That’s all true. And on re-reading, I’m going to go back to my original thought of Quirrel, with the emotional involvement being faked to keep Hermione’s interest. Quirrel did, after all, speak up for her when all others were silent.
There’s certainly evidence pointing that way: “the sibilant whisper”—“dry as dust”—“the high-pitched chuckle” , “What’s your name?” “That is the riddle, young Ravenclaw” , and indeed “for now you have seen how the others stayed silent”...
But while I could easily believe that Jeremy Jaffe is better at projecting false emotion than Hermione is at discerning it, I have a much harder time believing that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, whose eyes blazed crimson like miniature suns, could forget the value of surface appearances.
That’s all true. And on re-reading, I’m going to go back to my original thought of Quirrel, with the emotional involvement being faked to keep Hermione’s interest. Quirrel did, after all, speak up for her when all others were silent.
There’s certainly evidence pointing that way: “the sibilant whisper”—“dry as dust”—“the high-pitched chuckle” , “What’s your name?” “That is the riddle, young Ravenclaw” , and indeed “for now you have seen how the others stayed silent”...
But while I could easily believe that Jeremy Jaffe is better at projecting false emotion than Hermione is at discerning it, I have a much harder time believing that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, whose eyes blazed crimson like miniature suns, could forget the value of surface appearances.
Maybe he’s not forgetting, just trying to double-bluff Hermione by appearing suspicious.