Dementors & Harry, Snape & Harry, Dumbledore's portrait

[Elizabeth Dalton]

No: HPFGUIDX 30961

Last night I was re-reading a bit of PoA and I noticed this for the 
first time: in the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff (in which 
Harry falls off his broom), the Dementors have gathered onto the 
field and are all *looking at Harry*. This rather weakens Lupin's 
explanation that they just came in looking for a feast from all the 
excited students. They aren't randomly milling about, soaking up 
everyone's stray happy thoughts. They're concentrating on one person 
in particular. Harry wasn't the happiest person on the field at the 
moment-- that was probably Cedric, who was closest to catching the 
Snitch. So why were they all focusing on him?

Then at the end, they try to give him the Kiss, of course. And 
nobody offers much of an explanation as to why. Even Fudge seems to 
think that was an unexpected thing for them to do. Maybe it was 
simply because he was between them and Sirius, whom they intended to 
Kiss, but maybe not, after all.

I suspect there's more to the Dementors' attention toward Harry than 
I've previously realized. Either they're already working for 
Voldemort at this point, or they, like the centaurs, Dumbledore, and 
possibly Snape, know something significant about Harry that we 
don't.

Speaking of whom, Clio and Koinonia posted some pretty interesting 
speculations about the source of Snape's loathing for Harry. While I 
wouldn't completely discount Snape carrying his detestation for 
James over to Harry, and I'm still willing to entertain the 
secret-torch-for-Lily notion, I agree that there's something else 
there. I wonder if there was something in Trelawney's first 
prediction? But even if not, it could be simple jealosy of Harry's 
fame and good standing, unearned (at the beginning of the series) in 
Snape's eyes. I even suspect that a lot of his nastiness to other 
Gryffindors may be *because* of their association with Harry. "You 
idiotic children have been taken in by this useless child's 
undeserved reputation-- I have no respect for any of you." (I think 
this holds up better for Ron and Hermione than for Neville, though. 
I'm still waiting to hear Snape's excuse for that behavior, which I 
find appalling.)

At bottom, neither Snape nor Harry has viewed the other in an 
unbiased way to date, with the possible exception of that last scene 
at the Leaving Feast in GoF. Snape started with whatever 
preconceptions he had about Harry, and never saw past them to see 
how much effort Harry was exerting to be worthy of his reputation. 
Harry started with the dislike of Slytherin, was immediately given 
pretty harsh treatment by Snape, and subsequently never saw all the 
things Snape did to try to protect him for what they were worth. I 
think the scene in the Shrieking Shack is particularly telling. What 
really puts Snape over the edge is what he perceives as Harry's lack 
of gratitude for being saved, *yet again*, from two men whom Snape 
regards as untrustworthy and highly dangerous.

Of course, then, as Eileen points out:

> what if Snape only now was hearing the "entire story" as in, the 
> details of everything we readers know? There is substantial reason 
> to think, and in some cases to know, that Snape hasn't been 
> getting the full story all these years.

Yes, exactly. And even if he had had an opportunity to notice the 
facts before, he may not have been of a mind to do so until the end 
of GoF.

Another scene I've always found very intriguing is when Harry speaks 
Parseltongue after Snape gets Malfoy to summon the giant snake at 
the Dueling Club. I believe that got him a "calculating" look from 
Snape. What is Snape thinking at this point? How does it relate to 
what he may think he knows about Harry?

Heather suggests:

> Alternatively, Snape may have known roughly what the others knew, 
> and simply doubted their conclusions. This would play in with the 
> "Harry is the Phoenix / Heir of Gryffindor" theor as well. I've 
> speculated in the past that Snape may have been extremely 
> skeptical about applying the prophecy to Harry and so has resented 
> the (rest of the?) Order's fixation on and cultivation of the boy. 
> He doesn't seem the type to give much creedence to divination as a 
> rule. 

This seems highly plausible.

Adana had some interesting psychoanalysis of Snape, but I don't 
agree with most of it. In particular:

> It was after James and Lily died that he came back to the good 
> side, perhaps because he knew that something he did may have 
> contributed to their deaths.

Nope, Snape was spying on Voldemort when Voldemort was still in 
action. James and Lily died the night Voldemort went down. The 
timeline doesn't work, and the rest of it doesn't hang together. 
Snape is something of a hero-- not because he's noble and good, but 
because he's doing important work for the good guys, "at great 
personal risk," despite his general attitude. I can see him being 
insecure, I can see him having *at one time* felt guilty for his 
actions as a DE, but he's done his penance. He may still have issues 
with feeling he's unlikeable and there's no point trying to be 
likeable, but I don't think lingering guilt enters much into it.

I think you're spot on about Malfoy, though. I don't think Snape 
sees the Malfoys for the threat they are. Time to wake up and smell 
the pumpkin juice, in my mind.

Hey, one more thing. I noticed in PoA last night that Sir Cadogan is 
having his Christmas Feast with several monks from other portraits, 
as well as *several previous headmasters.* IIRC, there are several 
such portraits in Dumbledore's office. This suggests an alternate 
possibility for how we might still see Dumbledore after he dies. I 
seriously doubt Dumbledore would come back as a ghost, and I also 
can't see him channelling through Trelawney, but I *could* see him 
getting a portrait made which could provide some limited advice 
after he's gone. I thought this item might have been thrown in to 
suggest this.

Has anyone else noticed that wizard's moving photographs are silent, 
whereas painted portraits can speak? Or is that just because we've 
only seen "cheap" photos (on candy cards and newspapers), and 
speaking images with personality are more difficult to create, 
whether painting or photograph?

Elizabeth
(Who really does like Snape -- as anyone can probably tell -- but 
not, apparently, the way some ladies do....)