No fire in the office

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 88025

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Berit Jakobsen" <belijako at o...>
wrote:
> Derek wrote:
> > Interesting.  It's easy to assume that Snape and McGonagall don't 
> much like each other, but I can't think of any canon to support that 
> idea. <snip> But I can't recall any indication from McGonagall that 
> she dislikes Snape.  (Or any indication from Snape that he dislikes 
> McGonagall any more than he dislikes everyone else.)
> 
> <snip>
> > IMO, that's one of the two most likely possibilities.  (ie., that
> > McGonagall knows from past experience that Snape keeps his office 
> too
> > cold for the students' well-being, either because Snape is a vampire
> > or for whatever reason.)  The other is that this was simply a 
> literary
> > device by JKR to illustrate that McGonagall is concerned about the
> > students' welfare (even when she is angry), while Snape is not.
> 
> Berit replies:
> 
> I can't think of any canon to support that Snape and McGonagall 
> dislike each other either. There IS canon evidence for them being 
> quite competitive; rivals so to speak. But I get the impression this 
> is quite good-natured, and that they respect each other. In SS 
> McGonagall tells Harry and Oliver she couldn't look Snape in the eyes 
> for weeks after the Gryffindor Quidditch team were flattened by the 
> Slytherins :-) Compare this with the Entrance Hall scene in OoP were 
> McGonagall is back from St.Mungo's and Snape greets her almost 
> affectionately, clearly happy to have her back at Hogwarts... To me, 
> the fact that McGonagall just lights Snape's fire without asking 
> shows how "close" they are; McGonagall knows Snape won't mind; 
> Snape's not offended because it's McGonagall doing it. I really enjoy 
> watching their "friendship"; always supporting their own houses 
> against each other, very keen to grab the House Cup from under the 
> other one's nose, but with a lot of respect and humour :-)
> 
> About Snape's fireplace: Snape not keeping a fire in his office when 
> Ron and Harry were ushered in there is useless as evidence for him 
> being a vampire, simply because we know he has kept a fire going in 
> his office at other times. To me, the best evidence for him being a 
> vampire is how Lupin makes the class write an essay on vampires not 
> long after Snape had made them do one on werewolves... That REALLY is 
> fishy :-). Combine this with Rowling's batlike descriptions of 
> Snape's appearance and the way he glides through the corridors, and 
> you have a case. Personally I am not so sure Snape is a vampire, but 
> I am keeping Lupin's vampire essay in the back of my mind...
> 
> Berit
> http://home.no.net/berjakob/snape.html

Carol:
I think the vampire essay is another red herring. Hermione would have
caught on if Snape were a vampire just as she did in figuring out that
Lupin was a werewolf. Also, any students who had read the werewolf
chapter to do Snape's essay would probably find grindylows and
hinkypunks pretty boring. Vampires, on the other hand, might spark
their interest. It's just a substitute assignment that allows them a
peek at the end of the book. (I don't think Lupin is vindictive enough
to assign an essay out of spite and I don't think JKR would use the
same plot device twice, but since I can't back up these opinions, I'm
just stating them parenthetically.)

Carol, who will be very disappointed in JKR if she pulls such a cheap
stunt