Skyehawke :: PoA 8

[pauraque_bk]

Lo, I have a shiny new Skyehawke account! Thanks, switchknife.

Skyehawke is a very nice invitational multifandom archive with an excellent system of allowing authors to upload and edit their own work. It's like ff.net, if ff.net were actually good. (However, I find it impossible not to note that its name always makes me smile. Skyehawke... as opposed to all those land hawks.)

*

PoA 8: Flight of the Fat Lady

Only Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins had anything bad to say about Professor Lupin. (107)

Draco seems to hold a grudge against Lupin for stopping him from getting into it with Harry (69), and for no other reason we're shown. I can't recall how Lupin treats the Slytherins in his class, if it's mentioned at all. I doubt he'd intentionally treat them unfairly; he's extremely interested in being the best teacher he can be.

'Look at him!' he said furiously to Hermione, dangling Scabbers in front of her. 'He's skin and bone! You keep that cat away from him!' [...] 'That cat's got it in for Scabbers!' said Ron, ignoring the people around him, who were starting to giggle. 'And Scabbers was here first, and he's ill!' (111)

This is quite different from Ron's initial "disgust" with Scabbers when we meet them in PS/SS. It's important now that we see Ron loving and caring for him, so that we can be suitably horrified when we learn the truth.

Ron's experience of Peter parallels that of MPP. Peter is unwanted and "useless", yet somehow an emotional attachment develops. Peter clings to MPP, hangs around them like the pet he literally is to Ron. In each case, the betrayal seems impossible, and comes as a huge shock.

Lavender Brown seemed to be crying. Parvati had her arm around her, and was explaining something to Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were looking very serious. (111-112)

This isn't exactly relevant, but it reminded me: I'm really bothered by the fact that Neville seems not to have any friends. Harry & Ron and Seamus & Dean have paired off and are constantly in each other's company. Early on in PS/SS, before the troll incident, Hermione and Neville were seen together a great deal, but then Hermione attached herself to the Harry-Ron group. Neville is with them for the Fluffy episode (unlike in the movie!), and the Trio certainly don't dislike Neville, but... who does he hang out with? (Maybe the two mystery Gryffindor girls in his year...)

Also in this scene, Hermione again debunks Trelawney's predictions.

'Well,' said Lupin, frowning slightly, 'I assumed that if the Boggart faced you, it would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort.' [...] 'I imagined people would panic.' (117)

ellen_fremedon was right about this when it came up in the last chapter.

'That suggests that what you fear most of all is -- fear. Very wise, Harry.' (117)

It also suggests the theme of the book, that our internal demons have to be confronted just as external enemies do.

'Ah, Severus,' said Lupin, smiling. 'Thanks very much. Could you leave it here on the desk for me?'
Snape set the smoking goblet down, his eyes wandering between Harry and Lupin.
'I was just showing Harry my Grindylow,' said Lupin pleasantly, pointing at the tank.
'Fascinating,' said Snape, without looking at it. 'You should drink that directly, Lupin.'
'Yes, yes I will,' said Lupin.
'I made an entire cauldronful,' Snape continued. 'If you need more.'
'I should probably take some again tomorrow. Thanks very much, Severus.'
'Not at all,' said Snape, but there was a look in his eye Harry didn't like. He backed out of the room, unsmiling and watchful. (117-118)

A lot is going on here. We know the animosity hasn't abated, but has actually increased (107) -- but here, it's expressed passively. Lupin calls him "Severus", Snape replies with "Lupin" -- Snape doesn't want to be friends, as Lupin must know perfectly well. Lupin deliberately doesn't take the hint and does it again. The exchange also calls to mind Dumbledore, the only other character who calls Snape by his first name, who keeps Snape firmly under his thumb, and arguably doesn't respect him.

Snape needles back, pointedly alluding to Lupin's current dependence on Snape for his safety and livelihood -- twice reminding him to take his medicine, as if Lupin were a child. There may also be a sense of Snape consciously mocking Lupin's mild, passive-aggressive manner -- tit for tat.

Harry is, in a sense, a pawn for both sides. Seeing Lupin and James's son sitting together drinking tea must rile Snape, but Harry's presence also underlines Snape's power over the situation -- he waves the evidence of Lupin's condition right in Harry's face.


Previous re-read posts are here.

Comments

[marinarusalka.livejournal.com]

I think we are leaving out the Dumbledore factor in this. Back from his school days Remus knows that he can hide behind Dumbledore's skirts and trust Snape to keep his mouth shut.

I think by that point Lupin, if he has any brains, has realized that Dumbledore is using him as much as he's using Snape, so that his protection is not entirely reliable in the long term. And, of course, Snape doesn't have to blurt out "Werewolf!" in the great hall in order blow Lupin's cover. His essay assignment was just one of many possible ways to get the students to figure it out without Snape himself being held accountable. (And the essay assignment *worked* -- Hermione did figure it out; she just chose not to tell. If he went on dropping hints, particularly to the older Slytherins, one of them would've gotten it eventually. They're not all stupid.)

The reason Snape made the revelation so openly at the end of the book was that a) he was too pissed off to care, and b) he probably realized that Lupin's immediate usefulness ended when Sirius' threat ended, and Dumbledore would no longer go out of his way to protect him.

As for what else Lupin has the power to do beyond annoying Snape... well... he can eat him. Or eat one of the students.

In theory, yes. But at the time of the conversation, Lupin is in human form and therefore not an immediate threat. Yet Snape doesn't behave as if he's afraid of something Lupin might do at full moon -- he behaves as if he's afraid right there and then. It seems to be a visceral reaction: he's responding as if Lupin is a slavering monster, or about to become a slavering monster, even when Lupin is just sitting quietly in his office sipping a cup of tea. I'd bet most of that is due to lingering trauma from the shrieking shack encounter, but some of it is probably just the result of normal Wizarding upbringing; most wizards seem to believe that werewolves are inhuman monsters even when in human form.

[mimine.livejournal.com]

I think by that point Lupin, if he has any brains, has realized that Dumbledore is using him as much as he's using Snape, so that his protection is not entirely reliable in the long term.

Does he? He seems to value it very much considering that he's not telling Dumbledore that Sirius is an Animagus. Perhaps it is an indication that he's afraid Dumbledore might drop him at any moment, though. Either way, he does have the protection of what it would mean for Dumbledore to have it be known that he hired a werewolf, combined with the fact that he had had a student werewolf (not that that is necessarily known, perhaps people thought that Lupin became a werewolf afterwards). And Snape was so pissed off in the end that I think decided to punish both Dumbledore and Lupin by revealing Lupin's secret. He may be Dumbledore's dog but definitely yanked his leash a bit in that case.

You do have a point about Snape's threat by the fact that he assigned a werewolf essay. Pity none of the Slytherins were bright enough to figure it out. It came after this scene but in the scene where Snape catches Harry with the Marauders Map Lupin doesn't seem to be the least bit afraid of him and lies to him very easily. A bit reckless but he has Harry to think of. He certainly made more of an impression to Harry when shaming him into being safer than Snape being on his case about the same thing.

In theory, yes. But at the time of the conversation, Lupin is in human form and therefore not an immediate threat. Yet Snape doesn't behave as if he's afraid of something Lupin might do at full moon -- he behaves as if he's afraid right there and then.

Or as if he's afraid Lupin will be lax about his medicine and endanger everyone. And the time did come. And there's also the possibility that he thought Lupin was telling Harry about how his father and his friends knew Snape in school. I'm sure that becoming "Professor Snivellus" would not be a very good prospect for someone who values his dignity as much as Snape does.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

The reason Snape made the revelation so openly at the end of the book was that a) he was too pissed off to care, and b) he probably realized that Lupin's immediate usefulness ended when Sirius' threat ended, and Dumbledore would no longer go out of his way to protect him.

Don't forget c) Lupin had just put every student at risk by transforming without the Wolfsbane in him.

Snape revealed Lupin's secret out of 2/3 spite and 1/3 actual concern for his students, in my opinion. He is a bastard, but he doesn't let his students get hurt -- from dispelling Neville's cauldron disasters to having Deflating Draught on hand when Harry et al. splattered the Swelling Solution around (in CoS, when they needed to get boomslang skin), Snape actually is very conscientious about the students' safety.

[marinarusalka.livejournal.com]

Don't forget c) Lupin had just put every student at risk by transforming without the Wolfsbane in him.

I was kind of including that under a). :-)