CHAPDISC: HBP 2, Spinner's End

[Sydney]

No: HPFGUIDX 142068



> 1. Bellatrix kills a fox, thinking it could be an Auror. Does she 
> suspect Snape's home is being watched, or is she always looking over 
> her shoulder for an Auror? Do you think all DEs would be this trigger 
> happy, or is it just Bella?

I think this was Bella being 'on the run'.  

> 2. The neighborhood sounds deserted, except for some streetlights 
> that are still lit and the presence of food wrappers at the river's 
> edge. What can our RW sociologists tell us about this neighborhood in 
> the late 90's?

I've been rooting for EastEndCockney!Snape for a while, so at first I
thought it might be Limehouse, but that didn't really fit--it's hardly
far enough away from Westminster.  The alternative grotty row-house
childhood would take you up North to Yorkshire or therabouts. 
Sociologically speaking... JKR might be thinking of of somewhere like
Bradford or Leeds, which are known for race riots and soccer
hooliganism, and would be an appropriate setting for Snape as a young
skinhead (with a Pakistani father!).  

> 
> 3. Bella knows Narcissa is going to visit Snape, but she is caught by 
> surprise (equaling that of many from this list) at the location. She 
> calls it a Muggle dunghill and doubts that any of "our kind" has ever 
> set foot there. In fact, Snape, Pettigrew and Narcissa all seem 
> familiar with the area. Yet it was Bella who was supposed to be part 
> of young Severus's gang. What do you think is going on here? How long 
> do you think Snape has been using this location?

I'm pretty sure this is Snape's childhood home, because it matches his
air of chip-on-shoulder low-class boy done good, and why waste a great
location by having his summer residence somewhere else again?  JKR
wants to tell us something about Snape and who he is here.  Also, the
"none of our kind have ever been here" line felt like Exposition to
me, so I think it's preparing us for Snape backstory.


> 4. Snape's tiny sitting room is lined with leather bound books and 
> contains a threadbare sofa, an old armchair and a rickety table. It 
> had the "feeling of a dark, padded cell." A padded cell is used for 
> someone who needs protection from himself.

SUICIDAL SNAPE!!  I'm sailing this dingy, darn it.

 
> 5. Narcissa is described as having a note of hysteria in her voice 
> and the look of a drowned person. She then enters a room that has the 
> feeling of a padded cell.  What does that tell us about Narcissa?  
> How does that fit with her actions later in this chapter?

I think the padded cel thing was about Snape, but I was struck by the
fact that this is the second time we've seen a DE (or DE hanger-on) go
to Snape for help when they're in bad trouble. Karkaroff did in OoP,
and neither of them try to either bribe or threaten Snape for help--
they seem to think he'll help because he's, well, a decent human
being.   I love that the Death Eaters sense that, but the Order
doesn't...  Karkaroff seems to have suffered from a lack of batting
eyelashes though! 



> 6. Snape, Narcissa and Bella drank a toast with blood-red wine. I'm 
> not sure which image came sooner to my mind at that point: Vampire!
> Snape or Sir Patrick Spens and his wrecked ship. In English ballads, 
> nothing good comes after drinking "bluid-red" wine.  Elf-made wine 
> doesn't sound too safe either. How many stories involve some danger 
> at drinking something made by elves or fairies? These are magical 
> folk, so perhaps it's not so dangerous. Do you think this was just 
> setting the magical mood, or was JKR waving a flag
 
> 7. This is a serious chapter, with lots of dark images. It's 
> informative too, but it's difficult to decide which information is 
> truth and which is deception. What images or feelings made an 
> impression on you? How do they affect your interpretation of the 
> story? 

The wine and the books and the toasts to the Dark Lord and the suave
Snape and the straight-from-the-net explanations for Snape's actions
gave me an overwhelming feel of fanficciness.   In general I was
expecting this book would feature amping up of Snape as suspect, so I
wasn't surprised by it.  
> 
> 8. Narcissa asks Snape to make an Unbreakable Vow and Bella 
> is "astonished" that he agrees. It looks like a wedding ceremony, and 
> is obviously very serious. We've seen that magical contracts have 
> serious consequences--the Goblet of Fire in GoF, and the SNEAK hex in 
> OoP. None of us can really understand why Snape agreed, but is this 
> just Business as Usual in the Wizarding World? How does this vow 
> compare to magical deals in fairy tales and myths?

It made me think of the old bit about the guy promising a
genie/Beast/god to give them the first thing that they met when they
went home that day, expecting it to be their dog, and of course it
always turns out to be the beloved daughter instead. Never make a
Promise with a capital P in a fairy tale!

> 
> 9. (Thanks to Carol for this question): Like "The Other 
> Minister," "Spinner's End" is written from a point of view other than 
> Harry's. ...(BIG SNIP). How do these three chapters 
> work together?

I loved the Other Minister chapter, but I did find it disorienting to
have two non-Harry chapters, and then back to normal.  I wish she'd
been able to fit it somewhere else-- I think it would have worked well
at the start of PoA.

Thanks, Potioncat!