Theory on James and Lilly Potters occupations

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 107737

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "snow15145" <snow15145 at y...> wrote:
snip
> The main jest of what I was 
> trying to point out was that even though the wand chooses the wizard 
> somewhat like the sorting hat choosing the house, wouldn't 
> automatically foretell what subject they may have chosen to teach. 
> James didn't like the dark arts so why then would he teach it 
> especially when his wand is more suited for transfiguration, if he 
> were the dada teacher? My assumption on this would be; not that he 
> liked it or was suited for it but defense against it. 
> 

Kneasy:
This raises an interesting point; is there a type of wand suited for the
Dark Arts? An evil wand? Or is the wand just a tool that may or may
not be best suited for various categories of magic? Such as Charms, 
Transfiguration etc. Probably the latter. It depends on the power and
will of the user to a great extent.

It seems to me that Dark Magic is mostly curses and hexes - negative
charms if you like, and to teach DADA would require the demonstration
of those curses so that the students could practice protection against them.
A good 'charm' wand might be very useful in teaching DADA.

> 
> Snow Puzzled:
> Who worked for the Order for two years? I am a bit confused, if you 
> could elaborate on this please? 
> 

Kneasy:
The Voldy attack on GH happened when Harry was about 15 months old.
In the Pensieve Courtroom scene in GoF DD tells the Court that he has
already given evidence that Snape "..rejoined our side before Voldemort's
downfall and turned spy for us, at great personal risk."

So Snape was spying for the Order *before* Voldy's fall. How long
before is not absolutely certain, true - but the fact that he has been 
named in court as spying for the Order means that he could be a target
for revenge attacks. A bit of inference - when Moody talks to Harry in
OoP I get the impression that most of the successes the Order has is in 
the two years before Voldy's downfall. The result of Snape's activities?
Anyway, once his spying becomes public DD employs him at Hogwarts, 
just as he employed Sybil - to keep both of them out of the hands of 
people who might want to ask them some awkward questions.

Now - especially for those enamoured of the 'life debt' concept.
Suppose Snape was the eavesdropper that was thrown out of the Hogs 
Head. Suppose he was reluctant to tell Voldy about the Potters because of
that debt. Suppose the feeling that he owed James and that he knew that
Voldy would hunt down the family  was one of the reasons why he left 
Voldy and offered to spy for DD. Possible?
Not a speculation that I feel particularly comfortable with, but it might 
appeal to somebody.

> Snow:
> James' occupation and Lily's "have been" purposely kept from not only 
> Harry but also the reader, so no matter whether James was a teacher 
> or an Auror or a lazy bum we still don't know. In the end, the "why 
> didn't anyone tell Harry" is still the why? Whatever it is that James 
> did, I will assume that it must be of importance to have kept it a 
> secret for so long. 
> 

Kneasy:
Yep.
But what could be that important about a job that it must be kept secret?
If they were teachers, Aurors, a travelling sales team for Zonko Products,
so what? How can that affect the future story arc?

Time to get the grey matter in gear.