CHAPDISC: DH30, THE SACKING OF SEVERUS SNAPE

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 184498

> Montavilla47:
> I think it's of a piece with the castle itself rejecting certain 
teachers.
> For example, the Headmaster's office wouldn't allow Umbridge 
> inside.  I suppose (although it's extra-canonical) that it's of a 
piece
> with the Headmaster's office not creating a portrait of Snape after
> he dies.

Zara:
Hmm, I had not looked at it that way. On the other hand, even though 
both Umbridge and Snape appear to have been appointed by the 
Ministry...the castle did accept Snape. It let him access and use the 
Headmaster's office.

> Montavilla47:
> He's just a suspicious guy.  Either that, or he can smell Harry 
coming.

Zara:
LOL. Harry probably does smell pretty nasty by then. <bg>
I still think he heard him, though.

> Montavilla47:
> It seemed pretty straightforward to me.  He was going to get fired 
> in some manner.

Zara:
Yes, but by whom and why? I was worried it would be by the authority 
that made him Headmaster in the first place, and for all the right 
reasons too.

> Sarah:
>  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.  

Zara:
I don't get this.  As you say, Harry instantly abandoned "Snape 
killed Dumbledore". Why would he not? Should he not let the facts get 
in the way of his (misdirected) righteous indignation?

There's not any explicit emotional content there other than that 
Harry acknowledged the facts. Yeah, he names his son after Snape, but 
that is a decision he makes some 8 years after the final chapter, 
which is hardly instant.

> Potioncat:
> What bothers me, is that no one seemed to be watching out for the 
> Ravenclaw students. Any fanfic worth its salt would have had a 
> certain cat sitting by the fireplace, or a portrait keeping tabs.

Zara:
How do we know no one was keeping tabs? Minerva knew Alecto was in 
there, because she witnessed the argument with Flitwick that resulted 
in Alecto being let in. (And, fascinating question...does this mean 
Alecto believed Snape could not get in? I think so, and don't believe 
it for a moment. If Minerva, a non Gryffindor, could, so could 
Severus, the way I see it.) Minerva at this point cannot get in 
(Alecto may be dumb, but surely the door opening a second time to 
admit a cat would raise her suspicions? Minerva could only "look out" 
for the students from outside, in the corridors, listening for 
suspicious noises. The moment Amycus starts pounding on the door, 
she's there. She cannot have been far away, she intervenes almost 
immediately when Amycus shows up at the door.

We also do not know what Snape was up to in this time. The hypothesis 
that he knew Harry was with Minerva, because a portrait reported to 
him on the events in the Ravenclaw Common Room, is certainly not 
outside of the realm of possibility. It might make his extremely 
vague conversation in the hallway more sensible, in fact. It would 
mean he knows Harry is *not* done with his task, because Harry 
announced in the Common Room that he was at the school carrying out 
Albus's orders, so it is still not time to reveal everything he 
knows. Yet in that conversation Minerva also announces her intention 
of getting rid of him, Snape, which means he is going to have to 
leave....