Why Snape may know what he knows WAS Re: The Gleam Revisited

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 45135

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "bluesqueak" <pipdowns at e...> wrote:
> > Some people have objected to MAGIC DISHWASHER by saying that 
Harry 
> >is  not important enough. Apart from the fact that that is  
> > metathinking,which I do not approve, and which MAGIC DISHWASHER 
is 
> > certainly NOT built upon, Harry is not important so far because 
> he  
> > has not reached an age were he can cope with this sort of 
> > situation. I'd imagine that, as the trio gets older, they will 
be 
> > inroduced to the world were information and strategy rules over 
> > magic and raw force (and THEN Ron is going to be more useful 
> >than "the hero's sidekick" position he know  has).
> 
> Agreed. Metathinking says that Harry is the hero of the books. But 
> MAGIC DISHWASHER is a theory based on the story so far, and so far 
> Harry is not yet 15... 

See, this is what I continue to have trouble with.  From where I'm 
sitting, the entire MAGIC DISHWASHER theory is built on a single 
metathinking supposition -- that JKR is writing a LeCarre-style spy 
thriller -- and all the support for the theory comes from reasoning 
backwards from that supposition: *if* you assume the theory is true, 
*then* canon must be interpreted in a particular way.

But if you don't start with any meta presuppositions, then there's 
no reason to assume that Snape know any more than he says he knows 
in PoA.  All his actions are consistent with his past 
characterization, his expresssed conviction that Sirius is guilty, 
and his desire for vengeance and vindication. His behavior is 
perfectly adequately explained by the facts and motivations 
established in the text, without inventing an entire extratextual, 
invisible spy thriller going on out of sight behind the scenes.  The 
invention of such a plot is a hell of a lot more meta than simply 
taking Snape's reactions in PoA at face value.

It is not "metathinking" to claim that Harry is the hero of the 
books.  The books are called "Harry Potter and --"; with the 
exception of one chapter in GoF and one scene in PS/SS, they're all 
written from his point of view.  In every book, he's the one who 
takes the decisive action that saves the situation (even if all he 
can manage in GoF is a partial save).  However fascinating we might 
find Snape, or Dumbledore, or Sirius, or Avery, or Mrs LeStrange, 
the books are not about them; they're about Harry.

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com