CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 28, Snape's worst memory

[meriaugust]

No: HPFGUIDX 114925


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Alla Peker 
<dumbledore11214 at y...> wrote:
> Alla:

> DISCUSSION QUESTIONS.
> 
> 
> 1. So, what is the reason for the title of this
> chapter? It had been discussed many times, but why not
> give it another try?

Meri now: There've been, as you said, many discussions about whether 
or not chapter titles can be counted as canon. IMHO this is just 
what Harry believes Snape's worst memory to be, although I 
personally can not possibly believe that is the truth. IIRC, Harry 
saw scenes of who many listees believe to be Snape's parents 
shouting at each other, I would think that would be worse. I would 
think that a truly reconciled Snape would be far more haunted by 
some of his activites as a DE or by what he is doing now as a double 
agent. I just think this serves as a good chapter title, and really 
can't think of another title that sounds so good. 
 
> 2. Do you agree with Fred and George that " a bit of
> mayhem" is exactly what Umbridge deserves? 
> Is it an effective way of dealing with her? Do you
> think that something similar should have been done
> earlier?

Meri: Ah, Fred and George, how I shall miss their lightening 
prescence at Hogwarts over the next two years. Anyway, I think that 
F&G are merely practicing their own brand of (ahem) civil 
disobedience, finding their own small ways to rebel against the MoM, 
which has allowed LV to return unnoticed, made life at school 
miserable, discredited their father and torn their family apart. 
Does DU deserve what she's getting for destroying all that DD made 
Hogwarts stand for? For imposing her insanely restrictive 
Educational Decrees on a fairly competent faculty? For humiliating 
Prof. Trelawny for her own sick pleasure? For torturing both Harry 
and Lee Jordan? She wanted to be Headmistress, after all, and 
dealing with trouble makers is one of the things that Headmistresses 
must do. So did she deserve what she got? I don't know. But she sure 
as hell asked for it. 
 
> 3. What do we learn about Harry from his refusal to
> drink the tea in Umbridge's office?

Meri: That he's become completely paranoid? No, probably that he is 
appreciating the seriousness of DU's desires on him, and that he is 
understanding the depths to which some people will sink to advance 
themselves. I think that one of the criticisms of Harry in the past 
has been that he doesn't always react properly to tense situations 
(for example, why didn't he just accio the damn Marauders Map in GoF 
so Snape didn't see it?) so maybe this is an indication that he's 
actually starting to smarten up when it comes to recalling knowledge 
at appropriate times. 
 
> 4. What do you think about Cho's apology to Harry?
> Could she say more or that was enough, in your
> opinion? Was she  trying to be loyal to both Marietta
> and Harry? If you were Harry , would you forgive
> Marietta after this conversation?

Meri: I never thought that Cho and Harry were going to work out. The 
whole relationship had too much baggage in the first place for it to 
go anywhere. But while I think that in an ideal situation Harry 
could have been more forgiving to Cho and Marietta, this was far 
from an ideal situation. Harry, after all, is still having 
nightmares, he's still got Occlumency lessons, he's got OWLs coming 
up and there't the whole LV situation, as well as DD being forced 
from the school. Marietta did in fact sell out the entire DA, but if 
she was reluctant to come in the first place Cho shouldn't have 
dragged her along. But in my last reread of Order, I noticed that 
Hermione does say something to the effect that when the students 
sign the DA paper they are agreeing to not go rabitting about what's 
going on, so you can't really say she didn't warn them. 

snip 
> 6. This question is specifically for my benefit. Can
> anybody please explain to me why Snape was still
> reading his exam paper even though Flitwick collected
> the parchments. Were they writing two copies of the
> exam with one copy left for the student personal
> records? I would appreciate the clarification.

Meri: I think that the parchment collected was the actuall essays 
being written and the paper Snape was reviewing was the question 
paper. At my college when we take midterm exams we are given a typed 
sheet of paper with questions and then a blue exam book (the 
dreaded, dratted blue book) with lined paper inside to write our 
answers. I think that Flitwick collected the latter and Snape was 
allowed to keep the former to go over. 
 
> 7. "Students all around had turned to watch. Some of
> them had gotten to their feet and were edging nearer
> to watch. Some looked apprehensive, others
> entertained." 
> "Several people watching laughed.  Snape was clearly
> unpopular" Why are there indications that the other
> kids watching the scenery are not upset, but even
> *enjoying* what Potter and Black are doing to Snape?  

Meri: Snape is, as the book says, clearly unpopular. I don't know 
what he could do to be that unpopular, unless he hexed people 
without warning, turned in rulebreakers with impunity and basically 
acted as a one man Inquisitorial Squad. But IMHO this is a level of 
unpopularity that isn't really seen in modern day Hogwarts. What I 
want to know about this scene is where is Snape's gang of 
Slytherin/future DE friends when he's getting humiliated? At least 
in Harry's time the members of one's own house tend to stand up for 
each other, so is there not a single Slytherin boy or girl willing 
to attack James and Sirius right back? But this also tells us, IMHO, 
that James and Sirius are extremely popular and well liked, seeing 
as only Lily managed to stand up to them, though if a teacher did 
manage to catch them at this I can't imagine them not getting in 
serious trouble for it. 
 
> 8. James responds to Lily's question "What did he ever
> done to you? " with "it's more the fact that he
> exists, if you know what I mean".(emphasis mine) , So
> what does James mean and what is Lily supposed to
> know?.

Meri: Well, Lily's been at school with them both for five years 
running now, and she surely has seen their interactions over that 
time period, whether its one of them hexing the other, one getting 
the other in trouble or duels in the corridors. As a relative 
outsider to the magical world, I don't think there could be any 
family connection that Lily should know that she doesn't, and I 
think that at this point Harry would have found that out as well. 
Clearly there is something about Snape that we don't know yet that 
makes him a distastefull person to James. (Well, some would argue 
that we allready have some reasons for that, but work with me...)
 
> 9. Why did Snape call Lily "mudblood"? Do you see any
> indications in this chapter that he could have
> feelings for her?

Meri: Snape called Lily "mudblood" for the same reasons that Malfoy 
applied the term to Hermione. 1) That is what she is, a witch of 
muggle parentage, though that is an entirely inappropriate term. 2) 
She had just in some way humiliated him further. She, a *girl*, had 
stood up for him and come to his rescue in front of his worst enemy 
and the entire freaking school. That just adds insult to injury if 
you ask me. I personally never saw that Snape could have feelings 
for Lily, mostly because I think it's pretty clear he doesn't even 
respect her. After all, he called her the worst racial epithet in 
the WW. 
 
> 10. What do you make out of Snape's reaction after
> Pensieve fiasco? Will he ever want to see Harry in his
> office again?

Meri: Well, if Harry passed his Potions OWL, he'll have to, won't 
he? I know I am one of the many who want to know Snape's 
motivations, but from what I think I understand about him, his 
reaction was almost out of character. The rage we saw there even 
seemed to surpass what he displayed in the Shreiking Shack. It 
wasn't embarrassment what he displayed, or fear that Harry would 
spread it around, it was plain old rage. Now, yes, Harry was nosy, 
and shouldn't have poked about where he wasn't wanted, but as I 
pointed out in an earlier post, Snape was probably told by DD that 
Harry knows what a pensieve is and would also probably have been 
told that he might be tempted to look in it. If Snape had any brains 
whatsoever he would have either chivvied Harry out of the office 
before him, or secured the pensieve in one of his magically sealable 
cabinets and then Harry could never have seen anything. Which leads 
me to the conclusion that Snape may have wanted Harry to see that 
memory, either to show Harry what a berk his dad could be, or to 
give Harry a glimpse at the difficulites he himself faced at school, 
or because he wanted an excuse to never teach Harry Occlumency 
again. But then again I am a bit of the conspiracy theorist, so I 
could be wrong on all counts. 

Meri - pleased to be posting again on a break from homework and 
wondering if we could add a simple amendment to the open letter to 
JKR: "Snape. Explain, please."