Snape And Neville, Dumbledore and CoS, Slytherin and Plan B

[Amey Chinchorkar]

No: HPFGUIDX 108677

-	Ally:
-	Actually, someone once broke down every single scene between Snape
-	and Neville, and I was surprised at how much milder these scenes
-	looked when you saw them all together in context.  Snape is almost
-	always reacting to a potentially serious mistake Neville makes in
-	class.
-	He does take some shots at Neville, but I'm not so sure he is quite
-	as personally invested in Neville as he is with Harry.  So while I
-	think your theory has some merit -- its one I've toyed with, too --
-	I'm not sure I see Snape's treatment of them as similar. 

Amey:

He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing
behind him. At the doorway he turned on his heel and said, "Possibly no
one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I
would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless
Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear." (PoA)

What is this if not personally invested? This is not serious mistake Neville makes. It is not even Snape’s class and he says this. What is this if not picking up on Neville?

-	Geoff:
-	<snip>The original implication of this is that he doesn't /know/. However,
-	with Diary!Riddle's comment, does this mean he won't /tell/? And if
-	so, why not? Does he know what caused the previous problems? Other
-	evidence begins to raise its head...
-	<snip>Re-reading this, it is taking on much more significance in my mind.
-	Does this mean that Dumbledore knows about the Basilisk and is
-	speculating, knowing that Voldemort is apparently out of the picture,
-	as to which person now has the ability to open the Chamber?

Amey:
As for the second part, Dumbledore clears it in his usual after climax explanation. He knew Tom Riddle/Voldemort was the last heir of Slytherin, and he knew Voldemort was in Albania. So he was wondering who was possessed or who else had got those powers? If only the true heir of Slytherin can open the Chamber, then it means Voldemort is possessing somebody in some form (unless he married somebody and had some children which are in Hogwarts now, how about his son as HBP).
As for the petrification, he knew that there was a monster in the Chamber who petrified (he had seen earlier attacks), but *maybe* there are many other creatures or spells which can petrify a person (at least that’s how I read the *but how* part).

-	Magda
-	No, I think the basilisk was there as a
-	break-open-in-case-of-Muggle-attack safeguard.  Sort of a weapon of
-	last resort in case the usual precautions such as wards and spells
-	failed.  Unlike most of the wizaring world since his time, old
-	Salazar believed in the efficy of Plan B.

Amey:
Plan B as Basilisk, my god!!! And if the Hogwarts castle is unplottable, muggles see it as a ruin with danger sign on it, also it is full of wizards and witches who can set the whole lot of spells on any attacking army. It would take a lot more than a simple muggle attack to capture Hogwarts, and remember even Voldemort didn’t try ot take it over (well, Hogwarts had Dumbledore, but there are also other defences). 
According to Binns,  

"Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets
so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at
the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of
Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of
all who were unworthy to study magic." (CoS).

The *horror* or *monster* within the chamber is clearly the basilisk, though nobody knows for sure. This makes Slythrin as mad about purebloodedness as Voldemort in my mind. He may have started with a weary dislike about muggles, but somewhere down the line he went really mad about it. Putting Basilisk in the Chamber is not a thing which I can forgive easily. 


Amey



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