Did Snape set up the Pensieve scene?

[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 169403

> Lizzyben:
>  I think, once Montague said that the Cabinets connect Hogwarts
> to Borgin & Burke, SOMEBODY thought this information was too
important to
> get out. So Montague's memory was erased, his body was moved, and he was
> given befuddlement potion until the end of term so that he couldn't
share
> the story with anyone else.
>
> Magpie:
> But he *did* share the information with someone else. He shared it
with all
> of Slytherin.That's where Draco heard it, as he explained, and realized
> what it meant. Montague's memory wasn't erased, he was, as far as we
know
> now, just befuddled by being trapped in limbo with no way to get out or
> make anyone hear him--until he managed to Apparate into the toilet.
Which
> completely goes against what we've been told about Apparition it's true,
> and also goes against the fact that the Vanishing Cabinets are
broken. It
> could be a special circumstance, with the rule-breaking Apparition being
> part of the ill-effects.
>
> But so far it seems important that Montague doesn't have missing gaps in
> his memory--we hear his whole story as told to the Slytherins in
HBP, some
> of the details of which are demonstrated via that Cabinet Plot.
>
> As to why the Twins weren't punished, I don't think they could have
been.
> Montague was still befuddled when they left school, I think, so
there was
> no one to punish once Montague came around. Before that no one but
the Trio
> knew what happened to him and they weren't talking.
>
> If we see any bright blue Potions I will definitely connect it to
whatever
> Montague was taking, but the fact that it was bright blue so far doesn't
> seem to be any evidence that it was Confunding him. After all,
eventually
> he did get better and share his story. And if somebody memory
charmed him,
> particularly if Snape memory charmed him, since Snape is a competent
adult,
> he could just be memory charmed, couldn't he? And if he was being given
> Potions to keep him Confunded, why was he able to tell the whole "great
> story" to the Slytherins?
>
>


"Montague's memory wasn't erased, he was, as far as we know
now, just befuddled by being trapped in limbo with no way to get out."

That just doesn't make sense to me. Assume the facts are as given:
Montague was shut in a closet for a day until he apparated out. Why
would he have any significant mental side effects from that? One day
isn't enough time to cause real injuries, and the text never suggests
that apparating itself causes mental "befuddlement" or confusion. In
HBP, a bad apparition usually means that the body itself doesn't
apparate right. If he left a leg behind, that would be much more in
line w/the side effects of a bad apparition. "Befuddlement" suggests
something else altogether. From the dictionary: "Befuddle - 1.  To
confuse; perplex. 2. To stupefy with or as if with alcoholic drink."
It suggests a charm, drink or other agent was used to cause confusion.
And, everyone acknowledges that he shouldn't have been able to
apparate within Hogwarts at all. So, there's at least 2 things that
don't make sense about this incident.

I should've posted some quotes to help sort this out. Here's the text
of what happens:

""On the count of three then," said Snape lazily. "One, two,"

Snapes office door banged open and Draco Malfoy sped in.

"Professor Snape, sir - oh - sorry " ...

"Well, Draco, what is it?" asked Snape.

"It's Professor Umbridge, sir - she needs your help," said Malfoy.

They've found Montague, sir, he's turned up jammed inside a toilet on
the fourth floor.

"How did he get in there?" demanded Snape.

"I don't know, sir, he's a bit confused."

One week later, Montague's still in the clinic, he's still confused &
disoriented, and his parents are called:

"To cap matters, Montague had still not recovered from his sojourn in
the toilet; he remained confused and disoriented and his parents were
to be observed one Tuesday morning striding up the front drive,
looking extremely angry. "Should we say something?" said Hermione in a
worried voice, pressing her cheek against the Charms window so that
she could see Mr and Mrs Montague marching inside. "About what
happened to him? In case it helps Madam Pomfrey cure him?...  what if
Montague's permanently injured?"

This conversation occurs the first week of Easter holiday. Flash
forward to the end of May, when students are taking their OWL exams.
Montague is STILL in the hospital wing, and apparently so
incapacitated that he can't take the exams with the rest of the students:

"Harry ran up the marble staircase, hurtled along the corridors so
fast the portraits he passed muttered reproaches, up more flights of
stairs, and finally burst like a hurricane through the double doors of
the hospital wing, causing Madam Pomfrey - who had been spooning some
bright blue liquid into Montague's open mouth - to shriek in alarm.
 "Potter, what do you think you're doing?"

OK, so Montague remained in Madame Pomfrey's clinic from late March
through May - two months, and he still hasn't recovered. He's being
fed a bright blue liquid - a potion of some kind.  He's described as
"confused & disoriented". Oddly enough, the novel earlier took the
trouble to describe all the ingredients and side effects of a
"confusing and befuddlement potion" -

"Midnight came and went while Harry was reading and rereading a
passage about the uses of scurvy-grass, lovage and sneezewort and not
taking in a word of it.
 'These plantes are moste efficacious in the inflaming of the braine,
and are therefore much used in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts,
where the wizard is desirous of producing hot-headedness and
recklessness
"

He's reading this as part of an assignment from Snape.  The quote is
repeated TWICE, as Harry wonders if the potion might be used against
Sirius. Again, why go into detail about a potion if it didn't have
some relevance to the events of the novel? This is virtually the only
time that the novel directly quotes from a textbook. Why? I think this
was a clue - so readers could combine the description of a "confusing
& befuddlement draught" w/later descriptions of Montague as "confused
& disoriented." Snape knows how to brew "confusing draughts", and was
one of the first to discover Montague; Montague is confused &
disoriented for months, while he's being fed a blue potion. What if
that potion was the "confusing draught?" That would actually explain
Montague's symptoms. He's apparently confused throughout this time - I
don't know when he told Draco this "great story," - perhaps on the
train home? Maybe he was only befuddled while at the clinic until the
MOM plan could take place? I dunno.

I actually tend to think that Snape is on the good side, but this
incident nags at me, & almost convinces me that Snape planned this
out. He'd kill 2 birds w/one stone - end Occlumency lessons, and
prevent Dumbledore from learning about the Cabinets' connection to
Borgin & Burkes. Or maybe it wasn't Snape - maybe Draco moved Montague
so that he could use the Cabinets later. It's a mystery - I don't know
who's the actual "bad guy", but I'm pretty sure the events didn't
actually go as portrayed. I'm just posting this in hopes someone can
help sort it out.


lizzyben04