[HPforGrownups] Re: Dumbledore: Patronus and Dementors (specifically Snape's)

[Christine Maupin]

No: HPFGUIDX 173801

Potioncat:
 >I expected a bumblebee or phoenix because I thought his spirit guardian 
 >would reflect Dumbledore. Many expected a unicorn for Lily. So the 
 >moment I saw the doe Patronus,I knew it was Snape's and LOLLIPOPS had 
 >won. 
 
 Bart:
>Can you tell me why? The reason why I ask is because the same thing >happened to me, and I asked myself, why do I KNOW that this is Snape's >Patronus? ... Was there anything in the canon that might have pointed to it? 
 
 >I don't believe that Snape used the PPN (Phoenix Patronus Network). I don't >have DH in front of me, but I believe that the scene where Snape shows his >Patronus to Dumbledore comes well after the PPN was in place.


As soon as I saw the chapter title for chapter 19 in the Table of Contents, I suspected that "The Silver Doe" was a reference to Snape's patronus.  Why?  Because I believed the widely held theory that Snape loved Lily.  Be it romantic love, or platonic love, or both, I suspected she was dear to him (pun perhaps intentional).  Why even go there in the first place?  Snape hated James and never missed an opportunity to insult him, but he never said a word about Lily.  And, the whole "mudblood" episode in OOTP was conspicuous in its subtlety (typical JKR foreshadowing -- just enough to titillate; maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong; maybe its important, maybe its not).    So, since James's animagus form is a stag and Harry's patronus represents his father, and since a doe is a stag's mate, I assumed the doe represented Lily and, if it represents Lily, it has to belong to someone who loved her -- Snape.

As for the PPN (and I love that BTW), we first see it (I think) in GOF when Dumbledore signals Hagrid to come to him after Harry led him to Barty Crouch Sr's body.  Then, in OOTP, Dumbledore tells Harry (after they return from the Ministry) that Snape alerted the order and that the Order has its own way of communicating.  Then, in HBP, we see Tonks use her patronus to alert someone to open the gates for Harry and her.  So, with that information, and information on JKR's website, I assumed that Snape used his patronus to alert the Order in OOTP.  (Of course, we don't see the PPN fully in action until DH).

What makes me curious, and I mentioned it before, is assuming Snape did use his Patronus to alert the Order in OOTP, didn't anyone wonder why this dark wizard known for his cruelty had such a mild and meek creature as his Patronus?  (Did the other Patronuses laugh at him?)  Not that anyone would have neccessarily made the connection to Lily -- that is not important to me -- its the irony that intrigues me.  I can see Sirius saying, "hey, did you guys know that Snape's Patronus is a doe?"  Or, maybe my assumption is wrong; maybe he had another way to talk to the Order, but with Umbridge monitoring all conventional channels of communication I can't see how.

As for the use of Snape's patronus in DH, as another poster pointed out, it doesn't speak (which would give himself away by its voice) but it is used to communicate nonetheless so Snape does use the PPN.  We see him showing his Patronus to Dumbledore in his memories as Harry watches them.  The memory is from Harry's sixth year on the same day that Hagrid overheard Dumbledore and Snape arguing on the grounds (the conversation Hagrid related to Harry in HBP).

Christy