Unfinished Business (was: did Lupin kill Sirius)

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 83201

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jwcpgh" <jwcpgh at y...> wrote:
> Snipping
> Laura:
> Are you talking literally or metaphorically?  If the former, there's 
> just not a lot of touch-feely stuff going on in the Potterverse at 
> all, as we've noted before on this list. 
> If you're talking metaphorically, again, I don't see evidence of 
> that attitude in the Potterverse.  There's a formality in the 
> culture that is quite unlike, say, American attitudes. (I think we 
> could use a bit more of that, actually.)  But Snape is just a 
> miserable misanthrope.  You never see him engaging in casual 
> conversation with anyone at the staff table at meals or hanging out 
> in the staffroom.  He communicates what he has to when he has to and 
> that's it. 

Kneasy:
My bilious attack was nothing to do with the site (outbreaks of
distressing 'Love thy neighbour' here can be nipped in the bud by
a  few snarls)  but by an irritation closer to home.

And what's wrong with being a misanthrope? Perfectly legitimate
hobby. Hours of endless fun can be derived by ruining some-one's
day for them. Particularly useful as we approach Halloween; damn
kids expecting me to feed 'em. Haven't they got parents for that?

Casual  conversation. Well, I suppose  that Snape doesn't think that
anyone has anything interesting to say. What, do you think, would 
he talk about with Flitwick? Or Sprout? or even McGonagall? No, he's
not what used to be called 'a clubbable man.' No "Hail fellow, well
met, how's your begonias?" More "Push off, I'm busy." 

Though he was seen chatting to  Quirrell at the beginning of PS/SS.
Maybe that cured him of sociable tendencies.

Laura:
> We know that Sirius (oh, stop grinding your teeth, Kneasy) refers to 
> a gang of Slytherins with whom Snape hung out.  But we don't know 
> what kind of relationship this was-was it really friendship or just 
> a common interest in nastiness and intimidation (the Slytherin house 
> hobbies)?  So I'm not sure that we have any canon at all for Snape 
> ever having had what we could define as a friendship.  
> My point was that it's unreasonable of Snape to use his personal 
> losses as his excuse for his unkindness to students, since lots of 
> other people suffered what he did and more and seem to be able to 
> form human connections.  He was just always like that and if he 
> wants to blame it on LV, fine, but I'm not buying.
> 

Kneasy:
Why must he react the same way as others? I  fear that you are possibly
embracing the compulsory 'ersatz coercive bonhomie' tendency that I
was decrying a couple of days back. I suspect that you're trying to have
it both ways. First you wish that there was more English reserve in the
US and then you castigate some-one for practicing it. Twas ever thus.
There's no pleasing some people.

There  he  sits, his whole life torn asunder, suffering, wounded, facing
a bleak and lonely future, no helpmate to brighten his days, no prospect
of curly-headed grandchildren at his knee, trying desperately hard to 
keep the upper lip from trembling and you chide him for lack of chit-chat.
Heartless, that's what you are, heartless.


> Laura responds:
> Ah...but who do you think was the lucky lady?  Come on, Kneasy, give 
> us some hermeneutical exegesis here.  (I love it when listess talk 
> philosophy...*grin*)
> >


Kneasy:
Florence, of course.

 
> Laura:
> Do you really think that Snape had no theory at all about what was 
> going on with Remus?  He had had at least 5 years, maybe 6, by this 
> time to watch the goings-on, and he was no fool.  Every full moon 
> Remus disappears for a night? Hmm, wonder what that could mean?  I 
> think he had a very strong suspicion about Remus's secret.

Kneasy:
Do we know from canon when in their  school career the 'Prank' took
place? I don't think we do. 
I doubt he knew every  full  moon, unless Remus was in Slytherin.
Probably noticed every now and again. I think he's  much too smart
to knowingly barge in on a werewolf. You'd need a deathwish to do 
that.


 Laura:
> Yes, Sirius knew he was suggesting something dangerous-not smart.  
> Did he think Snape would be stupid enough to do what he had 
> suggested?  He probably didn't care one way or the other-again, not 
> smart.  Yes, Sirius bears some moral responsibility here.  But Snape 
> was entirely capable of judging for himself the motives behind 
> Siriius's advice to him.  Ultimately our actions are our own 
> responsibility, wouldn't you agree?


Kneasy:
I want to hear Snape's version. So far only Remus has spoken and
he was in the Shack, not with Sirius. It all depends on what Sirius said.
It's  possible that the 'Prank' was the first overt clash between Snape
and the gang. Not probable, but possible. A vague dislike may have
degenerated into warfare from this episode. Snape "was always nosing
about." Maybe Sirius got fed up and decided to teach him a lesson.
How would you place the responsibility in that case?

 
> Laura, who wonders why she even bothers to put her HPs back on the 
> bookshelf when they inevitably end up next to the computer anyhow

Kneasy:
Invest in another set. Then one can get filled with yellow stickies for
reference purposes and the other can be heaved at the  source of 
unwelcome interruptions. Severity  of offence determines whether it's
PoA  or OoP.