Snape's Attack on Flitwick

[M.Clifford]

No: HPFGUIDX 139496

  mhbobbin:
> Although I lean to believing that Snape killed Dumbledore on 
> Dumbledore's orders, and that Snape isn't really working for 
> Voldemort, I am most troubled by my inability to reconcile Snape's 
> attack on Flitwick with this theory.

Valky:
I too find it difficult to reconcile, I generally have ignored it up
till now, but I guess we should bite it and have a look sometime hey? :D

 
> mhbobbin:
> Hermione described how Flitwick rushed to Snape's office to alert 
> him to the Death Eaters entering Hogwarts. Snape knocked Flitwick 
> out.

Valky:
You know, my first thought is that have we ever wondered what kind of
dueller Flitwick is? I think so far we have taken it pretty much for
granted that all the teachers can hold their own in a fight. But I
don't ever rememebr specific canon analysis of Flitwicks duelling
skills. <checking books... writing... snipping...>

Heres something, In COS Hermione relates that she was told Flitwick
was a duelling Champion when he was young. But then... rumours being
what they are... this is Lockhart's duelling club, and the teachers
did like their little joke with Lockhart. Snape said to him that he
knew a tiny bit about duelling which was obviously meant to decieve
him into making a fool of himself. And I can't imagine *anyone* in
Hogwarts wanting to help Gilderoy take an easy out on the least
capable teacher there which he certainly will have done given the
chance.. I am almost inclined to dismiss it, I am almost inclined to
believe that the teachers themselves started the rumour to prevent
Gilderoy asking Flitwick to be his duelling partner... I mean it's not
actually canon is it? its a rumour.. ;D Later in the book Filus
squeals and bursts into tears when he is told about Ginny in the
chamber. It just seems so wrong to consider him a dueller.. and then
there's the protections in PS/SS -

I think we get the sense that MacGonagall and Snape are formidable
from the nature of their protections. Macgonagalls is oversized,
ominous, sentient chess pieces, its fairly apparent from that where
most or all of us got our sense of certainty that MacGonagall could
"take em on standing", and it was vindicated in OOtP. Snapes
conversley is a spooky and dangerous challenge, and again we are
vindicated in our sense that Snape is not an easily shaken sort of
dueller. So comparing these things to Flitwicks protections, could we
say the same thing? I actually don't think we can. Flitwicks
protection tends to remind of the Cornish Pixies that Hermione took to
order almost singlehandedly in COS, the ones that Seamus laughed off
as silly. with that to start I am already getting a sense that Flitty
is just that, flitty. The foreshadowing indicates that he doesn't have
big guns in battle.

I may be entirely flying off the radar here, but I get the sense of
the other teachers being a little protective of their tiny colleague. 
It could even be said that we have seen Snape act to protect him
before, was he simply doing it again?

mhbobbin:
> And I do believe Harry's statement to Hermione that had she tried to 
> prevent Snape from joining the others instead of helping Flitwick, 
> that Snape would have killed her and Luna.

Valky:
It was Lupin actually. I think I am getting a sense of Lupin in a
moment where he is suddenly absorbing a whole lot of opinions that
Sirius and James had of Snape, one he previously resisted buying into.
I have a strong suspicion that the particular opinion that Snape would
have killed the girls was lifted by Lupin directly from a memory of
young James' talk. Some might disagree, but I suspect its true.

I know its very "Good!Snape" heavy, but I guess those are my only
thoughts other than Snape is bad bad bad.

Valky
Not really on the fence, but on the fence... not...