The Shrieking Shack-did Snape have ulterior motives?

[backstagemystic]

No: HPFGUIDX 85767

     --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jwcpgh" <jwcpgh at y...> 
wrote:

>>The night of the Shrieking Shack incident in
PoA, Snape, as we know, appears in the Shack. He tells the group
that he found out what was happening when he went into Remus's
office to give him his monthly wolfsbane potion and saw the
Marauder's Map. (PoA p.358 US). As soon as he grasps the situation,
he goes tearing off to the Shack. But wait a minute-what about the
potion? Why didn't Snape bring it with him? He knew that Remus
would be a lethal threat to HRH if he didn't take the stuff ASAP.
(Yeah, Sirius too, but of course that wouldn't be an issue for
Snape.) <<

The question that should be asked is this:   Why was *Remus*, who has 
LIVED with lycanthropy since his childhood, so careless as to lose 
track of the time of month and forget to take the potion when he 
*knows* it's so gravely critical to the safety of those around him?

As for Snape's handling of the situation, it seems he was reacting as 
quickly as possible because time was of the essence (also, someone 
else already mentioned that the potion might have been inactive and 
therefore useless at that point.).

Snape speculated from the start that Remus had been aiding Sirius, 
and when he sees the map and witnesses Remus (or the dot that 
represents him) running down the secret passage, that convinces him 
that his suspicions were correct and that Sirius had been using that 
passage to bypass the Dementors (and Remus knew it and said nothing 
about it).  

I think he wanted to catch Remus and Sirius both red-handed and off-
guard, and to do so required prompt action.

When Snape finds the Invisibility Cloak at the base of the Whomping 
Willow, the situation becomes even more grave as he realizes at least 
one innocent life is in imminent danger.

>>Severus had no way of knowing whether Remus had already
transformed or not. If he hadn't, he might at any moment, and
really needed that potion. And if Snape were at all concerned about
HRH, he would have tried to prevent their coming to harm.
If, on the other hand, Remus had already transformed, what did he
think he could do against a werewolf and a murderer? Why didn't he
get some backup?<<


Snape seemed to be holding his own rather well until the trio knocked 
him out.

He's well aware of what Remus is and because of that, on top of his 
suspicions that Remus has been aiding Sirius, Snape has been keeping 
tabs on Remus as well as the moon-cycle (which is why Snape checks to 
see if Remus has taken his potion each month).

The fact that Snape binds *Remus*, and not Sirius, shows who Snape 
feels to be the greater threat and he acts accordingly.

As for Snape not getting backup; again, I think it was a matter of 
time being of the essence.  The fact that JKR mentions Snape being 
slightly out-of-breath when he pulls-off the cloak suggests that he 
ran the whole way to the Shrieking Shack.

Also, I have to give the man and his abilities a little more credit.  

He's been a successful spy against Voldie, is a Master of Potions, is 
a "superb" Occlumens according to Remus himself, and he seems to more 
than hold his own with a wand.

He's known Remus and Sirius since his school days and probably has a 
reasonable grasp on their abilities; and after his first near-
encounter with Remus in werewolf form, I'm sure he's more than 
familiarized himself with the subject of lycanthropy and knows more 
than a few countermeasures that are effective against werewolfs.

Snape's no pushover.

>>I can only infer that Snape was so eager to nail Sirius and Remus
that he didn't really care if HRH were killed in the process.<<

I wouldn't infer that at all.  Yes, Snape clearly wanted (for 
legitimate reasons, even if misguided) to nail Sirius and Remus...but 
to infer that he didn't care about the safety of HRH is quite a 
stretch of speculation.

I don't believe he even realized any students were in imminent danger 
until he found Harry's cloak at the base of the Willow. 

>>Doesn't say much for our boy Sevvie, does it? And then he has the
nerve to paint himself as HRH's selfless rescuer. Nice, Snape,
really nice.<<

I think Snape running down that passage knowing he was likely to 
encounter two full-blown, powerful wizards - one a werewolf and the 
other a convicted murderer -  was extremely brave.

It's also telling that while Snape had *two* opportunities to finish-
off Sirius himself (the first when Sirius charged at him, the second 
when he awoke after the Dementors were driven away), he chose to do 
the right thing and turn Sirius over to proper authorities (he even 
bothered to put Sirius on a stretcher, which was much nicer than the 
way Sirius transported the unconscious Snape [i.e. letting Snape's 
head bump and scrape against the passage ceiling]).   So Snape showed 
a lot of retraint considering his history with, and volatile emotions 
toward, Sirius.

Don't lose sight of the fact that Snape, along with the rest of the 
Wizarding world, has legitimate reasons to believe Sirius is a 
murderer and the one who betrayed the Potters (and this is on top of 
the very legitimate *personal* reason he doesn't trust Sirius); 
likewise, Snape has good reasons not to trust Remus and to believe 
that Remus is in cahoots with Sirius.

Snape really thought he was doing a brave and noble thing in 
confronting Sirius and Remus, and he hoped that his turning-in Sirius 
would finally earn him some recognition and respect (something I 
think is long overdue for him).  Instead, he ended up empty-handed 
and swallowing his pride in humiliation.

So one must pardon me for feeling Snape deserves more than a little 
slack here.

BM