More talented friends and other questions

[sbursztynski]

No: HPFGUIDX 142907

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "ginny343" <ginny343 at y...> 
wrote:
>
> Okay, I have a thought, and then about a thousand questions . . . 
> 
> "He has fought his way out of a number of tight corners by a 
simple 
> combination of sheer luck and more talented friends.  He is 
mediocre 
> to the last degree . . . "
> 
> I have considered for a long time that ONE reason Snape is bad to 
> Harry is for Malfoy and the other Slytherins' benefit.  Malfoy 
going 
> home and telling his dad how awful Snape is to Harry and how poor 
> Harry's skills are, must earn Snape points with this DE family 
> (assuming Narcissa is a DE) and give them a feeling that Harry is 
> not so big of a problem.  
> 
> So, is Snape also telling LV that Harry is mediocre and gets out 
of 
> situations by luck and more talented friends?  
> 
> -Wouldn't this make LV take Harry less seriously than if Snape was 
> telling LV that Harry is growing to be a skilled wizard?  I wonder 
> what Snape REALLY thinks?  
> 
> -Who exactly are the more talented friend"s"?  Obviously Hermione 
is 
> very talented.  But who else?  Ron helped in PS with the chess 
game, 
> and I think we all hope to see him use his logic/battle skills in 
> the future, but how else have we seen him "talented"?  It seems 
his 
> study skills are as bad, possible worse, than Harry's.  Thinking 
> about the people in the DA and those fighting with him at the 
MoM.  
> Maybe Ginny, we don't know much about her skills.  But Luna?  
> Neville?   If anything, we could say he has gotten out of most his 
> serious situations with luck and help from Hermione and DD.  
> 
> -Is this statement putting in danger Harry's close friends, who LV 
> might be seeing as future threats.
> 
> Other questions:
> Does Snape walk around 24/7 practicing occlumency?  In PS/SS, when 
> Harry was with Quirrel/LV in front of the mirror, LV stated that 
> Harry was lying, even before Quirrel took off the turban.  Was he 
> just guessing?  Was LV able to practice legilimency that whole 
year 
> when he was part of Quirrel? 
> 
> Does Snape know about the horcruxes?  Is it possible that he was 
the 
> one who first told DD about LV having a horcrux?  Obviously RAB 
knew 
> he had one, so maybe Snape did too?  This would mean Snape would 
> feel confident that LV would be able to come back.  This could 
keep 
> him on guard and working at Hogwarts for all those years.  Whether 
> Snape is evil or not, I don't think he truly wanted LV to return.  
I 
> think he, Lucius and some of the other DEs have their own agendas 
> and were privately relieved when LV disappeared and they were not 
> thrown in Azkaban.
> 
> On the other hand, what exactly was Lucius trying to accomplish 
when 
> he gave Ginny Riddle's diary?  Did he know what it would do?  Did 
he 
> just want to open the chamber and get people killed or was he 
> looking for a way to get LV revived?  Did Lucius know it was a 
> horcrux?
> 
> So many questions . . . :) I had better stop there.  
> 
> Ginny343

Sue here,

Chuckle! Those are, indeed, a lot of questions, and I'm sure we'll 
be discussing them for some time. I think that the "more talented 
friends" probably is just a reference to Hermione, never mind the 
plural. Nah, I think he just hates James and, as a result, Harry. 
He's a pretty emotional dude and in the WW, which is a small 
community, grudges go on for a long time. I suspect Snape knows, in 
his heart of hearts, that Harry is anything but mediocre, and 
probably hates him even more because of it. Which doesn't mean he 
won't protect him if that's what it takes to save the world. 

As for the last question, I can answer that because I have just been 
listening to Stephen Fry reading HBP, chapter 23 is the one 
concerned. DD tells Harry exactly what happened with the diary 
horcrux - Lucius didn't know the horcrux was in there and just 
thought he'd kill a few birds with one stone. LV didn't know his 
horcrux had been destroyed till afterwards and was livid with 
Lucius, who is probably glad to be safe in Azkaban. I found this 
particularly interesting, because it has to be Snape who gave DD 
that information and probably Lucius who went to Snape for sympathy 
over the matter (who knows? A glass of expensive wine at Malfoy 
Manor and a good whinge... "I dunno, Severus, he never TOLD me he 
had a horcrux in there, did he? How was I supposed to know?" 
Interesting, too, to think of the aristocratic Malfoy hanging out 
with Snape, whom we know now is as working-class as they come, 
assuming that's his family home at Spinner's End!)
>