LJ-versary :: PoA 7

[pauraque_bk]

On May 6, 2003, I made my first post to LJ. I joined at the urging of the good people at haremxf, and soon discovered the infinite carnival midway that is LJ HP fandom. Since then I've met hundreds of fans, befriended many, quarrelled with a few, and admired many more from afar.

Sometimes I feel like a naive farmboy coming to New York City. This fandom is bigger and louder and brighter than anything I've ever seen online. Sometimes it's too much. But most of the time, I just plain feel lucky to be a part of it. If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere. ;)

*hugs fandom*


Eeew... sticky. *brushes himself off*

*

PoA 7: The Boggart in the Wardrobe

Ron had spent the last quarter of an hour carefully shredding his own roots into exactly equal pieces. (95)

It's struck me before that Ron doesn't seem to do too badly in Potions or particularly incite Snape's wrath (except as a Gryffindor in general), and here he's being more careful than I would have expected. He does hate Snape on behalf of Harry, but he still tries hard in his class.

'Of course, if it was me,' he said quietly, '[...]I'd be out there looking for [Black].'
'What are you talking about, Malfoy?' said Ron roughly. (96)

'What did Malfoy mean?' [...]
'He's making it up,' said Ron, savagely, 'he's trying to make you do something stupid...' (97)

How much does Ron know, here? I can't remember if he seems surprised when Harry finds out what Sirius did, but it reads here like he's trying to protect Harry from the truth.

This is a well-done scene. We keep up on other plot threads while the Snape-Neville interaction is set up so that the Boggart scene will be effective without any need for exposition.

'Good afternoon,' he said. 'Would you please put all your books back in your bags. [...]' (99)

From the moment he enters the classroom, Lupin is nothing but collected and competent. Another possible suggestion that he's taught before.

'Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear.' (100)

In case anyone still had doubts on whether Snape picks on Neville above the other kids. Lupin, of course, perceives this immediately and comes up with a way for Neville to take back control of the situation. It doesn't seem likely that he planned the Drag!Boggart!Snape in advance.

This is an important turning point for Neville's character, but the real conflict is the power struggle between Snape and Lupin. We already know Snape hates Lupin (72), and now we see him trying to exert power over Lupin's class. Lupin fights back in kind, undermining the power Snape has over his own students, and does it in such a way that Snape has no real recourse. As usual, Lupin is calm and polite -- the same defense he used to show his students he wasn't shaken by Peeves's taunting (99), a potentially rattling reminder of his school days.

'He seems a very good teacher,' said Hermione approvingly. 'But I wish I could have had a turn with the Boggart--' (106)

Why didn't he let her, I wonder?


Previous re-read posts are saved in memories here.

Comments

[pauraque]

Good observation -- Snape does like attention, which is something I think a lot of Snape writers forget. Like Draco, he's a dramatic personality, he just doesn't make it quite as obvious.

It's also interesting in view of OotP, since young!Snape doesn't appear to be a dramatic person -- he doesn't go looking for attention, he just wants to be left alone.

On the other hand, if we take what Sirius and Remus say at face-value, Snape also followed them around and tried to get them in trouble. He's arguably doing this in the Pensieve scene, sitting near them to watch what they're doing.

Hm. This is very interesting.

[asphodeline.livejournal.com]

He's arguably doing this in the Pensieve scene, sitting near them to watch what they're doing
Sorry, this is a bit OT but this particular bit of the memory scene intrigues me. Snape outwardly appears to want to be alone, engrossed as he is in his exam paper and sitting in the shade by himself. I find it odd (and sad) that he doesn't leave the exam with friend/s or a group of Slytherins. He is very much alone follwing the exam when usually, everyone wants to quiz each other about answers (I *hate* that!). So then, *why* does he follow the Gryffindors? He's asking for trouble - although demonstrates his spying prowess by appearing to wander casually to a quiet spot by the lake but is presumably quite aware of who he is following....

[pauraque]

Don't worry about wandering off the topic! Everyone else does it, especially me. :)

[chresimos.livejournal.com]

And that's why Harry can hear what they're saying! Aha!

Wait, no, that doesn't work. Foiled again!

I think Snape was just there because he was so absorbed in the paper he didn't realize what he was doing. And it is interesting, as someone mentioned, that no Slytherins showed up to defend him.