Folly, Part Seven

[terri_testing]

Summary: Snape’s life has been a series of spectacular errors of judgment, to put it kindly.

This has to have been his worst.

*

“Good company requires only birth, education, and manners, and with regard to education is not very nice.” Jane Austen, Persuasion

Comments

[oryx_leucoryx]

More Folly!!! Yay!!

Ah, poor Severus, so full of self-doubt. But he is growing up. And, while he isn't yet aware of it, he is beginning to think of at least some Muggles as people.

Though asking Twinkles for advice is not going to end well. Twinkles does not want a mature Severus, nor one who has any emotional ties to any living person but himself.

You worked around the Hogwarts quill. (Dumbles also tells Mrs Cole that Tom was registered at birth. Of course, no reason to think he was being truthful. This may even have been a stock response to Muggles with questions.) I still wonder if Dumbles will make a connection to another boy with the same birthdate and first name, considering his history with the Longbottoms. And if not, will he think of Neville Snape somehow in the context of the prophecy - perhaps as a potential alternate/back-up or as a decoy?

[terri_testing]

Hee. Yes, full of self-doubt--well, he has reason to feel it, both real and fostered-by-his-employer

[oryx_leucoryx]

You are right, canon-Albus doesn't even do anything to raise Neville as a substitute or decoy for Harry - once his mind was made up about how the prophecy must have played out that was the only way it could have been.

Albus is a Legilimens who is trusted by Severus, but Severus knows that depriving the Longbottoms of their heir the way he did is a serious crime so his defenses should be up. And he has to be careful with his cover story because the wizarding world is small. How many families are there that match the information he was going to divulge?

[terri_testing]

Regarding the last--any wizarding family, Pureblood or not, that had cast off a Squib daughter, let her become a druggie and whore, and ignored her bastard son because he too seemed to be a Muggle/Squib, would not be advertising that circumstance. So everyone will assume that this is some other family's previously-successfully-hushed-up scandal. The only real wonder is that no one would step forward to claim a budding Green Thumb, once he is known as that (which if Snape is smart won't be until Pomona assesses him in first year). But, trying to claim the grandson would require admitting to the boy's mother. And trying to claim an eleven-year-old you'd abandoned to the Muggle world as a toddler, from the father who'd raised him for six years...? I think it's plausible enough that "Marianne's" family should be expected to prefer not to tickle that dragon

[jana_ch]

We shouldn’t trust Hagrid about the Hogwarts Quill (which itself is never mentioned in the books). Hagrid doesn’t usually out-right lie, but he’s prone to large generalizations that are not true in detail. I’m sure James and Lily were entirely confident that their child would be magical, and indeed he was flying a kiddie-broom by his first birthday. James probably sent off the registration the same day Harry received and successfully flew his toy broom. That’s close enough to “since he was born” for Hagrid.

[annoni_no]

Not much to say about the story in general at the moment, but I have to disagree with your reasoning about the quill. Taking the broad, rational view, the best possible policy to adopt would be not revealing to anyone whether their child was registered or not, especially if your primary concern is the safety of the children.

If wizarding families are aware that squibs can sometimes perform small amounts of magic, they must be equally aware that sometimes full-fledged witches and wizards are merely late to bloom. Therefore, in the case of a child lacking in magical outbreaks, the logical thing to do to give your line the best chance of survival is encourage that child to grow in peace until the Hogwarts letter arrives (or not

[jana_ch]

I don't think canon (as opposed to fanon and Pottermore/PotterWiki) has anything that can compel anyone to keep a secret. Even an Unbreakable Vow is entirely breakable. It's just that if you break it, you die. That's why the twins' attempt to trap Ron into an Unbreakable Vow is so horrific: a child could not possibly avoid breaking it and losing his life.

As you say, the Potterverse is proudly illogical. Wizarding culture shows no sign of caring about what is beneficial for children. Throw 'em to the wolves, and devil take the hindmost! No wonder they're dying out.

[terri_testing]

Er--I'd point out that if a Squib found itself unable to keep an Unbreakable Vow not to speak of magic, that might be regarded by some parties as a desirable outcome....?

[oryx_leucoryx]

Doesn't an Unbreakable Vow require the one making it to have magic? I thought all three parties had to have magic for the bonding to work. I agree with jodel that it was the victim's own magic that eventually killed them.

[lynn_waterfall]

He’s obviously your son, and you’re obviously devo-determined to be a good father to him.

(grin)

[terri_testing]

Well. Abby is trying to be tactful here, and has figured out what tact looks like from a Snape male point of view. She may never have heard his "fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeeves" speech, but she understands the cultural imperative not to rub his nose in his sentiment....

(And indeed, I can't remember my midwestern-farmer Grampa every SPEAKING about his love for his grandkids, and he'd have been mortally embarassed if someone had mentioned it--but looking at old photos, a diabetic would go into sugar-shock at the expression on his face when he's holding us. So I'm very familiar with a culture that might value such emotions, but never speak of them. Of course, well-educated people from these backgrounds might decide that flouting this conditioning is a good idea--my older brother is very careful to sign his letters to familiy with "love." But he's still more comfortable taking care of the people he loves than saying mushy things....)

[lynn_waterfall]

Oh, true. Just, you know, (grin).

I can't think of much to say, but I am really enjoying this story, and I'm glad that you got back to it.

[sunnyskywalker]

Oh, I love how Severus being forced to interact with kind, intelligent Muggles on a regular basis is affecting him. "But... but... wait, why can't I make all the arguments I was taught work anymore? They're practically self-evident! Um... surely they are?"

Very much looking forward to the conversation with Dumbledore...

I do think, though, that annoni_no and others might be on to something with the idea that Hogwarts won't tell you whether the Quill has your kid in the book because they have just enough scruples to want to prevent infanticide if reasonable practical. Make them wait long enough to find out and that problem will take care of itself.

And if a kid with some memory problems and occasional odd, fantastical imaginings ends up in an orphanage or foster home, well, that's fine. Nothing to bother wizards, and Muggles who deal with disturbed kids all the time are not going to jump from "kid from dysfunctional family talks about odd childrearing practices, and sometimes dragons and jumping into the fire" to "magic is real." They'd

[terri_testing]

"Crouch can manage to dress himself"--the bar is set high for wizards, isn't it?

[sunnyskywalker]

Heh, meant to type "Crouch can manage to dress himself to blend in with Muggles," but really, the shorter version might be more accurate after all...