[HPforGrownups] Re: Sirius and Prank again? Fools Rush in ...

[Magda Grantwich]

No: HPFGUIDX 129990

--- nrenka <nrenka at yahoo.com> wrote:

> But what is rather unclear is whether Sirius *intended* to
> explicitly 'put Snape's life in danger' or not.  Snape did get
> himself 
> over there, after all, which means even from a strict causal 
> perspective (which isn't my favorite POV for dealing with the 
> Potterverse) he shares some of the causality.  


I think it's quite clear that Sirius didn't intend to put Snape's
life in danger; had that been the case, Dumbledore would have kicked
his padfooted butt so far over the astronomy tower that he wouldn't
have touched down before he'd reached Derbyshire.  Dumbledore takes a
very dim view of physical abuse; no apologies would have covered it.

I will also give Sirius the benefit of the doubt that if he'd
intended to harm or kill Snape, then he'd have paused for at least a
second and realized that it would be Lupin who'd cause the harm or
death.  And the only way I can reconcile Sirius' use of Lupin in the
prank is if in fact he only meant for Snape to get a good scare.

On the other hand, there's also the little matter of thinking ahead
and considering the law of unintended consequences - which seems to
have been something that James had no trouble working out - Sirius
should have considered that something could go badly wrong.  

I've always thought it was a good thing that JKR makes it clear in
the text that Sirius was considered to be a really bright student;
sort of makes up for the fact that he's responsible for some pretty
stupid actions.

> Nora:
> I can't make it make sense to myself.  Given the small snapshot of 
> climate we have, I find Madga's idea that Snape thought Sirius
> wanted 
> to be friends to be a little hard to reconcile with Snape's general
> character--although I don't know enough to be sure.  


Snape is a desperately lonely individual who's frightened of intimacy
and friendship at the same time that he craves them.  Nothing I've
seen of Snape shows me someone who's comfortable around people or who
knows how to act in a social setting or who knows how to make
friends.

A young, insecure, teenager like this could fall for an offer of
comradeship that seemed to be sincere.  

Magda


		
__________________________________ 
Discover Yahoo! 
Get on-the-go sports scores, stock quotes, news and more. Check it out! 
http://discover.yahoo.com/mobile.html