Snape and Dobby

[Jennifer Boggess Ramon]

No: HPFGUIDX 32667

At 8:32 AM +0000 1/3/02, jrober4211 wrote:
>Based strictly on previous
>canon from the four books, Snape is always a "day late and a dollar
>short" so to speak.

Oh?  I seem to recall that he was the only one in PS/SS who had 
caught on that it was Quirrell who was the problem.  Granted, he 
didn't have himself swooping around as a red herring like the Trio 
did, but if it hadn't been for our Snapey, Quirrill might have gotten 
past Fluffy on Halloween after releasing the troll.

>Snape is notorious for jumping to the wrong
>conclusions based on just a few facts , instead of having all the
>variables to consider in a situation.

Like the Trio had decided on his guilt in PS/SS, you mean? ;)

Granted, Snape seems to want to see the worst in Gryffindors in 
general and Harry in particular, and this completely blinds him in 
PoA.  But he's not unintelligent, merely unwise.  (Everyone who's 
ever played D&D, sing along with me:  High Intelligence, Low Wisdom! 
A classic combination for a wizard . . .)

>For those members of the group who are not familiar
>with "the Andy Griffith Show" in the states, Snape is a dead ringer
>for deputy Barney Fife, who always had to keep his bullet for his gun
>in his shirt pocket to keep from shooting himself in the foot.

Oh, please.  If that were true, he'd've never survived his chosen 
profession; his potions would have blown up, poisoned him, and turned 
him into a tadpole (not necessarily in that order) ages ago. 
Bumbling Potions Masters don't live long; unlike DADA, it's not a 
theoretical art, but a practical one.


At 4:50 PM +0000 1/3/02, day782002 wrote:
>I have been wondering why Dobby initially approaches Harry in the
>beginning of C of S. He has been intercepting his mail, then arrives
>at Privet Drive to tell him not to return to school. Why?

What, exactly, is wrong with Dobby's own explanation?

>At this
>stage Lucius has not given the diary to Ginny, so there is no
>suggestion that the chamber will be opened, therefore Harry is in no
>danger.

I'm sure Lucius has been articulating his naefarious plot aloud or on 
paper.  House-elves are usually totally loyal, so he wouldn't worry 
about doing so in front of him; it would never occur to him that 
Dobby is developing free will, as he seems to resent its existence in 
his son.

>If Lucius has been plotting to enable the diary to be used to
>reopen the chamber then why not get Draco to do it?

He doesn't seem to have too high an opinion of Draco's abilities; he 
might not trust Draco to get instructions from the diary regularly. 
Even if he did, however, he might not like the idea of Draco slowly 
being taken over by the sixteen-year-old Riddle.  Moreover, by 
slipping it into someone else's books, he avoids implicating the 
Malfoy family and deflects the heat from the Ministry onto someone 
else - making it the Weasleys was the icing on the cake, although I 
can't tell if that was improvised or planned.

>If he has cooked
>an elaborate and somewhat unreliable scheme and been talking about it
>at home, then this would suggest that Dobby would be aware of the
>possible danger to Harry, but why should a dark wizard's house elf
>want to protect Harry Potter?

Dobby explains that sufficiently, I think - house-elves suffered 
terribly as a race under Voldemort, and they see Harry as a 
savior-figure.  Dobby, having evolved his frail spark of free will, 
wants to "return the favor," as it were.  Dobby, having suffered 
abuse from the Malfoys and himself, and not being human in teh first 
place, is not necessarily thinking very straight in the way he goes 
about this, but it's a perfectly understandable impulse at bottom.

-- 
  - Boggles, aka J. C. B. Ramon			boggles at earthlink.net
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