Sunday, May 16, 2004

Reviewing Book Three


I was having one of those lazy days yesterday. The ones where I don't do anything but read Harry Potter. Well, I was reviewing the third book and I remembered some questions I have always had. I don't think they ever got answered, right now I've forgotten a lot of the books and just need to review the entire series. Either way, I'm just going to throw them out to you all and see what you have to say about them. Have they been answered and I just forgot? Are they important details to consider? Maybe their just plot holes? I'll post up the questions two at a time.

  • Does Snape know about the secret passage Harry uses to get into Hogsmeade? Well, I think it is fairly obvious he does. I guess the real question is, why does he know about this passage? Did he use to see James and them go through it? If so, how come he never caught Fred and George Weasley using it? Why did he never tell Dumbledore and the others about it? Was he casually guarding it himself? He didn't watch it too vigilantly if he was.

    Okay, so where did these questions come up? First, there is the encounter with Snape when Harry first finds the entrance.

    "Indeed?" said Snape. "You have a habit of turning up in unexpected places, Potter, and you are very rarely there for no good reason. . . I suggest you return to Gryffindor Tower, where you belong."Book Three, Page 277

    Why was this an unexpected place? Was Snape up to something and Harry got in the way? Eh, maybe, probably not. More probably, Snape is commenting on how unusual it is that Harry is by this entrance.

    After Harry's head is caught in Hogsmeade, Snape knows to go directly to the statue that possesses the passage. So again, I think Snape knows about the entrance. So why doesn't he say anything? If he had told Dumbledore and the others, would they not have had someone guarding it at all times? Is this an example of Snape trying to ensure that it is him that captures Black? I wouldn't put it past him, but I don't buy it. If Snape caught Black getting in there, questions would arise on how Snape knew about the place.

    This is one of those questions that will never be answered. It's filled with many other holes. Such as, Dumbledore and Snape both knew that Black knew about the entrance using the Whomping Willow. Why was that never guarded? After the "joke" Sirius tried to play on Snape, Black's knowledge of the entrance would be known by all involved.

  • What spy told Dumbledore about Voldemort coming after the Potters? Was it Snape? Or someone else, maybe someone never uncovered to be a spy. Was it someone in the DeathEater circle that Harry saw? Could it have been Crabbe or Goyle?

    Fudge dropped his voice and proceeded in a sort of low rumble. "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding."
    Book Three, Page 204


    The answer to this question may or may not prove important. If it was Snape, then Snape did something to try and save his bitter enemy and Lily. It was also the first of many times that he did something to try and save Harry. Was this the incident that made Dumbledore trust him. Where else can trust come from but in giving information that would save your most bitter enemy? Was there something about this that made Snape turn around? There are a number of theories on the web about this, and I could write three pages alone of conjectures on this subject. Since it is the most talked about, I'm going to leave it here for now and continue to the other two possibilities.

    Did Dumbledore really need a spy? He knew the full extent of the prophecy and that Harry and Neville both fit the clues. He would have been watching for those that would fit the prophecy after all. But then, why would others think that he was tipped off by a spy? Is this a case of people just getting the story wrong, or was the spy telling Dumbledore that Voldemort was ready to make his move? This part is important to think about because we might be going off on trying to find out who this spy is, writing large paragraphs on how this affects Snape's character, and there might not have even been a spy to begin with. (A spy that told that is. Clearly Dumbledore had his share of spies.)

    The other option may also bear some interesting bits of information. Was it someone besides Snape that tipped off Dumbledore? If so, was it someone that Harry saw in the Death Eater circle? Just because the person tipped of Dumbledore doesn't mean that the person was caught as a spy on the other side. This goes along nicely with my Slytherin Loyalty post. Maybe Crabbe or Goyle are the spies? Would they make their child have to play dumb with Draco to keep up the act? Interesting idea anyways. Truth is, we don't know who all the spies are. We may just be surprised by the end of the series on who has been on the Order's side all along.