That Bloody Man Again WAS Re: The curious incident of the Felix Felicis

[nrenka]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "bluesqueak" <pip at e...> wrote:

> Pip!Squeak:
> But I don't think you are taking his actions as primary, Nora. I 
> think you are taking his *words* as primary. That is, you are being 
> influenced by his (mainly) verbal treatment of Harry and possibly 
> also by his actions being filtered through Harry's pov.

There are any number of cases where, however, words *are* actions.  
Words are the treatment in the classroom, after all--and I think 
those words are indicative of character.  In the Shrieking Shack, it 
is an undoubted action that Snape takes Black and the children back 
to the castle.  But it's also the case that before then, he was 
verbally taunting and turning the screws--and that's an action as 
well.  As is his behavior with Fudge ("only hope DD isn't going to 
interfere").

The Harry's POV argument is useful, but dangerous as well.  It gets 
used as a way to mitigate anything and everything, but it's a little 
bit like Snape being an actor: it gets used when convenient, and not 
when it's not.

> And also, while Dumbledore is undoubtedly more than slightly dead, 
> Snape's actions to date seem a little more damaging to the DE's 
> than to the OOP. He tried to stop Quirrel getting the stone 
> (actions). He showed his Dark Mark (without any orders from 
> Dumbledore) to Fudge (action). He, according to Dumbledore, was the 
> one who deduced Harry and Co. had gone to the MoM, and sent the 
> Order after them - which resulted in Voldemort losing several 
> minions to Azkaban, including Malfoy (probably an action - it's 
> reported second hand).
> 
> His hit rate for Voldemort, otoh, appears to be: he killed 
> Dumbledore. Admittedly, that's one heck of a hit - but everything 
> else he's done for Voldemort is a verbal assertion. 

I'd say that despite your list, we have remarkably little information 
of what has been done concretely for the Order, post-return to 
Voldemort.  I have one potential theory in mind that it's the return 
to an active position that has changed everything.  Pre-resurrection, 
Snape fights the good fight because it keeps him where he wants to 
be.  Post-resurrection, with the boss back and badder than 
ever...hedging his bets, perhaps?

What's been pretty much confirmed is that as Dumbledore has no 
confidantes, we are on shakier ground for assuming that the two of 
them have a solid two-way connection.  I get the image now of Snape 
bringing in information and getting told what to look for, but 
decidedly not being let in on the big picture and the connections 
that only someone with knowledge like Dumbledore's could make.

Everyone mentions the endless red herrings, but at least to my eyes, 
we've seen significantly fewer of the sneaky mysteries (not including 
the long-running Big Questions, one of which finally got answered) in 
books 5 and 6.  I see the structure of the series as having shifted.

> One final point. His last action is not the killing of Dumbledore. 
> His last seen actions (before he gets attacked by Buckbeak) are to 
> *not* fight back against Harry, to stop another DE crucio'ing him 
> and even to say some things that sound like lessons - 'blocked 
> again, and again, and again, until you learn to keep your mouth 
> shut and your mind closed' - this when he's fleeing Hogwarts. He 
> also tries successfully to get Draco out of Hogwarts.

Bellatrix offers Harry instruction in how to better perform the 
Cruciatus Curse, and I don't see anyone making that argument that 
she's teaching out of the goodness of her heart. :)

I wonder, given interview comments and others, whether Snape's advice 
is actually going to be effectual for Harry.  Harry can't do 
Occlumency because he can't repress his memories; he's really in 
touch with what's happened to him.  At least the way that JKR puts 
it, Occlumency comes across as decidedly emotionally unhealthy.  
Draco is good at it because he can suppress pity and compassion--is 
that why Snape is good at it too?  If so, I can't see that being 
Harry's route at all.

-Nora's top request for a question to be answered concerns the extent 
to which Legilimency can be used to communicate specific concepts, 
natch