CHAPDISC: DH30, THE SACKING OF SEVERUS SNAPE

[Oryomai]

No: HPFGUIDX 184491

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CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Chapter 30:The Sacking of Severus Snape

I'm sorry for the slight tardiness of this chapter discussion
some
Snape-hater Avada Kedavra'd my old computer.  I'm not naming any
names, but I'm looking in her general direction.

When we last left my hero, Severus, he was single-handedly trying to
save the castle from V – wait, what?  I'm supposed to talk about the
Trio was doing?  But
but
oh, fine. When we last left our teenage
heroes at the end of chapter twenty-nine, Harry and Luna had just
seen Alecto Carrow brandish her Dark Mark to summon Voldemort.

Luna Lovegood starts off chapter thirty by stunning Alecto.  Alecto
has been able to summon the Dark Lord before Luna's spell (the first
she's ever used outside the DA), but she is incapacitated for now.
The noise of the Stunning Charm brings down the Ravenclaws; Harry and
Luna listen to them while they hide under the Invisibility Cloak.
Harry has a flash to Voldemort's mind – he knows that Voldemort is
on the way to check on the Horcrux!Locket. The Ravenclaws joy and
confusion at finding Alecto Stunned on the floor is brought to an
abrupt halt by the arrival of Amycus.  He attempts to use brute force
and then magic to knock the door down, but he is unable to open it.
Harry is trying to decide whether he should come out from under the
cloak to stop him from hurting the other students when he hears a
familiar voice – Professor McGonagall.

While Amycus is continuing to try to open the door, Harry finds out
that Amycus and Alecto made Professor Flitwick let her in earlier
that evening.  Professor McGonagall lets him in this time, and Amycus
bursts into the room. When he sees Alecto on the floor, he
immediately assumes that she is dead and starts on a rant about how
Voldemort will be angry that they don't have Harry Potter.  Professor
McGonagall is confused and tells Amycus with slightly noticeable
pride that "Potter is in my house!"  Amycus wants to blame the
summoning of Voldemort on the students and when Professor McGonagall
protests, Amycus spits in her face.  In a move both highly applauded
and condemned, Harry throws off the cloak and Crucio's Amycus.

Professor McGonagall nearly faints when she realizes that both Harry
and Luna are in Ravenclaw Tower.  Harry tells her that Voldemort is
on the way to the castle, and she wants him to get away.  Amycus
starts to wake up, and Professor McGonagall Imperio's him to subdue
the two Carrows. Harry's scar blazes again, and he knows that
Voldemort has found the Horcrux!Locket missing.  He uses the same lie
of omission (and a bit of Dumbledore name-dropping) to convince
Professor McGonagall to take him seriously about looking for the lost
diadem.  She tells him that the teachers will secure the school while
Harry searches for the diadem.

She immediately goes into tactical mode, trying to figure out how to
get rid of Severus and how to save the students.  Harry and Luna go
back under the cloak as they make their way into the rest of the
castle. As the three are running through the castle, they become
aware of someone else in the hall.  Severus Snape dramatically steps
out from behind one of the suits of armor.  Harry immediately knows
that Severus has been ready for this all night – he is in his usual
robes and has his wand at the ready.  Severus looks beyond Professor
McGonagall and seems to know that Harry is there.  When Severus asks
about Harry, Professor McGonagall attacks him.  Severus is quicker
than she is and puts up a Shield Charm that knocks her off balance.
Harry pulls Luna out of the way while Severus and Professor
McGonagall engage in a short duel.  It is ended when Professors
Flitwick, Sprout, and Slughorn arrive.  Professor Flitwick brings the
suit of armor Severus is hiding behind to life.  Severus tries to
escape with Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout right behind
him.  Harry and Luna find the teachers staring out a smashed window.
Severus has jumped, but he's learned some tricks from his master and
can fly.

The disappearance of Severus Snape snaps Professor McGonagall back
into action. She quickly brings the Heads of Houses up to speed –
everyone is to meet in the Great Hall in twenty minutes.  Professors
Flitwick and Sprout begin to fortify the castle, but Professor
Slughorn is hesitant.  Professor McGonagall tells him that "the time
has come for Slytherin House to decide upon its loyalties."

The students start heading to the Great Hall while Harry is running
the other direction desperately trying to formulate a plan.  Harry
ignores the other students' yells about his presence.  Harry runs
into a mix of his old Quidditch team and the Order.  The members of
the DA have alerted the Order to what is going on in the castle.
When Harry tells everyone that they are going to fight, they all head
towards the Great Hall. Ginny tries to convince her mother that she
should go fight, that everyone she knows is going to be out there,
but everyone thinks she's too young to go.  And just when you think
it can't get any more dramatic, it does.

Percy Weasley. Percy falls into the room and immediately sees the
majority of his family.  Fleur tries to distract from the obvious
tension, but is in turn interrupted by Percy.  He roars that he was a
fool and an idiot and blinded.  Fred is the first to accept Percy's
emergence into their lives by shaking his hand.  The Weasley clan
immediately accepts him back into the fold.  Ginny tries to sneak out
but is noticed. Suddenly, Harry notices that Ron and Hermione are not
in the room and realizes that he has not seen them since he left for
Ravenclaw Tower with Luna.  Ginny mentions that they said something
about a bathroom.  Harry looks to the closest bathroom and doesn't
see them.  Just as he is about to question Ginny, his scar sears.
Lord Voldemort is looking at Hogwarts.

Questions!!
1.How do you feel about Luna being the one to stun Alecto?  Is it
notable that one of the "extras" from the DoM battle is the one to
help Harry out?

2.Professor McGonagall was easily able to figure out the riddle to
open the Ravenclaw entrance. What does this say about her Sorting?
I've never found her to be incredibly brave but have always found her
to be very smart.

3.More interestingly (to me anyway) is the fact that the Carrows had
to have Professor Flitwick *let* them into the common room. Do you
think they tried to enter but got Professor Flitwick out of
frustration, or do you think they thought there was a password?  How
does the fact that some people, like Professor McGonagall, seem to
know things about the castle that the Death Eaters don't affect the
upcoming battle?

4.Do you think Harry would have Crucio'd Amycus if he had not felt
that rush of affection for Professor McGonagall moments before?  A
Stunning Spell would have worked just as well and would have had the
added bonus of not alerting Amycus to the fact that he was, in fact,
in the Tower. (I'd like to avoid the moral points of the Crucio by
Harry, but that's like trying to avoid discussing Severus' teaching
methods!)

5.Why does Harry tell Professor McGonagall that Voldemort is on the
way to the castle when in reality he is on his way to check on the
Horcrux? At this point, the jig is pretty much up: Harry's in the
castle, there are Death Eaters everywhere, and he needs help.  He's
used lies of omission on everyone else, why not Professor McGonagall?

6.Has there ever been any outrage about Professor McGonagall using
the Imperius Curse on Amycus? If not, why not?

7.What do you think is the significance of Professor McGonagall
*finally* believing Harry about something that is going on at the
school (Quirrell stealing the Philsopher's Stone anyone?)?  Does it
have more to do with Dumbledore or more to the fact that Harry has
managed to survive several months with the Death Eaters trying to
kill him at every turn?

8.Can Severus see through invisibility cloaks?  If not, why does he
always seem to know that Harry is around?  Severus never catches him
in the cloak, but he always seems aware that Harry is there.

9.What do you think would have happened if Severus had found Harry
alone?  Would Severus have told him everything?  Would he blow his
cover?

10.Severus leaps out the window and flies away.  Do you think this
was, at any point, part of the plan?  What do you think his plan was
before? Do you think he has any idea what's to come?

11.Can you even imagine being Ginny at this point?  Your whole family
(and basically everyone you've ever met) is going to fight for the
freedom of your entire world, and they want you to stay behind.
Would anyone have listened?

12.Oh Percy Weasley.  Where to even begin?  Did you think he would be
back?  Were you secretly hoping that he would battling his brothers
American Civil War style because he was a Death Eater the entire
time?  Did you think there'd be any resolution of his storyline?  I'm
interested in what everyone else thought would happen to Percy.

13.Why didn't Ron and Hermione tell anyone where they were going?
Did they just look at each other, say something, and run off?

14.In my opinion, Harry's realization that Voldemort is outside of
Hogwarts is one of the most important moments of the book. This is
when he realizes that, whatever the outcome, the battle for the
wizarding world is going to end tonight.   What do you think?  Why
did the Creatrix choose the end the chapter on this note?

15.  The title of this chapter is "The Sacking of Severus Snape."
What does that mean to you?  What did you think it meant at the
beginning of the chapter?  What does it mean to you now?


16.Anything else I missed?  Are there any questions anyone had about
this chapter that I didn't cover?

Oryomai
Who attempted to keep her deep deep love of Severus Snape from
completely taking over the chapter discussion!.

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