handwriting, Draco's fate, Slughorn and pineapple

[Nanagose at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 134599

>>Rosmerta said
>>Want to bet Lily and Severus were Potions partners?


Christina:
I couldn't agree more.  Ollivander says that Lily's wand is good for Charms.  
What's the point of emphasizing her skills at Potions as well?  The book 
works just as well if you take out Slughorn's comments about Lily's Potions 
ability, so there *must* be some sort of reason JKR chooses to put them there.

>>EstherS:
>>Snape wrote all his recipes on the board (not relying on the text-book) and 
while Snape >>was Potions master Hermione's potions came out perfectly.

Christina:
I think this is huge evidence that shows that it was, in fact, Snape, that 
made the notes in the potions textbook, and not Lily, or his mother, or anyone 
else.

>>Chys:
>>THIS BUGS ME! Why didn't Harry recognize the handwriting? Did he? 
>>Handwriting doesn't change that much over time. 

Christina:
Well, I'm 19 and my handwriting is completely different from what it was at 
16, so I don't know :)  I am convinced that the handwriting in the book is 
Snape's.  JKR describes the writing in the textbook in HBP as "small" and 
"cramped," while describing Snape's teenaged handwriting in OOTP as "miniscule" and 
"cramped."  Coincidence?  Probably not.  Also, writing on a blackboard is not 
the same as writing on paper.  While the general style of a person's handwriting 
is the same, it wouldn't really match up exactly to how they write normally.

>>Inge:
>>
>>HBP, The Lightning-Struck Tower, p 552, Bloomsbury:
>>(Dumbledore):"..I can help you, Draco."
>>"No, you can't," said Malfy, his wand hand shaking very badly 
>>indeed. "Nobody can. He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no 
>>choise."
>>
>>So, in fact there was a penalty for Draco if he failed. Death penalty.

Christina:
Not necessarily.  Just because LV said to Draco that he would be killed if he 
didn't complete his task, doesn't mean that it was ever his true intention.

(HBP, US, page 34):
" 'He intends me to do it in the end, I think.  But he is determined that 
Draco should try first.' "

We know that LV himself has tried to kill DD and failed.  I really don't 
think he ever expected Draco to succeed.  Also, it just isn't to LV's advantage to 
kill Draco.  As we can see in the conversation on the train, Draco's buddies 
are surprised that he's joining up with LV.  I think it's safe to assume that 
not many other Slytherins have joined up either.  By keeping Draco on board, 
LV can use him to recruit other young people for "the cause."  If he kills 
Draco and other young Slytherins hear of it, it would probably only scare them 
away.

On a completely unrelated note, what is with Slughorn's obsession with 
crystalized pineapple?  It's mentioned at least three times.


Christina


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