Of atonement and apostrophes (Was: Harry as godfather)

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 179198

Montavilla47:
> I think penitence is a good word for it.  Before DH came out,
someone asked me to imagine what Snape's private rooms at Hogwarts 
looked like and I said I thought there'd be a cruxifix on the wall,
although I didn't know why--since no one seems to have any religion in
the books.  She agreed and said he probably wore a hair  shirt as
well.  <snip>

Carol:
I already answered Jen offlist, but I'll post here as well since you
also responded. The word that occurred to me was "atonement." Same
concept except that he's moved beyond remorse and self-punishment and
is actually working to make up for (atone for) his sin. Contrast a
medieval Catholic who goes to a priest to confess his sins and wears a
hair shirt or flogs himself or goes on pilgrimage but does nothing to
 *atone* for his sin. Snape, IMO, goes beyond penitence by attempting
attempt to undo the damage so far as that's possible. He can't bring
Lily back, but he can protect her son so that she won't have died in
vain. I think he's punishing himself, too, since he won't let DD tell
anyone what he's doing and he's constantly putting his own life at
risk, but IMO, his primary motivation is to make amends to Lily by
protecting her son. ("I thought we were doing this for her.") It's as
if he doesn't think of her as dead. He seems to think that she's
watching over him. And in a way he's right; his Patronus or guardian
spirit is a symbol of Lily as she lives in his heart: good and
beautiful and powerful and pure. He wants, IMO, to be worthy of her.

Anyway, "penitence" implies remorse and contrition. "Repentance" can
imply an additional step, depending on which definition you're using:

Repent:
1: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's
life2 a: to feel regret or contrition b: to change one's
mindtransitive verb1: to cause to feel regret or contrition2: to feel
sorrow, regret, or contrition for

But "atonement" goes even further since the sinner is trying to
expiate the sin (extinguish the guilt) by making amends for it. (In
Christianity, "atonemente" is "at one ment," that is, the truly
repentant sinner who atones for his sins becomes "at one" with God.
Maybe Snape is trying to become "at one," in a spiritual sense, with
Lily, who, for him, symbolizes beauty and purity and goodness. Or
maybe he just wants her forgiveness. I think Snape knows that death is
not the end of everything; otherwise, he wouldn't be concerned about
splitting his soul. And maybe he hoped that he had at last earned her
forgiveness when he gave Harry that crucial memory seconds before his
own death.)

Jen: 
> > Jen, who wishes for the hundreth time that JKR hadn't named the 
characters James, Sirius and Remus because you have to think about 
writing names ending in 'S' as a possessive, a rule which still 
eludes her even after brushing up on it online.   Sirius's traits or 
Sirius' traits - anyone have the definitive answer?!
> 
> Montavilla47:
> It's one of those bizarre things.  It goes by sound.  If you think
it sounds better to say "Siriuses food dish" then you use apostrophe-S.
> If it sounds better to say "Sirius food dish" then you use just 
S-apostrophe.
> 
> For example, if you are talking about Tom Jones having a new record
out, you wouldn't say "Tom Jones's record."  You would say "Tom Jones'
Record."
> 
> But with Sirius, because you'd be inclined to add the extra S, you'd
say "Sirius's food dish."

Carol responds:

Actually, no. The editor/English teacher in me has to step in here and
set the record straight. With the exception of a few ancient names
(e.g., Jesus, Xerxes, Hippocrates), names ending in "s" form the
possessive exactly the same way that all other singular nouns in
English do, by adding "apostrophe s." So it's "James's," "Remus's,"
"Sirius's," "Severus's." (We can get around the awkwardness by using
last names except in the case of James because "Potter" could be
Harry, and even for him, we can say "James Potter's.")

As for Jones, the singular possessive is "Jones's; the plural is
"Joneses"; and the plural possessive is "Joneses'."
> 
Montavilla:
> There's an exception to the rule when you use the name of Jesus (but
only when referring to Jesus Christ).  Don't ask me what the exception
is, though.   I can't remember.

Carol:

I can. It's correct to write "Jesus'" rather than "Jesus's." But
that's the exception rather than the rule. It applies to other ancient
names, as well, but only names with more than one syllable and ending
in "es." "Sirius," "Remus," and "Severus" end in -us; "James" has only
one syllable. None of them fits the rule. ("James," BTW, means "the
supplanter. How appropriate.)

"CMS (The Chicago Manual of Style) 6.24  Proper Nouns

"The general rule for the possessive of nouns covers most proper
nouns, including most names ending in sibilants [s or z]."

Examples listed in CMS 6.24 include "Kansas's," "Burns's",
"Dickens's," and "Jones's." (No first names are listed, but the rule
still applies.) Exceptions listed include "Jesus'," "Moses'," 
"Euripedes'," "Demosthenes'," "Xerxes'," and a pair of modern,
two-syllable last names ending in -es, "Surtees'" and "Yerkes'" (CMS
6.26). However, except for "Jesus" and Moses" (CMS 6.25), the rule
applies only when the last syllable is pronounced "eez" (CMS 6.26).

Carol, who has to know this stuff because she edits for a living