Which characters are dynamic?

nrenka nrenka at yahoo.com
Wed Oct 19 17:01:39 UTC 2005


No: HPFGUIDX 141848

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> 
wrote:

> Pippin:
> What part of Harry's celebrity is in question? Indeed, one might 
> even consider that Snape knows more about Harry's celebrity than 
> Harry himself. Harry has no idea that Draco might see him as a 
> potential Dark Lord, and if he did, he might be perfectly happy to 
> see that idea squashed, even at the cost of being humiliated in 
> public. He certainly wasn't happy about being thought of as 
> Slytherin's Heir in Book Two.

No perception exists in a vacuum, of course.  Do you treat someone 
differently if you know, or at least suspect, that they know little 
or nothing about their own status?  If Snape is Dumbledore's bad cop 
who does everything for a reason, surely he would be that well-
informed, or at least not going to take hasty pre-emptive 
action...right?  I haven't run into the situation yet in my own 
classroom, but there are famous people/children thereof enrolled as 
undergraduates, and they generally really appreciate being treated as 
other students and not being marked out for either acclaim or 
opprobrium.  So there's not only information, there's what you do 
with it.

> As for the Shrieking Shack, can't you see how delicious this is? 
> Well, maybe not, if you can't get your mind around innocent Snape 
> even as a hypothesis. But could you suspend your disbelief long 
> enough to see that JKR could put Harry in a position very analogous 
> to Snape's in the SS? 

I can, actually.  I would hope that Harry, being the better man in at 
least some ways, could find it in himself to at least listen, and 
ponder the facts.  It would be gratifying in literary terms to get 
that kind of retread where the same mistake is *not* made.

But isn't this a shift for you, Pippin, or am I mistaken in thinking 
that you've generally argued that Snape was just acting in the Shack 
(as Dumbledore's seekrit agent), and that it was all actually set up 
by ESE!Lupin?  Not so good a parallel, then. :)

-Nora can see some forms of more-rather-than-less innocent Snape, but 
doesn't buy the 'fake AK' exculpation for a minute.  Too little BANG, 
and the "wait 'till next book!" cry is becoming passe...







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