Maraurders/he exists

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 168209

Alla wrote:
> 
> Snipped rather liberally, but I believe the point I am replying to
is here. My assesment of Sectusemptra as Dark has nothing to do with
Snape indentifying it as such, definitely not. Therefore I think
Snape's identifying of Map as dark is irrelevant for all intents and
purposes. It is of course only my opinion, but I of course disregard
his evaluation of Map as dark and identify Sectusemptra as dark
because Malfoy could have bled to death. It **feels** dark to me and
has nothing to do with Snape's assesment of that curse. I mean I of
course believe that he is right, LOL, but I would have identified it
as dark even if he said nothing on the matter.

Carol responds:
Although I generally agree with wynnleaf, I'm going to surprise a few
people by agreeing with Alla here. I'm not quite sure what Snape was
up to by suggesting that the Marauder's Map was dark magic, but I
think what he really suspected was that Lupin had some connection with
it. (Ostensibly, he's summoning Lupin to his office because he's the
DADA teacher and dark magic is his area of expertise, but since Snape
in fact knows more about dark magic than Lupin does, I don't think
that's what he was doing. He probably suspected that the map would
provide Harry with a way into Hogsmeade; if so, better to let Lupin
confiscate it, which in fact happened, than to let Harry have it.)
Anyway, that whole scene feels to me as if Lupin and Snape are holding
a silent dialogue, or as if each hears meaning in the other's words
that Harry is oblivious to, rather than a straightforward dialogue.
Snape almost certainly knows that Lupin is lying to him about the
parchment being a Zonko's product, yet he lets Lupin take it *back.*
("Back?" When did Lupin have it before? Snape guesses, but Harry
doesn't.) Which is not to say that the Marauder's Map in the wrong
hands isn't dangerous. Crouch!Moody used it to kill his own father and
cover his tracks.

In contrast, when Snape asks Harry where he learned such Dark magic
(Sectumsempra), he knows whereof he speaks. He invented that spell,
and he's giving Harry a chance to tell the truth about the HBP's
Potions book (without, of course, knowing that he's being questioned
by the HBP himself). And, yes. The spell *feels* Dark because it *is*
Dark. Unlike Levicorpus, which, as someone (wynnleaf?) said is
primarily a joke spell like so many others that the kids use on each
other, Sectumsempra is specifically designed "for enemies" and was
probably invented either in retaliation for or as a defense against
attacks by people Severus perceived as enemies, people who had, in his
 view, tried to kill him. (The little cutting spell that Severus uses
on James can't be Sectumsempra. He is not "cut always." It causes no
lasting damage, no scar on his forehead, no need for dittany or any
complicated countercurse. There's no indication that he's even still
bleeding as he speaks to Lily.)  

Dumbledore understands that the adult Snape's knowledge of the Dark
Arts makes him invaluable as a Healer of those spells, not only
Sectumsempra, for which he obviously either created or discovered a
complex countercurse, but the curses in the opal necklace and the ring
Horcrux. Snape, in this instance, is not engaging in a battle of wits
with a colleague he knows to be a werewolf and suspects to be in
league with a murderer. He is talking directly to Harry. And just as
he later says, "No Unforgiveable Curses from you!" I think he is
genuinely concerned here that Harry has used Dark magic. But he's also
incensed that Harry is lying about it.

At any rate, I agree with Alla that Sectumsempra is Dark and I don't
think Harry needed Snape to tell him that. After all, there's blood
all over the floor and Draco would have died had Snape not saved him.

Carol, still wondering where JKR is going with the idea of Snape as
Healer as revealed in HBP