Deathly Hallows: Random Questions, Speculations and What-The's
Very spoilery, by the way.
I've seen a few people, including xanthophyllippa, pondering over exactly how Draco came to be the master of the Elder Wand.
It took me two reads of that section of DH and a re-read of the end of HBP to come up with a theory. It will probably take only one comment to debunk said theory, because I'm sure I've missed something crucial, but let's see how it stands for now...
To become master of a wand, you have to Disarm (read: overpower) it's current master - not necessarily kill them.
Draco disarmed Dumbledore atop the Tower at the end of HBP. DD was buried with the wand.
BUT...
Harry took three wands out of Draco's hands at Malfoy Manor, including Draco's own. No, not the Elder Wand, but one still belonging to Draco.
So, because he was overpowered by Harry, do any wands which answer to Draco now answer to Harry instead, not only the particular one Harry took from him?
Voldemort thought Snape to be the master because Voldemort assumed DD was still holding his wand when Snape killed him.
Comments to debunk welcome below. :)
Lamenting the sinking ship? READ
Page 552, UK version: 'And the scene shifted. Now, Harry saw Snape talking to the portrait of Dumbledore behind his desk'
'You will have to give Voldemort the correct date of Harry's departure from his aunt and uncle's,' said Dumbledore.
How in the name of Merlin's baggy y-fronts did Snape get into that office to talk to the portrait? He wasn't appointed headmaster until August, McGonagall didn't know of his true loyalties, and evidently no one else did, so no one could have helped him get in there. Surely the password would have changed since Dumbledore's death? Had Dumbledore even planned that in advance, creating some secret way for Snape to re-enter the castle and talk with the portrait following the headmaster's death?
Snape was officially Headmaster, so where was his portrait after he died?
It wasn't there when Harry went to view the memories, nor when he returned with Ron and Hermione to the thunderous applause of all the other headmaster's after defeating Voldemort.
How long does it take to appear?
Has it not appeared because Snape isn't really dead? Surely a wizard who has survived in Voldemort's presence for years, not to mention being skilled in the art of potions, would be prepared for an attack by Nagini?
Arthur Weasley had been saved, two years prior, from the same kind of venom. His wounds, too, bled profusely, but he survived.
Why not Snape?
And the most wonderful thing about that theory... we'll never know one way or another, so we can debate, argue and ultimately decide for ourselves what we want Snape's fate to be.
True, nineteen years later, Harry says in past tense "probably the bravest man I ever knew." But nineteen years is a long time, and past tense doesn't necessarily mean death. Perhaps, searching for a new beginning, Snape left the English wizarding world behind. After all, what was really left for him there but memories?
Ambiguity is the dreamer's best friend. Anything is possible, so long as you believe.
Any opinions on whether Snape was hiding in the trees nearby when Harry retrieved the sword from the pool? Or had he placed the sword some time before and then sent his Patronus to lead Harry to it once Snape was safely away?
I hoped from the moment I read about the silver doe that it was his. It's so unlike him... such a gentle, delicate, passive creature... but was that not everything he loved about Lily?
"After all this time?"
"Always," Snape said.
That has got to be the simplest yet most poignant line in the series.
Others worth of remembrance, whom I pointedly overlooked in my last post, dedicated solely to Snape.
He was my favourite, as you well know. He deserved a post of his own in my journal, but these others are worth of mention, too.
Fred Weasley - my favourite of the two twin, inexplicably. My second favourite of the family (little-seen Charlie is the first)
Mad-Eye Moody - even constant vigilance won't always save you, and misplaced trust in 'Dung was his undoing
Hedwig - that hurts... how I wish they'd set her free before leaving Privet Drive
Remus Lupin - the last of the Marauders, now reunited with his friends. I wonder who was making the potion for him this year, as he seemed free of his monthly affliction. It crossed my mind quite early that, now married and wanting to keep his wife safe, he was passing information to Snape in exchange for the potion. A foolish notion, of course, but I did wonder what he would sacrifice for the chance at a normal life?
Tonks - she frustrated me in OOTP, but I loved her in the movie. And to take the life of a new mother and father... it's Harry all over again. This one brings home how truly senseless war can be
I that's enough coherency for one night. More randomness as it comes to me.
I've seen a few people, including xanthophyllippa, pondering over exactly how Draco came to be the master of the Elder Wand.
It took me two reads of that section of DH and a re-read of the end of HBP to come up with a theory. It will probably take only one comment to debunk said theory, because I'm sure I've missed something crucial, but let's see how it stands for now...
To become master of a wand, you have to Disarm (read: overpower) it's current master - not necessarily kill them.
Draco disarmed Dumbledore atop the Tower at the end of HBP. DD was buried with the wand.
BUT...
Harry took three wands out of Draco's hands at Malfoy Manor, including Draco's own. No, not the Elder Wand, but one still belonging to Draco.
So, because he was overpowered by Harry, do any wands which answer to Draco now answer to Harry instead, not only the particular one Harry took from him?
Voldemort thought Snape to be the master because Voldemort assumed DD was still holding his wand when Snape killed him.
Comments to debunk welcome below. :)
Lamenting the sinking ship? READ
Page 552, UK version: 'And the scene shifted. Now, Harry saw Snape talking to the portrait of Dumbledore behind his desk'
'You will have to give Voldemort the correct date of Harry's departure from his aunt and uncle's,' said Dumbledore.
How in the name of Merlin's baggy y-fronts did Snape get into that office to talk to the portrait? He wasn't appointed headmaster until August, McGonagall didn't know of his true loyalties, and evidently no one else did, so no one could have helped him get in there. Surely the password would have changed since Dumbledore's death? Had Dumbledore even planned that in advance, creating some secret way for Snape to re-enter the castle and talk with the portrait following the headmaster's death?
Snape was officially Headmaster, so where was his portrait after he died?
It wasn't there when Harry went to view the memories, nor when he returned with Ron and Hermione to the thunderous applause of all the other headmaster's after defeating Voldemort.
How long does it take to appear?
Has it not appeared because Snape isn't really dead? Surely a wizard who has survived in Voldemort's presence for years, not to mention being skilled in the art of potions, would be prepared for an attack by Nagini?
Arthur Weasley had been saved, two years prior, from the same kind of venom. His wounds, too, bled profusely, but he survived.
Why not Snape?
And the most wonderful thing about that theory... we'll never know one way or another, so we can debate, argue and ultimately decide for ourselves what we want Snape's fate to be.
True, nineteen years later, Harry says in past tense "probably the bravest man I ever knew." But nineteen years is a long time, and past tense doesn't necessarily mean death. Perhaps, searching for a new beginning, Snape left the English wizarding world behind. After all, what was really left for him there but memories?
Ambiguity is the dreamer's best friend. Anything is possible, so long as you believe.
Any opinions on whether Snape was hiding in the trees nearby when Harry retrieved the sword from the pool? Or had he placed the sword some time before and then sent his Patronus to lead Harry to it once Snape was safely away?
I hoped from the moment I read about the silver doe that it was his. It's so unlike him... such a gentle, delicate, passive creature... but was that not everything he loved about Lily?
"After all this time?"
"Always," Snape said.
That has got to be the simplest yet most poignant line in the series.
Others worth of remembrance, whom I pointedly overlooked in my last post, dedicated solely to Snape.
He was my favourite, as you well know. He deserved a post of his own in my journal, but these others are worth of mention, too.
Fred Weasley - my favourite of the two twin, inexplicably. My second favourite of the family (little-seen Charlie is the first)
Mad-Eye Moody - even constant vigilance won't always save you, and misplaced trust in 'Dung was his undoing
Hedwig - that hurts... how I wish they'd set her free before leaving Privet Drive
Remus Lupin - the last of the Marauders, now reunited with his friends. I wonder who was making the potion for him this year, as he seemed free of his monthly affliction. It crossed my mind quite early that, now married and wanting to keep his wife safe, he was passing information to Snape in exchange for the potion. A foolish notion, of course, but I did wonder what he would sacrifice for the chance at a normal life?
Tonks - she frustrated me in OOTP, but I loved her in the movie. And to take the life of a new mother and father... it's Harry all over again. This one brings home how truly senseless war can be
I that's enough coherency for one night. More randomness as it comes to me.