Madonna Lilly: WAS The Potions Book

[Lyn J. Mangiameli]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "bluesqueak" <pip at e...> wrote:
> Pip!Squeak:
> 
> Heh. TeenageOscarWinner!Snape, hey? No wonder Fudge was paranoid in 
> OOP; Hogwarts was training SpyKids even unto the previous 
> generation. Makes the old-style KGB boarding schools look positively 
> unambitious. {g}

Lyn again:
Ah, but one thing Rowling has been pretty consistent on is personality (Sirius being 
perhaps the most notable excetion). It is one of the strenghts of her writing. Just as you 
were right in pointing out how Slughorn acts consistently, I would suggest that Snape has 
also, yes, even into his adolescence.
> 
> But the point I was trying to make is not that Snape might have been 
> a child-actor. The point is *Lily*. Lily, who found herself being 
> called the Wizarding World's equivalent to the 'N' word. 'Mudblood', 
> we are constantly being reminded, is a deeply offensive term. 

Lyn again,
I would quibble that it has the potential to be a deeply offensive term, but offense is 
always in the mind. It holds less impact on Hermione now than it did the first time it was 
applied to her, and it appears from the memory that it had greater impact on James than it 
did on Lilly. It is just a word, like "Voldemort," that can vary in significance and impact.
> 
> Not only does Snape have to be playing a part, Lily has to be 
> playing one too. Because Lily would have to recognise that Snape's 
> use of a nasty slur on her background wasn't genuine. And still act 
> as if she'd just been insulted. And also, she'd have to have some 
> reason to be in cahoots with Snape. SpyKids, indeed. 

Lyn again: 
Exactly, and while I am not wedded to the idea that they shared a bit in the 
communication, I don't think it is excluded as a possibility.
> 
> I think the idea of 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft,Wizardry and the 
> Dramatic Arts' is fun, but the big question an actor has to ask 
> is 'what's my motivation?' 
> 
> [In my case, this translates as 'Are you paying me for this gig?' 
> {g}]
> 
> If Lily partnered Snape up to OWLS, then heard him call her 
> a 'mudblood' - what's *her* motivation for sticking with him after 
> that?

Lyn again:
Perhaps something akin to why Percy met Penolope (or whatever her name was) in the 
dungeons. They seem to provide a model (and not the only one in the books) of couples 
trying to keep their relationship hidden.

But let me go to a wider explanation of why something like this might occur. As I've 
discussed with Kneasy in the past, I find Lilly to be have much too much of a virgin 
madonna image in these books. Early on, it was both James and Lilly that were painted in 
idealized colors, then Rowling went out of her way to strip away the idealization of James 
(something that I suspect will be partially restored in the final volume), but she has still 
left Lilly unflawed. Frankly, I'll be disappointed if the series closes with this flawless image 
of Lilly. I kind of expected some cracks in Lilly's perfection to be shown in this last volume, 
but  instead, through Slughorn, she was lofted even higher. I think Harry is all but certain 
yet to encounter facts about his mother which gives him a more realistic and 
multidimensional view of her. When this happens, I find it quite plausible, if not likely, that 
it will include Snape.