XPOST: Lupin is Ever So Evil Part One -- The Prank (long)

[eloiseherisson at fritter_my_wig.yahoo.invalid]

Kneasy:
Until  further evidence is forthcoming (assuming that it will be
forthcoming) then  this must be regarded as an extremely
weak spot in the plot.
1. Why  didn't Snape see Pomfrey poking the Willow with sticks?
Eloise:
Wotcha, Kneasy.
Myopia? It was too dark? He was on the wrong side of the tree?


2. Why would  Snape believe anything Sirius tells him?
3. How come Lupin transforms when  sheltered from moonlight?
Why didn't the same transformation happen in  PoA?
Eloise:
According to JKR the moon wasn't up/full or something when he went into the  
SS. As far as I'm concerned she basically made a mistake. Alternatively, the  
moon became full at the moment it emerged from behind the cloud. Hmm.


4. Does this  discrepancy indicate something important - i.e. a
werewolf *must* transform  when exposed to moonlight but
*may voluntarily* transform when the full  moon is up but not 
shining directly upon the afflicted? So far as I can  figure this is
the only way to resolve the difficulties and tie Lupin in as  a
co-conspirator on the 'joke'. 
Eloise:
But it means he simply needed to be kept in a dark room in order not to  
transform. So no need for the monthly trip to the SS.
 
Kneasy:
>5. Unless, purely by serendipitous coincidence Lupin happens to  
>be a wolf-animagus. And who would swallow that one? 
>6. Or has Jo  been plot-sloppy?

>Unfortunately my money is on 6; though it'd be nice  if I was wrong
>and 4 was correct.
 
Eloise:
I'd  agree. In fact there are other holes in the whole  thing. 
 
Pippin:
>(5) Possibly Snape already
>suspected Lupin was a werewolf and  meant to expose
>him...but this seems unlikely too.
 
How unlikely is it that he hadn't worked it out? Sirius tells us he used to  
sneak around, spying on them, Lupin tells us he was curious about where he 
went  to each month. In OoP JKR goes out of her way to tell us that the OWL paper 
 contains a question about werewolves. Snape sits near MWWP apparently 
engrossed  in the exam paper (surely that means he's actually trying to listen to 
them?)  and Sirius mentions wishing it were full moon.
 
In PoA, Snape sets a question on werewolves specifically (we  presume) to try 
to expose Lupin. Hermione works it out. Did Snape (two  years older) not put 
two and two together himself?
 
Pippin:
>>Werewolves belong to the Ministry of Magic's most
dangerous  category of fantastic beasts. (6) Surely
no wizard in his right mind, still  less one who,
unlike Hagrid or Sirius, was known to be cunning
and clever  and good at keeping himself out of
trouble, (7) would take on a werewolf  alone. What
possessed Snape to follow Lupin into the willow on
a night of  full moon?<<

Very good question.
 
I posted this to HPfGU earlier today in the context of a misguided argument  
over culpability for the Prank:
 
>>I never said that Snape wasn't foolish for  falling for the bait.
But we have *no* reason whatsoever to believe that  Sirius suggested
to Snape that he would be entering a dangerous situation.  Yes, Snape should 
have been able to work it out for himself (although he could  reasonably have 
expected that a werewolf might have been somewhat more  restrained, caged 
perhaps) and that's where the inconsistency  lies.

Actually (sorry) I blame JKR. ;-) I'm stepping back for a minute  to
look a this as a piece of writing.

I think it's incredibly hard to  set up this kind of thing without some 
inconsistencies creeping in. Sirius  trying to feed Snape to a werewolf is the 
counterpoint to (and the ostensible  reason for) Snape wanting to feed Sirius to 
the Dementors. The snooping around  after MWWP is the superficial reason we are 
given for the initial resentment  between them (which I quite agree might 
have a deeper cause). Unfortunately, the  snooping around *ought* to have alerted
Snape to what he might face. It's  compounded in OoP by having Snape reading 
about werewolves, a detail surely  meant to remind us of the snooping, the 
resentment, but inconsistent with his  decision to enter the tunnel.

But then, books in general are full of  these sorts of things. In this 
series, how is it *possible* that Harry both asks  and confides so little? A good 
thing it is, too, or there's be no plot at all to  speak of if he did what any 
sensible boy should do and tell the greatest wizard  of the age whenever he had 
a suspicion that something was wrong instead of going  it alone.

These books are scrutinised to a degree that no author ought to  have to put 
up with, every little inconsistency is found and we desperately try  to find 
internal justifications for them,
justifications which I believe will  sometimes be elusive. In this case, I 
think we have details given as an aid to  characterisation slightly clashing 
with the plot.
 
Kneasy:

>>Even  so, 2. is a killer IMO. I had a damn good scoff about this  in

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/105755<<
 
Eloise:
Why would he, indeed? A little inconsistency in  characterisation, I think. 
OTOH, maybe Lupin's using shorthand; maybe  Sirius didn't tell Snape directly, 
but just made sure he overheard. Or maybe it  was a dare that Snape couldn't 
take up without losing face.
 
Kneasy:



Another  thing I don't find credible is that Snape kept quiet about it 
all, not  unless coercive magic was used - and if that was the case 
then one day  he'll snap out of it and realise that DD isn't his best 
chum after all.  Mind you, it would explain why DD trusts him  so
completely.
Eloise:
Well, he snapped out of it enough to let the secret slip by the end of  PoA.
For some reason I don't have a problem with his keeping quiet. If  Dumbledore 
was the only wizard who frightened *Voldemort*, I'm sure he could  persuade 
Severus that keeping quiet was in his best interests. I actually think  that he 
knew that if he said anything he'd be out and I don't think he had much,  if 
anything, of a home to go back to. I also, as you probably know think that  
Severus has long looked on Dumbleore as a father figure.
 
Kneasy:



Lupin may  or may not be ESE. Personally I tend to think not, I think
it's Sirius. No  matter. What does matter is that the whole 'Prank'
idea as we know it won't  wash, not until it gets a believable spinal
transplant.
It's like the  Shack itself, ramshackle and with holes in the  roof.





Eloise:
I don't think either of them is ESE, but I agree that the 'Prank' bears a  
remarkable resemblance to a Swiss cheese.
 
Somebody pointed out over on Main that Snape shouldn't have been in danger  
anyway. A competent wizard with a wand, surely there should have been some 
spell  he could have cast to stun Lupin or something. Trouble for writers is that 
magic  is a two edged sword (or perhaps that should be a double ended wand). 
It's quite  difficult to think of dangerous situations to get characters into 
that they  can't escape from by means of magic (hence, possibly, the necessity 
of the AK).  I'm coming to the conclusion that you *can't* write about magic 
without loose  ends and holes in the plot.
 
~Eloise


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