Sirius Anxiety / Lots of Snape / Magic Genetics Again

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 47386

Heidi wrote:

<< How else would you describe his pleas to Harry to keep him posted 
about anything unusual? (snip) If those are actions of someone 
suffering no anxiety symptoms, I do wonder what you think someone 
anxious would do. >>

I'd describe them as reasonable caution, or even reasonable worry, 
under the circumstances. A person with no anxiety disorders 
whatsoever would worry about a young student facing the Triwizard 
Tasks and would worry if a number of events all pointed to Voldemort 
returning to Britain and his old schemes. If Sirius was showing 
symptoms of anxiety AS WELL, he'd have licked all the fur off his 
belly or chewed a hole in his floppy ear (both in dog form) or tied 
every blade of grass in the area into knots (if human).

<< the end of Goblet of Fire, where Snape [makes "a sudden movement" 
-- Amanda LOON] upon hearing Harry mention Lucius' name as one who 
was at Voldemort's circle that night. At that point, I actually did 
think that perhaps Snape did believe Lucius when he said whatever he 
said to avoid prosecution or public disparagement for being a Death 
Eater. >>
 
This is a forbidden "Me, too" post.

<< or even regarding the Buckbeak Incident in Book 3. >>

Eloise wrote:
<< Well, what do you make of the Potions class where Draco makes his 
dramatic re-entry after the Hippogriff incident and Snape plays long 
with his obvious deceit so fully, getting Ron and Harry to prepare his 
potions ingredients for him. >>

There was the incident itself, the Potions class aftermath of which 
Eloise wrote, and the Quidditch match aftermatch. Snape wouldn't have 
approved of Draco being so STUPID as to insult the Hippogryff right 
after being warned WITHOUT intending to be attacked. I (and therefore 
Snape) can imagine that Draco deliberately provoked the attack in 
order to get Hagrid in trouble. Snape might have believed some tale 
Draco told of the attack being unprovoked, or simply approved of any 
scheme to trouble Hagrid. 

As for the Potions class, Snape may have believed Draco was still as 
injured as he said, or approved or simply appreciated seizing the 
opportunity to trouble Ron, whom Snape also does not like. Heidi's 
fic has assumed that despite Madam Pomfrey's speed at repairing 
broken bones, reknitting muscles and their nerves takes longer and 
is more painful, and therefore there was some time during which Draco 
was NOT malingering.

Snape have believed that Draco's injury still wasn't healed enough (I 
see him as rather gullible where Malfoys are concerned) when Draco 
begged off the Quidditch match on account of his injury. But when 
Draco then took part in the fake-Dementor stunt, Snape *must* 
have realised that his injury was adequately healed up. When that 
happened, I am sure Snape must have been furious about the points 
taken from Slytherin and about Draco having made himself, and 
therefore Slytherin House, and Slytherin House's Head, a 
laughing-stock. I don't know what Snape did with his fury, but I 
imagine that it involves punishment (detention and many feet of 
parchment, maybe being taken up close to a Dementor) for Draco 
having made a plot that he was sure to get caught at.  

Shane wrote:]

<< We never see him wiping a tear from his eye, like McGonagall in PS 
and CoS. >>

We do see, when McGonagall tells the staff that a student has been 
taken into the Chamber: "Snape gripped the back of a chair very hard 
and said, "How can you be sure?" I have always read that as Snape 
cherishing the life of EVERY student, altho' I suppose it could be 
argued that he was just afraid it was Draco (or some other teacher's 
pet, if he has another), or even some more selfish fear, like 
Hogwarts will be closed and he will lose his job.

Shane wrote:

<< Can you see Snape and Dumbledore sitting around of an evening, 
having a few beers and talking about the lastQuidditch match? >>

I don't see Snape as a Quidditch person, but I do see them playing 
chess and talking about Shakespeare, including comparing different 
performances they've seen. Including disparaging each other's 
opinions.

Jess Twister wrote:

<< Ron tells us that if Wizards hadn't married and mixed with 
muggles, they would've died out. >>

Probably because the wizarding population is so small that after a 
while everyone would be *at least* third cousin to everyone else. So 
the purebloods would start getting in-bred; they would have to marry 
outside to bring in "hybrid vigor"; and also some people wouldn't 
find ANYONE they wanted to marry among the relatives, so no children 
at all unless they married outside. 

<< If it's a recessive trait, then surely we would have some very 
depressed witches and wizards producing completely non-magical 
families. >>

No, that is what would happen if MAGIC were a DOMINANT trait. If 
MAGIC is a recessive trait, then every witch and wizard's genes are 
100% magic -- that is what 'recessive' means, the trait doesn't show 
if the genes are mixed, only the dominant trait shows. (Mixed is 
called heterozygous and 100% is called homozygous.)

Since every witch and wizard is homozygous for MAGIC, those are the 
only genes they can pass on to their children -- no wonder Squibs are 
rare! I think 'rare' like 'one in a generation'. Because either they 
DO have the GENES for Magic but their magic was broken by something 
like a birth defect, or one of their parents isn't really their 
parent. Implication: Momma Witch was cheating on Papa Wizard with a 
MUGGLE!

I actually have a more complicated theory of the inheritance of 
magic, for which read
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/41509 and
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/44348 .