CoS - Snape - Lockhart - Fletcher

[vheggie at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 27539

I've contributed my few knuts on a couple of occasions, but I
haven't really introduced myself: I should at least say my
name's Vanessa, to save people having to refer to me by my email 
address!  I have a direct counterpart in the Potterverse –
I'm Professor Flitwick, or at least one of his acolytes, I
research 
the history of Magic.  No really, I write about Paracelsus, and 
alchemy, and everything. (Oh, OK, it's the history of 
science/medicine in this reality, but hey, it's close
).

On topic


In defence of CoS:
What I really enjoy about the series, and it's something I was
not expecting from a series of children's books, is the
complexity of
the plotting.  Small details that come up as incidentals in early 
chapters, or early books, take on a new significance in later 
stories; it means that when my SO and I listen to the books (and 
we're dedicated audio versonalists) we're constantly
listening for 
little details, trying to analyse peoples' names, second 
guessing "what will happen next".  CoS provides a whole host
of these preparations: The Whomping Willow, the House Elves,  the 
History of Slytherin (and the other houses), many new characters 
(Creevey, Finch-Fletchly, etc), Floo powder, Lucius Malfoy (who is 
proved to be as nasty, if not nastier, than his son – we
don't just 
have to believe the rumours about him anymore), Voldemort's back 
history (the muggle-born/pure blood dichotomy)etc, etc, etc.  I 
sincerely hope that a great number of the details I've noticed in
CoS 
will become very important in the later books.

Having said all that, I think CoS is my least favourite of all the 
books
but that doesn't mean I `dislike' it
One
thing that really 
disturbed me about it was the poor Mandrakes!  Anyone want to guess 
what horrible fate awaited them when they were made into a potion?


In defence of Snape:
I'll lay my cards on the table; I was a big, big Snape fan before
I discovered that the delectable Mr Rickman was to play him
now 
hairwashing in the Prefects' Bathroom is a recurring theme in
many of my daydreams

Having said that – I think Snape is a classic example of the
truism 
that "Not all good people must be Nice people".  He appears
to treat everyone equally badly, with the possible exception of the 
Slytherins, although, of course, we don't see how he acts with
them alone, only through Harry's POV, and of course, Harry is
biased. 
He has an unpopular teaching style, but it certainly seems to work
– 
none of the trio fail potions, and Hermione, at least, is capable of 
making very advanced brews (e.g. Polyjuice Potion).  He has 
prejudices – who doesn't?  It's just that his views are
less 
popular/common.  Most importantly, Snape can clearly admit to being 
wrong, at least about the `big things' – he defected from
Voldemort, 
at the risk of his own life, when he realised that this was not the 
way he wanted to see things done.


In defence of Lockhart:
Why Lockhart?  Dumbledore is not omniscient – Lockhart has
published several very good books, is well received in many quarters, 
is popular and famous for being a superb champion against the Dark 
Arts.  Why on earth wouldn't Dumbledore want him as a teacher? 
He would probably interview really well for the job, and he certainly 
has a good CV. I've experienced people who have an excellent
academic reputation, but have turned out, when faced with lectures 
and conferences, to be poor teachers, and when faced with detailed 
questioning, to be poor researchers, too.  Unfortunately, once
you've signed them up for a years contract, it's difficult to
get rid 
of them



And finally


Mundungus Fletcher.  A fletcher, I believe makes arrows –
there's also Christian Fletcher whose name is familiar, but I
can't 
place it right now (a mutineer on the Bounty?  A character in 
Treasure Island?  I'm sure he was a sailor/pirate, or something
along
those lines).  IIRC there is also a character called Fletcher in the 
Robin Hood myths.
My latin dictionary offers no real leads – does anyone have any
pet theories? For some reason I find Mr Fletcher oddly
compelling
.