Bangers and their bangs (was: A Credo For George (SHIP))

[cindysphynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 35562

Kimberly wrote:

> The ambush thing... it just doesn't make any sense to me.  Not that 
>I 
> don't think there could be an ambush, but I don't think that: 
> 
> 1.Dumbledore would require such a thing.  He doesn't exact any 
> similar kind of proof from Harry, Sirius, Ginny, etc. in the books, 
> and it's not consistent with his character in my mind.


True, Dumbledore doesn't make Harry, Sirius or Ginny do anything 
dramatic to prove their loyalty.  But why should he?  Ginny is a 
little kid who was clearly possessed.  Harry never did anything evil 
that would require that he prove his loyalty to Dumbledore.  As for 
Sirius, Sirius could change back and forth into an animagus to 
demonstrate his innocence.  And even if Dumbledore wanted more proof 
from Sirius, he wasn't going to be able to get it before Sirius' soul 
was sucked out.  No, the reason Snape has to pay such a high price to 
get back on Dumbledore's team is that he absolutely, definitely, of 
his own free will, decided to join the DEs, and he is the only 
character in that position.

I feel pretty confident that Dumbledore will be shown to made of 
pretty tough material in future books.  Sure, he's the nice old 
headmaster in times of peace, but when there is a war on, Dumbledore 
would not be above doing what it takes to win.  I think Grindewald 
would back me up here.  :-)

Kimberly again:

> 2.An ambush would necessarily prove anything.  Someone else (can't 
> remember who - sorry!) has already said that V wouldn't mind 
>setting 
> some of his people up to get Snape in Dumbledore's camp as a spy.  
> What's more, setting up your former compatriots doesn't seem the 
>best 
> way to prove that you wouldn't do the same to the current.  

Maybe the best defense is a good offense on this one.  Let's say 
Snape walked into Dumbledore's office, burst into tears, bawling 
about his Love of Lily, and begging to be allowed back into 
Dumbledore's camp.  He even gives Dumbledore all of his old tear-
stained pictures of Lily to prove the strength of his love.  
(Ewwww!).  Dumbledore gives Snape a good twinkling and can just 
*tell* that Snape is sincere.  Well, if Dumbledore is such a good 
judge of character, why was Peter able to spy for a whole year, right 
under Dumbledore's nose?  Dumbledore suspected there was a spy in his 
camp; why didn't he just interview everyone and twinkle at them until 
he got to Peter?

The answer, in my view, is that Dumbledore can't smoke out a spy that 
easily.  Accepting Snape's ambush of his best friends wouldn't be a 
100% guarantee that Snape's conversion was true, but it was sure 
better than nothing.  It also has the fringe benefit of taking out 
several dangerous opposition soldiers at the same time.  I get the 
impression that the DEs were not a huge group (30?).  If Snape's 
ambush was planned to take out three DEs plus Rookwood (who didn't 
show up), that's over 10% of Voldemort's top soldiers.

Kimberly again:

> I don't know what the Prince theories or the Mercy theories are 
>yet.  
>

Prince and Mercy I and Mercy II are no longer viable stand-alone 
theories and have been largely discredited. ::hangs head in shame::  
A few fragments of them have been rolled into Big Bang (the Biggest 
fragments, of course)  But for the sake of completeness, here they 
are:  

Prince of Darkness posits that Snape became a DE in part because he 
believed the pack of lies Voldemort was pedaling.  Snape believed 
he'd be valued for his unusual package of skills, that he'd be in 
Voldemort's inner circle, blah, blah, blah.  It turned out that 
Voldemort treated Snape like a flunky, and Snape was not liking the 
killing and torturing as much as he had hoped, so he defected.  
Prince of Darkness envisions a climactic scene in which Voldemort is 
mistreating Snape, which leads Snape to finally go back to Dumbledore.

Mercy I is some debunked idea that Snape owed Lily a life-debt.  I 
have no idea what possessed me to propose this.

Mercy II, however, is alive and well and has been incorporated as a 
central plank of Big Bang.  Not only that, Mercy II has the mild but 
always-wavering approval of George, the last time I checked.  The 
idea there is that Snape converted because of his life debt to 
James.  DE life was not all it was cracked up to be, but Snape 
figured he would have to live with his decision to be a DE.  Once 
can't just bounce back and forth between Voldemort and Dumbledore on 
a whim, after all.  But when Harry was born, Snape learned Voldemort 
was going to kill James and Harry (or perhaps Snape was assigned this 
job himself).  Snape simply couldn't go through with this, though he 
would have secretly enjoyed killing James.  The life debt to James 
prevented Snape from even assisting in James' death.  Snape *had* to 
leave the DEs for that reason.

Kimberly asks:

> Is there room for much cross-believing?  
> Can one be a "Big GeorgiePOPS", for example?

Heck, why not?  It's a cafeteria plan.  There is certainly room for 
assembling your own backstory.  If you do, please share.  :-)

That said, the Big Bangers feel an obligation of full disclosure to 
those who may be tempted to board.  Our SHIP is not a traditional 
SHIP, a tugboat, a catamaran, a rowboat or even a jetski.  No, Big 
Bang is a destroyer.  Theories that are not Big, theories that 
characters are motivated by an attack of conscience or nerves are 
known to us as Duds.  They have no potential ever to generate a Big 
Bang and so must be left on the dock or stored in the brig until they 
are sufficiently powerful to be brought on deck.

Cindy (thinking that George is really a very sensitive, needy soul 
deep down and is simply insecure, but definitely not promiscuous)