TBAY Re: Removing the Prank to the George (are dogs allowed?)

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 78206

Marina is feeling much happier and more comfortable now that the 
party has moved to the bar.  Nothing like a warm fire, a comfortable 
seat and a good single malt to put things in perspective.  She is 
even moved to give a friendly smile to a disreputable-looking 
stranger who wanders up to her table, dragging an equally 
disreputable child behind him.

Encouraged by his reception, the stranger introduces himself as 
Kneasy and begins to speak.

> Been takin' an interest in old
> Snape as you know, what with looking after his kid," here he patted
the
>   head of the mucus be-ribboned child, "and one thing I know is 
that
> Snapey knew all the curses. He warn't afraid of no werewolf - AK  
it
as
> soon as look at it, he would." He sighed. Where you gone wrong, you
> see, is the motivation. James didn't go there to save Snapes life, 
he
> went there to save Lupins!"

The newcomer pauses, clearly expecting an outraged reaction to this
statement, but Marina merely smiles and sipps a bit more Scotch.

"Nice try," she says, "but Snape's own reaction argues against it.  
He clearly doesn't think he could've just AK's his way out of the 
trouble, or he wouldn't be so worked up about James saving his life, 
or about branding Sirius a murderer.  And then there's the matter of 
the life-debt, which would not exist if Snape's life had not been in 
genuine and extreme danger.  If James had gone to the Shack to save 
Lupin from Snape, the only possible life-debt that could've resulted 
would've been from Lupin to James."

Marina pauses to hand the snivelly kid a handkerchief and to take 
some peanuts from the bowl George just put in front of her, then 
continues.

"Of course, Lupin's fate must've loomed pretty large in James' mind 
no matter what -- I'm sure there are huge consequences when a 
werewolf kills a human, probably involving death or imprisonment.  
So if you want to argue *that* as James' primary motivation, you 
could make a case for it, though you'd then have to explain what 
caused James' newfound maturity if it wasn't the Prank.  But I don't 
think you could argue that James actually thought Snape would kill 
Lupin."

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com