CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter 8: Flight of the Fat Lady

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 189613

> CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
> Chapter 8: Flight of the Fat Lady
> 
Snip summary>

> 1) Do you think, considering that Harry is usually wrong about Professor Snape, that the 'Neville's boggart' story is why Snape seems so tense and angry these days?

Carol (responding without having read anyone else's responses):
I'm certain, for the reason you stated, that Harry is wrong about the reason for Snape's tense and angry mood. In fact, there can be only one explanation: He's concerned for Harry's safety, and that concern focuses on one man, Professor Lupin, who not only turns into a werewolf once a month, posing a grave danger not only to Harry but to the entire student population if he doesn't drink the potion that Snape so carefully prepares, but was once a friend of the supposed murderer and traitor, Sirius Black, who is on the loose and intends (so Snape has every reason to think) to murder Harry. Harry, of course, doesn't know that Snape has sworn to protect him. He sees only that Snape is angry and resentful of Lupin and jumps to the obvious but wrong conclusion that it relates to the Neville incident. (OTOH, that incident didn't help matters or make Snape like Lupin any better!)
> 
> 2) Do you think Hagrid could have sought or accepted advice about teaching, and who from?

Carol:
Well, first, could have and would have are two different matters. Hagrid *is*, after all, more or less an expert on his subject, if not the teaching of it, and he simply doesn't realize that his students (who, after all, have magical powers) aren't as immune as he is to the dangers posed by "interestin' creatures). He could, possibly, have consulted the retired Professor Kettleburn, but since that professor lost at least one limb through contact with magical creatures, Hagrid probably never considers asking him for advice, and he probably doesn't yet know of the existence of Professor Grubblyplank, whom he might well regard as less of an expert than himself since she follows the (relatively) safe and (to Hagrid) boring Ministry-approved curriculum. He probably wouldn't ask Dumbledore, either, since DD had sufficient faith in his abilities to hire him for the post. In any case, once Hagrid loses confidence in himself, he simply falls apart. It never occurs to him to consult an experienced teacher (or a successful but possibly inexperienced teacher like Lupin) for advice on teaching a dangerous subject. It's even possible that he expects to encounter prejudice or to be snubbed and ridiculed if he asks for advice, partly because he's supposed to be an expert and partly because he's an unqualified, only partially educated half-giant, in contrast to the other teachers, all of whom are fully qualified witches or wizards. I do think that someone like Lupin or McGonagall would have been glad to help him. Even Snape might have offered some snide but sound advice. But Hagrid tends to cry and give up in despair when things go wrong.
> 
> 3)How do you imagine Hermione survived all those years in the girls' dorms?

Carol:
I don't understand the question. I imagine that she was a loner and studied a lot. At least the other Gryffindor third-year girls that we see, Lavender and Parvati, don't actively hate or persecute her even if they don't include her in their girly-girl activities. Is that what you meant?
> 
> 4) What did you make of the interactions between Lupin and Snape?

Carol:
I've already pretty much answered this question. Snape detests and distrusts Lupin and wants to be certain that he drinks his potion. He probably watches him as he did Quirrell in Harry's first year. Lupin, on the other hand, neither likes nor dislikes Snape, having no personal animus against him (unlike Sirius Black and the late James Potter) but no reason to like him, either, given their schoolboy history. Lupin certainly trusts that Snape is not out to poison him and trusts his potion-making abilities. He's even grateful, I think, for the chance to sleep peacefully during his monthly werewolf phase. What he says in HBP about Snape (they'll never be friends, but he'll never forget the potions that Snape made for him) pretty much sums up Lupin's feelings at this point. He certainly has no suspicions that Snape is or has ever been a Death Eater despite what became of his Slytherin friends. DD's trust of Snape no doubt helps. At any rate, Lupin is civil to Snape and Snape is watchful and wary.
> 
> 5) Is Lupin's idea that Harry's boggart might be Lord Voldemort reasonable, considering Harry was just over a year old when he saw him?

Carol:
Absolutely, given that LV tried to kill him (twice so far) and succeeded in killing his parents. Harry knows that LV can come back in some form, just as he did in first year when he possessed Quirrell. Of course, Harry is most likely to see LV as he was when he looked out from the back of Quirrell's head rather than in his own body as he was at Godric's Hollow, but, yes, it's quite a reasonable assumption. In fact, I'm pretty sure that LV *would* have been Harry's Boggart had he never encountered a Dementor. (What I don't think is reasonable is Lupin's assumption that fear of Dementors equals fear of fear itself. I think it's a visceral fear of a horrible creature whose powers Harry has partially experienced.)
> 
> 6) Do you think Peeves might have had an amicable relationship with the Marauders, as later it's apparent he has with the Weasley twins, and might he have been present when Sirius was in the castle?

Carol:
Probably. He loves mischief and mayhem. But he wouldn't have been above teasing Wormtail or "loony, loopy Lupin" when they were alone. Personally, I'd love to see equal-opportunity mayhem, with a cold water balloon dropped on Sirius and James, but that's only because I heartily dislike them both.

Carol, who hasn't reread the books recently and may have gotten some details wrong