HBP various responses and thoughts

[pippin_999]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z" <lupinesque at y...> wrote:

> I can see why she might choose it, but I still don't like it. 
There  are a hundred writers understood and loved by children who 
write more  subtly.  

Pippin:
Yeah, but they can't use the pulpy style to charlie-horse the plot.
I think one of the reasons Jo sometimes sounds like she'd like
to leave the Potterverse behind is that she's stuck with the clunky
style as long as she stays there. If she got all refined, she'd never
be able to get away with things like the shift in narrative PoV that
let her disguise the connection between Hermione's collision with
Quirrell and the broomstick hex.

Anyway I think you're all familiar with my theory that Jo uses clunky
writing to disguise major plot twists. I think she's done it again.
In all Snape's blather to Bella, ticking off plot points in such a 
dull uncompelling fashion, what he *doesn't* say is that he was a
double agent in VWI. The tale as Snape tells it is that he defected to
Dumbledore on Voldemort's orders, convinced DD that he'd quit the 
Death Eaters absolutely  (though Dumbledore never quite trusted him 
enough to  give him the DADA post) and   remained faithfully at
Hogwarts gathering info on Dumbly ever since. Nothing at all about 
sending information the other way, not until Dumbledore sent
him back after the return.

The implication is that Voldie believes that Dumbledore lied to the
Wizengamot, claiming that Snape was his spy when he wasn't,  in 
order  to protect Snape. Now that's a wrinkle we never came up with, 
isn't it? Of course it's possible that Dumbledore *did* lie to them;
just because a wizard doesn't  tell lies doesn't mean he *can't*
but if he didn't ...well!

Also a surprise, I think, is the excuse Snape offered for not letting
Quirrell kill Harry -- that the DE's thought Harry might be a great 
dark wizard. 

At last we understand the shrewd calculating look Snape gives when
he hears Harry  speaking  parseltongue in Book Two. He's letting that
look be seen in order to bolster the rumours about Harry which he 
needs for his cover story. (I don't think he could possibly believe
that Harry was a dark wizard if he knew how the Stone had been 
saved.)

Incidentally, it also makes sense of why Draco thought Harry might
want to be friends with him at first.

Pippin