CHAPDISC: DH30, THE SACKING OF SEVERUS SNAPE

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 184495

<snip> of Oryomai's excellent summary. 

> 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?

Zara:
I liked it. And I was expecting Luna to help Harry out in DH with 
finding the Ravenclaw Horcux.


> 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.

Zara:
I think she'd fit very well in any of three Houses - Ravenclaw for 
her brains, Hufflepuff (loyalty to Dumbledore, she's hardworking, and 
she makes an effort to be fair), and Gryffindor (courage, and a rash 
variety of it at that - this is the woman who mixes it up with six 
Aurors when they come for Hagrid in OotP).

> 3.More interestingly (to me anyway) is the fact that the Carrows had
> to have Professor Flitwick *let* them into the common room. 

Zara:
I assumed they were too stupid to answer the questions asked by the 
door. The superior knowledge of Hogwarts that the staff has would be 
an advantage, but I'm not sure that we really saw that come into play 
here. Except to demonstrate the Carrows lacked it - they did not know 
about the RoR, one supposes. So I guess neither Snape nor Draco were 
in a sharing mood.

> 4.Do you think Harry would have Crucio'd Amycus if he had not felt
> that rush of affection for Professor McGonagall moments before? 

Zara:
Quite possibly, yes. I never read that move by Harry as a momentary 
response to a petty irritation. I thought he was increasingly more 
disgusted and furious and Amycus's plans to give a syudent up to 
Voldemort and spitting in Minerva's face were just the final straws 
for Harry.

> 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?

Zara:
Aren't these one and the same? Or do you mean some Horcrux other than 
the tiara? Harry does know that checking on the tiara is high on 
Voldemort's to-do list.
 
> 6.Has there ever been any outrage about Professor McGonagall using
> the Imperius Curse on Amycus? If not, why not?

Zara:
I presume because people were too busy expressing outrage at her use 
of the word "gallant" to describe Harry in that scene. Personally, I 
have some trouble with the idea of Dark Magic as something that is 
just intrinsically soooo very awful that it does not matter why and 
how you use it, too much that happens in this series, including this 
scene, suggests otherwise to me. Minerva's brief use of the curse 
permitted her to quickly and efficiently put both Carrows out of 
action by tying them up. What's not to like?

> 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.

Zara:
Another character who could have been in Ravenclaw. <g>

Harry observes that he, Minerva, and Luna are not alone before Snape 
shows himself, because he hears Snape's footsteps. If Harry can hear 
one stealthy man, surely Snape can hear three hurrying people, two of 
whom he cannot, however, see. He is more than bright enough to go 
from "footsteps of invisible people" and "The Carrows believed Potter 
was in the castle" to "Potter is with Minerva under his cloak".

> 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?

Zara:
I can't predict this. I don't think a face to face discussion was 
ever Snape's first choice, I think he would have preferred to use the 
doe to communiate and establish his bona fides when that became 
necessary. But he had no choice here. He knew Voldemort was going to 
be coming because the Carrows summoned him, so he had to try and 
assess what should be his next move. Tell Harry what he has learned 
from Albus about the soul bit? Find a way to get Harry away from the 
school? And if Harry is not done with the secret mission Snape knows 
exists, but knows nothing about? If he saw no way around it, I 
believe he would have tried to tell Harry at least most of the truth. 
Maybe not about the soul bit, if it was clear Harry was still working 
on whatever it was.

> 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?

Zara:
No, I don't think Snape had any particular plan to leave the school, 
either by flying or by more conventional means. But he's a quick 
thinker under pressure. <g>

As far as any idea of what's to come...what do you mean by that? He 
knows Voldemort is coming to Hogwarts. He can deduce from Minerva's 
actions and those of her fellow Heads of House that they intend to 
hold the school against Voldemort. So yes, I think he knows there 
will be a battle. If you mean anything further, such as what he may 
or may not know or have been told or have guessed about a certain 
wand...no idea. *grumbles*

> 12.Oh Percy Weasley.  Where to even begin?  Did you think he would
> be back?  

Zara:
I thought he would be back, and I thought he'd be a good guy. Yay me. 
I always liked 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?

Zara:
To surprise us, duh.

OK, OK, within story...maybe they did not want to raise false hopes? 
They had lost the sword, so they had no way to destroy Horcruxes 
anymore, not the one they had just retrieved, nor the one they were 
seeking. Neither they nor Harry talked about it much, but this was a 
serious obstacle.

> 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?

Zara:
I was delighted to see the title when I got to it the first time, 
because it meant we were *finally* going to see a certain elusive 
character again after so long. Would this be when Harry finally 
learned the thing I had become sure of in "The Silver Doe"? Would 
Snape live? What else might happen? I did not spend a lot of time 
deciding, I dug right in!

Now, to me, it is the single iconic thing that encapsulates for me 
what Severus gave up in pursuit of his redemption. He lived with 
those other Heads, his former teachers and colleagues, for a year, 
while they hated him and loathed him so much they did not hesitate to 
use deadly force against him, for what he had done to Albus. It's 
really poignant, to me.

Other questions? How about a comment...I loved seeing Snape in 
action, defending himself against the attacks of Minerva and the 
others. Foolish wand-waving, indeed! <g>