Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33: The Prince's Tale, Part 1

[oneandthetruth]

Or, Severus Snape and the Doomed Love

“I am a Serpent, I am Love;

I have been an Adder of the Mountain;

I have been a Serpent in the River.”

Taliesin

“I was raised the Chinese way: I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people’s misery, and to eat my own bitterness.”

Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club

Author’s note: The sporkings for “The Prince’s

Comments

[aikaterini]

To be honest, I was surprised that this wasn’t your least favorite chapter of DH.

/She has to debase him even further, describing his “undisguised greed” as he looks at Lily/

Which is probably supposed to tarnish Snape’s image in the readers’ eyes, to warn them against having too much sympathy for Snape.

Except…didn’t Harry look “greedily” at the image of his family in the Mirror of Erised, way back in the first book?

/Rowling also undermines her readers’ feelings of sympathy by never referring to this little boy as anything but “Snape.”/

I wonder if this is an echo of everyone referring to Pettigrew as “Wormtail.”

/If someone had paid attention to him, encouraging his inquisitive nature/

I wonder if the reason why he joined the Death Eaters was because Voldemort did pay attention to him or, at the very least, convincingly pretend to

[oryx_leucoryx]

Re: House reputation: We are in September 1971, after the Weasleys and their friends already eloped out of fear of some kind of Dark Lord threat. Though I don't think the general public (ie people not immediately tied to Dumbles) were aware of much nor related it to a particular House. IMO James' bias is family-specific, and might even be related to dysfunctionality of his parents' relationship, if indeed his mother was a Black.

[hwyla]

Even if his mother wasn't Dorthea, it can still be a family bias. It would be shadowed by Aunt Dorthea's 'family' reputation.

I personally think Charlus was probably James' father's brother. It makes more sense not only of what JKR has said about James' parents' ages and deaths, but it also helps explain just why James and Sirius might not have met before the Express. They are not directly related - more cousins-in-law than cousins.

However, James doesn't seem to object at all that Sirius is a Black. Instead he focuses on him being a Slytherin. I don't recall however actually why he objects to Slytherins. I think we're supposed to assume he thinks they are 'evil' - however the direct correlation with Draco's comment about Hufflepuffs could mean almost anything, not necessarily 'evil'. Perhaps James sees their 'ambition' as 'social climbing' or just plain snobbery? Unless he actually says they're all dark or evil and I've forgotten it?

[oryx_leucoryx]

James on Slytherin:

J: "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"
S: "My whole family have been in Slytherin"
J: "Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right."

No further explanation given. But clearly, James thought that being in Slytherin meant you were not all right.

[hwyla]

Quote: Voldy also says if they continue to resist him, he will kill them all. He doesn’t want to do this because “Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.” Really? Even muddy blood? Or does it not count because they “stole” their magic, so their blood is not really magical?
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I think it has more to do with the fact that there shouldn't actually be any muggleborns at Hogwarts at that point. Voldy doesn't know that some have returned because they were called there by their DA charmed galleons. Therefore he thinks the students are all halfbloods and purebloods

[hwyla]

Quote: ...Many people have criticized Severus for not following her into that house, but given the predatory behavior MWPP exhibited towards him, that’s a criticism at least as idiotic as saying Lily should have been in Slytherin. She could have chosen Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff; either of those houses would have allowed her to continue her friendship with Severus unmolested. Severus was determined to be in Slytherin, presumably for the potions training, and possibly the networking, but Lily clearly didn’t care which house she was in. It was therefore up to her to change houses if she wanted to preserve their friendship

[dorea_ysleen]

Lily might not have any idea that Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs might co-exist better with Slytherins.

Come to think of it, she's probably not even aware how the prejudices shown by James and Severus are shared by the general student population, at least/especially those in Gryffindor and Slytherin, and how divisive the house system is in general. (By OotP it "would be suspicious if too many people from different houses talked to each other" - I mean, really?!) Why would she expect problems with having friends in different houses before getting to know life at Hogwarts?

[oryx_leucoryx]

All she likely knew was that Slytherin was the House Severus wanted, and he thought it to be the House of the smart kids, and Gryffindor was the House James wanted, and it was for the 'brave at heart'. It is up to the reader to determine if she just decided to go along with whatever the Hat says, she valued bravery over smarts or she preferred James over Severus from the moment she saw James (whether she admitted to it to herself or not).

[terri_testing]

Also, I remind everyone that Lily was one of those sorted instantly. Not everyone was given the chance to talk with the Hat and put in a word for (or against) a specific house.

[terri_testing]

Small point: Whitehound points out that, on the Hogwarts Express, Severus did NOT call Petunia "just a Muggle."

"She's only a --" He caught himself quickly; Lily, too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, did not hear him.

Whitehound points out, he might have been meaning to end the sentence, "only a Muggle," but he might have been meaning to end it, "only a jealous cow"--and in any event, realizing that whatever he was saying would hurt or offend Lily, he cut himself off.

He was still insensitive, but he was trying not to be offensive.

And really, you'd think he'd have more empathy for Lily's position of still caring for someone who just criticizes and insults her....

Those sisters are so much alike!

[nx74defiant]

And really, you'd think he'd have more empathy for Lily's position of still caring for someone who just criticizes and insults her....

Well he hasn't experienced that yet. I'd say it's only after they go to Hogwarts that all he gets from Lily is criticized and insults. And yet he never stops loving her. Lily on the other hand cuts her sister out.

[sunnyskywalker]

Harry's non-reaction to someone bleeding to death before his eyes is weird. If she meant to show him as numb, it didn't really come across for me, especially since he's spent so much of the book like that. And when it's Snape dying? Yeah.

She could even have used it to play up the "poor Harry feels like everything is his fault" angle she brings in later in the chapter by having Harry feel guilty, like hating Snape so much had somehow caused him to die horribly like this. So many options for some kind emotion, and she took none of them and didn't convey the horror of too much trauma leaving Harry numb either, leaving us with nothing