Let's hear it for good old Snapey!

[jwcpgh]

No: HPFGUIDX 87909

 Laura wrote:
> <snip> 
> > I do think he [Snape]was letting everyone know where Harry stood 
> in his estimation.  Whether that was due to genuine dislike, the 
> exigencies of the spying game or both, it served its purpose.  If 
> Harry had been able to answer the questions, Snape would just have 
> kept at him until there was one he couldn't answer. 
> 
> Talisman, dropping by and plunking a stack of golden Galleons on 
counter, 
> 
> I don't agree that humiliation was the primary goal.
> 
> If anyone is up for a wager, I'm betting that knowledge of the 
> Draught of Living Death; the use of the bezoar as a poison 
antidote; and, the ability to identify Wolfsbane, by any other name 
(SS 138); will become critical to Harry before the final denouement. 

Laura responds:
I don't think humiliation was the primary goal either-it was just a 
nice little side benefit to a task Snape had agreed to take on.  He 
always does his duty and gets the results he intends; whether he 
follows the spirit of the instructions is another matter.  DD didn't 
say Snape couldn't use his own methods to get the job done, after 
all.  

You could very well be right about Harry needing that information 
before the end.  If Harry owes his life to Snape's instruction, he'd 
have a hard time living with that.  So would Snape, I imagine.

Laura, who is always willing to make a wager-as long as it's for a 
hot fudge sundae  *g*