PoA Chapter 14 Summary

[Lyda Clunas]

No: HPFGUIDX 20489

Well, I know that I'm posting this a day early, but I'm going
out of town this week, and I wanted to make sure I was able to read 
and respond to some of the replies before I leave. :) So, here you go.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: SNAPE'S GRUDGE

Chapter Summary:

After Black's appearance, the whole castle is again searched, but
to no avail. However, the security becomes tighter around the castle; 
the Fat Lady is reinstated at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, 
though only on the condition that she have the protection of security 
trolls, but the statue of the hump-backed witch, as Harry notices, 
remains unguarded.

Ron is quite thrilled at the attention that everyone gives him after 
his Sirius Black encounter, and he gladly tells his story to anyone 
who will listen. Neville, on the other hand, is given detention, 
banned from Hogsmeade, and forbidden from receiving the passwords to 
the Tower. On top of that, he is also sent a Howler from his 
grandmother.

Harry and Ron are invited to have tea with Hagrid, who picks them up 
at the entrance hall. He tells them about the case against Buckbeak, 
and how Hermione had been helping him with the hippogriff 
information. He also gives them a friendly lecture on 
Hermione's "righ' state", saying that he would have
thought that Harry and Ron would care about their friend more than 
broomsticks and rats.

Upon their return to the castle, Harry and Ron find that a Hogsmeade 
trip is scheduled for the next weekend. Ron makes the suggestion that 
Harry should sneak in again; Hermione overhears him and threatens to 
tell McGonagall about the map. Obviously, Hagrid's talk has had 
little effect on Ron, who still acts furious toward her, until she 
hurries off to the girl's dorms with Crookshanks. Harry concedes
to join Ron in Hogsmeade, but only with the Invisibility Cloak.

On Saturday, Ron leaves with the rest of the students, and Harry 
makes his way to the one-eyed witch, where he unfortunately meets up 
with Neville. To make matters worse, Snape shows up, and sends them 
both back to Gryffindor Tower while looking suspiciously at the 
statue. Harry manages to get rid of Neville by giving him the 
password, and steals his way back to the statue and into Hogsmeade.

In Hogsmeade, Harry and Ron visit the post office and spend money on 
Zonko's jokes before heading up to the Shrieking Shack, the most 
haunted dwelling in Britain, where they encounter Malfoy, Crabbe, and 
Goyle. Malfoy, as usual, tries to get a good laugh by insulting
Ron's family and Hagrid, but Harry, who is in his Invisibility
Cloak, takes the opportunity to lob mud and sticks at the three 
Slytherins. However, in a bungled attempt to trip Crabbe, the cloak 
falls from Harry's face, allowing Malfoy to see him and break off at 
a run back to the school. Harry, too, runs off to Hogwarts, hoping he 
can get back before Malfoy finds a teacher. 

Of course, as soon as he emerges from the witch's hump, Snape
comes down the corridor and instructs Harry to follow him to his 
office, which Harry does, seeing as how he has no other option. Snape 
tells him Malfoy's story, and charges him of being illegally in
Hogsmeade. Harry protests, but he has no one to back his claim. Snape 
continues to provoke him, accusing him of being a "law unto 
himself... with no thought to the consequences." Snape then tells 
Harry how "extraordinarily like [his] father" he is, drawing
the similarities in how both Harry and James shared a talent for 
Quidditch and thus, arrogance, inflated egos and a disregard for the 
rules. Harry snaps, tells Snape to shut up, and explains that 
Dumbledore told him how James once saved Snape's life. Snape, 
however, realizes that Harry is not aware of the entire situation, 
and reveals that the "saintly father and his friends" had
played a deadly trick on him, and James actually "saved" his
life by getting "cold feet at the last moment". 

Snape orders Harry to then turn out his pockets. He sees the
Zonko's jokes, and the Marauder's Map. He suspects what the
Map is, and attempts to reveal what the empty parchment conceals; 
however, the Map only responds with a number of insults. Snape 
suspects something else about it, though, and calls Lupin into his 
office, asking him what he knows about the Map,  whether it might be 
some Dark object, and if Harry might have gotten it directly from the 
makers. Lupin counters that it "looks like a Zonko product",
and Ron bursts in, clarifying that he gave all the jokes to 
Harry "ages ago". Lupin takes the opportunity to sweep Harry and Ron 
out of the room, testifying that the matter is cleared up. However, 
once outside Snape's office, Lupin reveals that he knows what the Map 
is and confiscates it, saying that the manufacturers would have found 
it "entertaining" to lure Harry out of the castle.  Lupin
warns Harry that he won't cover up for him again, and tells him that 
he is poorly repaying Lily and James' sacrifice, a statement that 
makes Harry feel far worse than anything Snape had said.

On their way back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry and Ron meet up with 
Hermione. Ron accuses her of coming to gloat about them being in 
trouble, but she looks close to tears and informs them that Hagrid 
lost the case, and Buckbeak will be executed. 

Questions and Ruminations:

1) Snape's Grudge: Is it simply a long-standing hatred for
James' arrogance and a powerful jealousy about Quidditch? Is it 
really all about the prank that MWPP pulled during their years at 
Hogwarts? Or, as most of us suspect, is there something more? (Open 
Season on Snape/Lily. Have at it.)  

2) It's insinuated that Snape knows perfectly well who Messrs.
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are. So, why doesn't he question
Lupin straight out, rather than being so indirect? 

3) Why is it that Hagrid's great guilt trip makes Ron incredibly 
uncomfortable, but yet he still treats Hermione like dirt? Don't 
Hagrid's words mean *anything* to him?

4) How on earth did Hermione find that time to help Hagrid, when
it's quite obvious that she has barely enough time for all of her 
homework and classes? Would she use the Timeturner to help her look 
up stuff for Buckbeak's case? 

5) After the Hogsmeade incident, has Malfoy now figured out that 
Harry owns an Invisibility Cloak?

6) Aside from The Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes, the post office, 
Zonko's, Gladrags, and the Shrieking Shack, what other places are 
there in Hogsmeade? 

7) Who lives in Hogsmeade, aside from the shop owners, and what do 
they do?