CHAPDISC: DH33, The Prince's Tale

Wed Nov 12 23:56:44 UTC 2008

No: HPFGUIDX 184831

> Discussion Questions:
> 
> 1.  Why do you think that JKR (or the narrator) refers to Snape
> as "the Prince" here and in "The Flight of the Prince" in HBP?

Poetic license?

> 
> 2. Voldemort gives the Hogwarts staff one hour to "dispose of 
[their]
> dead with dignity" and treat the injured while he waits in the
> Forbidden Forest. Assuming that he means what he says, how do you
> think he expects them to "dispose of" the dead?

Since the magical world is so stuck in the past I assumed it was like 
old time battles where they let the enemy get their dead and wounded 
from the field.

> 
> 3.  Lupin and Tonks lie "pale and still and peaceful-looking,
> apparently asleep beneath the dark, enchanted ceiling." This
> description seems to echo that of the dead Dumbledore in HBP--
> "Dumbledore's eyes were closed; but for the strange angle of his 
arms
> and legs, he might have been sleeping"—and that of his peacefully
> sleeping portrait. What do you think JKR is saying about death
> through these descriptions? Do they seem to refer to death in 
general
> or only to these particular deaths?

Since much of her audience is young, I thought she was trying to 
soften the deaths and not make them so frightening.

> 
> 4. Harry blurts out "Dumbledore!" and the door to the stairway
> leading to the headmaster's office opens. When and why do you think
> the password changed and who or what changed it?

I thought it was a back-door password that Snape set up.

> 
> 5. Little Severus is described as "stringy," the same word that the
> narrator uses to describe both the teenage Severus and Theodore Nott
> in OoP. Did you think of Theo when you read the description of 
little
> Severus, and, if so, what connection, if any, did you see between 
the
> two Slytherin boys?

I didn't see any connection at all.

> 
> 7. Since Lily has no way of knowing about prejudice against Muggle-
> borns in the WW, why do you think she's worried that being a Muggle-
> born might "make a difference"? Given Severus's remark that Lily can
> do "loads" of magic, might the two children be talking about magical
> ability rather than prejudice against Muggle-borns? If not, why 
would
> he make that remark in that context?

I thought he was trying to reassure her that she would be ok even if 
she didn't come from a magical family

> 
> 8. Severus tells Lily that only wizards who "do really bad stuff" 
are
> sent to Azkaban. What does this remark reveal about his sense of 
good
> and evil and age nine or ten?

At that age he had a very child like view of good/evil. Unfortunately 
for him he lost that viewpoint and turned himself into a DE. It took 
her death to make him see the difference again.

> 
> 9. Severus is obviously lying when he denies dropping the tree 
branch
> on Petunia, but neither his words nor his "scared and defiant"
> expression make clear whether the magic is accidental or deliberate.
> Which do you think it is and why? Why doesn't something similar
> happen to James and Sirius in SWM where Severus is also wandless?

I think it was an accident, but he knew that he had done it. I think 
once you start training the accidents become less likely to happen. 
He is in his fifth year and I would expect that they shouldn't be 
happening at all by this point.

> 
> 10. Why does Petunia call Lily a "freak" (the same word that she 
uses
> in SS/PS some twenty years later)? What justification, if any, do 
you
> see for her view that sending "weirdos" like Lily and Severus to
> Hogwarts will protect the "normal people"? Do you see any connection
> with the Statute of Secrecy?

I think that since Petunia couldn't go, she was going to be childish 
and decide that anyone who could go must be a freak. Although if she 
had the ability they would be normal.

Again I think she was just acting childish when she said that them 
going would protect the normal people.

> 
> 11. How in the world did the Muggle Evanses get through the barrier
> onto Platform 9 3/4 (or is this scene a Flint)?

Since muggle children are going every year, I would think that they 
received some sort of instructions to help them get through it.

> 
> 12. James's words, "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave,
> wouldn't you?" mirror Draco's words about Hufflepuff in SS/PS. What
> do you think that JKR is saying here about James and Draco or House
> prejudice in general? And what's your reaction to James's imaginary
> Sword of Gryffindor, raised in defense of chivalry?

I think she is letting us know, that each person has some sort of 
prejudice against another group. It's an us versus them type of 
mentality.

> 
> 13. Why doesn't JKR identify the boy who calls out, "See ya,
> Snivellus"? Which boy do you think it was, and why do you think so?

I don't think it mattered. 

> 
> 14 What's the significance, if any, of Lucius Malfoy's patting
> Severus's back? Why include that detail?

I think it was to let us know that Snape was going to fall under the 
influence of the "dark" Malfoy. And to let us know that Snape wasn't 
going to be an angel during his time at Hogwarts.

> 
> 15. Lily's version of the so-called Prank—Severus "sneaking" around
> the Shrieking Shack and being saved by James from "whatever's down
> there" sounds a lot like Sirius's version in PoA except that 
everyone
> in the PoA scene knows what's down there. Do you think that Sirius 
is
> Lily's source? Why or why not? Why do you think she rejects
> Severus's "theory" (obviously, that Lupin is a werewolf)?

I think Sirius would be a good guess or she overheard them talking 
about it.

I think she doesn't believe that the quiet gentle Lupin could be a 
werewolf. His behavior is a complete opposite of what you would think 
a werewolf would be.

> 
> 16. Aside from not wanting to repeat a nine-page scene in detail, 
why
> do you think JKR condenses Snape's worst memory to a single
> paragraph? Is the tactic effective? (The relevant paragraph is on
> page 675 of the Scholastic edition and page 542 of the Bloomsbury
> edition.)  Note especially the last line, "Distantly, he heard Snape
> shout at her in his humiliation and his fury, the unforgivable word:
> Mudblood."

It wasn't necessary to repeat it since we all knew about it. We just 
needed it to set up the scene in the hallway where they go their 
separate ways.

> 
> 17.  The adult Snape is marvelously articulate, often brilliantly
> sardonic and sometimes even poetic, yet the teenage Severus is often
> at a loss for words, and even the young adult Snape seems tongue-
tied
> in the hilltop scene with Dumbledore. What do you think happened in
> the twelve or so years between the hilltop and Harry's first year at
> Hogwarts to turn Snape into the snarky, sarcastic Potions master 
that
> we encounter in SS/PS?

I think as he grew into a teenager he got a little more flustered 
around Lilly due to his attraction toward her. That would be a 
reasonable way for a young male to act.

Snape has had years of being snarky to his students with no chance 
for them to fight back. That would give him time to practice and to 
see what worked the best.

> 
> 18. What do you think Dumbledore means when he tells Snape, "If I
> know [Harry], he will have arranged matters so that when he does set
> out to meet his death, it will truly mean the end of Voldemort"?

I think he figured Harry would have eliminated all of the horcruxes 
by that point. Although I'm not sure how he thought he would kill 
Nagini without facing Voldemort at the same time.

> 
> 19. We get only a few hints of what Harry is feeling as he witnesses
> these scenes, and yet he goes from hating Snape and wanting revenge
> against him to publicly defending him and ultimately naming his
> second son after him and Dumbledore. Aside from the shock of Snape's
> death, which scenes do you feel had the most impact on Harry's 
change
> of heart and why?

I think seeing them young, then him begging Dumbledore, then the post 
death scene and finally the final doe showed him that Snape was truly 
a friend of his Mother's.  I doubt anything else would have persuaded 
Harry.

> 
> 20. Why did JKR choose these particular memories for this chapter?
> Why did *Snape* choose them?

I think he chose them because he needed to show the connection to 
Lilly to convince Harry. We also don't see any of the "evil" DE Snape 
or any of his bad behavior at Hogwarts. Which leads me to believe 
that he was trying to show himself in a good light. Anything else 
would have worked against him having Harry believe in him.

> 21. Did this chapter change or confirm your view of Snape? What
> surprised you? What disappointed you? How did you feel at the end of
> the chapter the first time through?

Parts of the story led me to believe that Snape was a more pathetic 
characther than I believed. The whole noble (at least in his mind) 
thought of never telling anyone made him look like he was trying to 
set himself up as some trajic character in a second rate story.

I did like the fact that he kept his word and worked against 
Voldemort. Although I think he could have accomplished the same thing 
with out being such a childish bully to others in the story.

> 
> 22. I've deliberately omitted questions about the much-discussed
> later memories involving Dumbledore and Snape. Please add any
> questions comments about this chapter that you'd like us to discuss.

I think that Dumbledore was trying to prod Snape into being a better 
person with all his little "digs" at him. I think he wanted Snape to 
stand up for himself and show what type of person he could be and to 
leave the petty stuff behind him. Unfortunately Snape never did this 
as he showed when he wanted to know what Dumbledore was telling 
Harry. It took some massaging of Snape's ego at that point to keep 
things on track.

> Carol
> 
> 
>>