How much does Snape know? was Wormtail's Name In the Confession (WAS: Spying Game...)

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 40477

Marina wrote:
> 
> No, it's third-person limited POV.  And except for the opening
> chapter, where we get a glimpse into Frank Bryce, the third person
> whose limited POV we're getting is Harry.  We see only what he sees,
> we hear only what he hears, we learn only what he learns and when he
> learns it.  His thoughts and feelings are the only ones we're privvy
> to, and we see everything the way he sees it.
> 
> > 
> > Here is the quote, from page 712 of the American edition of GoF:
> > 
> > Snape had not yelled or jumped backward, but the look on his face
> was 
> > one of mingled fury and horror.
> > 
> > "Him!" he snarled, staring at Sirius, whose face showed equal
> dislike.
> > 
> > Harry is not interpreting his facial expressions. An all-knowing 
> > narrator is telling us what the facial expressions were.
> 
> The narration is telling us what Harry saw, filtered through the 
lens
> of Harry's point of view.  Harry looked at Snape's expression (which
> is the only reason why the narration can tell us about it), and saw 
it
> as "fury and horror".  The other characters present may have see it 
as
> something entirely different; we just don't know.  
> 


I see your point and as I reflect, I have mislabeled it. But, in a 
cursory re-read of the passages, I see differences in what is said.

Page 712: "the look on his face was one of mingled fury and horror."

later on the page: "Harry thought Dumbledore was asking for a near 
miracle."

There is a clear distinction between what Harry thinks and what the 
third-person thinks or sees. But, as I further reflect, your 
characterization is much more accurate than mine, which was 
inaccurate.

Regardless, I do not think there is a twist lurking in this "fury and 
horror" thing, even if it is from Harry's point of view.

The twists in the novels have always come in previously unrevealed 
facts that throw characters' ACTIONS, not facial expressions, into 
different lights. 

Examples: Snape wasn't trying to kill Harry; he was trying to save 
him. But he still hated him.

Ginny wasn't nervous about finding Percy kissing his girlfriend. She 
was nervous about being the heir of Slytherin. But she was still 
nervous.

I think we have to accept the "fury and horror" as face value. What 
he's furious and horrified about is not yet clear. But the text is 
rarely, if ever, misleading about what people are feeling. 

If it's an emotion Harry can't place, JKR says so:

"His expression was difficult to read" referring to Snape on page 720
"His black eyes glittered strangely" page 713

I think Harry got it right. Snape was really ticked.

Darrin 
-- Please accept my apology for the mistake