Sprout and Flitwick press their noses against the glass...

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 14511

I've been re-reading GoF and I'm at the point where Harry's name comes out of the goblet.  Once he has made his way into the designated room, a group of 'main cast' adults enters, including Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Karkaroff, Maxime, Crouch and then Bagman.  These are, obviously, the judges of the Triwizard Tournament plus McGonagall and Snape.  McGonagall I can understand, as she is Deputy Headmistress and Head of Harry's House, but why Snape and, more to the point, why not Sprout?  Professor Sprout is, after all, Cedric Diggory's Head of House; surely she would have bustled back there with the others, rolling up her metaphorical sleeves, at least mildly miffed that Harry's name had come out of the goblet and potentially stymied her champion?  Later she is noted as being seeming a bit 'off' with Harry, but that just makes it even more odd that she didn't join the others in that room.  

There are two things that bug me in general.  The first is that Sprout and Flitwick do not seem to have equal status to McGonagall and Snape in inter-House matters; despite the fact that the focus is on Gryffindor and Slytherin, this imbalance really upsets my biorhythms.  It's probably no coincidence that JKR gave Sprout the name of a hugely unpopular vegetable.  How many children have screamed their lungs dry in a peevish tantrum rather than eat the delicious sprouts set before them?  Perhaps Professor Sprout is even of Belgian extraction (Brussels Sprout - geddit).  Flitwick, on the other hand, is physically small - the personification of a small part - and flits in and out of the story.

The second thing on my mind is that McGonagall and Snape seem to be some sort of enforcer double act (as I said recently, like a devil and angel on each of Dumbledore's shoulders).  I don't think they are married, BTW, but we've noted before that Snape appears to have a similar level of seniority to McGonagall.  Is he Deputy Deputy Headmaster or does he hold some other office that gives him cause to behave like next in line to the throne?  Is there some other reason (other than the obvious one - that they are two major characters) that McGonagall and Snape are always at the forefront in any hubbub?  Equally, aren't Flitwick and Sprout long overdue some character development?

I don't know why I am suddenly thinking about inter-House dynamics.  Perhaps there is more to all this than the simple fact that two of the characters have main roles and two don't.  Perhaps, if Sprout and Flitwick had greater presence they would make more of an impact on Harry's POV.

Oh yeah - Dumbledore dances with Sprout at the Yule Ball, which loosely translates as: "they are head-over-heels in love with each other and bonded together, immovably, as a mating pair".  Er... that is how this shipping thing works, right?   I believe the Du/Sp tugboat is officially launched...

Neil

...shortly flying off to New York for a week.  Wave at the Mechanimagus as he flies over your house and vanishes into the clouds.  

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