CHAPDISC: HBP24, Sectumsempra

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 161247


Carol earlier:
> > 7. Why did Snape and only Snape show up when Myrtle cried bloody 
> > murder? Could anyone else have saved Draco, or does Snape alone
know the countercurse? What does the songlike or chantlike nature of
the countercurse suggest to you about it or about Snape?
> 
> Finwitch:
> 
> Snape had been tailing Draco so naturally it was he to show up. As
for why none other didn't come -- they didn't hear Myrtle. There's a
> reason why Draco chose Myrtle's toilet to cry in: he didn't wish to
be heard in the act. As for the countercurse -- well, I would be
> surprised if Dumbledore didn't know it, and spposedly Madam Pomfrey
> did as well. We have evidence that Snape created SectumSempra, not
> that he created the countercurse. For all we know, it was
*Dumbledore* to create that one, so that doesn't say anything about Snape.

Carol again:
Actually, it was a sixth-floor boys' "bathroom" (restroom), not
Moaning Myrtle's "toilet," so there's no reason why no one else would
hear Moaning Myrtle unless only Snape was around, specifically
following either Draco or Harry (I think Draco at this point).
Possibly everyone else is at dinner and that's why the others didn't
hear him. Snape would have noticed Draco's absence.

Also, since Snape invented the curse, wouldn't he have had to invent
the countercurse as well, or else discover an old healing spell that
would work to heal the cuts? What makes you think that Madam Pomfrey
would know the countercurse? Snape healed Draco himself, just as he
stopped the curses on Katie Bell and Dumbledore. DD later tells Harry
that Snape knows much more about Dark magic than Madam Pomfrey, and
Sectumsempra is his own invention, not a curse he'd be likely to tell
her about. As for Dumbledore inventing it, if he could do that, why
did he need Snape's help to be (partially) cured of the curse on the
Ring Horcrux? And I can't imagine Snape going to Dumbledore and
saying, "I've invented this terrible curse called Sectumsempra and I
can't come up with a countercurse. Can you help me?"

I think we're supposed to be astounded by Snape's inventiveness as a
Healer as well as creator of this Dark spell and by this new side of
him. Certainly he has memorized this complex spell and immediately
applies it, not once but three times, to great effect. He keeps his
head in a crisis, in contrast to Slughorn, who is flustered and
completely forgets about bezoars when Ron is poisoned.
 
Carol earlier:
> > 8. Why do you think JKR included the reference to dittany in the 
> > scene rather than merely having Snape take Draco up to the
hospital wing to be examined by Madam Pomfrey? What does it tell us
about Snape and/or Draco?
> 
Finwitch:
> What? That Snape knew the countercurse, of course. It tells of
Snape's knowledge in the area - due to the vow, this tells nothing
more about Snape.

Carol again:
I was referring to dittany here, not the countercurse. The vow could
account for Snape's quick action in saving Draco's life, but it
doesn't account for his healing abilities. It could explain why he
used the countercurse, but it doesn't explain how he knew it (see
above), nor does it preclude his also genuinely caring about Draco.
And it doesn't explain the dittany at all. Snape was not compelled by
the vow to keep Draco from being scarred. If he hadn't known about
dittany, he would still have saved Draco's life and the vow would be kept.

With regard to the dittany, I think, first, that Snape was calming
Draco, reassuring him that the spell wouldn't leave scars if he took
dittany, but also making sure that he got to the hospital wing, away
from Harry, so the situation wouldn't escalate. The reference to
dittany also shows that Snape knows his herblore, another branch of
healing. And it shows that he knows Draco, who would be concerned
about his appearance (unlike Bill Weasley later in the book). So,
however insensitive Snape may be to Harry's psychological needs, he
seems to understand Draco's. But Snape is also trusting Harry to
remain where he is, possibly hoping that the wet and bloody restroom,
with its broken lavatories, will help to make the lesson soak in--ten
minutes alone to think about what he's done and the consequences of
using unknown spells labeled "for enemies."

Carol, who thinks that the scene does tell a good deal about Snape,
most of it lost on Harry