More Snaping, and some Schafer chafing

[Tabouli]

No: HPFGUIDX 23008

Sorry David, but I have to do just a wee bit more Snaping!  The man is surely worthy of a regular workout on this list: what other characters even approach him for sheer intrigue and fascination?  Voldemort?  Dumbledore?  Harry's parents??  I also confess to a lingering curiosity about Dumbledore's semi-illiterate brother Aberforth.  Is he still kicking, or did he fall in the Dark Years?  Is he hiding out with his goat somewhere practising experimental charms?  I also expect an appearance from Fridwulfa in Book 5, which should be interesting.  Hagrid re-united with his mother, well, well.

Anyway.  To Snape.

I was rereading GoF recently when I noticed a little line squirrelled away in Chapter 36 when Harry starts shouting out the names of Death Eaters he saw in the cemetery.  JKR is, as we all remember, the master (mistress?) of the small but later significant.  When Harry shouts "Lucius Malfoy!", note that Snape makes a sudden movement (alerting Harry), and then hastily looks back at Fudge.  Didn't even notice it before this reading, but this time I said ahaaaaa!  Suspicious.

I'd say this suggests that Snape's DE connection has something to do with the Malfoys.  Which, I might add, hints at an explanation for some of his behaviour.  Why he favours Draco so blatantly, and gets along famously with Lucius ("Why don't you apply to be head of Hogwarts, sir?  Father will vote for you..."), perhaps even why he's so horrible to most of his students.  Remember that Lucius was, until the end of CoS, Head of School Council or some such.  Could it be that Lucius is Snape's go-between with Voldemort, and vouches for Snape's continued DE status to him (hence the need to keep Draco fooled)?  Might that secret chamber in the Malfoy mansion have some significance here?  Does Snape perhaps polyjuice into Lucius and snuck off to DE meetings?  Given that Sirius (I think) mentioned that Snape was one of a group of Slytherins who all become DEs, I'd say they may have been at school together, which could be where it all began...

As for the Oedipal psychologist, one can only sigh.  A couple of days ago I started an email about "Exploring Harry Potter", which, on reading the discussion about HP and the Bible, I hastily filed in my drafts folder as a bit too withering.  However, after reading the Oedipal article, I feel rejuvenated with gall.  Have many of you read this book?  After getting about a third of the way through, my teeth were grinding so loudly I found a pocket of enamel dust collecting in my cheek!
 
For the ridiculous efforts at drawing mythological/biblical parallels, try this for size: "The Invisibility Cloak, which Harry uses to explore and leave the castle, is reminiscent of the Shroud of Turin used to conceal Jesus' body after the Crucifixion".  Or for the poorly researched and inaccurate: "The word Dumbledore sounds like a contortion of 'bumblebee', and the headmaster displayed the helpful, cooperative traits of those communal dwellers.  He also acts bumbling sometimes, and the words 'dumb, stumble, fumble' and 'bore' can also be derived from his name, suggesting his traits according to different points of view".

The books is full of persistent slight inaccuracies and distortions, usually distortions which enable her to crowbar in a few more trite sentimental insights, e.g. "Harry and Hermione cautiously follow Ron and the black dog into that tunnel, where Ron disappears.  Harry feels close to his father when he learns that James often used the tunnel as a student."  or "Two of Harry's friends, Hermione and Ginny, represent his mother, and his efforts to save them symbolize his grief and desire for redemption because he wishes he could have rescued his mother."

Gah.  Gah.  It was only when I got about a third of the way through this tome that I noticed the little disclaimer on the cover saying "Not approved by J.K. Rowling".  I was warned...

Tabouli.


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