Dragons, Produced and Tickled, and Other Pleasantries

[pippin_999]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Barry Arrowsmith" <arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:
>
> --- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> wrote:
> 
> > d> I haven't forgotten what it seemed you  were capable of
> > as a young man.  I gave you a second chance just as I
> > gave one to Sirius before you. You got a problem with that?
> > 
> > 
> 
> Come, tell us what he was capable of, we're all agog.
> Being out after hours is a hanging offence? I really don't think so.

Pippin:
Dumbledore was no doubt referring to  Snape's involvement with
the Death Eaters. He accepted that Snape didn't really want to be
involved in murder, just as he had earlier accepted that Sirius hadn't
meant to kill Snape and later will tell Draco that despite three attempts,
he is not truly capable of murder.

Kneasy:
> The Governors almost certainly didn't. 

> And Lupin admits that "No other Headmaster would have done so.."
> So Snapey was sneaking around and was where he shouldn't have been. 
> Yet.. we have an unregistered werewolf, three unregistered animagi,
> cavortings around the countryside at full moon and the near-death of a 
> student. Would DD involve himself in a cover-up of that lot and place all
> the blame on another pupil who just happened to be unpopular? 


Pippin:
Canon? The tunnel is built out to the willow, Madame Pomfrey is
tasked with taking the boy back and forth, the teachers must be told
not to question his periodic absences, and all this happens 
without the governors knowledge? I don't think so. They'll
rubber stamp Dumbledore's decisions as  long as *they* don't
have to take public responsibility if it turns out dry...much like Fudge.

We don't know at what age a werewolf is required to register, or
how easy it is to avoid registering, or how difficult it is to consult
the registry. Anyway, nobody, including Dumbledore, knew about
the unregistered animagi sneaking about the countryside. The
protection of that secret, in my scenario, is in fact Lupin's motive
for murder. But Dumbledore doesn't know Lupin is involved.

As far as the  evidence Dumbledore has is concerned,
Sirius told  Snape how to get into the willow, and Snape of his own
accord followed Lupin, entered the willow which all
students had been warned not to approach, went down a tunnel which
was clearly off limits, left the school grounds, and then encountered 
a monster. Sirius could honestly say that he didn't force or trick
Snape into entering the tunnel and that he didn't know that Snape 
was going to be idiot enough to enter the tunnel when 
transformed!Lupin was there.

A hanging offense? Hardly.

Dumbledore's response to Snape's cry of murder was probably 
similar to his response to Bertha -- "But why did you follow him at
all?"  *I* think Snape was coerced, and it was indeed attempted murder.
But Dumbledore is not to know that. Snape had a known habit of
following the Marauders around. Who, even Dumbledore, would look
deeper, especially if the shock of seeing  the monster wiped most of the
evidence away?

Pippin