HBP Chapter Twenty-Seven: "The Lightning-Struck Tower"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

* Or, spoilers!

* The lack of a sea breeze tells Harry that he’s successfully apparated back to Hogsmeade, as opposed to one of the literally millions of places on Earth that (a) aren’t Hogsmeade and (b) don’t smell of the sea.

* I’m not sure why Harry would need to leave Dumbledore behind while he heads back to the castle and fetches Snape. He’s a wizard, couldn’t he just levitate the Headmaster back to school?

* Also, why didn’t Harry notice the giant Dark Mark in the sky until it was pointed out to him? And why hasn’t anybody in Hogsmeade except for Madam Rosmerta seen it?

* Good job the pub door wasn’t locked, or else those brooms would have just been smashed up against it.

* Credit to Rowling, this scene where they return to the castle is actually quite gripping and suspenseful.

* Dumbledore’s “Join the good side, Draco, we can protect you and your family” might be more convincing if he’d ever in the past given any sign of caring for Draco, or for any non-Gryffindor student for that matter.

* Dumbles was certain it was Draco behind all those murder attempts, and, erm, did nothing to follow up on his suspicions. What was that he said about caring for the safety of his students?

* Wait, no, he did do something – he got Snape to keep watch on him! And then, erm, did nothing with the information. Yeah, real good strategy there, Dumbledore.

* So Montague almost died because of the twins’ prank… Not that anybody sees fit to mention this to them, or to think about it at all afterwards.

* So Madam Rosmerta was imperiused for most of the year, and yet nobody noticed. Kind of like Barty Crouch, in fact, except that Harry doesn’t get all smug and judgemental this time about other people’s lack of observation.

* Still, I do quite like the characterisation here. Malfoy’s being torn between a desire to carry out his mission and growing sense that he can’t go through with it is well done, and Dumbledore’s coolness in the face of danger is very fun to watch.

* Malfoy got the idea for enchanted coins from Hermione… Good job the Marietta Edgecombe affair was hushed up, or else Draco might have got it into his head to try branding words across people’s faces.

* Still, it would be pretty funny if one day Dumbledore stood up at dinner to address the school, when suddenly *pop* the words Bad Headmaster appear in purple warts across his forehead.

* So Draco manages to carry out this super-cunning plan to achieve his goal, and seems to be more affected by death than most of the good guys are. Yet more proof that Draco Malfoy should have been the hero of this series.

* It’s lucky that Dumbledore addresses each of the Death Eaters by name, so that we readers know who they all are.

* So why is Fenrir Greyback so wolfish in his human form? We’ve never gotten any indication before that werewolves are anything other than normal human beings most of the time.

* Or maybe born werewolves are different to those who get bitten, and part of the reason Lupin is so angsty is that he’s worried his child will end up like Greyback.

* “Always the same, weren’t yeh, Dumby, talking and doing nothing, nothing, I don’t even know why the Dark Lord’s bothering to kill yeh!” Actually, Amycus does have a point, Dumbledore does have a very laissez-faire approach to fighting evil. It’s a good job Voldemort’s equally lazy, because any half-way competent and energetic dark lord would have totally crushed Dumbledore’s side by now.

* Snape comes, and totally owns this scene in the space of one page.

* Dumbledore’s death is cool and everything, but since when did Avada Kedavra make people hover in the air?

Comments

[vermouth1991.livejournal.com]

Now if it were Voldemort deciding to "multitask" and let his victim be levitated while he Crucios them because he wanted to see how much the victim would flail, I'd buy that.

But this is Harry. Multitasking does not exist in a Gryffindor's dictionary.

[jana-ch.livejournal.com]

At least not in Harry’s Gryffindor dictionary. It’s highly unlikely that all Gryffs are incompetent, any more than all Slyths are cowards, all Huffs are duffers, or all Ravens are boring.

[vermouth1991.livejournal.com]

But in aspiring to be so frikking "brave", Gryffindors tend to grow into brainless wonders. The smarter ones like Percy Weasley are so because of their own efforts in studying and socializing and impressing their superiors... they're exceptions, not "proper" products of the House's upbringing.

[hwyla.livejournal.com]

I would put it more as the group culture we see only encourages thinking if it's in use of what they consider 'brave'. For instance, Hermione's point earnings pre-Halloween did not do anything for her but earn her the name know-it-all.

Of course, we actually have no idea about how the other Gryffindors saw her - other than other firsties she was outperforming - because it appears that Gryffs don't much mingle between years - with the exception of quidditch. However, it isn't as if Prefect Percy, who took the time during the first feast to be interested in Hermione's discussion ever continued that interest. At least not that we hear about.

An interesting parallel with Lucius at Sev's first feast. Did Lucius continue to be 'friendly' after the feast and keep an eye on the kid? Or was he more like Percy - just welcoming and then having done his 'duty', dropped him? We really don't know. There's some suggestion about a 'gang of Slytherins' but Lucius' name isn't mentioned among them while Bella, who has finished Hogwarts, is named. All we have is Narcissa's mention of Lucius as an 'old friend' when she's trying to get Snape to agree to protect Draco - so could be true - but could also be an exaggeration.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Re: Severus as Lucius' old friend - if we read the scene straight then it may have been an exaggeration, or it may have been a true reference to a relationship that started post-Hogwarts - for instance Lucius may have employed Severus for a while. (The young man had to eat something other than Death.)

If you read the scene as an act by Severus and Narcissa then there might have been even more there, but a lot of it dated from the time after Bella's arrest.

[hwyla.livejournal.com]

I would think there had to be 'something' before Bella's arrest. Sirius was in Azkaban before her and yet he knows (in bk5) enough to say that Snape is Lucius' "lapdog". Presumably, that is from before Sirius' arrest. He said it during Christmas break in bk5 (IF I recall it correctly) however I wouldn't say there was any particular evidence of such in bks3&4, nor that the kids were saying anything that would lead Sirius to decide such. Then again - Sirius doesn't really usually need reasons based in reality.

All we really have is that it is proven true that Snape was a DE. Sirius, as Padfoot, saw Snape show the dark mark to Fudge. That however, wouldn't show Snape as Lucius' 'lapdog', but presumably as Voldy's.

Personally, I agree that Snape probably DID do some work for Lucius after Hogwarts. I just wonder if it went earlier still. We'll probably never know.

[snapes-witch.livejournal.com]

Sirius would also have seen the relationship between Severus and Lucius when the three of them were Hogwart's students. There would have been a possible two or three years for the 'lapdog' type relationship to exist. I'd always assumed this was what Sirius was referring to.

[attilathepbnun.livejournal.com]

Of course, we should also remember that it's Sirius using the term 'lapdog'.
Considering that he's speaking of Slytherins, I should think that term could describe any non-hostile relationship

[hwyla.livejournal.com]

And how like big dog Padfoot to use a term like 'lapdog' in a derogatory manner! He makes poor Sev sound like a pekinese!

[hwyla.livejournal.com]

Personally, I think young firstie Sev was what is referred to in the British Public School genre of literature as a 'fag' - a younger student who acted as a kind of servant to an older student - in return the younger student received 'protection' from other students. Altho' sometimes it was protection from said older student - as in he would bully the younger child himself if that child did not willingly perform his duties. As a reminder, the use of the term 'fag' here has nothing to do with sexual preference. In fact 'lapdog' (or pet) might very well be what another young student might call this arrangement if all they saw was the protection.

However, I am trying to stick with as much canon as I can here and it is strange that Lucius is not mentioned as one of the 'gang of Slytherins'

As for how long Lucius and Sev's years overlapped? Lucius was 41 at the start of school year '95-'96. His first year at Hogwarts was therefore '65-'66, making him a 7th year in Sev's first year of '71-'72. Truthfully - I think this is the origin of Sirius' comment about Snape knowing more when he entered Hogwarts about curses than half of the 7th years. Aside from the fact that knowing about curses doesn't mean he necessarily could perform them, I think this is how the Marauders explained to themselves what a 7th year Slytherin might see in a firstie.

But that is all my own head-canon to link it all together. I really don't have canon proof.

[vermouth1991.livejournal.com]

Wasn't Severus 36 going on 37 in Year OotP? Lucius might only be 6 years above him.

Sirius is an unrepentent violent bully and attempted murder, does his judgements or character fall under a "fruit from a poisonous tree" catagory?

[hwyla.livejournal.com]

We have (as of the last book) a birth date of January 1960 for Lily. That means that since Sev was also a January baby and they both began Hogwarts in the same year, he was also born in January 1960. Placing both of them as firsties for the school year '71-'72.

At the time of bk5, when we were given Lucius' age of 41 before the beginning of that school year, JKR also said in interview that Snape was 35 or 36. What she didn't say was at what point during that book he was that age. Apparently he turned 36 in January '96, which took place during that particular school year.

As for Sirius' judgement I wouldn't even need to bring up attempted murder or bullying. We see often enough in canon that Sirius is not a good judge of character.

He was fairly sure that BartyJr hadn't been a DE, despite telling Harry that his entire family was 'dark' and despite the evidence on that tapestry that every generation had someone blasted from it. Despite being well aware that Peter had once tricked him, he also preferred to bounce a concussed and unconscious Snape's head off the tunnel ceiling rather than making sure Peter didn't fool him again.

I can easily see Sirius and James between them convincing themselves that the ONLY reason 7th year Lucius might associate with a smart little firstie is that said firstie must have known something that Lucius didn't - especially when their mindset about Slytherins meant Lucius couldn't possibly be protecting Snape without getting something for it. I doubt it would occur to them that Lucius might have been influenced by his Head of House to leave networking opportunities open And at least in Gryffindor, there doesn't appear to be a 'fagging' situation. I would question however whether the idea of 'lapdog' ever came up in regards to Peter's 'toadying'.

All I can say is imagine first year Ron's opinion of 'scary' Hermione if she had been a Slytherin,

[vermouth1991.livejournal.com]

PoA was a wonderful book, but the screenwriter and director for the film failed to realize that the true climax of that story is actually in the background (which resulted in what I perceive to be a castrated story for film!PoA): the marauders' incessant abuse against Snape, Snape's hatred for them, the M-'s disregard for rules, feeling they're so fucking smart and their underestimating Wormtail: it ALL came back to bite them in the asses as the events unfurled in the Shrieking Shack. Whaddyaknow, Wormtail got off scott free a-frikin-gain, Snape did not get to see the truth, and such a Godawfully elaborate plan had to be hatched in order to save Sirius's sorry ass. And Lupin gets 'outed' as a werewolf who legitimately threatened to bite everyone, frankly I dunno why he wasn't outed years ago.

Re: Lucius/Sev

If anything, Lucius was seeing Severus's talants that could be valuable to the Dark Lord in later years. I don't think he'd feel threatened since his family's political ties and money (his dad would still be alive, right?) would not be something that Severus would so easily accumulate in his lifetime, with his proletarian background.

*

I just re-watched The Dark Knight last night. There was a very suspenseful sequence where The Joker had just successfully killed the judge that was trying the underworld and Commissioner Loeb of the Gotham Police Department, and was on his way to grab Harvey Dent (a very righteous D.A. who is prosecuting the Gotham mob) at the fundraiser that Bruce Wayne (Batman) is throwing at his penthouse suite. Bruce got a tip that the Joker was approaching, and found Harvey arguing something with his girlfriend Rachel (who is a childhood friend of Bruce's and knows that he's Batman). And does he stop to yammer like Sirius and Remus and Harry? No, he walks up silently from behind, does a swift move that renders Harvey unconscious and then hides him in a closet, literally seconds before the Joker bursts into the house. Then he escapes to suit up as Batman and saves the day.

See, sh/t can actually be handled in a story without everyone holding the Idiot Ball and monologuing like Bond Villians.

i have a Headcanon where Luna did exactly that to shut Harry up and then floo over to Grimmauld Place with her wand after the Centuars got Umbridge, thus saving Sirius's life.