CHAPDISC: DH30, THE SACKING OF SEVERUS SNAPE

[tommy_m_riddle]

No: HPFGUIDX 184494

Nice summary, good 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?

I never felt she was an "extra."  I felt like Luna, Neville and Ginny
were a kind of secondary trio.  This was kind of backed up by news of
their activities that at a time or two got back to the primary trio
through the grapevine during DH.  As basically a second-tier member of
the DA, I thought that Luna's action here was entirely appropriate and
made sense.
 
> 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.

Perhaps she asked the hat, too.  :)  Also, I'm not too set on this or
anything, but I have this vague idea that Transfiguration expertise
tends (not is exclusive to, but tends) toward Gryffindor house.  There
are (three of) the Marauders, and Dumbledore was Transfiguration
professor.  There are animagi whom I don't believe were in Gryffindor
(Rita Skeeter) but I feel as though there is some tenuous connection
between Gryffindor and Transfig.

> 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?

The Carrows simply seem to be not smart enough to answer the door's
riddles.  I fear for the security of Ravenclaw house, because given a
smart enough enemy, anyone could gain entrance.  I'm sure if he'd
wanted to, Harry could have entered at any time, given his success
with the Sphinx back in GOF.

> 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!)

I don't want to re-create the "should he or shouldn't he" debate of
Harry using this spell either.  In my mind, they are two separate
questions.  1. was Harry right to become as angry as he did? and 2.
does his anger then justify the use of this curse?  I'm not really
interested in discussing question 2.  As far as question 1, yes, I
believe so.  Spitting in the face is one of the most disrespectful,
dehumanizing things one person can do to another short of physical
harm.  If there is any culture on earth where this isn't the case, I
don't know about it.  (And with viruses and bacteria, an argument
could be made for the potential of physical harm.)  I'd freak out too,
if I saw someone spit in the face of a teacher of mine that I'd liked.

> 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?

Harry knows that Voldemort is checking all his Horcruxes.  He knows
that one is at Hogwarts, which will be the last one he'll check. 
(Apart from Harry, which neither Voldemort nor Harry know about yet,
and Nagini, which Harry can presume that Voldemort presumes is
intact.)  So it's really not much less accurate than if I said, "I'm
driving to your house right now," but neglected to say, "I'll probably
have to stop at a couple of gas stations and perhaps a drive-thru on
the way."  Voldemort is on his way there, eventually.  Harry is
telling McGonagall the truth, and trying to give her time to rally
while he finds this tiara.

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

I don't know.  I've never been one to fret about the good guys using
the Unforgivables, really.  They are only Unforgivable because the
government says they are, and the government has always been stupid
and/or corrupt, especially now.

> 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?

A lot has happened since the Philosopher's Stone.  For about a year
now, McGonagall has known that Dumbledore gave Harry a secret mission
and she can't know what it is.  It sucks to be McGonagall and be in
suspense, but I think she knows this is the case and has accepted it.
 It probably didn't hurt that Harry was gone all year attempting to
accomplish it (at a snail's pace I might add, but still) and Harry is
now supplying her with some valuable information.  So I think she's
putting more trust in him because of those factors.

> 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.

I'd love to look up all the instances where this has happened and give
a detailed response, but I apologize that it is too late and I am too
tired right now.  My general response though, is that Snape for sure
knew as of the end of POA that Harry was in possession of the
Invisibility Cloak.  Possibly, he knew before that.  So maybe he's
just always on the lookout for where Invisible Harry Potter is likely
to be.

> 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?

No.  He was instructed not to, until he saw Nagini in a bubble, or
whatever.  He can do it at that moment, and no sooner.  Which, let's
be honest, is the narrative reason why Snape had to die.  Harry would
have never believed anything Snape said if it wasn't his dying
thoughts.  I was surprised how quickly he decided Snape was a great
guy even though it was Snape's dying thoughts that he saw.  Actually,
"surprised" is a vast understatement.  Harry went from "Snape killed
Dumbledore" to "Snape was super because he loved my mom" in like a
chapter flat.  I still can't believe it.  

> 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?

I think he knows exactly what's to come as far as the broad picture
(Voldemort attacking Hogwarts, Harry showing up) but not as far as the
details.  He probably did not realize he would fly out of the window
leaving a Snape-shaped hole.  IMO, anyway.

> 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?

I don't know how to answer this.  Yes, that would have been awful. 
She could easily have been orphaned too, plus lost just about all of
her brothers.  And all of her friends.  If I were her brother, love
interest, friend, parent, etc. I would have wanted her to stay hidden
also.  But I'm not surprised that she didn't, and from a reader's
perspective, I didn't want her to either.
 
> 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.

I never thought he would be evil.  I thought he would either be
redeemed, which is what happened I guess, or he would continue to
follow the Ministry no matter how bad it got, just to show that can
happen in families.  At one time, I thought he might be under the
Imperius Curse, but that was jossed in an interview back in like 2005.

> 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?
 
I think maybe a couple of reasons.  One, they are still sworn to Harry
not to tell anyone anything about Horcruxes.  Also, they have no idea
whether Ron's Hooked on Parseltongue-Phonics plan will even work
anyway, but they just decide to try it.

> 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?

Simply suspense, I think. There is actually not much introspection on
Harry's part right here, after he finds this out.  Actually, none.  He
simply sees the Voldevision and the chapter is over.  It's just style
and pacing, I think.
 
> 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?

It means that Snape got fired.  When I first heard it I thought it
meant that Snape got fired.  He actually flew away out the window, but
I think any job where people threw knives at me and stuff, I would
consider that getting fired.  Even if they were not my superiors.

Sarah