student!Snape keeping Lupin's secret (was Re: Sirius as a dog)

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 181269

Montavilla wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/181174>:

<< One: The files were not sort by perpetrator. They were sorted
chronologically. (Why were they filed by date? Goodness knows, except
that it seems to be the very least useful way of sorting detention
files, which is in keeping with wizard logic.) >>

I always thought they weren't literally 'files', that they were
Filch's private collection. I thought Filch invented the whole idea of
writing a detention slip and no other member of staff ever wanted to
see or transcribe them, and then he put the new detention slip in a
drawer with the others, with chronological order being a mere result
of adding new slips always at the end. Their purpose may have turned
out to be that Filch could nostalgically leaf through them to cherish
feeling aggrieved by how rotten all students are. 

On another tentacle, when Harry is in Filch's office for the first
time ever in CoS, the narration says: "Wooden filing cabinets stood
around the walls; from their labels, Harry could see that they
contained details of every pupil Filch had ever punished. Fred and
George Weasley had an entire drawer to themselves."

We can call this an internal contradiction, where Rowling writing OoP
forgot what she had written in CoS, or we can make up explanations,
such as that Filch changed his filing system to the one Montavilla
suggested, that he changed it in the twins' first or second year
because he got the idea from the twins having so many, many detention
slips. Then we can conclude that Fred and George had a lot more
detention slips than James and Sirius (because James and Sirius didn't
get enough to inspire him to change his filing system).

Montavilla wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/181174>:

<< Second: Harry see NO detention cards with Snape's name on them.
It's not stated directly, but given the seething hatred Harry feels
while he's doing this task, I can't imagine he wouldn't notice if he
found a slip showing that Snape was up to something bad. So, either
Snape went in before the detention and removed all the cards with
his name on them, or he was wily enough to slither out of trouble
every single time he did something wrong at Hogwarts, or, for the
period of time that Harry goes over, he didn't do anything worthy
of punishment. >> 

I agree that Harry would have noticed any detention cards for Snape,
so there weren't any. I agree that it would be in character for Snape
to have removed all his cards in advance. He may have been able to do
it with one Summoning Charm, which would be a very small effort, so I
can't really dwell on dear Severus of great abilities and great deeds
(of spying) caring enough to spend much effort on something so petty,
alas.

I also agree that adult!Snape's ability to "live in disguise, deal in
secrets and tell naught but lies" (the sphinx's riddle in the Third
Task, with the verb tenses altered) suggest that student!Snape was
"wily enough [and dishonest enough] to slither out of trouble every
single time he did something wrong at Hogwarts". On the one tentacle,
that would be something that would outrage Sirius and maybe James,
adding to their dislike of Severus. 

On another tentacle, adult!Snape's ability to sweep into and out of
rooms with his billowing cloak, to bend words to his will both for
cutting sarcasm and for honeyed deceit (the latter to Cissy and
Bella), to be a generally commanding presence, suggest that
student!Snape wouldn't still be hunched over and scuttling like a
spider by the end of fifth year, so maybe he hadn't learned wiliness
yet either. I dunno.

But I do feel absolutely certain that during "the period of time that
Harry goes over", he DID SEVERAL things "worthy of punishment".
Because he wasn't some suck-up to grown-ups Goody Two Shoes like it
appears in DH that student!Albus was, remaining ignorant of Hogwarts
hidden passages and the Room of Requirement.

> First off, thanks!  I appreciate you taking the time to read it. 

I read your fanfic too! I enjoyed it but I have my doubts about
student!Snape feeling concern for student!Remus's fate. I've never
seen any particular evidence that student!Snape ever felt compassion
for anyone but himself, Lily, or at least a fellow Slytherin. The
famous statement, 'In recent years, only those whom I could not save',
suggests he first developed empathy (or a moral principle with the
same result) 'in recent years', well after his student and even his
Death Eater days. I wish I knew whether it was empathy, moral
principle, both, or neither (i.e. just obeying DD).

I think there's some contradiction between student!Snape believing
that Remus hadn't known about the plan and adult!Snape believing that
Remus had helped plan it. 

Altho' one could counter-argue that when Severus saw Remus immediately
forgive Sirius and go on being friends with Sirius forever, when (by
Severus's lights) Remus should have held a grudge against Sirius
forever, that was what made Severus believe that Remus was in on the
plan. 

If he had ever had the chance to Legilimens Remus (as in your story)
and see complete ignorance, he could dismiss that as Occlumency once
he learned {about) Occlumency. Or he could decide that Legilimency
doesn't work on werewolves.
> 
> Also, one of the things that I didn't expect, but ended up amusing
> me was how stupid Severus really was.  I had him planning it out
> carefully to give himself plenty of time to explore what he thinks is 
> probably a cave under the tree, then getting all interested in the 
> house he finds and completely forgetting that there's a werewolf 
> on the way.   <eg>  Still cracks me up.

This is a forbidden LOL reply.