Man the canons Re: Snape vs. Sirius (was: Snape's Stubbornness)

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 127221


Alla wrote:
> snip
> For that reason ( holes in the story) I am very reluctant to say 
that 
> Sirius planned to kill Snape. I don't see it as supported in the 
text 
> yet, that is all. I am not saying that Sirius did a good deed, not 
at 
> all, but I don't exclude the possibility that Prank was somebode 
> else's setup.
> 
> Again, sorry for repeating myself , but surely Sirius and Snape did 
> not like each other way before Prank happened, right? JKR did say 
> that they loathed each other, so why stop and have a chat with each 
> other? Why, why, why?
> 
> Can someone give me a realistic speculation of mechanics of the 
> Prank, because right now it is very hard for me to imagine.
> snip

Potioncat:
Canon
SS/PS chapter 17 DD says that Severus and James detested each other 
and James saved Severus' life. He goes on to say, "Funny the way 
people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being in 
your father's debt...I do believe he worked so hard to protect you 
this year because he felt that would make him and your father even."

PoA chapter 14 Snape says, "And did the headmaster tell you the 
circumstances in which your father saved my life?..."
"...your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke 
on me that would have resulted in my death if your father hadn't 
gotten cold feet at the last moment..."

PoA chapter 18 Lupin speaking he talks about the dislike between 
Snape and the Marauders. "You see, Sirius here played a trick on him 
that nearly killed him, a trick which involved me."...
..."It served him right." Black sneered.

Lupin goes on to say that Snape had seen Pomfrey take him to the 
whomping willow one evening. "Sirius thought it would be--er-amusing 
to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the tree trunk with a long 
stick and he'd be able to get in after me. Well of course, Snape 
tried it..."  "...but your father who'd heard what Sirius had done 
went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life."

back to Potioncat:
So both Severus and James were at risk for being killed. This from 
Snape, Dumbledore and Lupin.

Lupin says Sirius told Snape. Sirius doesn't deny it. In fact, it's 
said twice that it was Sirius who played the joke on Severus. It 
isn't clear to me if all this happened one evening. That is, Snape 
knew Lupin was going somewhere each month, but on this evening Snape 
saw Pomfrey and Lupin crossing the lawn to the tree. Sirius tells him 
how to get in. James hears about it apparantly after Snape goes in, 
or at least, after Sirius tells Snape. James goes after him. 

It seems to me that neither Remus nor James knew about the joke 
before hand. Snape either has reason to think they knew about it, or 
simply suspects they knew.

What was the circumstance in which Sirius told Snape? And how did 
he manage it in such a way that Snape went after Lupin? Did Snape 
have any suspicion that Lupin was a werewolf? I'm not sure if Pomfrey 
went into the tunnel with Lupin. If she did, Snape may have thought 
it was safe to follow.

If we believe Sirius was an impulsive teenager, why can't we also 
accept Severus as a teenager? Even if he was less impulsive than 
Sirius, that leaves a lot of room for impulsivity. Perhaps Sirius, at 
his most charming, was offering a payback for the rude treatment he'd 
given Severus earlier that week? (OWLs) or maybe this happens early 
6th year.

I'm not sure if we'll get more details to this event. But it seems 
clear that Sirius tricked Severus into going into the tunnel beneath 
the whomping willow after Remus. That Severus could have been killed 
and that James risked his life to save Severus. Dumbledore seems to 
think Severus could have been killed, yet he does not seem to hold it 
against Sirius the way Severus does. Severus seems to accept that 
James could have been killed,too, but atributes a different motive to 
the act of courage.

I know I didn't answer the "how" but did this help at all?
Potioncat