[HPforGrownups] Snape, Sirius and the Dementors

[eloiseherisson at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 43448

I had some more thoughts, following on to my reply to Porphyria yesterday.

First of all, I suggested that Snape may not have realised that Sirius had 
not already had his soul sucked out by the Dementors, that this actually was 
the logical thing to assume, given that he awoke to an unconscious Sirius and 
retreating Dementors.
Logical or not, I now realise that this theory doesn't work, as I had 
forgotten that he binds and gags Sirius, which I presume would be unnecessary 
precautions if the Dementors *had* performed the Kiss.

But another suggestion comes to mind (I'm sure this can't be original) which 
puts Snape in a *Good Light* whilst still leaving open the question of what 
he really wanted to do regarding Sirius.

Snape also wakes up to at least two unconscious students and one with a 
broken leg who wasn't fully conscious the last time we saw him. Might it not 
be that his decision to go straight to the castle, rather than to recall the 
Dementors was that of a responsible adult taking care of the three students 
in his charge? Sirius wasn't going anywhere and could be dealt with later, 
but Harry, Ron and Hermione needed to be taken to the castle for medical 
attention. As a teacher, that had to be his overriding concern. I would 
suggest that we don't know whether he would have called the Dementors there 
and then had the trio not been there, or not been in need.

Eloise