the Dementors.

“[…] I was shocked at how normal Black seemed. He spoke quite rationally to me. It was unnerving. You’d have thought he was merely bored — asked if I’d finished with my newspaper, cool as you please, said he missed doing the crossword. Yes, I was astounded at how little effect the Dementors seemed to be having on him — and he was one of the most heavily guarded in the place, you know. Dementors outside his door day and night.”

Either Sirius Black thought that there was no way he could be proven innocent and be released from Azkaban, or he actively wanted to punish himself for the death of the Potters and chose not to call for Dumbledore’s help. In this case, Sirius wasn’t so much left to rot in Azkaban as he chose his own sentence and ensured he wouldn’t be saved. Not even Severus Snape could have gotten him out of Azkaban, had he known that Sirius Black wasn’t Lily’s murderer and had he tried to get him out of jail.

Conclusion

It is very naive to reduce the drama of Sirius Black’s imprisonment to Severus Snape’s vindictiveness. 

The situation Sirius found himself in was the result of Voldemort’s gatekeeping strategy, the corruption of the British Wizarding Society and his own poor decisions.

There is evidence that proves Snape couldn’t know Pettigrew was a Death Eater. On the other hand, the evidence against Sirius as a Death Eater criminal was overwhelming.

Sirius shouldn’t have chosen Pettigrew as Secret Keeper knowing one of his friends was a traitor and knowing he himself wouldn’t ever betray James. Sirius should have told Dumbledore that Pettigrew had been made the Secret Keeper in the end. He should have at least tried to contact him after the Potters died, so that Dumbledore would have a reason to check his memories and discover the truth. Sirius shouldn’t have tried to kill Pettigrew on his own, knowing this would have destroyed all evidence of his innocence. The Ministry shouldn’t have been so violent and corrupt… the Wizarding Society shouldn’t have been so fucked up…

…Lily should have been the Secret Keeper. 

And perhaps none of this would have happened.