Snape, trying very hard not to smile? Or is he just allergic to cats?

[suehpfan]

No: HPFGUIDX 93804

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at m...> 
wrote:
>  
> > Eloise:
> > Eloise:
> xsnip
> > 
> > I think he's amused because Harry *is* in the wrong place at the 
> wrong time and he hopes to take advantage of it. Perhaps he's also 
> amused because he's standing in Lockhart's office with portraits 
> wearing curlers dodging out of sight. He can witness Lockhart 
making 
> a prat of himself and exploit the situation  to his own advantage 
> against Harry. Or so he hopes. 
> > 
> > The smile he is trying to suppress develops, once he starts to 
> speak, into a 
> > sneer:
> > 
> > >>"Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place 
> at the
> > wrong time," he said, a slight sneer curling his mouth as though 
he
> > doubted it.<<
> > 
> > and from there into a full blown smile as he finally catches 
Harry 
> et al out:
> > 
> > >>"Without any supper?" said Snape, a triumphant smile flickering 
> across
> > his gaunt face. "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for 
living 
> people
> > at their parties."
> > 
> > "We weren't hungry," said Ron loudly as his stomach gave a huge
> > rumble.
> > 
> > Snape's nasty smile widened.
> > 
> > "I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely 
> truthful," he
> > said. "It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain 
> privileges
> > until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel 
he 
> should
> > be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be
> > honest." <<
> > 
> > The smile disappears as soon as Dumbledore refuses to blame Harry 
> and Snape 
> > and Filch are once more united:
> > 
> > >>Snape looked furious. So did Filch.<<
> 
> 
> Potioncat:  I think you may  have hit on it, the smile isn't about 
> the cat.  It's hard to understand how he can be amused though, 
given 
> how serious the Chamber of Secrets is.  
> 
> I've wondered if he didn't use some form of legilimency and was 
> letting DD know that he saw deception in Potter's mind.  I think he 
> added the quidditch restriction because Snape will use any means to 
> win quidditch. He may have been angry at DD's apparant dismissal of 
> the dishonesty issue rather than the quidditch restriction.
> > 
> snipping Sue and Eloise comments
>  
> > Sue: 
> > >Snape is quite flattered at the young Malfoy's suggestion that 
he 
> become headmaster after DD's  departure.  He certainly didn't 
protest 
> the idea or defend DD.
>  
> > Eloise:
> > Could the smirk be because this was confirmation that he had 
Lucius 
> Malfoy exactly where he wanted him (is *Lucius* actually the lap 
> dog?) If he wants to  maintain his reputation amongst the Voldemort 
> supporters, then it's to his advantage to play the card that Draco 
> put into his hand.
> 
> Potioncat:
> I didn't see that Snape was flattered, I thought he was well aware 
> that Draco was playing up to him.  He did support DD by saying he 
> wouldn't be gone long. But he did it in a way that as Eloise said, 
> played the hand.
> > 
> 
> Eloise (I think): 
> > I don't think it's to do with fear that Mme Pomprey will report 
> what's he's 
> > up to. Mme Pomfrey isn't one of Dumbledore's inner circle. At the 
> end of GoF, 
> > although she hears the same revelations as Fudge (including that 
> Snape was a 
> > DE), Dumbledore is very careful to make sure that she is well out 
> of earshot 
> > before allowing Sirius to regain his human form. I doubt very 
much 
> that she knew 
> > about the Philosopher's Stone. I doubt that any did, other than 
> those who were 
> > directly involved in its protection. Filch was part of the 
> protection in that 
> > he had a role in guarding the corridor. Why tell anyone else?
> 
> Potioncat:  I think you've gotten this too!  The students weren't 
> supposed to know and perhaps many of the staff didn't either.  So 
it 
> made sense to use someone other than Poppy.  And it certainly made 
> for a large red herring! 
> 
> Eliose: 
> > As for why he chose the staff room? Good question. I did wonder 
if 
> it were  all JKR's fault. imperio'ing him to do it there so that it 
> was easier for Harry 
> snip
> 
> Potioncat who just couldn't snip the part about JKR imperio'ing the 
> characters.

Sorry list elves, I tried to snip but this one was hard (big whine):

Sue responds, book in hand, and adjusting herself on the Snapey fence 
upon which she sits:

Here's what I think.  I don't think Snape really cares about getting 
Harry into trouble (really...he has bigger fish to fry). But I do 
think he has a feeling *why* Harry wound up in that corridor and it 
doesn't have anything to do with opening the Chamber.  Many people 
have suggested (Sorry, I don't have the post #'s, I'm just not up to 
that much research.) that Snape used the Dueling Club to "out" Harry 
as a Parselmouth.  If this is indeed the case, and I think it is, his 
smile would be because he just had a very profound "Aha!" 
moment. "Aha!  Potter *is* a Parselmouth and he heard the Basilisk!"  
And BTW, one little look in the eye and Snape would have had his 
confirmation that this was the case.

Before you sputter again ;)...DD knows what is in the Chamber.  He 
was there before, he knew Hagrid didn't open the Chamber and it 
doesn't take a genius (okay, maybe Hermione is a genius, but so is 
DD) to figure it out.  Especially after living through seeing TM 
become Voldie.  He certainly wasn't keeping his talent for conversing 
with snakes a secret later in his life.  Everyone knows and one or 
little two and two deductions along with what happened 50 years ago, 
a little chat with a certain teenaged ghost in the girls' bathroom 
and voila! Mystery solved.

I realize I just contradicted my first post, but all of your comments 
caused me to go back and rethink.  As far as the masked DE's you'll 
have a hard time convincing me Snape wasn't there.  I don't think 
playing with his old friends is below him and it would not surprise 
*me* to find out Snape is holding the leash on Malfoy and not the 
other way around.  It is MVHO that Snape is directly in contact with 
Voldemort.  That is what makes him so valuable to the Order.

I'm going to throw one more thing in because no one responded before:

In OotP, what was happening in the room with Rockwood moments before 
Harry went to sleep and melded with Voldemort?  What was happening 
just moments after?  Was the reason Snape was so upset about that 
because he almost saw something that would have created some real 
problems? Perhaps Snape was in that room too? If this is the case 
what would the problems be and for whom?  Snape lovers?  Snape 
doubters?

Sue