Foe Glass

[ats_fhc3]

No: HPFGUIDX 46399

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Jacob Lewis" <notcarlos at h...> wrote:
I wrote:
"Okay, the passage is: "Snape followed him [Dumbledore], looking
into the Foe-Glass, where his own face was still visible, glaring 
into the room" (GoF, 679, US Ed.)."

then Jacob wrote:
"Actually, there's a grammar problem here, since there are /two/ male
subjects: 'him [Dumbledore]' and 'Snape'.  Follow that up with the 
fact that you don't know /who/ is doing the looking into the glass 
(is it Dumbledore, i.e. the prepositional phrase modifies 'him', or 
is it 'Snape'?).  It could be that /Dumbledore/'s face is still in 
the glass, and, considering the mood at the moment, either one could 
be doing the glaring."

'Looking' is modifying Snape, because Snape was the latter noun. 
It's just bad grammar to have 'looking' modifying the former noun. 
Yes, Dumbledore could be glaring at the moment, but the way the 
sentance is structured, there's no was it could be Dumbledore, 
especially when you take into context the passages around it: 

"He[Dumbledore, already singled out in the previous paragraph] 
stepped into the office, placed a foot underneath Moody's 
unconscious body, and kicked him over onto his back, so that his 
face was visible. Snape followed him, looking into the Foe-Glass 
rutabaga  blah blah blah" (679, US Edition).

Jacob went on: "The only thing we know is that McGonnegal isn't in 
the mirror anymore (nor, really, the narrative, if memory serves, 
considering it's D who does the interrogating,and S who gets the 
potion)." 

Actually, she does hang around to try and take Harry to the hospital 
wing. Then she is asked to fetch Sirius, then guard Crouch while 
Dumbledore takes Harry to his office.

Jacob then said: 
"You know, to tie this in with other posts, there's a biblical 
controversy called the "iota heresy": basically, is JC 
homoousion "same as God" or homoiousion "kind of like God"?  
(Gibbon, "Decline and Fall", Ch. 21).  It's where we get the "not an 
iota, not a jot" of Shakespeare and later -- thus showing you that 
Grammar, or at least /good writing/ is a thing to be
cultivated, be it Harry Potter or God.  (Ooh, I'm getting Purgatory 
for that one!)"

to which I reply, "eh?" I have no clue what you just said, but I'm a 
stickler for grammar. Never ask me to read over your essay before 
you turn it in. It'll be red when you get it back.

In another post in this thread, Julie said:
"Again, it's just this very quote that bothers me.  Now, we're told 
the story from Harry's point of view right?  So seeing as Snape 
doesn't say what he sees, it's just Harry saying that he see's Snape 
seeing himself, and perhaps at this point he just mentions Snape 
because he's so incredibly close to the mirror?"

Well, that is a good point. Snape is right up next to the mirror, so 
it would make sense that it's only himself that he sees. But how 
does the quote bother you? Harry is naming what he sees in the 
mirror, and what he sees is Snape, and Snape is standing in front of 
the mirror. Other people have decided that the glass is tuned to a 
certain person, in this case, Crouch Jr., so it would be his enemies 
seen in the glass. 

Julie than said:
"My other thought is that perhaps Snape isn't used to seeing himself 
in mirrors (after all, it is a looking glass ;o) )"

Is this a reference to Snape being a vampire? ::shakes head:: Maybe 
he just doesn't LOOK in a mirror. After all, he doesn't wash his 
hair. Or maybe he's part of the grunge movement and is incredibly 
vain. :D

-Acire, who...doesn't know what to say.