MD Alternative: Lupin is the agent. (WAS Objections to Magic Dishwasher - Shriek

[Tom Wall <thomasmwall@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51835


Forewarning, this is long...

Well, it's easy to talk the talk of saying that MD isn't
as strong as it could be. It's easy to talk the talk
of adoring it, and being intrigued, and wanting 
to make the theory stronger. 

It's harder to walk the walk. 

So, this is my humble attempt to posit an alternative 
to Agent!Snape as presented in MD thus far.

>From what I can gather, all of MD here hinges on 
whether or not Dumbledore sent not Snape, 
but "an agent" into the Shrieking Shack as a means 
of helping/protecting Harry and creating a life-debt 
with Peter... all that, in order to engineer a 
flawed potion for Voldemort's revival. Right? Well, 
if that's a little brief, I apologize, but I'm eager 
to move on. 

As I see it now, if Dumbledore *didn't* send Snape, 
then MD has it's legs knocked out from under it. As 
I've said before, the analysis of this scene leaves the
theory weaker than it has to be, and one of the glaring
weaknesses, IMHO, is the "need" for the agent in there 
to be Snape.

And it's not just generally Snape. It's the notion, in 
particular, that Snape wasn't supposed to be knocked out
for real, that the knockout was a 'mistake' but that it 
worked out the way it was supposed to anyways.

Why do I disagree? Because IMHO, the knockout of Snape
*enabled* the life-debt.


So, I guess I'm asking, why necessarily Snape? 

Couldn't it just as easily be Lupin? 

I'm going to start a little out of order, but please hear me out: 


"You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher - 
the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while; I will contact you 
there."
(GoF, US hardcover, "Parting of the Ways," 713) 

Lupin is a part of Dumbledore's "old crowd." I read from this passage 
that the "old crowd" is comprised of people that Dumbledore trusts. 

One more thing. Someone (can't remember who, just now, nor can I find 
the post - sorry about that) has suggested previously that Dumbledore 
might have hired Lupin expressly because he knew that Sirius Black 
had escaped from Azkaban, and that there were indications that he was 
going to come to Hogwarts. And that as an old friend, Lupin might be 
the best person to reason with him. Or else, Dumbledore would have 
all three of the possible traitors under his nose.

Read it however you like...

For the purposes of this post, however, I'm going to 
posit that, instead of Snape, Lupin is the agent in
the Shrieking Shack.


First of all, from my perspective of Dumbledore's perspective <grin>, 
it seems far more likely to me, to be sure, that

a) Dumbledore would send someone the kids trust, and
b) Dumbledore would send someone who was reasonable and not *openly* 
bent on a revenge that could foul everything up, and
c) Dumbledore would send someone that Sirius Black would listen to, 
so that
d) That person will be able to manage everything calmly, get the 
answers out of both Black and Pettigrew, and without saying anything 
obvious, get Harry to grant the life-debt, and finally
e) Dumbledore would send someone who could make it look most 
plausibly like an accident that Pettigrew escaped. 

Okay. Instead of using the "premise" approach that Pip did, I'm going 
to just do a reading of the scene, inserting my reasoning where I see 
fit. Most of the premises are the same, anyways, with the minor point 
of substituting Lupin for Snape. 

Righto. Onward!

It starts with this: Lupin has the kids' trust already, and Lupin (in 
this scene) is always, always, ALWAYS the voice of reason. 

Let's begin:


Lupin enters, removes the kids' wands, and uses his immediate 
credibility with both Black and the kids to get the information he 
wants from Black, namely, is Black really guilty? 

Remember, via the map, he already knows that Pettigrew is in the 
room. But he wants to know what Black's doing here.

Once he has the proof he needs, he embraces Black, and Hermione loses 
it.

Listen to Lupin:
"Hermione -"
"-you and him!"
"Hermione, calm down-"
"I didn't tell anyone," Hermione shrieked. "I've been covering up for 
you-"
"Hermione, listen to me, please! Lupin shouted. "I can explain -"
(PoA, US paperback, "Cat, Rat, and Dog," 344-45) 

He starts here, as the voice of reason, the voice of calm. But after 
this, first Ron starts yelling, and then Harry also loses control and 
starts screaming as well. 

Lupin: "If you give me a chance, I'll explain. Look -" 
(PoA, US paperback, "Cat, Rat, and Dog," 346) 

Lupin is eminently reasonable. The kids will listen to him. I like 
this a lot more than Snape losing his temper. Why? Because it seems 
more up Dumbledore's alley, to send someone that the kids trust, or 
at least, someone that they *could* trust. 

And why do the kids trust him? 

Because he gives them a reason to, by giving them their wands back: 

"He separated Harry's, Ron's, and Hermione's wands and threw each 
back to its owner; Harry caught his, stunned.
'There,' said Lupin, sticking his own wand back into his 
belt. 'You're armed, we're not. Now will you listen?'" 
(PoA, US paperback, "Cat, Rat, and Dog," 346) 

Lupin will get the whole story out. Calmly. Effectively. Without 
screaming, threatening. He'll persuade it out of the situation, 
instead of bludgeoning the situation into submission. ;-)

Lupin says: "The important thing is, I had an idea that you, Ron, and 
Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before 
his hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?" 
(PoA, US paperback, "Cat, Rat, and Dog," 347) 

So, where would Lupin get that idea? Sure, sure, he could just be 
really thoughtful. But, perhaps Dumbledore suggested it to him? Just 
a thought... One way or other, he was looking at the map. No need to 
explain why.


Anyways, continuing... 


So, now *Sirius* gets impatient, and now he gets angry, and he tries 
to get Scabbers from Ron. What does Lupin do? 

"Sirius, NO!" Lupin yelled, launching himself forward and dragging 
Black away from Ron again, "WAIT! You can't just do it like that - 
they need to understand - we've got to explain -"
"We can explain afterwards! " <snip a few lines>
"They've - got - a - right - to - know - everything!" 
(PoA, US paperback, "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," 349-50) 


At this point in the Shrieking Shack scene, Professor Lupin has 
managed to calm down every single person in the room once.


And why does Lupin want them to know everything? 

By this point in time, *I* infer that he already believes Sirius, 
especially based on the hug from before. If he didn't believe Sirius, 
then I don't believe he would have hugged him - simple as that. So, 
if he believed Sirius, and since he already knows for sure that Peter 
IS Scabbers, then he'd probably think Pettigrew should be killed, 
after all, he is friends with the Potters, and he could be just as 
angry.

So, why doesn't he just let Black get on with it? Because it's not 
enough that *he* understand. It's essential that *Harry* 
understands. And, well, since he's Dumbledore's agent, the reason is 
the same as before: he wants Peter to be life-debted to Harry.

But Black doesn't know this plan. Black is also unreasonable, and I 
don't blame him either - I would be too.

So Lupin adds to his statement to Sirius: 

"And Harry - you owe Harry the truth, Sirius!" 
(PoA, US paperback, "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," 350) 


That's right. If Black won't be reasonable for the other reasons, 
then referring to Harry is the best way to remind Black that the 
*very reason* he's so bitter with Pettigrew is over Lily's and James' 
death. And therefore, he should be a little more respectful to their 
kid. So:

"Black stopped struggling, <snip snip snip> 
"All right, then," Black said <snip snip snip> 
"Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. I want to 
commit the murder I was imprisoned for...." 
(PoA, US paperback, "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," 350) 

Right. So, Lupin has bought some time. Lupin can at least get the 
story out. Lupin has kept the entire situation under control. 

But just as Black calms down, Ron starts getting smarmy by trying to 
stand up. So what does Lupin say? 

"You're going to hear me out, Ron," he said quietly. "Just keep a 
tight hold on Peter while you listen."
(PoA, US paperback, "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," 350) 

No questions here. No attempt to be cajole Ron. He's ordering Ron to 
listen. And Ron does. Why? Because unlike Snape later on, Lupin is 
not threatening. Lupin is not shrieking like a madman. Lupin has 
already given them a reason to trust him by returning their wands.

Now, all of what follows is simple story, conducted calmly: Lupin's 
reminder about what the map showed him, Hermione's objections to the 
animagi bit, and Lupin's backstory about his bite, his friends, yadda-
yadda-yadda, which is all fine until he gets to the bit about having 
not told Dumbledore about the animagical transformations, to which I 
can only say Lupin is either: 

a) lying, or he's 
b) bending the truth. 

I know, I know, I don't like it either. But, again for the sake of 
argument, there are a few possible holes I found in the text, and 
again, although I don't like them, I'm going to use them anyways: 

"He [Dumbledore] never knew I had led three fellow students into 
becoming Animagi illegally."
(PoA, US paperback, "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," 355)

AND

"All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I 
should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus." 
(PoA, US paperback, "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," 356) 

Okay. Few bits here, totally out of the "How to defend MD handbook:" 
<grins - Just kidding, guys!>


1) Lupin says Dumbledore "never knew," not that he "doesn't know."

2) Lupin says "...wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore," not "I 
haven't" told Dumbeldore.

3) Lupin says "...whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an 
Animagus," not that "Pettigrew, James, AND Sirius are animagi." 


Remember... just for the sake of argument. I assert no facts here 
whatsoever. Just trying to prove a point.

So, Lupin's told the whole story. Eventually, he will try to turn 
Pettigrew back into himself and then, with Sirius, try to kill him, 
at which point, he's *hoping* that Harry is calm enough, and has 
enough explanations to step in and stop him. 

So, everything's on schedule. All's just hunky-dory until now. 

ENTER SNAPE, desperate, angry, and bent on revenge. Snape screws the 
whole thing up. 

But look - Lupin is still the source of calm, of reason. 

"Severus -" Lupin began, but Snape overrode him. 
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 358) 

"Severus, you're making a mistake," said Lupin urgently. "You haven't 
heard everything - I can explain Sirius is not here to kill Harry -" 
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 359) 


Incidentally, please don't dispute this point by saying that the 
reason Snape doesn't listen is because he's Dumbledore's agent. 
That'd drive me bonkers, I think. ;-)


So, again, Lupin is appealing to explanation, to reason. Which is why 
I still like this scenario more - since Dumbledore is so eminently 
reasonable himself, it just seems more in character of him to send a 
reasonable guy.

And I believe that *if* Dumbledore had a plan, and *if* that plan 
involved Harry getting a life-debt out of Peter, then I believe that 
Dumbledore would have sent someone that could manage the situation.


And if you're still following along and haven't grunted and screamed 
and stopped reading, then you'll see why Snape is, IMHO, the WORST 
person to send to accomplish that goal, because:

a) The three kids hate him
b) The two adults don't really like him either (and Sirius downright 
loathes him)
c) He doesn't like or trust the two adults (and he downright loathes 
Sirius)
d) He has reasons for revenge, real, personal reasons that, IMHO, 
would get in the way of being able to conduct the mission properly. 


But in this post, I'm assuming that Lupin is the agent, and from this 
viewpoint, Snape is totally unmanageable: He's crazed with desire for 
revenge. He's entirely out-of-control. He's screaming and shrieking. 
He makes threats, he actually ties Lupin up, he tries to provoke 
Sirius. He is the epitome of being unreasonable.

And he is on the verge of ruining Lupin's goal entirely because he's 
so shortsighted and bitter, as he has been all year. He never trusted 
Lupin to begin with, so why should he start now? 

It's also a plausible reading that when Snape tells Hermione to "hold 
[her] tongue" and "DON'T TALK ABOUT THINGS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" 
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 360) he's doing 
it because, from his perspective, she *doesn't* understand his 
situation and she *doesn't* understand how justified this revenge is, 
in his, Snape's, opinion.

So what happens? The kids can't take it anymore - and fed up, they 
attack. 

IMHO, this is because Lupin correctly assumed at the beginning that 
the kids *want* an explanation for all of this, and that Harry will 
need a reason before making the right decision. 

Without a reason, Harry will want revenge. As we can see all the way 
up until he's heard just about everything. (PoA, US paperback, "The 
Servant of Lord Voldemort," 372) 

Anyways, this is one of the parts of the previous interpretation that 
I find so difficult to believe... if Snape is the agent, why doesn't 
he tailor his actions a little more towards the children, as 
Dumbledore would have, as Lupin is? But Snape doesn't. 

So as I was saying before I derailed myself, the kids can't take it, 
they detect his apparent lack of sanity, and since they *do* want to 
understand the truth, they attack. 


Now, one kid could not take him down. 
But three? Sure, absolutely they could. And they do. 


So, once Lupin is untied, what's the first thing he says? 

"Then it's time we offered you some proof," said Lupin. "You, boy - 
give me Peter, please. Now."
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 362) 


Again, he's not playing with Ron now. He knows Ron's name, but he 
calls him "boy." He says "please," but follows it up with "now." 
Lupin realizes how precarious a position he's in, and how the entire 
thing nearly just got derailed. He realizes that he's got to get a 
move on.

But still, Ron asks a question, and Lupin, again, allows Black to 
answer the question. 

Why? Because unless the kids have all the information, unless *Harry* 
has all of the information, he might not make the correct decision, 
and he *has* to make the correct decision. 

Besides - Lupin, of course, is going to report back to Dumbledore, 
and he's got to have as many answers as he can get, which, IMHO, is 
one of the reasons he lets all of these questions get answered. 

This eminent reasonable-ness allows for the provision of answers to 
the questions of how Pettigrew survived, how suspicious it is that 
Scabbers was still alive. He guesses correctly that Scabbers became 
ill when he heard that Black had escaped, and so on and so forth 
until Harry gets emotional again, starts *backtracking* to his anger 
at Black. What does Lupin do? 

"No," said Lupin, "Harry -" 
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 364) 

Again, Lupin is a bastion of reason. Only reason will get these kids 
to calm down. Only reason will get them to make the right decisions. 
But then the whole thing gets sidetracked again, this time with 
Harry's screaming, and with Sirius's defense of himself, until Lupin 
urges things onward with: 

"Enough of this," said Lupin, and there was a *steely* note in his 
voice Harry had never heard before. "There's one certain way to prove 
what really happened. Ron, *give me that rat.*" 
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 365) 

And yet, when Ron asks about what will happen, Lupin replies: 

"Force him to show himself," said Lupin. "If he really is a rat, it 
won't hurt him."
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 365) 

With his response, Lupin does two things: 
1) he tells Ron what he's going to do. 
2) he assures Ron that nothing bad will happen to Scabbers. 

BOTH are necessary for Ron to willingly surrender the rat, an action 
he's resisted since this scene began. And as the reasonable Lupin 
knows, Ron, like just about everyone else, will favorably respond to 
reason and respect, neither of which Snape shows, and so he will hand 
him over, which he does. 

So, why can Lupin be so reasonable? Because he already knows where he 
wants this to go. Again, Lupin, by this point already believes 
Sirius. The hug, IMHO, establishes that. 

For the rest of the scene, all he's trying to do is get all the 
information out there:
a) for himself (and so he can relay it all to Dumbledore,) and
b) for Sirius, who probably desperately wants his innocence to be 
vindicated, and
c) for Harry, so that when the time to make the decision comes up, 
Harry can do so, and 
d) *before* Snape wakes up and tries to take revenge a second time. 



--BRIEF INTERMISSION--

Now, I know, this post is running long, and I don't want to do a line 
by line breakdown of the rest of the conversation. 

I think you all see my point. 

For the rest of the talk, Lupin is always going to remain the voice 
of reason - his only goal is to sort things out, to maintain calm. 
Watch his lines for the rest of the scene. I won't do a line by line 
breakdown until near the end of the post, I promise. ;-) 

--END INTERMISSION-- 



LUPIN'S LINES:

-"Well, hello, Peter," said Lupin pleasantly, as though rats 
frequently erupted into old school friends around him. "Long time, no 
see." 
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 366) 

-"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the 
night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points 
while you were squeaking around down there on the bed -"
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 367) 

-"So we've heard," said Lupin, more coldly. "I'd like to clear up one 
or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'd be so -" 
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 367) 

-"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things 
out," said Lupin.
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 367) 

-"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" said Lupin, his 
brow furrowed. "When nobody has ever done it before?" 
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 367) 

-"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty understanding why an 
innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," said Lupin 
evenly. 
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 369) 

-"Professor Lupin," said Hermione timidly. "Can - can I say 
something?"
"Certainly, Hermione," said Lupin courteously.
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 370) 

"Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! 
Precisely what I-"
But Lupin silenced him with a look.
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 370-71) 



Okay. Throughout all of this, Lupin is the *consummate* gentleman: 
he's pleasant, he's courteous, he's got to manage a sniveling 
Pettigrew, an angry and vengeful Black, three kids who between them 
all are confused, angry, and curious, AND make sure that it all 
happens before Snape wakes up. 

And how does he do it? He totally, one-hundred percent keeps his 
calm. He asks questions, he wants to "sort things out," he's seeking 
understanding, and more importantly, he's doing it all so that, in 
the end, Harry will say he believes them.

And then, it's time for the suggestion of killing, which Black 
expectedly does... 

(Re: Pettigrew's question to Lupin about whether or not he [Lupin] 
believes Pettigrew):

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," said Lupin. "I assume 
that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he said casually over 
Pettigrew's head.
"Forgive me, Remus," said Black.
"Not at all, Padfoot, my old friend," said Lupin...

<snip snippety snip snip snip>

"Shall we kill him together?"
"Yes, I think so," said Lupin grimly. 
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 373) 


So what happens? They don't kill him right away. Instead, Pettigrew 
is allowed to do a round table with the kids, trying desperately to 
get one of them to stand up for him. Lupin doesn't hurry it along to 
the killing. He lets it happen. Why? 

Because it's what he wants. And just after Black has roared and 
bellowed, and given about a million reasons why Pettigrew should be 
dead, Lupin says, all calmly and professionally: 

"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't 
kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 375) 

But *still* they don't act. How do we know that they wait?

Because there's enough time for Hermione to BOTH cover her her face 
with her hands AND turn to the wall. Granted, this doesn't have to 
take a long time, but it's enough to establish some delay.

So, why doesn't the killing follow immediately? Because Lupin's 
delaying, delaying, hoping that Harry will stop the whole thing. 

Which he does. 

And once it's decided? 

"Right," said Lupin, suddenly businesslike.
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 376) 

He's businesslike. Why? Because his "business" is now attended to. He 
has the life-debt that he wants. So, he takes care of Ron, he takes 
care of Snape, and he's the first one to volunteer to be attached to 
Pettigrew. He even manages to collect the Invisibility Cloak. 

His actions indicate only one goal: let's get a move-on outta here. 


So, almost done, promise. ;-) 

I need two quotes to make the analysis totally make sense, from my 
Point of View, at least. <grin> Not that it matters, 'cause I'm sure 
that all you creative folk out there will find about a million ways 
to shred this to pieces.


Okay:

"You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful 
along." 
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 358) 


"And two of us should be chained to this," said Black, nudging 
Pettigrew with his toe. "Just to make sure."
"I'll do it," said Lupin.
(PoA, US paperback, "The Servant of Lord Voldemort," 377) 


Right. Lupin's first in line to be cuffed to Pettigrew. Why? Well, 
exactly BECAUSE he didn't take the potion. 

Careful, meticulous, thoughtful Lupin, who beyond anything doesn't 
want to risk attacking a student, who just told the kids that he felt 
guilty about putting other people at risk when he was a kid. Why 
would he do that? 

Well, just speculating here, but he knows that he needs Pettigrew to 
escape - so if two "other" people are chained to Peter, then that 
might not happen. But if *he* is chained to Peter, then what better 
way to help that along than turning into a werewolf en route? 

Sirius (who is now established as trustworthy) is there to take care 
of everyone, and people will be more worried about protecting Ron 
than preventing Peter from transforming. It's a flawless plan that 
allows the escape to happen. Whereas, if Ron wasn't endangered, then 
the kids just might have been able to pay a little more attention to 
Peter, and been able to stop him.


SUMMARY: 

I did this for a few reasons: 

1) to prove that I'm not such a canon-demanding git as the MDDT's 
think I am. <grin>

2) because the current analysis of the Shrieking Shack doesn't sit 
right with me - it just seems wrong... I can't explain it. No 
particular reason 'cept for that.

3) because the current analysis doesn't speculate on the Lupin bit, 
and like I said, I think that MD's has some great points, and that 
it's very believable. But not all of it. It's not defended in the 
*best* way possible, and as I hope I've demonstrated, there *are* 
other ways of establishing MD without relying on the analysis of the 
Shrieking Shack as it stands.


So in conclusion: Remus Lupin, part of Dumbledore's "old crowd," 
friend to Sirius Black, and eminently reasonable man that HHR trust 
and love, is actually Dumbledore's agent. He, who knows how to 
operate the Marauder's Map; he, who was the only one who could be in 
a position to realize what was happening; he, who was the only 
candidate to inform Albus Dumbledore about events (because of the 
map) - in short, he, Lupin, is the agent. 

And he acts (as Dumbledore would) with perfect reason and manners, 
slowly nudging the conversation in the direction in which it needs to 
go, slowly cajoling his result.

Snape, who is hell-bent on revenge, nearly ruins everything, but the 
kids, who (Lupin correctly assumes) want an explanation for what's 
been going on, stop him. Snape, who, IMHO, could not realistically 
have faked a knockout if *just* Harry expelliarm-ed him. Snape, who, 
IMHO, is just too ill equipped to have achieved the result of a life 
debt, *might* just have been there for the ostensible reason in the 
text: revenge.

For the rest of the conversation in the scene, Lupin is the calm one, 
Lupin is the inquisitive one, Lupin is the only person who is 
totally, one-hundred percent reasonable, and always in control, 
except when Snape loses it. Lupin's actions are the only way that 
Harry, who tends to act based on his emotions (but who also makes 
what he believes are the "right" calls when he has the reasons to do 
so) will *choose* to save Pettigrew. 


A few final points: 

1) IMHO, Dumbledore can still want to shut Snape up in the hospital. 
Dumbledore may, actually, have been a better master of events than 
the previous analysis gives him credit for. And Snape could still be 
endangering the plan, but just without knowing what the plan is.

2) Snape's mention of the fairy tale about 'Pettigrew being alive' 
*could* have been the result of Snape's hearing the conversation 
through the closed door. After all, even assuming that the opening 
door signifies Snape's entrance, there's no reason to assume that he 
couldn't hear anything before he entered the door. We know from canon 
that Hermione heard footsteps from downstairs in the beginning of the 
scene. So it stands to reason that if she can hear out, then he can 
hear in.

If this is the case, then again, Albus is shutting him up because 
he's about to ruin a plan of which he's not aware. 

3) I don't know why Snape would have lied about the confunded bit, 
unless maybe he actually believed it, which he might... after all, he 
really doesn't like Sirius and Lupin. All the better to taint Black 
with, my dear. ;-)

4) IMHO, Snape really doesn't understand where Black has gone when he 
vanishes from the tower. This does not seem to me like a pre-planned 
scene - it seems to me that Snape is in the dark, totally and 
completely. AND HE'S FURIOUS, I mean, TOTALLY ENRAGED. This doesn't 
seem like acting, the way I read it. And if he's in the dark, it 
means that Dumbledore has kept some stuff from him.

5) Snape reveals Lupin's true nature the next morning. This also, 
does NOT seem like something that Dumbledore would have wanted. IMHO, 
it is something done purely out of spite. And for someone who is 
supposed to be so fully in Dumbledore's confidences, and who is 
supposed to be in on the plan, it strikes me as an incredibly odd 
thing to do, especially since, all year, Dumbledore has, in essence, 
told Snape to lay off Lupin.


So, that's it. Crucify away! ;-) 

-Tom