CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter 14: Snape's grudge

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 190077

> 
> Questions:
> 1. Was it fair that Sir Cadogan was sacked when all he did was to allow entry to
> someone who had the passwords? Isn't that what passwords are for?

Pippin:
  Perhaps he was magically required to permit  entry to someone who had the passwords, but he could still have sounded an alarm. I think the Fat Lady would have.  Even the headmaster portraits don't seem to be capable of changing their attitudes or learning new skills, so it's not like he could have improved on the job. I don't think there was much choice.


> 2. Were Harry and Ron extremely foolish and selfish not to reveal the hidden
> passageway to Hogwart's staff, especially to Dumbledore?

Pippin:
Judged as adults, certainly. But that only points out, very gently, that selfish and foolish behavior is normal and expected where kids are concerned, and adults need to be wise and generous enough to take that into account. 

I disagree with the idea that Dumbledore could have easily discovered  the passage. Harry thinks to himself in DH that Dumbledore never found the Room of Hidden Things because he never had any guilty secrets to hide. 

That's not true, we know. Dumbledore had his guilty secrets like everyone else.

 But he didn't have them for fun. He wasn't part of the great confraternity of Hogwarts mischief makers, and Hogwarts has its secrets known only to them.  Harry after all did not discover how to operate the witch from first principles and not even Snape could manage to do so (if he had, he wouldn't have left the cloak lying there.) I don't think that Dumbledore could either. 

Only a prankster's mind would conceive of going to such elaborate lengths to break into a candy store, after all. 

> 3. Although Hagrid appears to be talking only of Hermione when he tells the boys
> he would have expected that they would value friendship above broomsticks, (the
> new Firebolt is what has interested them) is he also subtly suggesting that they
> thought more of the Firebolt than of their friendship with him too – in that
> they have forgotten the threat to Buckbeak?
> 4. Even if he is not, what do you think of the boys' attitude to a good friend
> when that friend`s need is forgotten or pushed out of mind by a mere new
> possession?

Pippin:
There's a part of Hagrid that sees  Harry as someone to protect, and there's another part, IMO, that's completely enthralled with the legend of The Boy Who Lived. That part of Hagrid unconsciously sees Harry as a superhero and believes there's nothing he can't do and nothing that could really hurt him. And of course Harry, anxious to live up to his reputation and not really understanding, in this strange new world, what his limitations are, is generally willing to take on whatever preposterous task Hagrid thinks he is capable of doing. 

I think this is one of the moments where Hagrid gets a reality check -- his hero is a little boy who does think more about broomsticks and rats (and putting an interfering Hermione in her place) than he does about Hagrid's concerns for either Hermione or Buckbeak.


> 5. What do you think of Harry's action in visiting Hogsmeade with Black on the
> loose? Do you think that Harry reflects on the consequences of his actions of
> that day?

Pippin:
I think canon makes the point that too much reflection is as bad as too little. Acknowledging that you did wrong is supremely important, reflecting on it further is not.  It will not make you a better person, any more than dwelling on what a rotten Quidditch player he was made Ron a better player. It only leads to despair, as in Ron's case, or to making excuses as Lupin is always doing. 

Harry knows he did the wrong thing, and decides that even trying to retrieve the cloak from the witch would be too dangerous. Ironically he lets  his fear of Snape accomplish what his fear of Sirius could not. 

> 6. Do you think Snape makes the remarks about Harry's father to goad him into
> losing his cool and admitting where he has been?

Pippin:
It's very funny. Harry thinks Snape is slandering his father and is more or less right about Harry himself, when the truth is opposite. I think Snape has been itching all along to tell Harry just why it is so objectionable to be  like James and finally sees the opportunity.

> 7. Both Snape and Lupin tell Harry he is selfish in going to Hogsmeade when
> everyone else is putting themselves out to ensure his safety. Why does Harry
> resent hearing this from Snape but feels chastened when he hears it from Lupin?
> 

Pippin:
It's much easier to accept criticism from someone with whom you have a positive relationship. Harry sees Lupin as wanting to help him, while Snape is just a nasty teacher who's trying to spoil his fun.

Pippin
who has the flu and hopes this makes sense