Hogwarts
16 July, 1995
Lupin,
I know that you, at least, are capable of sensible speech on occasion. Why you choose to use it so rarely is one of the many things I find unfathomable about you and your friends.
I don't know when you decided to grow a conscience about your disability, but I'm pleased to see it appears to be in evidence (not that my being "pleased" or not about anything is, or should be, your concern). If more Dark Creatures had your scruples, you would have been out of a job at Hogwarts sooner than you were, for what need would there be to hold a Defence Against the Dark Arts class if no monster needed to be defended against? Although I believe that your lesson plans were sadly deficient in defence against dark spells, or indeed the necessity of defending oneself against betrayal from what seems an unimpeachable source. I imagine you have experienced the latter often in your life, not least from me. This should serve to remind you that there are no "unimpeachable sources". The universe does not understand "fair play".
With regards to hostility, I regard you as neither friend nor un-friend. You are what you are: a former colleague who remains under an unfortunate curse with abominable side-effects which can be ameliorated somewhat through my work. If you do not seek to drag in personal feelings of your own, then a working relationship can be effected. I have little good to say about your other colleague. However, I can safely say that whatever "hostility" I may have shown him has been reciprocated and exceeded with facility and great energy. And if you feel my definition of "hostile" is closer to "murderous", then kindly remember that I have never, once, sent him a poisoned dog biscuit. If it will set your minds at ease, then I might as well say that I have no plans to do so for the future. Whether you choose to believe me or not is irrelevant. In any case, it would be pointless, as well as foolish, to abuse my art for this purpose while there are those in the world who are truly our enemies. It is not generosity on my part. It is practicality. Time enough to go our separate ways when all is over and done. If we are still around to do so.
I am maundering. No doubt I foolishly did so before when I made my stray comment about "roses", which you so eagerly pounced upon. No doubt I should elucidate, or I will be subjected to remarks for the foreseeable future.
You may be correct in stating that James Potter is dead, that Sirius Black suffered the torments of the damned in Azkaban, that Harry Potter himself has not escaped unscathed from the hands of the one who wished him ill. But you forget that James Potter is viewed in the light of a martyr and his son has been lauded as the saviour of wizardry since he could barely speak. What of the countless thousands who died at the hands of evil, who are forgotten and overlooked while the Holy Trinity of James, Lily, and Harry is exalted? What, in their lives, did they do that was so greatly significant that they are wept over in the most maudlin fashion? The deaths of James and Lily Potter were tragic. No one denies that, not least myself. But so were the deaths of others, who are barely remembered, save by their families. So were those injured in mind and body who still languish in St Mungo's. And as for their son....
Harry Potter is not the only orphan attending Hogwarts, but he is the only one to have his inanely grinning face plastered across the tabloid sheets of the wizarding world. He is the only one pulled from the studies which, one fervently hopes, will keep him alive and grinning inanely through the coming years, in order to have his photos taken and his already swollen ego massaged by the puppet-string pullers of public opinion. To add insult to current injury, his omnipresent fan club persists in bringing these same wastes of wood pulp into my class, to be read to the accompaniment of giggles during my lectures. How, precisely, is he to keep any sort of balanced perspective of his own place in the world? As his teacher, I endeavour to treat him as I would any other student, and it is galling in the extreme to be regarded as some sort of torturer of the innocent simply because I do not fawn over his every word and gesture. Contrary to popular belief, I honour Harry Potter as someone who, however inexplicably and no doubt involuntarily, temporarily defeated the Dark Lord and reprieved us all for over a decade. I also feel it is detrimental to his well being to put him on a pedestal and treat him as a demi-god. He is only a boy, and a freak accident in his babyhood should not give him carte blanche to roam the halls at all hours of the day and night in an invisibility cloak. If he is not kept to the same rules and standards of the other Hogwarts students, how can he ever hope to live a normal life?
But then, perhaps it is expecting far too much for any of my students to be able to live a normal life, as matters stand now. I had hoped to spare them this. But we were not fortunate enough to remain unscathed by life when we were younger, and I fear our children shall suffer the same fate.
I have wasted enough ink and parchment already. But, in closing, I should like to make it clear that I have never slipped a frog into Neville Longbottom's bed. The Fat Lady refused to give me the password. (And don't you DARE tell your canine companion that!)
Don't forget your Wolfsbane.
| Severus Snape |
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Written by Teka Lynn
March 22, 2003
All rights to the characters and setting are held by J K Rowling and whoever else holds them, including, but not limited to, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, and Warner Bros. This fanwork was created solely for fun and has no legal or financial connection to the Harry Potter novels.