Comments | montavilla: Severus Snape and the Half-Blood Prince (31)

montavilla

Severus Snape and the Half-Blood Prince (31)

Oct 08, 2007 12:57

It is with even more trepidation than usual that I post this chapter. This is the point where I wonder if I'm jumping the shark. I'm going to post some questions I have in a comment following the chapter. I would really love it if you could share your responses.

( Questions that Have No Answers )

guts, hp, snape, fanfic

Comments 5

Jumping the Shark montavilla October 8 2007, 20:34:29 UTC

So, the obvious question is: Is this too much? Am I going beyond a reasonable explanation for why Snape joined up with Voldemort into making Snape the victim of the world? At this point, he'd have to be a masochist not to join Voldemort ( ... )

Re: Jumping the Shark sydpad October 8 2007, 20:56:24 UTC

For what it's worth as a fellow Snape-rescuer-- I'd always half-expected something like this in cannon (before DH of course!). Precisely, as you say, because of the RL parallels of counter-terrorism methods that actually drive some people over to the other side. It is, after all, explicitly a motive for terrorist acts, to provoke such a backlash and win over fence-sitters. It's also why young black men in South Central almost inevitably join gangs, seeing as the police assume they're in one anyways--Walking While Slytherin was probably enought to get you arrested and questioned. In the end apparently Bad People in the HPverse are just 'drawn to evil' but I find this much more realistic and not idiotic at all! It's canon in my head...

Re: Jumping the Shark montavilla October 9 2007, 01:00:58 UTC

Thanks, gals! It really helps to know what you think.

I can't take credit for the blood charm. Someone suggested it once as an explanation for why only Harry could read the writing. It's impossible for me to know who--it was on a forum long, long ago.

I'm glad you like the time-turner! I started out with the sentence, "Snape was called in for questioning once...." and then that got more and more nightmarish, and the idea of the Ministry using time-turners to get around Habeas Corpus popped out of nowhere.

Doesn't that make the cabinet full of time-turners in OotP seem a lot more sinister?

Did you guess it before Amy tells them? I don't know if I was being too obvious when he gets back to his flat or not.

duniazade October 9 2007, 00:15:25 UTC

It's "canon" for me too. Something like that was bound to happen to Snape. The brilliant part is the Time-Turner idea: it's the first time I see it used like that, and the image of a Snape still-tortured-in-the-past is terrifying. No, it's not too much, and the story is getting better and better. The last two chapters were excellent too, with the ingenious explanation for the theft of of the Potions Book (down to why only Harry could read the notes) and the confiscation of the Marauder's Map, then the moving scene with Kreacher. Elegant and convincing.

bluestocking79 October 9 2007, 03:31:31 UTC

I agree with everybody else; for me, this practically is canon. Given what we know about the ruthlessness of the methods that the Ministry employed, I think this fits perfectly, and it only makes sense that Snape would have been a target.

duniazade is right about the Time Turner: that's a stroke of genius. I thought briefly about it when you describe the chain being wound around Severus' throat, but I honestly didn't put all the pieces together until the conversation with Amy and Emmeline. The use of it is really chilling, and I think it works very well in the story. This also might explain why more people didnt protest some of the worst abuses during Voldie War I: if people seemed to be returned shortly after being detained, who would question what was happening?