[HPforGrownups] How did Snape see Lupin the night of the Prank?

[Maria Kirilenko]

No: HPFGUIDX 50706


Puzzled!Maria: 

So, how does the tunnel from the Whomping Willow end? I had always assumed 
that it ended *under* the Shack, and one could get into the Shack through a 
trapdoor in its floor. I got that notion from the next quote: “Harry pulled 
himself out of the hole, staring around.” 

That actually makes sense if the passage is underground. The passage to 
Honeydukes, which also, I assume, was an underground one, ended with a 
trapdoor in the floor of the cellar. 

Rita: 
Well, Maria I don't think you have much to be puzzled about, your reading
might be correct and supported by the canon available without any
inconsistencies. 
I guess I read it just as you do, the passage is underground just like the
one to Honeydukes; as you say if there is a trapdoor at the end of this one
too, Snape would have not been able to get a glimpse of Werewolf!Remus but
it's you who provide proof that there''s a little difference with that other
passage: 

"Instead, Harry could see a patch of dim 
light through a small opening.” 

Meaning that the end of the tunnell is not bloked by a door of any kind, it
s just a hole in the floor trhough which Harry has to pull himself out  (
but I wonder if one would use the same words in case the hole was not in the
on the floor but in a wall). In this way Snape could have seen Lupin walking
in the room above him  ( so his saying "at the end of the tunnell" is
correct because the hole *is* the end of the tunnell and if he was close to
it he *was* at the end of the passage)  if he was quite close to this
opening. 

So, Snape didn't get "as far as this house” , it's from the passage that he
got a glimpse of Lupin. 
Now the only thing that doesn't make sense is why that hole is not bloked
in some way! Wouldn't Werewolf!Remus be able to get out of the Shack? Weren
t all doors and windows boarded up for this reason, to prevent him from
going about and harming people? Did they just assume that it was not
necessary because the Whomping Willow would take care of that? This is the
only sensible reason I can think of, Dumbledore didn't think necessary to
have a door at the end of the passage because the WW would prevent W!R to
get out while 'guarding' the entrance to the tunnell from overcuriuos
students. 

Did my ramblings  help? 

Me (Maria):

Thanks, they helped a lot (and they weren't ramblings, either <g>). That does seem to be a good explanation - that the entrance to the Shack was not blocked by an actual door. But I seem to have more of my ramblings on the topic.

I really don't see a good reason *not* to install a door. Wouldn't it be rather dangerous for Wolf!Lupin to run around in the passage instead of the house? Besides, why have the house if you can just keep the wolf in the passage? 

Ooh, what if there *is* a door, but that particular night (not the Prank, but in PoA) it was open - Padfoot!Sirius probably wouldn't have closed the trapdoor when he was dragging Ron in there - whatever for? And no time wasted.

Or, maybe the hole is too small for a werewolf? No, doesn't work. If Padfoot, a huge dog ("bearlike") was able to get through - and he obviously is at least as big as the werewolf, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to keep him in check - then Lupin would definitely be able to get through the trapdoor.

So, do we stick to the idea that no one saw any need to install a door, and Snape saw Lupin through the open hole, pacing in the room above? 

Maria 



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