Fame, Glory and Death

[ftah3]

No: HPFGUIDX 31461

Susanna/pigwidgeon37 wrote:
>But to what 
> exactly is Snape alluding when he speaks of fame and glory? They 
> cannot be the direct result of the potion, as death would be- in 
the 
> sense that I can hardly imagine there's a potion you swallow and 
> suddenly everybody turns round in the street and says: "Look, 
there's 
> XY, goodness, how famous he is!"
> Neither would I assume that Snape is simply hinting at the 
> possibility of becoming a famous Potions Master. 
> Discarding these possibilities, what remains? What makes a person 
> famous, if it is not the potion in itself? The answer is: Great 
> Deeds, in whatever sense. And so it would seem that there are 
potions 
> which might alter your personality or at least enhance some traits 
of 
> your character in order to make you achieve certain goals you would 
> otherwise be too weak, too cowardly, too obtuse etc.etc. to reach. 
> Should this be correct, it would open an entirely new perspective 
on 
> magic and its limits, for knowing the right potion a wizard would 
be 
> able to do nearly everything, good or bad. 

I think that on one hand, Snape was practicing something he's quite 
good at: melodrama.  Kind of like saying that Barnum & Bailey put 
on "The Greatest Show On Earth!" when it's really just a fabulous, 
enormous, exciting...circus.  :-)  So, "fame," "glory" ~ possibly 
melodramatic terms for ways to give oneself the aura of glamour or 
glory, you know?

On the other hand, I do think that given the wide possibilities of 
magic in JKR's world, he might indeed have been making a literal 
statement.  Fame and glory *don't* necessarily hinge on the doing of 
Great Deeds, but rather the *appearance* of Great Deeds.  Case in 
point:  Gilderoy Lockhart.  He managed fame and glory not by doing 
great things, but by misdirection, obfuscation, showmanship, and 
other superficial means.  Using a potion to concoct fame and glory 
would be superficial, also ~ but I do think that misdirection and 
obfuscation are entirely within the scope of a potion's power.  
Misdirection ~ cause people to see something that doesn't 
exist/hasn't actually happened, for example.  Obfuscation ~ cause 
people to forget, misremember, et al.  Combination thereof ~ cause 
yourself/your actions to appear, well, gilded.  Wonderful and 
glorious, even though they weren't.

For those less cut-throat and dishonest, I also think it would be 
safe to say that there could be a potion that, maybe for a short 
time, bolsters courage, gives bursts of strength, puts one in the 
proper mindset to make war effectively, that kind of thing ~ i.e., 
allows a person to act in such a way that gains them fame or glory.

Hmm, I don't know.  Those are my thoughts, though.

Mahoney