PoA Chapter Seven

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Malfoy returns to class acting as if he’s the survivor of some heroic battle. Which only Harry actually is, btw.

Even more shocking, Malfoy is marginally interested in girls when he plays the part of stoic sufferer to Pansy. Draco’s such a Mama’s boy.

Snape tells the class to settle down and Harry and Ron indignantly think about how if they’d walked in late they’d have gotten detention because Malfoy’s allowed to get away with anything in Snape’s class. Okay, hold on. No he isn’t. Nobody is. The Trio’s actually probably got a worse record in Snape’s class than Malfoy does—he likes Snape so he behaves.

And here, he hasn’t actually done anything wrong. Even if Snape would have given detention to Harry and Ron here, he’d have been wrong to do so. So it’s not like Malfoy’s getting away with anything.

Malfoy does display enough intelligence to annoy Ron. But that doesn’t take much.

Draco drawls to Snape that he needs something else done so Harry has to do it. If I was Harry or Ron here I’d have started laughing too by this point. Draco’s being a dick, but just the little stinker kind. Ron and Harry react to him like he’s being evil.

This book is generally a favorite because the Sirius reveal is great. But that gives JKR the problem of having no real villain, since Sirius isn’t trying to hurt Harry and neither is Peter. So she comes up with the Buckbeak story instead. Only the Buckbeak story is a non-issue, because it’s basically the story of an inept guy given a teaching position through favoritism who shouldn’t be hiding behind a bunch of kids to save his ass anyway. And that means the villain role falls to a kid whose crime is making a mistake in class and being unsympathetic about the consequences. Even the innocent animal isn’t innocent since it attacks Draco for the same reasons everyone else in canon does.

Harry’s shaking with anger now because Draco says his father’s made complaints about Hagrid. Even if I didn’t like Draco I couldn’t think of this as some huge injustice that Hagrid’s job is in trouble, especially when I know Hagrid is a bad teacher who can’t be fired because of Dumbledore.

This is why the series often depends on seemingly unimportant things like loving Hagrid. If you don’t see Hagrid being fired any differently than Harry sees Trelawney being fired, it’s hard to get worked up.

Oh! Here’s that big moment where Snape threatens to poison Trevor and totally would have done it too because he’s evil! I really don’t think the scene’s meant to be taken as seriously as Ron and Harry take everything in it. Even little kids get that Snape isn’t really going to poison the toad. In the next book he’s threatening to poison everybody.

Seamus reports Sirius has been sighted by a Muggle who thinks he’s just an ordinary criminal. Which he actually is. Okay yeah, he’s a wizard, but get over yourselves, guys. There are Muggles who have killed more people at once than Sirius.

I love the way Malfoy’s such a pariah amongst the heroes that whenever he’s needed as part of the story he’s always got to be forcing himself into a conversation between people who are glaring at him and wishing him dead.

Luckily Malfoy’s face is always twisting into various positions of “malicious,” “mean,” “nasty,” and “malevolent” so we know they’re just reacting to him like the cowardly demon he is. He should really be perched on Harry’s shoulder like an imp.

Can’t help but imagine what Ron and Harry look like from Draco’s pov. I suppose various stages of “morally outraged,” “righteously angry,” “heroically protective,” and “Crucio-level indignant.”

Draco’s bad jokes always have to over-played so Harry can notice (as if he’s not always checking Draco out), but give him a really dramatic moment and the boy knows how to play it just right. He draws Harry into the truth about Sirius “quietly,” “breathing” his lines instead of speaking them. And people wonder why H/D is so popular?

Still, why is Draco the only person telling Harry this story? Besides the obvious meta-reasons? Just like in GoF, Draco’s actually surprised that he knows more about Harry’s life than Harry does. Presidents of the fanclub probably often do!

Also, Hermione pops in and out of the scene after class, because she just Time Traveled. Despite knowing that Time Turners exist, and that they live in a world of magic, it doesn’t occur to Ron to think Hermione’s done anything magical. After all, it wouldn’t be OOC for her to have started Apparating early. (If Hermione heard that theory we all know she’d tell them you can’t Apparate inside Hogwarts.)

Lupin tells them to put away their books, which by now we know is code for “good teacher.”

Lupin mentions Filch, whom the narrator tells us is constantly waging a war against the students. By grumbling at them as he cleans up their messes.

Can’t wait until Harry starts heroically hexing the guy in a few years to put him in his place. Uppity squib janitors are the worst!

Snape leaves the teacher’s lounge when they come in, taking care to get in a last shot at Neville for letting Hermione help him in Potions. Well, really so that Lupin has a sense of what’s going on with Neville so he can give him some of that confidence that is the basis for all ability in good people.

Lupin might have thought he was out of practice humiliating Snape but 20 years later, Moony’s still got it!

Harry finds it hard to answer with Hermione bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet and waving her hand next to him. Hee! Hermione was so cute. A little young for 14 (which she would be by this point) but still.

I once did a post on how books 3-6 are like one book for each house? And this one’s totally the Gryffindor book, so there’s a big theme about courage. Hagrid’s class required some already, but now we’ve got a Boggart, which is pretty entirely about being able to laugh at fear.

A lot of people used to point to Snape’s being Neville’s boggart as proof that Snape really was Satan as a teacher, since he’s beating out every other fear for a kid whose parents were tortured into insanity. To me it more just says that Neville didn’t witness his parents’ torture and he’s had a relatively normal life so has a normal kid fear of a mean teacher.

I love that Harry can’t even think of how to make a Dementor less frightening. Because Nazgul rip-offs are just so terrifying they can’t be funny. Start with a pair of tap shoes and a hoodie and work from there Harry, jeez. Family Guy got a whole character out of it.

Heh. That reminds me of a LOTR fic. I think it was called “The Littlest Nazgul” where Frodo did become a wraith. The other Nazgul were annoyed at having to get him a black pony, and the fact that he called the pony Mushroom.

Seamus’ greatest fear is of course a banshee. If you cut Seamus open every Irish stereotype in the world would spill out.

Lupin’s boggart was the moon, of course.

And again with the courage theme, Harry’s still obsessing over his humiliating faint on the train and thinks Lupin kept him from facing the boggart because he didn’t trust him not to faint again.

I’m going to give some props to Lavender here for wondering why Lupin’s afraid of crystal balls. And JKR for calling attention to it without really calling attention to it.


Things happening twice:
While Ron and Hermione don’t get why, Harry becomes actually interested in Draco when he starts talking about taking action in revenge for your family, which will happen again in HBP.
Harry will also have the urge to show off for Cho the same way Malfoy is here. It just takes him a couple of years.
A Boggart shows up again in OotP.
Neville seems to have as much trouble as Draco when it comes to listening in class, and Potions has been known to also cause violent accidents. Only here it’s not Neville’s fault.

It’s a gun. No it isn’t! It’s Chekov! No it isn’t!
Lupin’s boggart
Since Lavender brings our attention to it, and we hear about everyone else’s, it’s got to be something.
Status: Fired with a mighty bang!
Malfoy’s cryptic remarks
He says if it were his family he wouldn’t just go to school like a good boy.
Status: Fired—he actually would take some action.

OMG, Hermione didn’t get to face her boggart!
What if she has to face one in the future?
Status: Fired, but harmlessly. I can’t remember if it’s at the end of this year or during her OWLS, but she can’t do it right. She should have just thought to make McGonagall’s face break out in pustules that said “Old Maid” or something.





Misdirected Answering
I know the Boggart class was an elaborate set up for a couple of things, but I don’t remember Boggarts ever really being important. Especially once the big tragic scene in OotP points out that adult fears tend to be a lot harder to make funny.

Jabootu Score: 1

Comments

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

I'm curious: why is "I see no difference" any different from Snape's behavior to Neville?

It would depend on whether "I see no difference" is aimed at Hermione's teeth or at the larger situation. It's ambiguous in the text. I thought for sure that it was aimed at Hermione's teeth but, on re-reading, it could equally apply to the fact that two by-standers were hexed. Going on memory here since I'm too lazy to pick my way past the toy baskets that are out because the grandson's visiting, Snape had told Goyle to go to the hospital wing and Ron and Harry started complaining about how Hermione had been hexed and Snape said, "I see no difference." He then told Hermione to go to the hospital wing.

The difference between that and Neville is that, when Snape interacts with Neville, it's obvious that he is interacting with Neville and not possibly referencing a wider situation of which Neville is only a part. When the cauldron melts, Neville is in the thick of the situation.

I'm not thrilled with Dumbledore. The last two books showed him, IMO, to be a calculating manipulator who had no regard for people. Before HBP I had been more on the track of thinking that he was akin to a general who must sacrifice people for the sake of the mission. After, when it was so obvious that he sacrificed people for the sake of keeping necessary information from them and from Harry, I revised my opinion. He was withholding information despite the needs of the mission, not for the sake of the mission. He just couldn't stand not knowing more than anybody else and to hell with whoever got killed because of it.

I thought Snape was thoroughly castrated by DHs. His attachment to Lily was pathetic, her treatment of him was disgusting. So, for me, anyway, JKR didn't succeed with the Lily love and Dumbledore trust angle, she just emasculated some representation of a teacher she didn't like from her own school days.

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

I don't find the alternate interpretation of "I see no difference" plausible because of the general set-up of it, the fact that he's looking at Hermione and gave that meaningful pause before saying it. It's the way a person would deliver a deliberate insult, IMO.

I agree about Lily and Dumbledore. Snape in DH was both romanticized and demeaned, at the same time.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Myself, I don't need to have an alternate interpretation of the 'no difference' remark. It is one of very few instances where he crosses the line. He has his own reasons for doing so (he is still angry with the trio for their role in Sirius' escape, he is still hurt that they didn't trust him, he is still angry for their complicity in his further injury, and right then they appear to be continuing their usual antics with Harry's participation in the Triwizard Tournament and there are all those events that may be signs for the imminent return of Voldemort) but he shouldn't have given in to them.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

It's the way a person would deliver a deliberate insult, IMO.

It's also the way a person would act if they were considering saying something else before actually saying what they end up saying. I've had moments like that with kids where I consider pointing out (to stick myself into the current example) that they've done the same thing, that they're not in charge here I am, that they've been interrupting and now expect me to be able to sort things through when all they've done is made a muddle, that this kid has long teeth while the other kid has painful boils, and I might just say something that I hope to convey at least a third of that without getting into full lecture mode - they won't listen anyway at this point, they're going off fully cocked. Whatever I come up with saying won't convey everything and will probably be misinterpreted because you just can't condense at this point but people try to do it anyway. I think Snape would be more likely to fall into the wrong words trap than perhaps McGonagall would be - despite his silky voice and snappy delivery he seems to have problems with interpersonal communications.

I'm not adverse to the reading you have of the subject, I just find it not the only one possible. We probably have different experiences that sway us.

[the-bitter-word.livejournal.com]

The more I think about this, the more I am persuaded that Snape's comment was about the situation of Gryffindor versus Slytherin and not Granger's personal appearance. When else does Snape comment about someone's physical appearance? Generally, he criticizes performance or what he perceives to be character flaws. It is OC for him to criticize appearance. In fact, it is possible that physical appearance doesn't really register for him, given his own described appearance and JKR's remark that other things were more important to him (or words to that effect).

It's like the comment about Tonk's Patronus. Both that comment and the "no difference" one were shocking to read, since they seemed so gratuitously cruel. Yet, we know now that Snape was commenting on Lupin's character as much a criticizing Tonks for her choice of Lupin or for being such a fool for love. The "no difference" comment could similarly be one of JKR's gotcha set-ups, where you have to switch back and view the scene again.

Of course, I could be misremembering everything, but giving this some thought, I agree with you that Snape's comment was situational and not personal.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I don't see how it makes sense if he's not talking about her teeth. It's true he doesn't usually go for physical appearance--I think less because he doesn't see it than because he's been teased about that himself and is more sensitive about people being stupid and/or arrogant. But this is just handed to him on a platter.

Hermione, Ron, Harry and I assume the Slytherins all take him to be taking a crack at Hermione's teeth and since he doesn't apologize, would it even matter if he was really talking about the situation? And why would "I see no difference" even relate in context? Ron is telling him that there's no difference. He's showing him that Hermione was also hexed, just like Goyle was. The way Snape constructs his sentence makes it sound like he's disagreeing with Ron, which is how everyone takes it.

Snape's line to Tonks makes more personal sense after we know the story, though she gets what he means. But here there's no more information we really need to get. Snape doesn't ever apologize or seem confused about her reaction.

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

And why would "I see no difference" even relate in context? Ron is telling him that there's no difference. He's showing him that Hermione was also hexed, just like Goyle was. The way Snape constructs his sentence makes it sound like he's disagreeing with Ron, which is how everyone takes it.

We know what Ron says; do we know exactly what Ron means?

I do think that it makes sense here for Ron to mean that there's no difference when he says "look at Hermione!" Of course, that's my perspective of the matter, too: that there's essentially no difference, despite different hexes being used. (Although Harry appears to have chosen one that's physically painful, and Draco chose one that makes you look silly, therefore emotionally painful at worst.)

But does Ron necessarily mean that?

The thing is, the Gryffindors often think/speak as though anything bad done to them is an outrage, but bad things done to the Slytherins just aren't as big a deal. Ron's grumpy at Hagrid about the dragon bite he gets in PS/SS, but he certainly never thinks to blame Hagrid for Draco's being hurt by the hippogriff.

What with all that... Ron's saying "look at Hermione!" might be taken to imply that Draco's hex was *worse* than Harry's.

Particularly if Snape was already planning to get to Hermione next. Dealing with Goyle first makes sense as triage because he's covered with boils; it's more urgent. It doesn't mean he was going to ignore Hermione just because he dealt with Goyle first. If I were dealing with two injured students, and one of the less-injured student's friends burst out about how his friend was hurt before I could get to that friend, I might interpret that as claiming that his friend had been hurt worse.

Well, yes, it's a stretch. I have a hard time reading "I see no difference" relating to the situation rather than Hermione's appearance, myself. I could see Severus interpreting Ron's comment that way, though, and I do think it's possible to read the scene that way.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

I don't think the context of the "difference" statement makes a huge difference in the story or anything and readers can bring their own take to it, and we do. The statement itself doesn't seem to affect Hermione beyond this scene, it doesn't seem to affect Ron's or Harry's feelings about Snape, it just disappears until fans on different sides of the Snape coin look at it.

[the-bitter-word.livejournal.com]

I don't see why he would even know that Granger's teeth are a sore point for her, or try to hurt her feelings over it. The scene just makes more sense to me now in the context of a teacher assessing a feud and putting in their place the Gryffindors who loudly and self-righteously assert their hurt over and above the Slytherins. "I see no difference" directly addresses that privilege and not Granger's teeth.

Just because an opportunity is handed to Snape on a platter doesn't mean he will seize it. A lot of opportunities are probably handed to him, but his actions don't necessary follow from that. He does not seem to act in a gratuitous fashion, and if the comment were about teeth, it would be wholly gratuitous. Potter sees Snape as being unjust, but how often is Potter correct? It seems more consistent for Snape to intervene in a Gryffindor-Slytherin feud to take care of the wounded and re-balance the blame.

So, taking the thread (http://community.livejournal.com/deathtocapslock/102390.html?thread=3396854#t3396854) thoughtfully provided by lynn_waterfall (my snarky comments in brackets):

"And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice.
[Snape had arrived to start his class -- how unreasonable of him]

Snape had arrived. The Slytherins clamored to give their explanations; Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, "Explain."
[Yes, he favors Draco]

"Potter attacked me, sir -"
[I can't remember if this was true or not]

"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry shouted.
[See above]

"- and he hit Goyle - look -"
[Snape attention is drawn to the Slytherin injury]

Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi.
[Goyle's hurt bad]

"Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly.
[Snape is used to such shenanigans, and his calm should calm the others]

"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"
[Gryffindor brings attention to its injuries]

He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth - she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape's back.
[Ron forces Hermione into a situation she finds humiliating]

Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, "I see no difference."
[Snape does not see a difference between the Slytherin complaints and the Gryffindor complaints, i.e., he does not privilege one injury over the other as the Gryffindors might expect]

Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.
[Hermione, like a true Gryffindor, took it personally]

It was lucky, perhaps, that both Harry and Ron started shouting at Snape at the same time; lucky their voices echoed so much in the stone corridor, for in the confused din, it was impossible for him to hear exactly what they were calling him. He got the gist, however.
[Who shouts at teachers? Privileged, shoot-from-the-hip Gryffindors who feel special, grievous injury to one of their own]

"Let's see," he said, in his silkiest voice. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each for Potter and Weasley. Now get inside, or it'll be a week's worth of detentions."
[Snape within his rights and role here, and only 50 points and one detention each]

Harry's ears were ringing. The injustice of it made him want to curse Snape into a thousand slimy pieces.
[Hey, Harry did that to Draco, didn't he? The essence of Gryffindor justice]

I try not to be a Snape or Slytherin apologist to the degree some people are, and up until reading seductivedark's alternate reading, I accepted this scene as most readers do. I just find reasonable grounds to question that reading, now.

By the way, this recap is one of the funniest things I've read in a while, especially the line about the president of the fanclub.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Awww, thanks!

I can definitely understand the alternate reading--I'd never thought of it either until seductivedark explained it but now I see how it works. I guess I'd expect a moment of Snape being confused at the response or angrier at it if that was the case. I suppose one could say he didn't notice Hermione burst into tears and just thought she ran off because that's what he told Goyle to do. But in that case he's awfully calm at being yelled at by Ron and Harry for not privileging Hermione's injury, speaking silkily when he takes away the points and gives detentions.

But then, we're not in Snape's head so we don't know. I think the main point of the scene is to get Hermione to the hospital wing so she can have her teeth shrunk.

[the-bitter-word.livejournal.com]

But in that case he's awfully calm at being yelled at by Ron and Harry for not privileging Hermione's injury, speaking silkily when he takes away the points and gives detentions.

Smooth and silky is just Snape's way. He only loses it in anger when his personal integrity is threatened, or in grief when he thinks about Lily.

[merrymelody.livejournal.com]

I think the main point of the scene is to get Hermione to the hospital wing so she can have her teeth shrunk.

My favourite thing about this scene (apart from Draco once again going for a goofy spell while Harry's is the 'painful looking' one - damn that Malfoy and his fascination with the Dark Arts, whatever they are) is just that their hexes ended up hitting each other's friends. Instant karma.
It's like Ron's broken wand - if this happened every time anyone cast a hex, the wizarding world would quickly become a nicer place.

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

I see your point about the pause. But Snape, generally, is more likely to commit deliberate rather than accidental cruelty. His problems with interpersonal communications have less to do with awkwardness than with occasional impulses to nastiness. That's why I would still read it as an insult.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

I just found it to be a little jarring. As someone else mentioned, he doesn't usually make this sort of personal remark. Given his canon description, the recipient of such a remark would have carte blanche (sp) to call "Pot/Kettle" on him.

No matter one's perspective, though, this is a real eye-catching remark and has generated a lot of fandom discussion.