James and Intent And Snape

[zanooda2]

No: HPFGUIDX 187051

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" <dumbledore11214 at ...> wrote:

> And can I suggest one reason why Snape's name did not come 
> up in the detention slips chosen **by Snape** to give Harry? 
> I do not think they were random at all, I think he went through 
> them before give it to Harry, IMO of course.


zanooda:

It's easier for me to assume that Snape was just smarter about rule-breaking than the Marauders :-). His name is not on any of the cards because, if indeed he was guilty of some misdeed, he was careful not to get caught :-). I suppose James and Sirius didn't really tried to avoid punishment, they didn't care about their many detentions, considering them a part of being "cool" :-).

I'm not sure that Snape went through the detention cards, because the boxes are described as all "cobwebbed", so they don't seem to have been disturbed. Sure, Snape showed Harry from which box to start, but that was probably the one corresponding with James's first year at Hogwarts. However, Snape obviously took trouble to locate this box and to find a James-and-Sirius detention card to show Harry. 

BTW, I don't think it was a smart move, because any good Harry could have gotten from his punishment was totally eradicated by the fact that Snape managed to make it look in Harry's eyes like a personal revenge :-).