PoA Chapter Eighteen

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I've been packing all day and totally forgot to post this like I planned until now!



Based on the title of this chapter, more interesting things to follow!

Sirius leaps on Ron’s broken leg. Sucks to be Ron. He doesn't even suffer in a woobie, sexy way.

Sirius says they can explain what's going on afterward he kills Peter. Apparently he hasn’t learned anything from Azkaban. Try explaining first just once, Sirius. You might like it.

Ron’s now been bitten a lot by Scabbers btw. Ron’s pretty tough to be able to still hold on to him. Rat bites are nasty.

It is kind of ironic that it’s Lupin telling Sirius to explain everything from the beginning. Almost as if he’s trying to stretch this out until the moon rises!

LOL! Ron actually tries to say “I’m off” and hobble out on his broken leg. Possibly the funniest thing Ron’s ever done. Yeah, we’ll meet you back at school, Ron.

Ron and Harry’s eyes meet. They both believe Sirius and Lupin are out of their minds because the story makes no sense. Um, yes it does make sense. You just saw that Sirius was the black dog here, you guys. Hermione really is the thinking brain dog, isn’t she?

There’s only been seven animagi in the entire century. It’s kind of cute that at this age it doesn’t occur to Hermione that that’s because nobody actually registers.

That door opening? Totally Snape entering the room. Severus Snape: Super Spy.

Despite the fact that Wizards grow up in a world where all sorts of magical things happen, they never seem any more prepared than a Muggle would be to deal with this stuff if somebody doesn’t walk them through it beforehand: But Scabbers can’t be a man, he’s a rat! Or: Oh, the door opened by itself as if someone was walking in? Couldn’t possibly be someone walking in. We didn’t see them!

Lupin says that “in those days” (when he was bitten) there was no cure. There’s no cure now either, Lupin, as far as we know. The Potion isn’t a cure.

Harry can see where this story is going. Well done, Harry! (Though I don't think Harry ever tells us where he thinks it's going. Knowing Harry maybe this is all leading up to Julie Christie, and not Petunia Dursley, being Harry's aunt.)

Lupin’s friends couldn’t help but notice he disappeared once a month. Too bad you didn’t have Harry for a friend, Remus. He could have easily not noticed. Or at least not deduce anything from it if he did. How are you and Ron doing on that “Hermione’s regularly three places at once” mystery you’ve been solving since September, Harry?

Lupin reminisces about how his friends let a werewolf wander around loose in a town, trusting that they’d be able to keep him in control. Next you can all share stories about those carefree nights drunk driving on the highway and the laughs you had when you’d almost hit someone. Hermione agrees with me, at least.

Lupin feels a little guilty about betraying Dumbledore’s trust. Don’t worry, Lupin. Once Dumbledore finds out he’ll make you pay for it. You didn’t really think all that spying on the werewolves was for nothing, did you? Or that Sirius really needed to live in the one house he hated more than anything?

Lupin explains he didn’t tell Dumbledore Sirius was an animagus because he was too cowardly. Though really he could have told him without his disapproval. He could tell him Sirius had become an animagus without telling him why. I just can’t help but cheer anyone on for keeping a secret from Dumbledore for any reason.

Lupin cleverly says that Snape’s been right about him all along in the exact company that will assure him that Snape is never right about anything.

Lupin makes the first reference to the trick Sirius pulled on Snape, which Sirius still says served Snape right. I miss this version of the Prank.

Wow. Speaking of versions of stories, Lupin throws in without having to that Snape didn’t like James because he was, I don’t know, jealous of how good he was at Quidditch. Does he just automatically cut Snape down and cover for James and Sirius here without thinking about it even though it’s not necessary for the story? Because there’s just no way Lupin could actually believe that.

Lupin continues to impress me with how smoothly he polishes up the story dishonestly on the fly. (Seriously, I love Lupin.) Not only did he take time to suggest Snape hated James over Quidditch but he adds that James pulled Snape back from the tunnel at “great risk to his own life.” Except James is an animagus, as we’ve already learned, and werewolves are only dangerous to people. James regularly went down the tunnel to see Lupin for fun. The only danger James was in was being outed as an animagus by Snape. But he sure sounds more heroic in this version of the story.

And this is where Snape reveals himself, and given what he’s just heard man he must be pissed.

Seriously, I know he won’t listen to reason here but he really did just hear Lupin give a completely self-serving speech about him and his buddies. Imagine Harry listening to a conversation where Draco talked about his time at school with Harry this way. He'd be even more angry than Snape for less reason.

Things that happen twice:

Peter’s an animagus, just like Black and McGonagall. Perhaps after a THIRD example Ron and Harry will catch on that sometimes animals turn out to actually be people.
Speaking of unregistered animagi: Rita Skeeter.
‘Member how Harry went to the Shrieking Shack in his invisibility cloak? Now Snape’s come to the Shack in Harry's invisibility cloak.
In fact, three books from now it’ll be Harry slipping in a door in his invisibility cloak, only Draco will actually notice. Draco, the only character besides Hermione known to ever deduce things or make a cunning plan—even if it’s usually with disastrous results.
I was half-joking when writing about Lupin’s life among the werewolves in HBP as Dumbledore’s punishment for betraying his trust but it actually makes total sense and is in fitting with Dumbledore’s character. Plus it’s a nicely eerie parallel for Voldemort amusing himself by giving Draco an assignment to make him suffer and fail in HBP!
Lupin didn’t tell Dumbledore Sirius was an animagus because he’s a coward. Because he’s a coward. Because he’s a coward. That'll come up a lot.
Lupin’s “Snape’s been right about me all along” is about as disingenuous as his later “Snape’s right to have me fired” will be shortly.
Lupin’s behavior really does make him seem like exactly the guy Snape thinks he is here, just as it did in the Marauders Map chapter.

It’s a gun. No it isn’t! It’s Chekov! No it isn’t!

The Prank
Well, this one’s obvious, isn’t it? The series can’t end until we get the real story…

Status: Um...fired, but it turns out it was not so much a real gun as an empty water pistol that Snape shot at his own pants to make an embarrassing stain.





Exploitation Filmmakers’ Credo
Animagus. It’s not that difficult a concept. Even when you heard the guy had died.

Foley Work
Come on, you know the door had to creak really loudly when Snape walked in, even if his footsteps were somehow muffled.

Informed Attributes
Lupin’s just spitting these out right and left without Harry questioning any of them.

James Bond Exposition Rule
That’s it, Remus, keep talking. Just a little longer before the moon’s up. Don’t leave out the part about Quidditch. Quidditch is really important to the story.

Misdirected Answering
The chapter’s over and we still haven’t gotten anywhere near how Peter’s alive and Sirius didn’t kill him or why Sirius suddenly isn’t a bad guy anymore.

The Stealth Monster Rule
See Work, Foley. Snape must be using some version of Muffliato as he comes up those stairs!

Jabootu Score: 6

Comments

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

There’s only been seven animagi in the entire century. It’s kind of cute that at this age it doesn’t occur to Hermione that that’s because nobody actually registers.

That's her classic "she puts too must trust in the authorities" weakness I suppose. I guess she grows out of that ... proposing the D.A. is one huge example. And she doesn't try and persuade Harry that he should seek (adult) help in DH, although that's only because Rowling wanted to write a book about the Trio going it alone and so hobbled Hermione on that score. Among many.

Despite the fact that Wizards grow up in a world where all sorts of magical things happen, they never seem any more prepared than a Muggle would be to deal with this stuff if somebody doesn’t walk them through it beforehand

Wow, it's as if the author hasn't really thought things out beyond the point of view of the protagonist, isn't it? Or beyond what's necessary for the desired plot to proceed. ;-) But yes, if Ron immediately recognised Harry's cloak in book 1 as an invisibility cloak - that's a stock standard, non-super-duper, never-thought-of-Hallows-until-the-end invisibility cloak, mind you - then he, and the other wizards brought up in the magical world should recognise this sort of thing immediately. Invisible intruders and polyjuice possibilities and Fidelius flaws and ...

But Rowling wasn't able to remove herself from the point of view of the muggle-raised Harry. Or her own muggle upbringing. Whereas a professional author would have thought out her world in more depth, I dare say.

Speaking of versions of stories, Lupin throws in without having to that Snape didn’t like James because he was, I don’t know, jealous of how good he was at Quidditch. Does he just automatically cut Snape down and cover for James and Sirius here without thinking about it even though it’s not necessary for the story? Because there’s just no way Lupin could actually believe that.

The whole Snape-lovedlusted-for-Lily thing was a secret, wasn't it? I've always assumed that only Snape - not even Lily - knew that the half-blood prince 'loved' her.

Are you referring to the Snape deserved it / no he didn't James & Co. were bullies thing instead?

Packing for a holiday? Have fun!

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Hermione's growth sort of starts out trusting authority and people in institutions, then she becomes cynical about people in institutions because she knows they're not the right people, and then finally she probably trusts them again, but only if she or her friends are in the position of authority.

Ron even knows that Harry may have dropped his invisibility cloak right outside, doesn't he?

Are you referring to the Snape deserved it / no he didn't James & Co. were bullies thing instead?

I meant that Lupin knew the way James treated Snape. He did it from the first day. So it's a bit disingenuous to act like he has no clue why Snape would hate James and think maybe he was jealous. Even if he doesn't know how it started he knows James picks on him--since Lupin himself was usually there. He would have heard James talk about Snape too.

Packing to move, actually!

[oryx_leucoryx]

The whole Snape-lovedlusted-for-Lily thing was a secret, wasn't it? I've always assumed that only Snape - not even Lily - knew that the half-blood prince 'loved' her.

Yes, Rowling's characters build it up as if it was all about Severus and James: in PS Twinkly says Severus hated James but protected Harry because of a life-debt to James he had not been able to repay. Now Remus brings up the Quidditch thing. In OOTP Sirius will say it was all about Severus liking Dark Arts and James hating them, when the most important component to the rivalry was Lily. Heck, even after DH I saw some people claiming the rivalry only picked up no earlier than the end of 2nd year, the earliest James could have been Quidditch champion. But Severus also contributes to this interpretation when in chapter 14 he talks about both Potters acting like rules were not for Quidditch champions. It almost looks like Twinkles, Severus, Remus and Sirius all agreed on this cover story.

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

It almost looks like Twinkles, Severus, Remus and Sirius all agreed on this cover story.

Heh.

See, normally it would be quite permissible to just say "oh, Rowling didn't think of the new slant until she got desperate / near the end of the series". Things like the Hallows, the wand lore, the Fidelius charm, she was making it all up as she went along, without any consideration as to her own canon, destroying continuity quite happily/blissfully.

But the Snape/Lily thing must have been, surely, something that Rowling had planned from the start? So I wonder why she had even Snape align with the Quidditch reason?

Well, I suppose it wouldn't be too urbane for a teacher to tell a thirteen year old student "yes, I hated your dad because I was in lust/love with your mum". Particularly if he wanted to keep it to himself - and he did. So I guess that makes sense.

And the Marauders probably never knew about Snape's hangup on Lily, right? Although maybe they did, because the Snape/Lily friendship wasn't hidden or anything, was it? So James actively targeted Snape as a victim of his bullying because of the competition he saw for fair Lily?

I've only read the books once (other than twice for OotP) and I never thought much of or about Snape, so I don't recall the details of this sort of thing. Maybe James kept his ardour for Evans under wraps, so even his mates thought he was picking on Snape for other reasons.

Is it all clear cut in the canon or is there room for us to muse about such things?

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Well, Snape could still have made that comment about James without it being the original reason for his hatred. I'm sure over the years Snape came to hate everything about James. He probably did see him as bragging constantly about being a Quidditch star and so thinking there were special rules for him. (Heh--as there are for our own little Quidditch star, Harry.)

It was probably all part of the general impression that James Potter thought he was all that and a bag of chips. He probably wouldn't often allow himself to think about the extra sting that Lily Evans thought he was too.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Yes, I think the Lily aspect was supposed to be there all along, that's why from book 1 there are all those comments about Harry having Lily's eyes and the first interaction between Harry and Severus is looking into each other's eyes. But as we see in 'The Prince's Tale' Severus doesn't want Harry to know that was the story, he demands that Dumbles give him his word that he will not tell Harry.

And the Marauders probably never knew about Snape's hangup on Lily, right? Although maybe they did, because the Snape/Lily friendship wasn't hidden or anything, was it? So James actively targeted Snape as a victim of his bullying because of the competition he saw for fair Lily?

James and Sirius saw Severus and Lily together on the train. When Lily and Severus talk after the prank they are in a courtyard, it doesn't seem like they are hiding or anything. And of course after Severus waited for Lily outside Gryffindor tower all Gryffindors must have realized they had a break-up. And for there to be a break-up there must have been something to break.

James wrote Lily's initials on a drawing of a snitch on his DADA OWL paper. And when he was bullying Severus later he was glancing to where Lily and her friends were sitting repeatedly. So yes, the rivalry over Lily was at least a factor in James' treatment of Severus.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

But the Snape/Lily thing must have been, surely, something that Rowling had planned from the start? So I wonder why she had even Snape align with the Quidditch reason?

Allow me.

The girl you're head-over-heels for has fallen for a jock. Even if she doesn't admit it, you know. You may have seen the signs coming along nicely - the glances, the preening, the secret smiles. She denies; you fear. He's rich, he's good at the most popular sport. What do you have to offer that he doesn't?

Heck, this guy can even offer the favoritism of the headmaster. You ascribe it to the guy's prowess at Quidditch. He gets away with everything. And now here's your big chance to shine, to warn the Fair Damsel there's a horrible monster living right in her own tower, and you're corked. You've discovered the truth beyond a doubt at risk to your very life. You're told to keep quiet while the jerk... er, jock who saved you can brag about having pulled your bacon out of the fire, thereby impressing the girl while all you can do is grumble against your promise / orders / spell not to tell.

Because he's a jock. He gets away with almost murder. His friends get away with attempted murder. The jock, because he's a jock, gets bragging rights for saving you while you, schlep that you are, can't say squat. Oh, if only you were a jock... *sigh*

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

Heck, this guy can even offer the favoritism of the headmaster.

He can?

Reading this I started drawing comparisons between James/Lily and Harry/Ginny ... with Ginny being the latter day 'jock', of course. The good looking a-lot-of-the-boys-like-her life of the quidditch team who snared Harry because ... she was the good looking a-lot-of-the-boys-like-her life of the quidditch team. Their first kiss was even over quidditch.

Snape's deciding to become a murdering Death Eater was still something of a teensy overreaction to Lily's attraction to James, though, you know. Although I'm coming to appreciate his pre-dark-side feelings.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

Me: Heck, this guy can even offer the favoritism of the headmaster.

Brad: He can?

Yes. Specifically, he is allowed by the headmaster to brag about saving Snape while Snape is not allowed to tell what he was saved from or that it was James's good friend Remus who is the monster in the tunnel. James has golden coat-tails. James & Co. don't get into trouble for The Prank, either, leaving Snape to think it was just fine with the headmaster that Sirius tried to kill him (see Sirius's remark in this chapter that he had it coming to him - he still has no remorse) and that James's heroics were more to save his friends' skins than to save Snape.

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

Specifically, he is allowed by the headmaster to brag about saving Snape while Snape is not allowed to tell what he was saved from or that it was James's good friend Remus who is the monster in the tunnel.

Can you point me at the place in the series where this is told/shown? That James is 'allowed to brag'?

see Sirius's remark in this chapter that he had it coming to him - he still has no remorse

Ugh.

leaving Snape to think ... that James's heroics were more to save his friends' skins than to save Snape.

Snape, being prejudiced against James, might think that James was motivated purely to save his friends, but that's not really the case, is it? Is there anywhere in the canon where Jame's reaction to Sirius's 'prank' is revealed? I'm getting confused with lines from various fanfics where a moralistic James rails against Sirius for the attempted homicide.

I never paid the older generation much attention in my single pass through the books - I just automatically took Harry's part that Professor Snape was an evil git - so I'm finding the slant on Snape in this blog (*looks at montavilla*) quite interesting.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

...she was the good looking a-lot-of-the-boys-like-her life of the quidditch team. Their first kiss...

This ends a line in my browser and brought all sorts of... interesting... pictures to mind before I got to the part about 'their' being Harry and Ginny and not Ginny and the Quidditch team.

Snape's deciding to become a murdering Death Eater was still something of a teensy overreaction to Lily's attraction to James, though, you know.

Yes, which is why it's fine that I think Lily was just a major deterrent to his joining - when she's removed from the equation, he joins - while her rejection was not the reason he joined. It's okay for a character to be a stupid idiot when he's young as long as he learns his lesson, grows and changes. That happens enough in RL. Too bad the heroes never get to go through this.

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

This ends a line in my browser and brought all sorts of... interesting... pictures to mind before I got to the part about 'their' being Harry and Ginny and not Ginny and the Quidditch team.

Oh my goodness!!! :-) :-)

While I'm no fan of Ginny and I dislike quite a lot her 'serial dating' - she was defined largely as the-girl-who-would-date-and-then-move-on in book 5 - I'm not suggesting that she dated the whole Quidditch team!

I mean, some of the members of the team were *girls*, after all ...

:-)

It's okay for a character to be a stupid idiot when he's young as long as he learns his lesson, grows and changes.

Which Snape actually does!! Learn, grow, turn over a new leaf and all.

I quite missed that in my one read of DH ... it was pointed out to me only recently in a Fiction Alley forum discussion. The big point (for me) was that we're led to believe that Snape was doing all this - spying for the Order, protecting Harry - because he was driven by his 'love' for Lily (or to make amends for betraying her?).

Now, I think that was a lousy sole reason, and can't believe that Snape would be so driven for all those years. I also don't believe that he truly 'loved' Lily; it was more like lust or greedy fascination.

But the point is: one of the memories that Harry views shows Snape's shock when Dumbledore tells him that Harry is destined to be sacrificed. Snape's horrified by this; his sole goal, up until that point, was to protect Harry (in Lily's name). But then his universe was turned upside down - Harry is to be KILLED says Dumbledore.

If there was ever a time for Snape to turn, to go back to his old ways, it would have been then, with his major/sole reason for joining the order - to protect Harry, for Lily - removed.

But he didn't; he stayed on the side of the good guys. It was only for part of a year, I think, but still it shows that Snape did, indeed, evolve during the series.

Well, this view was an eye-opener for me, anyway.

Snape was still heavily flawed, bitter, twisted and nasty, though, you know.

Too bad the heroes never get to go through this.

Well, if you can stomach the epilogue, you've got the whole 'Albus Severus' thing, although I think that's a horrible decision of Harry's myself. But it shows that Harry, too, did evolve/mature by the end of the series?

[oryx_leucoryx]

What makes you think it was Lily's attraction to James that sent Severus to Tom's circle? How about Dumbledore's betrayal when he basically told Severus his life wasn't worth preserving? (Or are you following Rowling's extra-canon about him trying to impress Lily?)

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

I don't recall Rowling's interview factoid at all; and I don't regard Rowling's post-publication propaganda as formal canon in any case.

All I know is that Snape became a Death Eater after Lily rejected him (and I'm fuzzy even on that; did Snape become a DE while still at school? Or only fall in with the Slytherins bad guys?). While I think we can assume that the fair Lily would have kept Snape on the straight and narrow path - and so her absence made it easier for him to turn to the dark side - you're right, Snape was learning dark magic and fraternising with the bad guys even before Lily became history.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

I came across this interesting post that put a whole new slant on his reasons for joining Voldemort's side:

http://terri-testing.livejournal.com/27644.html

Have a look, it's a short read, but I thought it was very thought-provoking.

It made me wonder- do we actually know the Death Eaters back when he was at school was anything like what it was during the height of the DE terrorizing the wizarding world or what it's like during the HP books?

Tom probably didn't advertise it as 'join and you can rape and murder worthless mudbloods and throw around Unforgivables with impunity', he was supposed to be this charismatic person who pulled the wool over everyone's eyes and made them see him as this charming, intelligent young man with a promising future. He was a decent leader that had a knack for drawing people around him, right? It's easier to see the original group as a bunch of people discussing politics and their vision for their world, a version of the Slug Club except cooler, before it went anywhere near the 'only evil prejudiced psychopaths need apply' status. [Their leader splitting his soul probably didn't help]

It's just that it's clear how much Snape cared about Lily, even after she hurt and rejected him, and while I can see him joining a group to salve his wounded pride, I don't think he would've signed up knowing it meant he'd be torturing and killing people. They were probably just the first ones that actually valued his talents and made him feel welcome. DEs only have a bad rep in modern times- back when Tom first started collecting people, it would've been seemingly innocent. [Like Gryffindors and such joining the DA or something]

And I'll stop babbling now. ^_^ I just adore Snape too much not to defend him where I can, even if I am putting on rose-colored glasses to see the best possible interpretation.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem of trying to define the DEs and their proper niche in the Potterverse is that Rowling never settled down and figured it out in the first place. She'll have a character make a broad statement in one book, and then a book later she gives us information that totally contradicts it, then in the following book contradicts herself again, apparently without the slightest awareness that she is doing it. Consequently they dwindle into nebulous nasties who are merely "the enemy".

On the strength of HBP you can draft out a more-or-less coherent reading wherein pretty much everything we'd been told to that point was a testament to authorial misdirection and excessive subjectivity and propaganda on the part of the characters--because it is obvious from the info we were given in HBP that Tom and his DEs were outlaws from the get-go, and there was no way that he was *ever* given any degree of public support any more than Al Capone was.

And then she turns around and hands us Reggie Black's fanboy scrapbooks full of newspaper clippings. Give me a break. Since she'd already more than jumped the shark by that point I simply gave up on the book, and never even tried to make sense of it. It isn't worth it.

Death Eaters in the Seventies

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed that one. I did have a very long post in which I tried to put together the evidence for what the kids joining the Death Eaters thought they were getting into....

http://terri-testing.livejournal.com/10552.html#cutid1

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

But Severus also contributes to this interpretation when in chapter 14 he talks about both Potters acting like rules were not for Quidditch champions.

Well, wait. Severus certainly didn't dislike James because he was jealous of James' being good at Quidditch, but it certainly wasn't only about being rivals for Lily's affections, either, because James started picking on Severus from day one, when they were both eleven.

I would think that James *did* consider himself special because he was so good at Quidditch. And while Severus would've disliked him for at least a year before he got on the Quidditch team, because James was a jerk to him, Severus probably *did* also get irritated by that aspect of James' personality, too.

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

But Rowling wasn't able to remove herself from the point of view of the muggle-raised Harry. Or her own muggle upbringing. Whereas a professional author would have thought out her world in more depth, I dare say.

Oh... now I want to read a crack!fic where the characters, or at least the Slytherin ones, complain about having been written by a Muggle.

Is there one already written, maybe?

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

Hee. Half the story would rapidly become a collection of all of those "but any reasonable wizard would have thought of *this* were it not for being hobbled for the convenience of the author's plot" errors of the series. And there's a lot of them!

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

But that would lead to the best part of the fic, where the Slyths figure that out too and start doing things that would be nipped if only the other wizards thought like wizards but that aren't because they're all thinking like Muggles.

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness, a Slytherin uprising against their author! Control wrested from the pen of Rowling! All of a sudden the Gryffindors start LOSING their battles, despite their cries of "but we're the GOOD GUYS! We're GRYFFINDORS! The book is named after ME!"

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

Hee! So the Gryffs go complain to Rowling, who is already tossing papers off her desk willy-nilly and looking for an eraser or white-out and panicking because the computer just won't write what she typed in. Meanwhile, the Slyths are kicking back in their common room with wide-eyed innocence masking their faces.

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

"We're so sorry, Jo, but no self-respecting Slytherin would omit to ward their home against elves ... particularly elves that had formerly been in their service. And doubly so if their home is currently the headquarters of the dark lord.

"What's that? It means that Dobby can't be the latest in a long line of coincidental helpers to rescue Harry from Malfoy Manor? And so he won't be able to slap some wands out of Draco's hands and thus conveniently and luckily become master of the latest deux ex machina Elder Wand? Oh, we do understand your problems, Jo, but you can't blame *us* for warding our homes like any decent wizard would do ..."

[oryx_leucoryx]

That's her classic "she puts too must trust in the authorities" weakness I suppose. I guess she grows out of that ... proposing the D.A. is one huge example. And she doesn't try and persuade Harry that he should seek (adult) help in DH, although that's only because Rowling wanted to write a book about the Trio going it alone and so hobbled Hermione on that score. Among many.


By DH the dead Dumbledore is the only authority Hermione still trusts, or wants to trust. And her trust is based on Dumbledore's love for Harry (see her response to Aberforth, one person who knew Albus much longer than she did).

But yes, if Ron immediately recognised Harry's cloak in book 1 as an invisibility cloak - that's a stock standard, non-super-duper, never-thought-of-Hallows-until-the-end invisibility cloak, mind you - then he, and the other wizards brought up in the magical world should recognise this sort of thing immediately. Invisible intruders and polyjuice possibilities and Fidelius flaws and ...

And Remus must have known Harry had one at least since the last Hogsmeade visit.