No fire in the office

[Berit Jakobsen]

No: HPFGUIDX 88042

Carol wrote:
> 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.)

Berit replies:

I agree with you that Hermione would indeed have caught on if the 
vampire essay was Lupin's attempt to reveal Snape as a vampire. So 
this is a good argument the vampire essay's just a red herring. But 
then there is this to consider: What if Hermione DID catch on; she 
just hasn't told Ron and Harry yet? After all, she kept Lupin's 
secret to herself to protect him; she might do the same for Snape. 
Hermione is always the one defending Snape whenever Ron or Harry 
suspects him of treason; Hermione trusts Snape because Dumbledore 
does. So there's still a tiny chance that vampire essay was a clue, 
and that Hermione KNOWS (though I agree with you that Lupin is not 
the vindictive type and probably wouldn't get back at Snape like 
that).

Just wanted to point his out, even though I lean towards the view 
that Snape is not a vampire/half vampire. I just can't rule it out 
completely :-)

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