Do we really get our closer?

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 177141

Carol:

> I won't get into the question of Snape's 
> bat transformation in DH

houyhnhnm:

I'm not sure that Snape transformed into a bat in 
DH.  I think he was just flying without a broom.    
McGonagall said "he seems to have learned a few tricks 
from his master."  Such as flying unaided.  If he had 
transformed into a bat I think she would have simply 
said something like "apparently he was an unregistered 
animagus", a magical skill she's very familiar with.

>>Harry saw in the distance a huge batlike shape flying 
through the darkness toward the perimeter wall.<<  If he 
had transformed into a bat, why would he be huge, or for 
that matter, described as *batlike* rather than simply as 
a bat?  Snape has frequently been described as batlike.  
I think it was just Snape in his own form, flying without 
the aid of a broom, looking like an overgrown bat because 
Snape looks like an overgrown bat (Well, I don't think he 
does, but he is frequently described that way).