Is Snape really speaking directly to the readers?

Do you think it's possible that J.K. Rowling wrote the scene near the start of The Half-Blood Prince in which Narcissa and Bellatrix visit Snape at least in part to respond to suspicions raised by her readers?

As you no doubt know, the question of whether or not Snape is on the side of good or the side of evil is one of the principal tensions that underlies the greater story arc of the seven Harry Potter novels and one that the author cultivates very carefully.

Rowling is so effective at maintaining that tension, at keeping the truth hidden, that the revelation of Snape's true story at the climax of The Deathly Hallows is one of many emotional highlights of the entire series.

By the time J.K. started to write the six novel, the Snape conundrum was already the subject of much discussion and debate among fans. Rowling gives us a great deal of material to support the argument that Snape is a Death Eater and has not renounced his evil ways. She also gives us some grounds to support the argument that he is not, grounds that many readers latched onto to suggest that Rowling (as an extremely clever writer) was pulling the wool over our eyes.

In the scene at Spinner's End, Rowling gives Snape the chance to defend himself from those who argue that he is not a true Death Eater, that he is a spy for Dumbledore. And she does it very cleverly, by having another major, fearsome character challenge him with just the kinds of suspicions that her readers had at that point in time.

It's a great scene. And an effective one. Snape takes the time to address everyone one of Bella's concerns and, in doing so, convinces the reader as well.

Amazingly, one of the main planks of Snape's argument is that Voldermort himself has accepted Snape's explanations. We are convinced because Voldemort has been convinced.

Rowling quite brilliantly address our concerns as readers by referring to an authority that she herself created. I don't know about you but, when I first read the Spinner's End scene in THBP, I said to myself: "That's right. Snape convinced Voldemort so he can't possibly be a spy for Dumbledore. The Dark Lord would be able to see right through any form of deception".

And I was satisfied with that. As Rowling wished me to be. And I was blown away by the revelation at the end of the series.

It's great writing. But I also wonder if it was writing that responded to the fans of the books (a consideration outside the magical world of the novels) as much as to the reality created within the book itself.

Hmmm....

The ultimate misdirection in Spinner's End

J.K. Rowling continues to display her prowess as a writer in Chapter Two of The Half-Blood Prince: 'Spinner's End'.

At this point in her writing, Rowling knows that one of the key questions that still dominates the minds of her avid readership is which master Severus Snape truly serves: Albus Dumbledore or the Dark Lord.

And she knows that her readers are beginning to question how Snape could possibly be anything but a good guy, despite his loathing of Harry Potter -- he's just had too many opportunities to commit truly evil acts and failed to do so. He's had Harry at his mercy several times and failed to take advantage; he's been in a position to help Voldemort accomplish his plans on numerous occasions and hasn't done so; he has earned Dumbledore's trust and that trust is apparently unshakeable. As Lupin says, if we trust Dumbledore (and we absolutely do), then we have to trust Snape as well.

So she gives us 'Spinner's End', a chapter that is carefully crafted to address our doubts through a beautifully written confrontation between Snape and Bellatrix Lestrange. In this scene, Rowling has Bellatrix speak all of our doubts, all of our questions, and requires Snape to answer them.

Why didn't you kill Harry Potter on any one of the hundreds of occasions that you were alone with him at Hogwarts over the years?

Why did you help to thwart the Dark Lord's plans with regard to the Philosopher's Stone, the diary, the Goblet of Fire, the Order of the Phoenix?

Why didn't you fly to Voldemort when he called his Death Eaters to him in the graveyard, when he needed help to obtain the prophesy at the Ministry?

Why are you not providing better information on Dumbledore and the Order?

And many more.

We are thinking these questions. Bellatrix demands answers to them.

It's a brilliant strategy from Rowling. Even though we despise Bella, we find ourselves nodding as she fires question after question at Snape. We have had these doubts too! We wonder about Snape's allegiances as well.

And it's fundamentally necessary, critical in fact, to the effectiveness of the seventh and final book that we never suspect the truth about Severus Snape. We must believe he is a Voldemort disciple for much of the suspense in The Deathly Hallows to work, for the surprise at the end to be effective.

So it is crucial that the explanations Rowling places in Snape's mouth be convincing.

And they are. Snape is witty, and sarcastic, and... honest (we think) both in admitting to his mistakes and asserting his successes. He repeats, over and over again, that Voldemort asked the same questions of him and that Voldemort is satisfied with his answers.

In a wonderful twist on Lupin's we-trust-Dumbledore-so-we-must-trust-Snape motto, Snape himself challenges Bellatrix to say that she believes Voldemort to be mistaken in choosing to accept Snape's answers. Bellatrix, of course, refuses to do so.

In essence, Snape says, 'if you trust Voldemort, you trust me'.

And then, to seal the deal in this amazing chapter, Snape submits to entering into the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa, a submission that Bellatrix never expected, an action that finally convinces Bellatrix and, in doing so, convinces us.

Rowling has effectively dealt with our doubts about Snape and prepared the way for her own seventh novel: Snape is a Death Eater, Voldemort's most ardent supporter. He has Dumbledore hoodwinked and, when he kills Dumbledore at the end of the sixth book, that final act simply confirms the belief that has been created in this epic second chapter.

Rowling's missed opportunity in The Half-Blood Prince

I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out why I think that The Half-Blood Prince is the weakest of the seven Harry Potter novels. What is it about this book that simply does not work?

Sure, I've read the critics who disregard THBP as merely a set-up for the grand finale. And I think there's some merit to that argument.

But I think there's something more.

And I also think that, despite its limitations, THBP also has a lot to offer, a lot of really interesting scenes and great writing.

My analysis is by no means complete at this point but, if I had to say today what most concerns me about this novels, I'd have to say that it's the fact that, for the first and only time in the Harry Potter series, the main line of action in the book does not involve Harry, Hermione and Ron directly. In fact, the novel's central plot -- Draco Malfoy's desperate attempt to kill Dumbledore and redeem his family in the eyes of the Dark Lord -- happens almost entirely "off stage", so to speak.

It's an odd choice for Rowling and, in my opinion, a missed opportunity.

J.K. shows, in the first two chapters, that she is willing to permit her narrative voice to venture far away from our hero, Harry. In fact, Harry does not even appear in "The Other Minister" and "Spinner's End" -- in these opening chapters, Rowling presents the story from the perspective of the Muggle Prime Minister and of Narcissa Malfoy and Severus Snape.

What I don't understand is why she then commits herself so firmly and irrevocably to Harry's point of view from the third chapter onward. Especially when the central tale is with Draco, an interesting and enigmatic character who finds himself facing an extremely difficult challenge.

Wouldn't you have loved to have experienced the entire main plot of the sixth book through the eyes of Draco Malfoy, to understand the pressures he is under, the mixture of fear, anger, and desperation he must feel as he tries to figure out a way to accomplish the task set before him?

Wouldn't that have been a fascinating way to see the magical world in the Harry Potter series?

And wouldn't you have been much more caught up in the building suspense of the main plot of the book?

My point is that Rowling set herself a very difficult task in THBP: to try to keep her reader enthralled in the story without actually permitting us to experience in any real, ongoing way the development of that story.

And I think she, for the most part, failed.

I don't think the brief glimpses we see of Draco, the tiny hints to which we become privy throughout the novel, the suspicions of Harry that are brought to our attention but dismissed by everyone else are sufficient to keep us riveted by that story line.

And I don't think that other things Rowling offers in THBP -- the quidditch subplot, the romantic story lines, even the investigation of Voldemort's childhood -- are sufficient to make up for the lack of a gripping main plot.