Prank and various responsibilities WAS: Re: Marietta

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 169716

> Alla:
> 
> Maybe. Or maybe some students did and since they were not all the 
> bigots of Slytherin variety, they decided to keep Lupin's secret. I 
> think there is nothing in canon that contradicts my speculation.

Pippin:
It is *not* just Slytherin bigots who are afraid of werewolves. It's wizarding 
society as a whole. Harry himself worries about running into werewolves 
in the Forbidden Forest more than once. Molly is afraid of the werewolf
she encounters at Saint Mungo's though he's incapacitated, not 
transformed, and full moon is weeks away.  Also, if there's no general
fear of werewolves, Snape would hardly expect to be thought a hero
for disposing of one of them.

If Snape wanted to kill a werewolf to show off, why would he enter the
tunnel in secret? Wouldn't he rather try to lure Lupin out so that the
whole school could witness his prowess? As a matter of fact, the
Forbidden Forest is supposedly full of werewolves that Snape could kill 
without so much trouble. 

If Snape wanted to kill Lupin in particular for some reason, a few drops 
of something lethal in the pumpkin juice would be a lot swifter and less 
dangerous. 

> Alla:
> 
> And still in PoA Snape goes to the Shack knowing that he may face a 
> werewolf, does he not? I think Snape will be very happy to kill a 
> werewolf or two. Just **speculating** here of course.

Pippin:
He had found the Invisibility Cloak, which he knows that Harry would
not have abandoned lightly. He's got to find out what's going on.
OTOH, he's been treated as crying 'wolf' all year. He's not going to
send for help and get brushed  off again.

But of course it is possible that something like that happened in the
Prank as well, and Snape thought that someone  or something
(Lily? Narcissa? His potions book?) had been carried off  or stolen 
and he needed to get into the tunnel to save it.

There are really several prank mysteries, packed one inside the
other like a Russian doll. One: why did Snape enter the willow
at the proper time? Two: why didn't he draw back on his own
when he heard the werewolf? Three: why did he keep Lupin's
secret afterwards?

The prank would  have fallen flatter than a wet
non-Filibuster firework if Lupin wasn't transformed, so Sirius not
only had to tell Snape how to get into the tunnel, he had to arrange
things  so that Snape would arrive at the proper time. 
After all, if Snape just wants to know where the tunnel goes, the 
sensible thing would be to explore it when Lupin is *not* inside. 

According to Lupin, Snape never got as far as the shack, but
saw Lupin "at the end of the tunnel".  It sounds like Lupin 
chased him back to the willow, and Snape caught a glimpse
of the monster  just as he was pulled to safety by James. 
But they don't call it The Shrieking Shack for nothing. 
Snape should have heard the werewolf long before he saw it. 
But if he was already fleeing, why would James have needed
to pull him back? Unless, of course, he was so frightened he 
couldn't move. 

There's also  a possibility of a double bluff -- maybe Snape thought
The Marauders were trying to keep him from  finding out what they
were *really* up to by making him suppose that there was
a werewolf down the tunnel. If  Snape was trying to call their bluff, 
that would also explain why he entered at the correct time and
ignored the howls, and would resist James's attempt to rescue him. 

But as for why Snape agreed to keep his silence about Lupin,
I suggest a simple quid pro quo. The Marauders stopped 
picking on him in return for Snape keeping Lupin's secret. Of
course Snape took advantage of this by hexing James whenever
he got the chance thereafter, and James and his friends retaliated.
But the days of humiliating Snape in front of others were done.

Alla:
> As to nobody in canon ever suggested that situation - eh, of course 
> they did not, if it meant to be a surprise in book 7 IMO. And I do 
> not believe that it will take a lot of effort to change the picture 
> we have now with the missing information and all that. 

Pippin:
But JKR does not pull surprises like that with no preparation. There's
always something you can look back on and say "oooh, that was a hint."
I don't see any hints for this at all. We don't have any bona fide cases
of someone  taking on a monster for kicks, though several people
have claimed that they or others did so. 

Pippin