PoA Chapter 14 Summary

[Lyda Clunas]

No: HPFGUIDX 20515

Emma wrote:

> Have lots of fun, wherever you're going!

Thanks. :) I'm going to New York with our theatre department. But, 
man, am I ever going to miss the Internet... ;)

> I'm tempted to think that James, and now Harry, was everything Snape
> wanted to be.  Popular, a good Quidditch player, surrounded by a 
> close-knit group of friends and generally a success.  James had a 
> girlfriend who was, by most opinions, highly attractive and a       
> success in her own right.  Harry now is filling those shoes, and he 
> is given leeway by Dumbledore

I'm not going to deny that Snape most definitely harbors some 
jealousy for the Potters. BUT, I think there's certainly more to it 
than simply pettiness. I think he thinks he's doing Harry good by 
getting on his case the way he does. Harry, in Snape's eyes, is a boy 
who demonstrates an extraordinary amount of overconfidence, 
brashness, and foolishness. He thinks that Harry sees himself as 
invincible. What's worse is Snape also sees that Harry is being 
reinforced for his behavior by the people who "pamper" and bend the 
rules for him. Snape's response, therefore, is to try to make Harry 
see how regular he really is. Like Malfoy, Snape does not think that 
the scar makes Harry anything special.

Also, there's the issue of allegiance to Voldemort. I think that 
Snape wants to keep his reputation as a Gryffindor-hating, Dark Arts-
loving kind of guy, for his own protection and, if he has gone back 
to spy, in order to be reinstated as a DE. If, by favoring the pure-
blood Slytherins and such, he keeps the ex-DE parents happy and is 
trusted by *them*, then it makes it easier for him to survive when 
Voldemort returns. Then also, it would be necessary to demonstrate 
the most antipathy possible to Harry Potter, Voldemort's enemy #1. 
Which, for Snape, is an easy thing to do, since he really *does* 
despise the boy.

To Snape/Lily for a minute: I don't believe this. For one, if Snape 
really ever loved Lily, I don't think he would treat her son in such 
a fashion. Even if it was necessary, and even if he does look like 
James.

> Professionalism.  Snape may be a slimy jerk at times, but I think 
> he knows better than to discuss something like that with a fellow 
> teacher in front of a student.

Perhaps. I considered this. Someone else suggested that he actually 
wasn't aware of the MWPP stuff, but I think he definitely is aware, 
or he wouldn't have asked the "directly from the manufacturers" 
question. A lot of you also said that he avoided direct confrontation 
because Lupin has the vampire card up his sleeve. I do not think he 
skirted the question because of the "vampire" stuff. No. I just don't 
think he's a vampire. 

I'd definitely think it more likely that he did so because 1) it's 
his nature to be really indirect and 2) even he didn't want to 
discuss anything such as this in front of a student. Kind of makes 
you wonder if he might have confronted Lupin later on in the staff 
room or something though. 

> I think Ron has some issues dealing with this kind of thing.  He   
> has to be right, and barring that, he has to come to the conclusion 
> that is is wrong and has been a prat on his own.  Otherwise, they  
> don't stick.  It's one thing to be told you're being a prat.  It's 
> another to realise it fully on your own.

Quite true. Most of you guys said something along the same lines, 
also citing the fact that Hermione doesn't show remorse herself, and 
that the circumstances after Hagrid's talk affected how they regarded 
her. I admit I have a soft spot for Hermione, especially in PoA. I 
knew exactly how she felt in PoA during this past year (my senior 
year); I took a full load of honors/advanced classes, I was trying to 
be Valedictorian, plus I had my extracurricular activities to contend 
with. Luckily, I had people (my friends, my family) who knew how hard 
I was working and were willing to put up with me even when I was my 
nastiest and snapped at everyone who even spoke to me. So, I kind of 
feel, I guess, a bit biased toward Hermione, because her friends 
nearly deserted her when she was going through all this. She 
definitely feels for her friends, and she worries for their safety, 
but she just gets a bad rap for her concern. And they don't even give 
her the leeway with the fact that she's working herself to the bone. 

> I think she was missing out on sleep, too, as has been previously 
> suggested.  Someone told me once that "sleep is what people do when 
> they've run out of options."  Hermione has plenty of options, and I 
> think Hagrid is more important to her than her own well-being.  
> Hermione seems to be willing to sacrifice a lot for her friends and 
> for the greater good.  She's made of stern stuff, our Hermione.

Yup, I think that she's definitely in need of some serious coffee all 
throughout PoA; I doubt she's getting much sleep at all. But the 
thought just crossed my mind, and I did kind of wonder if she might 
have considered ever using the Timeturner to help her out with 
Hagrid's case. I think it's more likely that, like someone else said, 
she just put a hippogriff twist to every essay she wrote. :)

> I wouldn't doubt it.  I think he suspects a lot about Harry that we 
> don't know, since the books are written from third person limited.

I think Malfoy by now has figured out the Cloak, but like one of you 
guys said, he can't prove it, and if Harry was standing right next to 
him in tha cloak, he couldn't see him. :) However, it could prove to 
be a chip he could use later. Snape, head of Slytherin and known 
Malfoy favorer, does know about Potter's Cloak. Not that I'd ever 
think he'd dare to tell Malfoy. But...

> I really think Hogsmeade is a thriving wizarding community, with a 
> grocer's and all sorts of things like that.  There's probably a 
bunch 
> of little houses and I'd say some kind of village green where they 
> have fairs and markets and such.  There's probably some kind of 
> government building, too, other than the post office. However, I 
> wouldn't know a whole lot about how a British town would look, as 
> I've grown up in the American South.

Ditto on the American South. :) I personally agree with what most of 
you guys have said: that Hogsmeade is a nice little village 
community, with all the normal things a village community would have. 
Probably like a Diagon Alley with more cottages. :) Oh, and thanks 
for the reminder, whoever mentioned that about the Hog's Head Pub; 
I'd forgotten.

> Well, have Floo Powder, will travel, I'd wager.  I think there are 
> a lot of witches and wizards in Hogsmeade; they just happen to      
> commute to various wizarding jobs around the country.  Maybe  
> Hogsmeade is the wizarding world's equivalent of the suburbs?

I'd always thought that Hogsmeade was a place for wizards/creatures 
who did not want any contact with the Muggle world. So, yeah, in that 
aspect, I suppose it would be like wizarding suburbs. :) I imagine 
they would Apparate or use Floo Powder to get to work in London or 
wherever they'd go. Whoever suggested a Witch Weekly or Daily Prophet 
office in Hogsmeade-- that's kind of interesting. Got to keep up with 
the events at Hogwarts somehow, I guess. :) 

Lyda