Did Snape defend trio at the end of PoA? /Are appearances important to Snap

[spotsgal]

No: HPFGUIDX 142188

> colebiancardi
> 
> really?  I wish I had PoA on me right now.  I was under the 
> impression that Snape never heard that PP was an animagus; that he 
> only heard about the Prank and then appeared in the doorway.
> 

Christina:

In the Scholastic version, Snape enters on page 352, right when Lupin
is saying that he was the one who made all the "haunting" noises in
the Shrieking Shack.  He hears Lupin talking about how Dumbledore let
him come to Hogwarts, and a bit about how bad his transformations used
to be.  Lupin also mentions that the Marauders had become Animagi for
him.  He says Peter's nickname and says that he was the smallest of
them, but makes no specific mention to Peter's exact form.  Lupin goes
on to explain how guilty he has felt over the course of the year for
lying to Dumbledore.  He actually says some things that Snape could
take as pretty incriminating:

(PoA, pg 355)
"I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of
course...he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would
have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set
down for my own and others' safety.  He never knew I had led three
fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally.  But I always managed
to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next
month's adventure.  And I haven't changed..."

Lupin's face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his voice. 
"All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I
should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus.  But I didn't do
it.  Why?  Because I was too cowardly.  It would have meant admitting
that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd
led others along with me...and Dumbledore's trust has meant eveyrthing
to me.  He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I
have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because
of what I am.  And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into
the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an
Animagus had nothing to do with it...so, in a way, Snape's been right
about me all along."
(end quote)

Now, to somebody who already thinks that Lupin has helped Sirius get
into the castle, and as somebody who did *not* hear anything about the
Scabbers-is-Pettigrew revelation, Lupin's speech here is practically a
confession.  This is the last bit of evidence that Snape needs to
"prove" to himself that Sirius is innocent.  He waits to eavesdrop a
bit more to hear what they have to say about him, and then bursts from
the invisibility cloak.

colebiancardi:
> Now, I've lost my cool way more than 3 times over the last 6 years - 
> does this mean I have a bad temper?

Christina:

I sure hope not.  I've lost my cool more than three times in the last
six months, but I'm usually pretty cheerful.

colebiancardi:
> In the above 3 cases, can anyone blame Snape for 
> getting mad?  I can't.  

Christina:

Me neither.  Not to mention the fact that we've seen *Harry* go into
capslock-mode more times than we've seen Snape do it, IIRC.


Christina