CHAPTER DISCUSSION PS/SS 11, QUIDDITCH

[ZaraG]

No: HPFGUIDX 188408

Zara:
Thanks, SSSusan, for a fine summary and interesting questions!

> 1.  Per the narrative, "Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry and Ron had saved her from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer for it" [US hardback, p. 181].  Please discuss the notion of being more relaxed about rule-breaking translating into being a nicer person, either in general terms or re: Hermione specifically.

Zara:
My own understanding is that this is not offered to us as a general principle of human behavior, but that it is one of (many) instances in which the narrator offers us Harry's perception without necessarily flagging it as such explicitly. A boy with a certain disregard for the rules, is likely to find a companion nicer to be around, if she is not routinely taking him to task for his rulebreaking.

> 2.  Is Harry correct that Snape made up the rule about no books outside school on the spot?  Or do you believe it truly was a Hogwarts rule?  Is this yet another example of Snape picking on Harry unfairly,...?

Zara:
We lack the data to determine this one way or another. 

> or is it yet another example of the trio assuming negative things about Snape unfairly?

Zara:
I feel it reasonable to guess it is, at any rate, an example of this. I doubt Harry knows all of the school rules. I suspect he and Ron have better things to do than familiarize themselves with the school rules. <g>

> 3. This exchange seems to express much of the crux of the mystery which surrounded Snape all the years we waited for the conclusion of the series:  Is he the kind of person about whom one could rightfully say "I'd never put anything past him"? Or is he to be trusted never to go against something Dumbledore has asked of him?  

Zara:
No, and yes. <bg>

> Was JKR thinking that far ahead at this point??  Do Harry, Ron and/or Hermione ever change their basic opinion as expressed here at any point before the final reveal on Severus Snape?

Zara:
I think she was thinking this far ahead. The book is the series in microcosm, as far as Snape is concerned. He swoops about like a bat, is seen doing bad things, and is the obvious villain - only he's not a villain at all.

I also think she thought this far ahead because he's all tied in to the backstory. Why did Voldemort decide to kill Harry? Because Snape reported a Prophecy to him. Why did Harry live? Because his mother's sacrifice protected him. Why did her sacrifice have this effect? Because she was given a choice to stand aside - because Snape asked Voldemort to spare her. I don't think PS/SS came to be published while Rowling still had not worked out the details of what had happened in the past of her series.

Hermione changes her mind, IMO. She defends him as a teacher in this book. In later books, she defends him as a guy who tried to save Harry's life.

> 4.  Okay, harken back.  The FIRST time you read this, did you have any inkling that the broomstick jinx *wasn't* Snape's doing, or that it *was* Quirrell's?

Zara:
Nope, I fell for the red herring hook, line, and sinker.