Where did he go?

[Berit Jakobsen]

No: HPFGUIDX 96021

Potioncat wrote:
<snip>OoP, "Seen and Unforeseen" pp593--598:
"Snape strode to his office door, his wand still held at the ready, 
and swept out of sight.  Harry hesitated for a moment, then followed."
 
Upstairs Harry sees a large group of students watching Umbridge and 
Trelawney argue.  McGonagall is comforting Trelawney when Dumbledore 
comes in from the grounds and confronts Umbridge.  McGonagall, Sprout 
and Flitwick help Trelawney go back to her rooms.
 
What happened to Snape?  If we hadn't been told that he went to 
investigate, his absence wouldn't seem so strange.

Berit replies:

I don't think Snape is "absent"; I think he's present. Harry is 
following Snape, and he is following the sound of the noise. So when 
Harry arrives at the Entrance Hall, it is because Snape got there 
seconds before him. Snape's presence is just not mentioned. I think 
this goes very well with what we see of Snape's dealings with 
Umbridge throughout the book: He is careful not to draw attention to 
himself; to not provoke any reaction. Just look at the way he deals 
with the class inspection or Umbridge's arrest of Harry near the end 
of the book: Snape doesn't make an almighty row like McGonagall (or 
Harry :-) does; he grudgingly but quietly accepts what he gets. 
That's what he's doing in the Umbridge/Trelawney confrontation too: 
Keeps out of the way, just lurking in the shadows, not making any 
fuss. Who knows; maybe he and Dumbledore agreed early on that Snape 
should as much as possible stay out of the limelight since it's very 
crucial that he is left free to work quietly as a spy for DD. It 
wouldn't do for him to get into trouble with Umbridge and have his 
mission endangered by drawing attention to himself.

Berit
http://home.no.net/berjakob/snape.html