PoA 21

[pauraque_bk]

PoA 21: Hermione's Secret

Okay, that just sounds like a dirty mail-order catalog.

'Black had bewitched them, I saw it immediately. A Confundus Charm, to judge by their behaviour. [...] They weren't responsible for their actions. On the other hand, their interference might have permitted Black to escape [...] They've got away with a great deal before now ... I'm afraid it's given them a rather high opinion of themselves [...]' (283)

As neotoma has pointed out, if Snape really thinks they were Confunded, he's being very charitable. However, given that he goes right on to blame them after saying they aren't to blame, I doubt that what he says here is entirely sincere. He's making himself appear charitable to the Minister.

'And yet -- is it good for [Harry] to be given so much special treatment? Personally I try to treat him like any other student[...]' (283)

Of course, this isn't entirely sincere either (or if it is, Snape is very unaware of his own behavior). However, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a kernel of truth in it: Failing to teach Harry self-control could prove extremely dangerous, not just to Harry, but to the world in general.

'[...]I bound and gagged Black, naturally, conjured stretchers and brought them all straight back to the castle.' (284)

While our heroes had no problem dragging Snape along with his head knocking against the ceiling (277), he gave them the consideration of stretchers. Admittedly, he wants to make a good impression on the authorities, but still.

I was puzzled at first why he gagged Sirius, but it makes sense: He didn't want him to be capable of an incantation.

'You surely don't believe a word of Black's story?' Snape whispered, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore's face.
'I wish to speak to Harry and Hermione alone,' Dumbledore repeated.
Snape took a step towards Dumbledore.
'Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen,' he breathed. 'You haven't forgotten that, Headmaster? You haven't forgotten that he once tried to kill me?'
'My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus,' said Dumbledore quietly. (286-287)

Ouch. Snape's desire for Dumbledore's support and approval is very much palpable here -- Snape is asking Dumbledore to choose between him and prodigal-son Sirius, and Dumbledore's choice is very clear.

Harry moved his head a few inches to get a clear view of the distant front doors. Dumbledore, Fudge, the old Committee member and Macnair the executioner were coming down the steps. (292)

'It was tied here!' said the executioner furiously. 'I saw it! Just here!'
'How extraordinary,' said Dumbledore. There was a note of amusement in his voice.
[...]
'Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot?' said Dumbledore, still sounding amused. 'Search the skies, if you will ... Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea. Or a large brandy.' (294)

We're pretty evidently supposed to think that this Dumbledore, Chapter16!Dumbledore, knows that it's Harry and Hermione who have made off with Buckbeak. If he doesn't, his reaction is very strange.

There was a swishing noise, and the thud of an axe. The executioner seemed to have swung it into the fence in anger. And then came the howling, and this time they could hear Hagrid's words through his sobs. (294)

This is around where I start to get a tachyon headache. It seems that even in Chapter 16, Buckbeak was never really executed, which is consistent with the way the time travel device is presented throughout the chapter.

'Here comes Lupin!' said Harry, as they saw another figure sprinting down the stone steps and haring towards the Willow. Harry looked up at the sky. Clouds were obscuring the moon completely. (296)

Again, this is nonsense. JKR's editor should have gotten this one.

'What happened to the other boy? Ron?' said Sirius urgently. (303)

As soon as Sirius is set to escape, his mind clears enough to think of Ron's safety. However, I suspect he's wondering if Peter's curse killed him, not whether he's all right after being dragged off and having his leg broken by Padfoot.


The time travel device is troublesome for a couple of reasons. One is that it's a deus ex machina -- groundwork is laid for it, in Hermione's exhaustion and odd class schedule, but... what does it have to do with the rest of the book?

Another is that it calls into question one of the primary themes of the series, that our choices make us who we are. Dumbledore warns them seriously that they must not be seen, they must not change anything but what he tells them, etc., but once they actually go back, there's no indication that they can change anything -- they're merely fulfilling the course that's already set for them. If they'd made any small accidental change -- any at all -- I'd have less of a problem with the whole thing.

Narratively, it's a stumbling block. The emotional climax is clearly the Shrieking Shack, and on first reading, I thought the book took a bit too long to end after that. After that catharsis, introducing a major plot point was somewhat exhausting.

My assumption is that the time travel element will be very important later on in the series -- the Knight2King theory, or something equally huge -- or else JKR wouldn't have bothered introducing it at all. But considering PoA as a stand-alone novel, this chapter just doesn't feel as tightly woven-in as the rest of the book.


Past re-read posts are here.

Comments

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

The choice is clear to me(and I like Severus!). But there are ways, and tehre are ways, as my mom from Brooklyn would say.

Yes, and Dumbledore seems to take the wrong way with Snape a lot. Their personalities are so different, I think they're both making assumptions about how the other thinks and will react, and then get rude shocks when that doesn't pan out.

And there are long ranging consequences. Do you really think that Snape would have forgiven Dumbledore for lying to his face?

No, of course not. This is Snape, Grudge-holder Extraordinair. I do wonder if Snape knows *how* much Dumbledore did that night in PoA. At the moment, I think Snape only thinks that Dumbledore cut his feet out from under him in the Infirmary. If Snape realizes that Dumbledore not only did that but also orchestrated Sirius' escape to the extent he did, I think it would destroy Snape.

It's bad enough not to be believed when you are in the right. But to be deliberately set up to be humiliated? By someone you trust so much? Snape would NOT be able to forgive Dumbledore.

Do you really think that after seeing how Dumbledore treated a member of his own and staff, and then finding out a Werewolf was on the grounds do you really think that Fudge would believe much of anything Dumbledore has to say about teh dark forces. If I were Fudge, I wouldn't- or treated everything this person said with a shake of salt.

Not only does is there the werewolf issue, but Fudge sees Snape fly apart in the most disturbing manner. That had to make an impression on him -- and quite possibly accounts for why Snape revealing the Dark Mark at the end of GoF failed to convince Fudge that the Dark Lord was back. Fudge had already seen Snape go off the rails when he overreacted to Sirius Black's escape -- why would Fudge interpret Snape's reaction to the reappearance of the Dark Mark as anything other that Snape flipping out *again*?

In other words, Dumbledore's actions at the end of PoA bites him in the tuckus at the end of GoF.

[dphearson.livejournal.com]

In other words, Dumbledore's actions at the end of PoA bites him in the tuckus at the end of GoF.

Precisely. As Dumbledore says at the end, he was blind to Moody's actions until it was almost too late. I wonder if Severus made a nuisance of himself during the unseen course of GoF, saying to Dumbledore : "There is something not quite right with this fellow. I can feel it!" And Dumbeldore just brushed him off. I bet you ten dollars that is what happened.