Order Only: Snape's posts

[alt_sirius]

I made sure to get up and out for a bit before dawn, so I could stretch my legs while there was the lowest likelihood of being spotted. And so I could catch up on the journals before the students are up and out of their dormitories.

Frank, regarding Fu and Davidson and whomever else trying out what Snape's proposing, I just have to say:

HAVE YOU ALL GONE COMPLETELY MAD?

No fooling: Have you fallen and hit your heads on something? Have you been confunded?

I can't think of any other explanation for all this. This is Severus Snape we're talking about here. A greasy, slimy, contemptible, disgusting worm of a git - and he's been in Azkaban and he's probably half-deranged himself. And you're all following his advice?

Whatever Snape's playing at in these posts, it's not good. I mean to say .... Isn't that Davidson chap supposed to be former paramilitary or something? SOS - or whatever the muggles called it? Surely he's known how to make bombs before Snivellus bloody SNAPE reminded him? What happened to the reasons he never made ordnance up until now?

And this wandless magic thing. Not that I want to agree with that other post -

(and yeah, yeah, Frank, I had a right chuckle over that. Doris Purkiss. Who in Morgana's name is she supposed to be? - Anyway) 

- but I do wonder if he's trying to give muggleborns a false sense of hope - or worse, make them visible for trying to practise magic. He may not be a friend to the Protectorate after all those years in Azkaban, but he's still no muggle-lover, either. And nearly every one of those Slytherins who passed for his 'friends' at school are right in Voldemort's circle, if they're still alive.

I wouldn't trust anything that comes off that wanker's quill. 

And you can tell John Turner he's a fickle bastard. Not that I cared to be hero-worshipped but it seems like next time you see him he'll ask you 'Sirius who?'


But joking aside, I mean it: Snape's got nothing good planned. Remember he's still trying to kill Harry. And he was just at Hogwarts stealing books and leaving threatening notes, and you're taking his advice about disassembling radios? And I don't know what protections Davidson's got round the Sherwood camp but he'd best be careful setting off loads of loud bangs and crashes. 

 I say we stick with the original plan and get wands into hands - that's the only way their magic is really going to be effective.

Comments

[alt_frank]

hang on, mate.

first off, he's been making all sorts of bombs and molotov cocktails and stuff on his own, yeah, but they were testing this type of one to see if it actually worked, to make sure it wasn't going to hurt the other people outside the group that would try and pull it off.

second, there aren't going to be enough wands for everyone. unless alexs has some sort of stash numbering in the hundreds, it's not going to happen. so why not think of other things people can do to defend themselves?

third, I'm taking the source with a grain of salt, yeah? we're testing it to see if what he's said holds water. and so far, it does. as long as we're careful and test the hell out of it to make sure it does what it ought to, we shouldn't throw out things we can actually use just because it comes from a person that we don't like.

[alt_poppy]

Frank.

I missed that you'd written the other day--things here--but, oh my.

Do you mean to tell me that the Sherwood group are exploding things out in the open? Do they want to bring all of MLE down on their heads? That's simply madness.

[alt_frank]

davidson's trained, as is lee, and we made sure the silencing charms were all in place. no worries, poppy.

[alt_poppy]

Well, it's not just sound that explosions make, is it? It rattles windows across the ward when I cleanse things in the crucible. And that's quite a controlled little blast.

Honestly. If the man wanted to tempt you all to do something that would get your necks in the noose, all he had to do was write about explosives and you lot of overgrown boys run off with big grins on your faces, eager to make things that go 'boom'.

[alt_frank]

isn't that a fact.

[alt_frank]

and they were pretty ace too.

davidson says he prefers see four, but he's looking forward to trying the saltpeter out after it's had time to cure or whatever.

[alt_poppy]

You're taking the mickey, aren't you, Frank?

I hope.

Are the Sherwood group really getting close to mounting some sort of attack on--well, what would their target be? Are they talking targets and battle plans? (I suppose there's been no end of talk, but what I mean is has it moved beyond that?)

[alt_frank]

nothing formal yet, far as I know.

still developing defences, working on figuring out ways to arm muggles, building numbers and networks. if they get ambushed right now, they'd put up one hell of a fight, but they're not near making any attacks of their own.

[alt_frank]

least from what I've seen.

[alt_poppy]

Bless.

Well I hope and trust it doesn't come to anything of the sort. At least before they're ready to execute their own plans.

[alt_frank]

I just want to make sure we're in the loop whenever they decide what it is they're going for, so we can either be prepared to help, and take full advantage to get some of our goals in there too.

[alt_poppy]

Yes, indeed. We certainly want these allies, and we want them to see us as allies should we all ever reach a point of being able to push back against this regime.

All the more reason to be exceedingly cautious about encouraging them to view Severus Snape as a figurehead.

What are Snape's motives? What methods does he intend to use? (Violence, clearly, but of what sort? Employed how? With what tolerance for collateral casualties?) Will we in anyway condone those methods when they become clear at last?

Will we have any way of controlling those methods? This, at least, is entirely clear: we do not have any way of guessing or controlling what Snape may write or recommend next. If his first, intriguing offerings are followed by horrors, how will we backpedal from our apparent openness? How will you convince young Turner that, after all, perhaps this is not one of the wizards he ought to trust?

We cannot in good conscience recommend that they rely upon this man or whatever he intends--and we would be foolish in the extreme to indicate that we feel anything but profound distrust of him.

[alt_frank]

I don't think they're looking at him as a figurehead. more like a tool that right now is proving useful. least that's how I'm taking it. and the more we're there, and sirius is still an occasional visitor, the more competition he has and it's important he isn't the only one talking to them. besides, the truth of the matter is that the sherwood group is independent from either us or snape, and is proud of it.

now when it comes to other groups? hard to tell. it'd be nice if sirius was still writing.

and you're right, it's important that we continue to be cautious and keep testing everything to make sure there isn't any trickery going on. likewise with anyone else that starts posting recipes. and if he suggests something we cannot agree with, I'll be the first to say as much.

[alt_poppy]

Mm. Poisoning people with Belladonna went beyond the pale for me.

[alt_sirius]

Listen, mate, I enjoy a good firecracker just as much as the next warlock but for Merlin's sake that saltpeter stuff is volatile! See, this is the kind of thing where I say he's leading you a merry dance. It'd be just like a madman to give you all the idea of blowing things up and then suggest a method that'll take you all right along with the bang. That whooshing sound you hear will be your whole life flashing in front of you.

Isn't it enough to consider that two posts from him and your potioneer is brewing poisons and Turner and the others are back to talking about destroying buildings and arming muggles and taking back the country through uncontrolled violence.

That's not what we're meant to be doing. I don't think that's what Dumbledore would want us to be doing, either. If he'd ever come up to give us an answer.

[alt_poppy]

Precisely.

Thank you, Sirius.

[alt_frank]

oh, and the first decade has gone so well for all of us.

look. if leadership is what's needed, or you don't like the way this is going, then that's on you. at this point I'm in a support role. I go, I see what they're working on, I see what I can do to help. I don't have the authority with them to go in there and tell them what to build or what to brew, just make sure they keep us in the loop and do whatever they're doing as safely as possible. they know I'm from that sirius black group, but you still have pull with that lot and if you want to come up and give a bit more direction, feel free.

and davidson's group was heading that direction before snape picked up a quill -- it's not like blowing up things didn't enter their heads until they read about the flour bombs, this just adds to the arsenal they've already got going. this is a group that is training to fight, training to break people out of camps, and training with a goal of bringing down the system. you think they'll depend on the few wands they have and keep it at that? I know a lot of us aren't happy thinking about it but that doesn't change the reality of what an unbalanced fight we have ahead of us if we're going to ever change things here, and what we're going to have to do to make that change.

now when it comes to what we can do, we can talk about things like collateral damage, about how not everyone with a wand is bad, and we can be at the table when they talk about which targets they are going to hit and how. uncontrolled is not the way to go. I'll agree with that. and if we break with davidson, we won't be at that table, and we won't have a chance to speak up in the first place.

[alt_poppy]

And as for your third thing. Do you mean to say that if Barty Crouch or Bellatrix Lestrange started writing instructions about poisons and bombs and whatnot, you'd be trying those out, too?

[alt_frank]

I don't trust snape, but I do trust steve mcgivern. and he knows a good potion from a dud, as do you. and if he says they are genuine, and we could use them, why not?

[alt_frank]

and yeah the explosives are a bit trickier, but between fu and davidson we've got some pretty decent authorities checking things out.

[alt_frank]

way I see it, other people are going to be trying it, might as well see if it actually works and is safe.

[alt_alice]

Oh, trust me, love, I was Not Happy when I found out they were setting off their little bombs. Experts or no.

Frank has a point that it might be good to know if people are liable to get hurt following that man's advice, but we still have no idea what his motives are, and I do not care for the way he treated our Hermione one bit.

[alt_frank]

and you've got a point about our hermione, al.

and harry too.

and he keeps showing his face around hogwarts like that, he's bound to get caught sooner rather than later.

[alt_frank]

you just jealous you weren't there?

[alt_alice]

Hardly.

I only hope that when you are blown to bits, Davidson will do me the courtesy of sending an owl to let me know.

[alt_frank]

I was behind a little hill thinger and everything! turner did the fuses.

[alt_alice]

...No, that doesn't make it any better. I'm still fussed.