CHAPDISC: HBP8, Snape Victorious

[Sherry Gomes]

No: HPFGUIDX 146545

CHAPTER DISCUSSIONS: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 8,
Snape Victorious

Summary:

The chapter begins with Harry, immobilized and invisible, under his own
invisibility cloak.  He hopes someone will come looking for him, realizing
all the same that even if someone looks in, they will not see him, so he
hopes someone will come in and step on him.  As he lies there, he hates
Malfoy.  He begins to worry as he hears the sounds of the last people and
luggage leaving the train.  His only hope is that his friends will notice
his absence, but this won't happen till the feast, and by then the train
will be on its way back to London.

Failing in his attempts to speak, he remembers that some wizards can perform
nonverbal magic, and he tries to summon his wand with no success.  

He slips further into discouragement.  He can hear the sounds of trees
rustling, owls hooting, and he wonders, despising himself for it even as he
does, if he might just hear panicked voices wondering what had happened to
him.  He imagines the amusement Malfoy will derive from telling his friends
all about what he did to Harry Potter.

The train lurches, the engine roars to life, and Harry knows that it is
getting ready to go, with him still aboard, and nobody knowing where he is.

Suddenly, he feels the cloak fly off him and Tonks greets him with her usual
"Wotcher Harry" greeting, and releases him from the immobilizing spell.
Tonks tells him to hurry, that they have to jump off the train and he
hurries after her.  Tonks leaps off the train, and Harry jumps off too,
staggering a little as he lands.  The train picks up speed and disappears
around a corner.  Harry is safe.

Tonks asks Harry who did this to him, and he tells her it was Draco Malfoy.
She doesn't say anything in response and gives him back his cloak.  Harry
feels angry and embarrassed to have been found in such a ridiculous
position.  He notices that she is still mousy and miserable looking, just as
she was at The Burrow earlier in the summer.  Tonks offers to fix his nose.
Harry is reluctant, because he is concerned she won't do it right, and he
would rather go to Madam Pomfrey whom he trusts.  However he lets Tonks do
it because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings.  She is able to fix his
nose actually and he thanks her.

Tonks tells him to put his cloak back on, and they begin their walk up to
Hogwarts.  Tonks sends a large silvery something out of her wand and Harry
asks if it is a patronus.  She says yes, that she has sent word to the
school that she's found him, so they won't worry.  Harry asks Tonks how she
found him, and she tells him that she knew he hadn't gotten off the train.
She also says she knew he had the cloak and wondered if he was hiding.  She
saw the blinds down in the compartment and went to investigate.  Harry asks
her why she's there, and she tells him she is stationed in Hogsmeade now to
give the school extra protection.  She also tells him that Proudfoot, Savage
and Dawlish are also posted there, and Harry remembers that Dawlish is the
auror Dumbledore attacked, when Fudge tried to have him arrested the
previous year.  

They go on in silence for a while, Harry thinking about the changes in
Tonks.  Previously, she had been annoyingly nosy, full of jokes, smiling.
He wonders if the changes in her are due to the events at the ministry.  He
supposes he should say something to her, that Hermione would probably tell
him to talk to Tonks, consoling her about the death of Sirius.  He wonders
if she is blaming herself.  He thinks she shouldn't blame herself, that it
isn't her fault, that his fault is so much more.  But still, he cannot bring
himself to talk about Sirius to anyone, and he remains silent.

After a long walk--Harry hadn't realized how far the station was from the
school--at last, they arrive at Hogwarts.  Harry feels relieved to be
leaving this gloomy Tonks.  However, when he tries to open the gates, they
will not open.  He tries alohomora, but nothing happens, and Tonks tells him
that spell won't work on these gates.  She tells him that Dumbledore
bewitched the gates himself.  She also tells him that there are
anti-intruder jinxes on the walls, so he could not climb one, and that
security has been tightened.  Harry feels annoyed and sarcastically tells
her that he'll have to sleep outside.  She tells him that someone is coming
for him and points out someone coming from the castle.  Harry feels
relieved, thinking that he wouldn't even mind if it was Filch.  He removes
his cloak, before he recognizes the person coming toward them.  He feels
instantly full of loathing when he recognizes Snape.

Snape begins in his usual way with a sneer and sarcasm about Harry's late
arrival and not being in school robes.  Harry is instantly on the defensive
and tries to explain, but Snape cuts him off.  He tells Tonks that she need
not wait, that Harry is "quite--ah--safe in my hands."  Tonks says that she
had meant for Hagrid to get the message and Snape tells her that Hagrid was
late.  As he shuts and secures the gates, Snape tells Tonks that he was
interested to see her new patronus.  He goes on to say that he thought the
old one was better, and that the new one looks weak.  Tonks looks shocked
and angry at the mention of her patronus but says nothing more except to
respond to Harry's good night and thanks.  Harry and Snape begin to walk up
to the castle.

As Harry and Snape walk up to the castle, Harry is overwhelmed with feelings
of hatred for Snape, so strong that he wonders why Snape can't feel them.
He has come to blame Snape deeply for the death of Sirius.  He believes that
Snape's taunting of Sirius in OOTP is partly to blame for Sirius rushing off
to the ministry to rescue him, Harry.  He also believes that Snape is one
person who is not sorry that Sirius is dead, and this makes it easy to blame
him for the death.

Snape takes a total of 70 points from Gryffindor because of lateness and
muggle attire.  Harry's rage grows stronger, but he thinks he would rather
be immobilized and on the way back on the train, rather than admit to Snape
what had happened.  Snape goes on chiding him, remarking that Harry probably
wanted to make a grand entrance halfway through the meal for dramatic
effect.  Harry remains silent and seething, and they finish their trip to
the castle.  

Harry wonders if he can slip in under his cloak, but Snape, seeming to read
his mind, tells him that he can walk in so that everyone sees him, which is
what Snape says is what Harry wanted anyway.  Harry walks in, people begin
to stare at him.  He sees his friends and rushes to them.

Ron starts to ask him where he's been and then breaks off to ask what Harry
has done to his face.  He and everyone around them are goggling at Harry's
face.  Harry asks what's wrong with it and Hermione tells him that he is
covered in blood.  She cleans him up and presses him to tell what happened.
He tells her to wait, aware that others are listening in.  She continues to
press him and he tells her not now.  He hopes that people will think he was
off doing something heroic and that Malfoy's story won't reach too many
Gryffindor ears.

Harry tries to get some dinner, but just as he reaches for it, the regular
food disappears and is replaced with dessert.  The trio discusses the
sorting hat saying more of the same, and that Dumbledore hadn't mentioned
Voldemort yet.  Harry mentions that Snape said Hagrid was late.  Hermione
tells him that Hagrid was only a few minutes late and points out that Hagrid
is waving at Harry from the staff table.  Harry looks up at Hagrid and as
usual notices the other teachers at the table.  To his surprise, Trelawney
is there.  This is very unusual.  As he looks away he notices that Malfoy is
entertaining the Slytherin table with a dramatization of the events on the
train.  He feels angry and wishes he could fight Draco one on one.

Hermione asks Harry what Slughorn wanted, and he tells them that it was to
try to find out what happened at the Ministry.  Ron confirms that everyone
wants to know that, and if Harry is indeed THE CHOSEN ONE.  Nearly Headless
Nick joins the conversation, telling them that the ghosts have been
questioning him about the matter, because he is considered somewhat of a
Potter authority in the spirit community.  He says that he tells them he
will not repeat anything about Harry, that he would rather die than betray
his trust and Ron breaks in to say that it's not saying much, considering NH
N is already dead.  NHN gets offended and tells Ron that as usual, he has
the sensitivity of a blunt axe.  

Dumbledore begins to give his usual after dinner speech.  The students
notice his hand and begin to murmur about it.  He realizes this and brushes
it off with a brief "nothing to worry about" and goes on.  As he gives the
typical greeting, Harry tells his friends that the hand was like that when
he'd seen Dumbledore over the summer.  Hermione comments that the hand looks
as if it is dead.  She says that there are some old curses and poisons that
can't be undone.  Dumbledore goes on with his speech.  He says that there is
a blanket ban on all products from Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes from Filch,
and tells people who are interested in playing Quidditch or commentating to
get in touch with their heads of house.  And then he moves to the part where
he introduces the new staff members.

Dumbledore drops a bombshell as he introduces Slughorn as the new potions
master.  JKR wrote this exquisitely, with a little delay, building suspense.
Shock ripples around the dining hall, and everyone is repeating the word,
potions?  

Then Dumbledore goes on to say that Snape will be taking over the Defense
against the Dark Arts position.  Harry is incensed at this idea.  He thinks
about the general knowledge around the school that Dumbledore has not given
the position to Snape, who has wanted it for years, because Dumbledore did
not trust Snape.  Harry's friends take him to task for telling them that
Slughorn was for DADA, and he realizes that Dumbledore had never said the
name of the subject Slughorn would be teaching.  Snape does not stand, but
raises a lazy hand to the Slytherins, and Harry believes he detects a look
of triumph on Snape's face.  He tells his friends that at least this means
that Snape will be gone by the end of the year.  When Ron questions him,
Harry mentions the job being jinxed and Quirrel's death.  He says that he is
keeping his fingers crossed for another death.  Hermione reproaches him
strongly for this statement.  

Dumbledore goes on to discuss Voldemort's return and the dangerous times
they are in.  He tells them of increased security and admonishes the
students to follow all security measures.  He specifically mentions not
wandering around after bedtime.  Then he tells them to go off to bed.

Harry and Ron wait till everyone else is moving out of the hall before they
leave.  Ron asks Harry what really happened to his nose, and Harry explains.
Harry considers it a mark of Ron's true friendship that he does not laugh
about it. As Harry and Ron are discussing things, Hagrid overhears and
chides Harry for using Voldemort's name.  Harry tells him that Dumbledore
uses it, and Hagrid says, well, that's Dumbledore, as if nobody else should
dare say the name.  They have some conversation about Grawp and Hagrid tells
the boys he'll see them at his class.  He mentions Buckbeak, now
Witherwings.  Ron and Harry are appalled at the thought that Hagrid is
expecting them to be in his class.  None of them is continuing with care of
magical creatures.  The chapter ends with Harry worrying about what Hagrid
will think.


Discussion questions

1.  This is the first mention of nonverbal spells in the book, though it
becomes important later as we know.  Did it catch you at all at this point,
or did you just pass over it as you wondered how he'd get out of this
pickle?


2.  Harry despises himself for wishing there would be the sound of panic,
people wondering what had happened to him.  He has always hated his
celebrity, but in this situation, it might have helped.  Later in the
chapter, when he is at the Gryffindor table and feeling embarrassed, he
hopes the students will just assume he was off doing something heroic.  How
do you feel about his thoughts in this situation?  Does it seem
inconsistent, practical, or natural to you?

3.  Here we see Tonks jump off a moving train.  All through the last book,
OOTP, we are shown how clumsy Tonks is.  She constantly breaks things or
trips over things.  It becomes comic relief throughout that book.  But here
we see her casually leaping off a moving train.  What did you think of this?
We learn later that Tonks has lost her metamorphmagus ability.  Do you think
her ability to change her appearance could be part of why she is clumsy? Is
it possible that she isn't very well coordinated because of her
metamorphing?  Will she be clumsy again now that she has her ability back at
the end of HBP?  Or is there something more sinister going on here?  Is this
really Tonks?  

4.  Some have said that we didn't see enough of Harry grieving for Sirius.
What do you think of this scene, with Harry's thoughts about Tonks and his
inability to talk to her about Sirius?  Does this show his grief to you?

5.  I just noticed this when working on this chapter and actually reading it
in braille instead of hearing audio where I can't tell how a sentence is
punctuated.  Snape tells Tonks that Harry is 

"quite--ah--safe in my hands."  

Is there any implication in his words here, or is it just done for emphasis,
to add some sharpness, for Harry's benefit?  Or for Tonks?  Just curious
about how this was written.  Any thoughts?

6.  Later in HBP, we learn that Tonks' patronus is now a wolf, and we're led
to suspect it has changed because of her love for Remus.  But here at this
point, we don't know any of that yet.  Why do you think Snape made these
comments about her patronus?  He hasn't seemed to have any particular
feelings one way or the other about Tonks previously; in fact, did we ever
see them interact before?  Why does he say that her patronus is weak?  What
do you think about the whole significance of the changing patronus?  Does it
foreshadow events yet to come, or are there implications about Lupin in
Snape's comments?  

7.  We've discussed Harry's hatred of Snape over Sirius death many times in
the past, and I want to go in a different direction with this question.
Harry believes that the reason Sirius rushed off to the ministry was because
of Snape's taunts.  Whatever you think of that belief, why do you think
Harry would so easily believe that Sirius would only rush off because he was
taunted?  Does Harry have difficulty believing that Sirius could have rushed
to his rescue out of love for him and a desire to save him, as he could not
save James and Lily?  Does Harry have a problem believing that people could
love him enough to risk their lives?

8.  Ok, I've been dying to ask this question for months.  It's come up once
or twice before with no response.  Did Snape see that Harry's face was
covered in blood?  He did have a lantern with him, and when they entered the
school there was a lot of light.  If he did see it, why didn't he comment or
why didn't he realize that Harry had not been late on purpose, that
something must have happened to Harry on the way?  If you believe he didn't
see it, why not, how could he not see it?  With all the extra security and
all that going on in the wizarding world, why didn't he ask Harry how his
face got bloodied?  Were his snarky comments to Harry on the walk up to the
castle just the usual routine, done to keep up appearances, or does he still
seriously hate him so much?

9.  Hermione tells Harry that Hagrid was only a few minutes late, yet Snape
had said that Tonks' message to Hagrid couldn't reach him, because Hagrid
was late, and that was why, he, Snape, had taken the message instead.  Was
this true?  Do you think Snape intercepted the patronus message before it
could reach its intended recipient?  How long do Patronuses take to arrive
with a message?  Did it arrive when Hagrid was not there? Did Snape
intercept the message because he was supposed to protect Harry, or just to
have another golden opportunity to give him a bad time?

10.  Is there any significance to the fact that Trelawney is at the start of
term feast?  Is this only the second time we've seen her at the feast?

11.  Toward the end of this chapter, we have two different situations with
Ron, both that jumped out at me in different ways.  First in the
conversation with nearly Headless Nick, was this meant to be comic relief,
or showing Ron's insensitivity?  Later, as Harry tells Ron the story of what
happened on the train, he believes Ron shows his friendship by not laughing.
Does this show anything about Ron's character, or is this just normal for
any kid his age?
 
12.  Throughout the book, Harry asks about Dumbledore's hand, and he is
repeatedly told that he'll learn what happened later.  He never does.  Will
the exact details of what happened to the hand be important later, either in
what Harry has to do or in understanding what happened on the tower?

13.  Here is one of my favorite parts in the book, for surprise value,
Dumbledore announcing Slughorn as Potions teacher.  How did you react when
you read Dumbledore's announcement of Slughorn as potions master?  Were you
shocked?  Did you expect it at all?  When Harry and Dumbledore were going to
meet Slughorn, did you think it was to hire him for DADA?

14.  I have racked my brains and can't remember any place in the books where
it is stated as fact that Dumbledore did not trust Snape and that is why he
has never given him the DADA post before.  Is this a case of rumor and
gossip becoming fact over time?  Why indeed did Dumbledore give or not give
Snape the job?  Has Snape really wanted it all these years?  Did you think
about the DADA curse when you heard that Snape had the position?  Was Harry
correct in detecting the look of triumph on Snape's face?  He hates him so
much, that every expression must be well known to him, yet his hatred may
not make him a very reliable judge of such things.  

15.  How do you feel about Harry's savage comment that at least it means
Snape will be gone by the end of the year?  Did Harry's comment about
keeping his fingers crossed for another death disturb you? 

16.  Do you think Dumbledore's specific mentioning of not wandering after
bedtime is aimed at the trio in particular?

17.  When Harry tells Ron about the things he overheard Draco saying on the
train, we see more doubt on the part of Harry's circle about his suspicions
of Draco.  Why doesn't Ron believe that Draco is up to anything?  


Sherry
Who apologizes for the length but who didn't realize how much there was in
this chapter when she chose it.  Thanks for letting me lead a chapter!  This
was so fun!









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