QUIDDITCH THROUGH THE AGES BY KENNILWORTHY WHISP

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 165106

Alla wrote:
> If anybody would like to discuss this book as it relates to cannon,
here are some discussion starters. (and of course feel free to add
your questions)
> 
> 1.   "A warning: If you rip, tear, shred, bend, fold, deface, 
disfigure, smear, smudge, throw, drop, or in any other manner damage,
mistreat, or show lack of respect towards this book, the consequences
will be as awful as it is within my power to make them. Irma Pince,
Hogwarts Librarian"
> 
> I am always quite skeptical about the theories of Madam Pince being
Snape's mother in disguise, but when I read this warning, I was
thinking that she does sound a bit like Snape here or does she?  Thoughts?

Carol responds:

Cute thread, Alla! We've been needing a new topic.

I share your skepticism about Irma Pince being Eileen Prince (they
don't even look alike), and Snape, at least as a teenager, was more
than a bit guilty of defacing and disfiguring books. (Note Madam
Pince's screams at Harry for "befouling" his Potions book, a crime for
which the HBP--Severus Snape--is actually guilty. If he were Madam
Pince's son, would he dare to deface a book? Snape, at least as a boy,
interacts with books, reacting to them by crossing out or underlining
or writing in the margins, whereas Madam Pince (who surely can't be
the cowering woman in Snape's memory) views them as precious objects
to be protected at all costs.

I wouldn't be surprised if she's a Slytherin, but her punitive
tendencies remind me more of Squib!Filch's desire to punish people who
track mud on the floor than of Snape's detentions, which are usually
for rule-breaking, failure to follow directions, or disrespect to
himself, and which, though unpleasant, are hardly "as awful as it is
in [his] power to make them." If he saw a student actually writing
potions improvements in his textbook, he'd probably be thrilled.
> 
Alla:
> 2. Dumbledore wrote the foreword to this book as well and he 
describes the conversation with Madam Pince, which I found 
interesting. When he persuades Madam Pince to part ways with one of 
the copies of the books to reproduce to Muggles, she suggests some 
alternatives to that such as telling people from Comic Relief U.K. 
that the library had burned down, or simply **pretending that I had 
dropped dead without leaving instructions**. Thoughts?
> 
Carol:
I don't know what to make of the "dropped dead without leaving
instructions" idea. I think she's merely prepared to tell the hugest
possible lies to prevent her beloved books from being read by Muggles.
(And what is Dumbledore doing, revealing the existence of the WW to
Muggles, anyway? Isn't he violating the Statute of Secrecy by
releasing these books? I think it's all in fun. "Comic Relief," after
all. She's almost spoofing her own characters.)

Alla:
> 3. Oh, and that Madam Pince per Dumbledore had been known to **add 
unusual jinxes to the books in her care**. HBP anybody?

Carol:
Sounds more like Hermione jinxing the parchment than anything
Snape-related to me. (His invented spells, even Muffliato, are related
to people, not objects.) And we've already seen the jinxes, or
whatever they are, that she's placed on the books in the Restricted
Section to make them scream when an unauthorized person touches them.
Just because she uses unusual jinxes to protect the books in her care
doesn't mean that she invented them or is in any other way like Snape,
who hasn't placed any such jinxes that we know of (his Potions book
isn't jinxed or Harry couldn't read it. Ron just has trouble
deciphering the tiny handwriting. Maybe he should borrow Harry's
glasses <joking!> or use a magnifying glass). 
> 
Alla: 
> 4. "Those few Animagi who transform into winged creatures may enjoy
flight, but they are a rarity. The witch or wizard who finds him or 
herself transfigured into a bat may take to the air, but, having a
bat's brain, they are sure to forget where they want to go the moment
they take flight"
> 
> Will we see some more flying Animagi in canon besides Rita dearest?
<snip>
 
Carol:
I wouldn't mind having DDM!Snape as a bat Animagus, actually. It would
fit all the bat imagery starting from SS/PS. As long as he was a
harmless fruit bat and not a vampire bat, of course!

Carol, who didn't answer the other questions because she's more
interested in current characters than the history of the WW