Is Snape a very bad man or is he just emo? - posted at 23:28

The event that I've been simultaneously anticipating and dreading for seven years is almost here! So, given that there aren't many things that I enjoy more than curling up with a good Harry Potter book (or six, and soon, seven), I'll allow some space here for some speculation about what fate our dear friend Harry will meet. And really, isn't speculating about what will happen next almost as fun as reading the books themselves?

Nearly two years ago, I wrote down some of my initial impressions of Half Blood Prince. I remarked that Rowling had painted herself into a corner, and I still think it's partly true -- it's an understatement to say that I'm still very interested to find out how Rowling is going to wrap this book up in a mere seven hundred and eighty-four pages. Two years ago, the only way out that I could imagine would be for Harry to die. Which, really, she could still do if she was ok with never being spoken to by another literate person for the rest of her life. Now that I've had some time to reflect on it though, I see a way for a pivotal character or two to really shake up everything we've expected.

I'll get straight to the point: What's the deal with Snape? Is he a very bad man, or is he just emo?

Here are some scenes for thought: At Spinner's End, Bellatrix and Narcissa appear at Snape's door. Narcissa has come to beg Snape to aid Draco in an unnamed task, and the two of them share many long looks before he agrees to do the Unbreakable Vow. It is possible that Snape, not really being the coziest most trusted chum with Voldemort, was never actually told what the task was, but used Occlumency on Narcissa to divine it. I do think the fact that he flinches as the Vow is bound is significant. He's just sworn to kill the man he serves, and of course he's going to tell that man -- Dumbledore.

Next, Snape and Dumbeldore are later overheard arguing in a forest by the most unreliable and reluctant of sources, Hagrid.

   "Well -- I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he -- Snape -- didn' wan'ter do it no more --"
   "Do what?"
   "I dunno, Harry, it sounded like Snape was feelin' a bit overworked, tha's all -- anyway, Dumbledore told him flat out he'd agreed ter do it an' that was all there was to it. Pretty firm with him. An' then he said summat abou' Snape makin' investigations in his House, in Slytherin."

Hagrid's explanation is typically lame. I find it much more likely that Dumbledore made Snape swear to obey him, no matter what he tells him to go, much as he made Harry promise, even if that meant making someone drink a foul, deadly potion. Or using an Unforgivable Curse.

Finally, the last we see of Snape, he is retreating from the castle with Draco, having just killed Dumbledore, but refusing to kill Harry. He says that Harry belongs to the Dark Lord -- the Death Eaters are not to touch him -- but Barty Crouch was just about to kill him in Goblet of Fire, which makes me think that it's more of a guideline than an actual rule. As Snape flees, he's all but cramming two years' worth of teaching into one mad dash across the Hogwarts grounds. What Snape is saying when he yells "Blocked again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!" is exactly what he had been trying to tell Harry all along about Occlumency and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and it may as well as be a handbook for defeating Voldemort. It's probably exactly the teaching style Harry needs, too -- he's always been better at that experiential sort of learning.

But all this doesn't prove that Snape is good -- it merely shows that he is not eeeeevvil. Besides, when it comes to killing the Dark Lord, I don't think Snape can do it alone. Consider the following passage from page 427 of Prisoner of Azkaban:

   "Pettigrew owes his life to you. You have sent Voldemort a deputy who is in your debt... When one wizard saves another wizard's life, it creates a certain bond between them... and I'm much mistaken if Voldemort wants his servant in the debt of Harry Potter."
   "I don't want a connection with Pettigrew!" said Harry. "He betrayed my parents!"
   "This is magic at its deepest, its most impenetrable, Harry. But trust me... the time may come when you will be very glad you saved Pettigrew's life."

Dun dun dunnnn! That's some foreshadowing if I ever did see it.

But seriously, Snape and Pettigrew being pivotal in the end fits in well with the archetypal tradition Rowling is following. You have your pure eeeevvil character, the un-complex, not that interesting guy because, well, eeeeevvil is all there is to him. Think Sauron. Think Emperor Palpatine. You also have your all-benevolent, super-wise old dude who kicks the bucket (inciting massive despair and hopelessness) and, though you're rooting for him, and aside from all this knowledge, is really not all that interesting of a character because good is all there is to him. Think Gandalf. Think Obi-Wan Kenobi. Then you have your wide-eyed, naive, I-want-adventure, evolving, interesting good guy. Think Frodo. Think Luke. And finally you have your really interesting evil-on-the-surface, complex, well developed evil sidekick. Think Wormtongue and Gollum. Think Darth Vader. These were bad guys who rose up against their masters, destroyed them, and (oops) died in the process, thereby redeeming themselves. It's also noteworthy that without these characters, the stories would have had markedly different endings. I think we will see Snape and Wormtail fill roles similar to the complex bad guy description presented in Lord of the Rings (not so much Star Wars), and here's why.

Wormtail is a bad dude, that's to be sure. He betrayed Harry's parents and is the reason that they're dead. He lacks the complexity that Snape has and I think it is significant that his name is so similar to Wormtongue's. They both act as spies and they scamper back to their masters when they're discovered, and they both owe life debts to the good guys by the time they're back with their masters. It's clear that their masters loathe them and that they call them incompetent, cowardly fools. It's equally clear that the eeeeevvil bad guys don't think the lesser bad guy is capable of rising against them, so they trust them to, well, not kill them, but not out of benevolence or love, but out of incompetence.

On the other hand, Snape is a little too much like Gollum for comfort. Snape was continually denied the post of Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, lest it tempt him back into his own ways, much as it was not safe for Gollum to see the Ring. Snape has really tried to redeem himself in Dumbledore's service, much as Gollum did, but perhaps in the end the Dark Arts will prove too seductive and he will slip back into his own ways. Remember that he killed Dumbledore "with revulsion and hatred etch into the harsh lines on his face." Some hypothesize that such a look is a manifestation of the fact that Snape hates Dumbledore, others think it's what Dumbledore is making Snape do that he hates. I propose that it is both. Snape hates Dumbledore for being more powerful than he, even though he used that power benevolently. He also hates using the Unforgivable Curse: he knows he's just fallen off the Dark Magic wagon and it's going to be damn near impossible to get back on.

How much does this statement, originally made by Gandalf about Gollum, remind you of Snape: "He loves and hates The Ring, much as he loves and hates himself." We see in Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince that Snape has much to love (his penchant for the Dark Arts, his skill at Occlumency and Legilimency, the lineage on his mother's side, the power he yields as a teacher at Hogwarts) and much to hate (graying underpants, an abusive family, a lonesome childhood, a penchant for the Dark Arts at a young age, a mixed-blood lineage, his betrayal of James and Lily) about himself, and much to love (the first measure of power he had ever had, especially over his old tormenters from school) and hate (he would never be able to eclipse either Voldemort or Dumbledore in power or status while he is alive) about his master.

I find it probable that Snape wants no master and will seek to gather that immense power to himself, and in doing so he will be the undoing of not only Voldemort, but himself as well.

Both Wormtongue and Gollum played key roles in the resolution of The Lord of the Rings. I'd put money on both Wormtail and Snape being important to the resolution of the Harry Potter series in much the same way.

It's good to be loved - posted at 21:03

This morning I was lazing in bed in that comfy and oh-so-snuggy state in between waking and sleep, savoring that luxury that the weekends provide where you can stay in bed until you're good and ready to get up. Sienna was enjoying the lazy morning with me, awake but laying across my back as I dozed on my stomach, just waiting for me to get up so we could start the day.

All of a sudden, I sneezed.

Immediately, her tail started wagging as if to say "oh boy! My mom's waking up and now we're going to have fun!"

How cute is that???

Basil betrayal in my own back yard - posted at 03:22

All spring and summer I've been humming a snug self-satisfied little tune to myself. Why, you ask?

Because I am growing my own herbs in my back yard. Oh yes, glorious rosemary, sage, and oregano, oh-so-fresh and free for the harvesting to better to make my dishes so yummy! Raspberries bursting out of pods and ripening! And thyme, Italian parsley, and cilantro, on the way! But these were to pale in comparison to the prize plant in my herb garden, the crown jewel that was to grow in abundance and make my kitchen floweth over with the deliciousness that would be produced within.

I am speaking of course of that king of herbs (no, really, that's what the name translates to) -- basil!

I was so proud of myself, planting the seeds, watching with delight as the little sprouts poked their heads out of the soil and unfurled themselves, sprouting leaves with exponential abandon.

My dad -- gardener extraordinaire -- sounded impressed. "I've never grown basil from seeds before.... well, intentionally that is." (I should mention that my parents live in Texas, whose climate basil loves maybe even more than I love chocolate, and at the end of each summer there is a literal basil forest in their garden. Needless to say, they get enough volunteers from the previous year's flowers and seeds to supply pesto to all of Italy. Twice.) I was well pleased. There was life -- it was germenation, biology, SCIENCE ITSELF -- happening in my own backyard! How cool is that?

Well, before long, my basil got too tall to support itself. "No matter," I thought, "it's just these really long (20 hours long) Alaska days. The plant is growing too tall too fast to grow any supporting, er, infrastructure." So I staked the plants. I had also noticed that some weird other spouts were coming up in the pots. This wasn't terribly surprising since weeds compose, oh, about 50% of the plant life in my yard, so I pulled those sprouts out, again well pleased with myself. I was keeping invasive plants at bay, thus FURTHERING SCIENCE!

Before long, I noticed the plant itself wasn't really growing in the shape I thought it would, but having only previously bought basil pre-sprouted and never having experienced BASIL SCIENCE before I figured it was just an awkward teenage phase and it would soon grow into the shape I associated with basil. And the lack of scent in the leaves could totally be explained by the lack of scorching heat in Alaska that the herb loves so much.

Alas.

These illusions were to crumble like a cookie before me today, when I abruptly stopped singing my little self-satisfied tune. I'm no longer walking tall, proud of my contribution to science. It turns out that those sprouts -- the ones that had first appeared in the pots, growing so expediently -- were weeds. I've been nurturing invasive plants in pots on my back deck, and those smug little bastards were all too happy to keep the wool pulled over my eyes!

And the worst part?

Those sprouts I pulled up in the name of SCIENCE? As photos from the internet were able to verify, (Google Images knows all) those were the real basil sprouts! Oh, the horror. I killed the very thing I was trying to cultivate! Instead of preening a lovely and understated herb, I may as well have been helping along the plant from Little Shop of Horrors. You'd better believe that it was screaming "FEED ME, SEYMOUR!" when I came 'round each day with the watering can (maybe that's why they call it horticulture. It should really be horrorculture.).

Little green terranean terrorists. You're about to get a taste of your own medicine tomorrow when you get pulled up and shredded.

And this time, I shall be sprouting the seeds indoors!

(Pop over to a mirrored post in my food blog to see photographic evidence of my more successful herb-cultivating exploits)

Poop and pizza are mutually exclusive - posted at 14:51

In honor of Dave and Amy's going away, last night a group of us congregated at that famous Alaskan brewpub and pizzeria, the Moose's Tooth. This place is totally great and is always crowded, especially during the summer. It's extremely popular with the locals and somehow all the tourists know about it too. Really, it's no surprising -- with great food, great atmosphere, great beer, what's not to love?

Oh yeah. There's this:

We were at our table, chowing down on some superbly excellent smoked salmon spread, waiting for our pizzas to come, when I see Dave and Jesse simultaneously look at the table to my left with horror in their silver-dollar sized eyes and then promptly look away, as if they want to wipe whatever it is they saw out of their memories as quickly as possible. Because I don't know when to leave well enough alone, I look over my left shoulder as well. And what do I see?

It's not your typical restaurant scene -- it's not two people locked into a kiss so passionate they're oblivious to the world or people slurping down raw oysters or someone with a totally grotesque appearance.

No, no, it's not.

The people at the table next to us are changing their baby's diaper at the table.

Hello? I know this is Alaska, but we do have modern miracles like indoor plumbing, private bathrooms, and changing tables! If you can't go into a restaurant barefoot or with your dog, what makes you think that it's ok to contaminate a public restaurant's table with a poopy diaper?

I'm so glad I wasn't the next person to dine at that table.