[HPforGrownups] Dark Magic and Snape / Dark Creatures

[Magpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 161493

a_svirn:
I think your analogy is exactly right - the curse of lycanthropy does
bear a strong resemblance to possession.  The trouble is that no one
usually thinks the possessed persons "dark" or evil. They are
regarded as *victims* of Evil, not agents of it. And the same goes
for werewolves. It is a human Grayback  who is malicious and whose
intent is wicked, not a wolf Grayback, after all. A wolf Grayback is
just insane - doesn't know what he does and why. Which brings us to
back to the supposed intent-darkness correlation. Either we have to
agree - rather lamely - that werewolves are actually a special case,
an exception from that rule, or we have to face the possibility that
we've been going with a false premise.

Magpie:
I wonder if that is meant to mirror the problems with the way they're dealt 
in canon.  I mean, it seems to me that werewolves being classified the way 
they are is seen by JKR as a misconception. Lupin *shouldn't* be judged as 
anything but the man he is, with a condition that's not his fault but can be 
controlled.  Fenrir, too, should be judged by his human self (which is bad).

So we're kind of back to Dark being a "I know it when I see it" sort of 
thing.  Werewolves almost seem to be dark because they disturb people.

Sydney:

Anyways-- my point, if I had a point, is that we've been introduced to a new 
'set' and this set has been attached to Snape.  The 'Burrow' set
of the cottage overrun with healthy children brings its associations and 
expectations, the 'island prison' set of Sirius Black ditto, the 'identikit 
suburban house' of the Dursleys ditto.  Whether this is Snape's childhood 
home or not (I very much think it is), JKR painted
this cliche set-- and I mean cliche in the warmest possible way!--with some 
care.

Magpie:
Makes one see why JKR tried so hard and was disappointed to have to drop the 
Theo Nott/Draco Malfoy scene. People mostly focus on her description for 
what it tells us about Theo Nott, but I think one of the reasons JKR said 
she wanted to include it was to show Draco's home and how different it was 
from Harry's.  The Manor House set.

BetsyHP:
And Snape, in turn, would think well of the family that took him under their 
wing, despite his questionable background.  Because he really seems fond of 
Draco and seemed very patient and kind with Narcissa.

Magpie:
I've never been able to figure out his history with Draco either. In CoS 
when Draco was offering to put in a good word for Snape at home I thought as 
far as Draco knew Snape and Lucius didn't know each other. But by HBP you'd 
think Draco knew more about the history.  Though who knows?  I guess mostly 
it's hard to believe Draco wouldn't have made a point of showing everybody 
he knew Snape the first day if he actually had known him. So possibly this 
relationship never led to Snape coming to the house. Or perhaps he and 
Lucius have kept their distance over the years, while still managing to 
maintain a connection almost through signals--Lucius speaking highly of 
Snape and Snape hearing about it, Draco reporting how much he likes Snape.

Yeah, I'm dying to know exactly what Snape and Lucius' relationship is. 
Honestly, you can't have Sirius throw in a line about Snape being somebody's 
lapdog without some explanation given the relationship we see. Perhaps 
Draco's storming out the moment Snape brought Lucius up in HBP was more than 
just a signal to Draco's feelings, but also one of JKR's little hint/covers.

-m