Act Three

A/N: I anticipate that many readers will find fault with the language and grammar herein. Please bear in mind that this play seeks to remain authentic to the style and language of literature produced in the Tudor, Elizabethan and early Jacobean times (c.1485-1615). They had different modes of writing, grammar and spelling. While I have faithfully produced these as far as I could, please understand that I have opted not to replicate the erratic Tudor spelling as most words were spelt phonetically in the Tudor era (c.1485-1603).

In order to be true to the custom of the time, this play is written in a combination of late Mediaeval Latin, as well as Tudor and Elizabethan English. Some English words used then had different of meanings than they do now. While I am aware that this maybe very off-putting to many people, I sincerely hope you will come to see and understand the plot as I intend for it to be read. As far as possible, I have included a glossary when the definitions of words differ from the modern meaning and pronunciations. If you are in doubt, ask and I will answer. Stage directions are given in square brackets, like so [ ] and asides are listed. If asides are not indicated explicitly in the text, they are denoted by round brackets like so ( ).

Numbers at the back of certain lines are line numbers. The right align command does not work with line numbers. When I tried it, the line pagination of my metre was eliminated. Please bear with the numbers that appear there, they are meant as a guide not as a distraction.

TANQUAM OVIS

ACT THREE

Act III Scene I

Hogwarts, Dumbledore's former office, now Minerva McGonagall's.

Enter Minerva solus (and an Echo of Dumbledore's voice in the Headmaster's office)

Minerva:

I do love these ancient Hogwarts ruins;

Students may never tread upon them more.

But we have, Albus, set our feet upon

Some reverend history in our walks together

And questionless, here in this thy former court 5

Which now lies naked to the injuries

Of strong weather, some men lie interr'd

Lov'd the school so well, and gave so largely to it,

They, like thee, thought it should canopy their bones

Till doomsday. But all things have their end: 10

Muggles and cities, which have diseases like men

Must have like death that we have in this world.

Still sleeping in thy portrait while I speak?

Art thou pretending or shall I prod thee?

Dumbledore's Echo:

Prod thee. 15

Minerva:

How I miss thee, Albus. Methinks, I hear thee.

Dumbledore's Echo:

Ay, hear thee.

Minerva:

This echo of thy voice hath me catched.

Yet there, thou gently snore in thy portrait.

Look thee now at me! 20

Dumbledore's Echo:

In my portrait, look thee now at me.

Minerva:

The voice – it groan'd, methought; and gave thy voice.

Dumbledore's Echo:

Grave my voice.

Minerva:

I must be growing mad! 'Tis very like my husband's voice.

Dumbledore's Echo:

Ay, husband's voice. 25

Minerva:

Let me look on thee whilst gently sleeps

With thy trembling hand aloft a stony place.

How I miss thee so!

Dumbledore's Echo:

I miss thee too.

Minerva:

Repress this shudder, I must on my skin 30

To see if thy portrait play'st a trick

On my old woman's nerves and heart.

I see thee seated afore thine work desk

Where fortifications grow from thy books

From which ruin sits before thee an old 35

Carved structure of stone where thy hand rests.

'Tis thy pensieve, I believe.

Dumbledore's Echo:

Ay, pensieve, believe.

Minerva:

This deadly echo doth haunt me

So hollow and so dismal and withal 40

So plain in the distinction of my words,

That I fear it must be thy spirit, Albus,

That answers me.

Dumbledore's Echo:

'Twill answer thee.

Minerva:

No more with thee, Echo, I will retreat to my thoughts pensive. 45

Dumbledore's Echo:

My thoughts in pensieve.

Minerva:

Since thou command'st it, let me but look.

How now, what is thus desperate strand I espy? [looks in Pensieve]

'Tis my gracious lord when he wast last here

Together with that traitor, Severus! 50

O, how his chilling words do haunt me still.

He bade Severus report the truth

Of the jealous thoughts of the Dark Wizard.

Much is suspected of him by factions

Hidden in the Malfoys and Lestranges. 55

How noble is his immediate sacrifice

For the fulfilment of the prophecy.

Severus' hesitancy shines brightly warm,

Miss Granger's theory may yet hold true –

Poor Severus, I see he is much maligned. 60

Albus – No – No, do not push me away

And out of thy old memory, I slip

Sequestered from they nearness once again.

I must speak to the Order and Miss Granger

Of my late lord's memory which compels me. 65

Dumbledore's Echo:

Compel thee.

Minerva:

Foolish, foolish, Albus, thou art careless

And were not mindful of thy safety.

Dumbledore's Echo:

Be mindful of thy safety.

Minerva:

Indeed and necessity compels me 70

Make scrutiny through thy pensieve

For passages of thy own life with Severus

To present to the Order and young Harry

To see if it were possible for him

To fly from his fate. 75

Dumbledore's Echo:

No flight from his fate.

Minerva:

I have had enough, Echo. I will not talk with thee

Dumbledore's Echo:

Talk with me.

Minerva:

But thou art a dead thing.

Dumbledore's Echo:

Ay, dead thing. 80

Minerva:

Albus, Albus, these stones seem to speak,

Pity me and give me good counsel.

Dumbledore's Echo:

Given good counsel.

Minerva:

Avaunt with thee, Echo; I must alone

Think o'er this night's happenings to 85

Bring the perceiv'd thoughts to the Order.

Dumbledore's Echo:

Bring pensieve whatnots to the Order.

Minerva:

The air bites, I must be out of this ague;

Shut the window I must and perchance

The echo will trouble me no more. 90

Dumbledore's Echo:

Trouble thee for more.

Minerva:

Echo, to live thus is not to live;

It is a mockery and abuse of life.

I will not henceforth save myself by halves;

All or nothing for the Order and Severus. 95

Dumbledore's Echo:

And Severus.

Minerva:

Fare thee well, Echo, I have not the time

Though in our miseries, Fortune hath a part.

Yet in our great sufferings, she hath none:

Contempt of pain, that we may call our own. 100

Dumbledore's Echo:

I am thy own.

Minerva:

Wherefore dost thou haunt me with thy echo?

Albus, wherefore art thou now? Wilt thou come?

Albus, wherefore art thou committing this?

Shall I never see thee more? 105

Dumbledore's Echo:

No, never see me more.

Minerva:

Hark, the echo fades – don't leave me, Albus!

This my imagination could have wrought,

My heart could have a cry for love of thee.

Dumbledore's Echo:

Minerva, I cry for love of thee. 110

Minerva:

Albus Dumbledore, do not leave me again!

[Exit Minerva]

Act III Scene II

Grimmauld Place, Order of the Phoenix Headquarters.

Enter Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter and Mundungus Fletcher.

Mundungus:

Harry, what time of day did they say they would arrive?

Ron:

What? Art thou not too dull-witted with drinking of old sack, prophesying with blue

ting'd smoke, and punching and buttons after supper and sleeping upon benches after star

rise, that thou fast forget to demand that truly thou wouldst have no business to do. What

a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day the Order doth arrive? Unless hours were

artefacts, and minutes, cups of sack, and clocks, the black-marketer's tongue, and dials,

the click of gold in thy hand; I see no reason why thou should'st be so superfluous to

demand the time of the day. 8

Mundungus:

Thou art not altogether a fool. Perchance thy lady who's not so Brown will tell thee the

kiss you take is no kiss better than you give? Or doth her wanton spirit look out at every

joint and motive of her body? You two should exercise caution; with too much blood and

too little brain, you two may run mad. 12

Harry:

Thou art not altogether a wise man, Dung. As much foolery as I have, so much wit thou lack'st.

Mundungus:

Still sore about the locket? Be thankful that Miss 'Mione now keep'st it safe from all

prising hands by wearing it constant 'round her neck. Is the matter still 'bout the locket?

No, by my troth, I did to thee apologise. 16

Ron (aside to Harry):

Watch thou, this outward-sainted deputy,

Whose settl'd visage and deliberate word

Nips youth i'th'head and follies doth enew;

As falcon doth the fowl, is yet a devil: 20

His filth within being cast, he would appear

A pit as deep as hell.

Harry (aside to Ron):

Well said, friend, he's by no means valiant;

For he doth fear the soft and tender fork

Of a poor worm whose sin not accidental 25

But a politic trade.

[aloud to Mundungus]

Marry, and to thee it would prove a bawd;

'Tis best that thou diest quickly.

Mundungus:

So I shall if this be a leaping house! Marry then, my good lads, when Harry hath

vanquished the Dark One, let us be free to take purses go by the moon and the seven

stairs, that I should be called a valiant knight of the night who reallocates Fortune by the

ebb and flow of the sea. O, Artemis, my noble and chaste mistress whose light hath

guided my many worthy expeditions, would grant me a knighthood and they immunity! 33

Harry:

Good Mundungus, thou art a true madcap! If Ron and my joint wits run the gauntlet with

thy black-marketing, we be one. For thou hast more hidden pockets and alleyways in one

of thy hairs than I am sure I have in our two wits. 36

Mundungus:

Know'st thee not, lads, these debts the world claims we owe may be called desperate ones, for a madman owes them. 38

Ron:

An inspired profundity, Dung?

Mundungus:

Contain thy mirthful bursts of cheer, for thou know'st I am nothing by hands and mad

lechery. Look you here on this cup of sack, it presents to us a dumb show and calleth

itself Luxury. So, Luxury, I will sip and make myself gay. Now, see the fat rump of the

cup and how it tickles the beard! This is what I mean by madman's talks. 43

Ron:

McGonagall doth saith revelations on Snape she would bring to the fore.

Mundungus:

I did hear too that the man is not all he seemeth; I heard from the werewolf yester night

that his wolfsbane he still mysteriously receive and the lady Minerva did showeth him,

Moody and the Order's Aurors images from her beloved lord's treasured memory trove.

The werewolf spake of dancing figures – dumb shows painfully wrought of gossamer

web so that none would see the plans old Dumbledore laid with Snape. The werewolf

doth saith the images blinded him with the dazzling light of Dumbledore's intent. Snape

may'st not be a hunchbacked traitorous toad. 51

Harry:

These lies be gross as a mountain, open and palpable. Why thou clay-brained guts, thou

knotty-pated fool, thou obscene, greasy tallow ketch thief, do not speak of Snape to me

again! 53

Ron:

But if should McGonagall do so, what then? Shalt we deny her a moment's peace? We

must beat these lies as best we can. 55

Mundungus:

What? Art thou both mad? Art thou so? Is not the truth the truth?

Ron:

Come now, thou rogue, Harry's temper hath not been equable since the late passing of all

that is good and mighty. Come, your reason, scurvy knave, give us thy reason!

Mundungus:

That I shalt give it if young Harry would but cast his evil look aside at another place than

mine eyes. What, would thou have me speak upon compulsion? Give me a reason on

compulsion, young Harry! If reasons were as plenty as blackbirds I would give no man a

reason upon compulsion! 62

Harry:

I am no longer guilty of this sin; unlike thee or that wretched traitor – that foul-faced black-hearted traitor.

Ron:

Alack, do not fight so; it bespeaks of disunity in our ranks and discord in the untuned string. I would that Hermione were here.

Harry:

Dost thou think on Hermione now? What, no thoughts on thy beauteous Lavender or the

virtuous swaying of her gracious hips? To think on our friend whom thou hast cast off for

the base pleasures in thine evil mind! Think'st thou only on Hermione when trouble

begins to boil while wit thou hast not? Think thou on Hermione when we be in need of

her intellect and advice? Think you so little on her then? 'Tis no wonder she'll not abide

by thee for more! 70

Ron:

So you would too if all thou hear'st were books and things beyond human comprehension.

Harry:

Or dost thou mean thy comprehension, Ron?

Mundungus:

That is enough, my lads; dost thou both wish McGonagall to see you at each other's throats?

Harry:

Not if she will speak to us on that churlish traitor, Snape!

Ron:

For Dumbledore's sake, we must not bear McGonagall ill, for her temper uneven at her Lord's untimely death could send her to Bedlam. 76

Mundungus:

Thy friend is right, young cub, so curb thy bitter thoughts and idle tongue, McGonagall is

at the helm, for she doth hold the sacred phoenix of Dumbledore now. If she wishes thee

to see Snape's nature, thou would'st best agree afore thy mind thou decide'st to push off

the notion of the little good fortune has brought to thee through Snape's irregular hand. 80

Harry:

Snape? Snape! Why speak you so cool on him! 'Tis his bloody wand that smoked

Dumbledore's blood! I care not that Remus Lupin hath seen McGonagall's thoughts and

Dumbledore's memories. Ron, wherefore dost thou converse with that trunk of humour to

cog at me and steal my godfather's property? Mundungus, wherefore dost thou bring thy

bolting-hutch of beastliness that swollen parcel of dropsies that thy call'st thy body to the

Order's home? Say nought, Ron, I am not in a mood to hear thy prattles on how thou

would'st break my nose! For Ron, know'st thou that thy belly is nought but puff-pastry

pudding. Thou art, my first childhood friend, have that reverend vice, I see behind thee

call'd Grey Iniquity of self-love that doth pepper thy vanity beyond reasonableness in thy

hand towards Hermione! 90

Ron:

Aye, yea, all these faults and more I gladly acknowledge, if only thou wouldst but list to

McGonagall and allow her to cleave to hope and the good memory of her beloved Lord.

An on Severus Snape she doth wish to speak, we would do well to mock her words with

nods and expressions of glass. 94

[Enter Minerva McGonagall and Hermione Granger seen by all but Harry Potter]

Harry:

I will hear nought on Severus Snape! I have foresworn all thoughts on his evil minds and

vouchsafed to kill him. No, speak thou not, Ron, nor thee, thief-like rogue – I shalt not

hear more on Snape and his unworthiness. He is as valiant as the lion, churlish as the

bear, slow as the elephant. He is a man into whom nature has so crowded phlegm and

humours that what some call his valour is crusted into cowardly folly; and his folly as

sure as heaven as sauced with discretion. 99

[Ronald Weasley tugs at Harry Potter's sleeve]

Pluck not at my sleeve, Ron, do not make me get hot o'er thy inadequacies also, there is

no man like Snape and his virtue, which is a thing he hath not a glimpse of, nor any man

an attaint but he carries some stain of it. He is melancholy without cause and merry

against care; he hath the joints of everything, but everything is so out of joint that he is a

fool whose hands have no use and hath eyes like purblind Argus with no sight. 104

Minerva (coming forward):

Not e'en when remorse he showeth you through piteous tears?

Harry:

Ron, thou hast me a disservice done by not alerting me to our righteous Headmistress's presence.

Ron:

I didst so, but thy will can not be broached.

Minerva:

Dost thou not think there is more

To Severus Snape than the little we know?

I hath heard from an owl yet unnamed, 110

He'll'd play fiddle to the checkmated king.

Harry:

I will no more trust him when he leers than I will the serpent when he hisses. Do not

forget Hermione, that he trick'd you in order to fulfil his bloody purpose of killing Dumbledore! 113

Hermione:

Think'st you so ill on him to pair him

In the heavy riddle guarded lair? 115

Art thou so full of thyself, Chosen One

That thou refuseth an honourable man!

For in spirit, he did bespeak the truth –

His intent remain'd to provide thee aid.

Ron:

Hermione, my dear friend, I beg of thee, provoke not Harry's ugly mood. 120

Hermione:

I have no quarrel with thee or thy board.

The spun world in the head on my shoulders

Revolveth not around thy inanities

And they self-important delusions of love.

Silencio! I cry to halt thy tongue! 125

[Raises wand and casts spell on Ron]

Harry:

See'st thou, how our professor and Mundungus look askance at thee for bespelling a

long-time friend against thy zeal to get a snake's venom in mine throat. 127

Hermione:

Were not thy throat reserved for the Dark Lord,

I would at this instant let fly at thy neck!

Think'st you so grand that you need'st no help 130

From one within the Dark Lord's fabled court?

Harry:

Gentle Hermione, thine nerves undone

I fear thou art plagued with treacherous notions.

Let us not quarrel ob this coward, Snape.

Hermione:

You see'st him thus? You great siz'd coward! 135

No space on earth shall sunder your two hates:

Snape'll haunt you like wicked conscience still,

That mouldeth goblins swift as Firenze's thoughts.

You art prejudiced and canst not hope

His legitimate nobility of mind! 140

Harry:

Why ought I use his ill gotten gain? I want not to with him! To hear you speak that I quite

like him when it is plain for all that I am not! To be a god, a mule, a cat, a fitchook, a

toad, a lizard, an owl, a puttock, or a herring without a roe, I would not care; but to be

him, I would conspire against destruction. Ask me not what I would be if I were not

myself the Chosen One, for I care not to be the louse of a lazar so I were not him! 145

Hermione:

It would seem there is no talking to thee

In this very black temper and ill words,

I bid you, Professor McGonagall

And all else assembled keep me abreast,

Goodly Professor to see how I may 150

Prove to be a bridge 'twixt you and him.

[Exit Hermione]

Minerva:

Harry, thou dost disappoint me gravely;

I hate ingratitude more in a man

Than lying, vainness, babbling drunkenness

Or any taint of vice whose strong corruption 155

Inhabits our frail blood. Here's the pensieve

With the thoughts of my late departed Lord.

View it at your leisure and tell me what

You think'st you doth see in its depths.

[Exit Minerva. Curtain]

Act III Scene III

Severus Snape's house. In the book filled sitting room.

Enter Hermione Granger, solus.

Hermione:

Professor Snape, I have late returneth –

Strange this is, wherefore should the house be dark?

'Tis nigh as dark as ignorant fear

And what of ignorant fear but that which

Seeks to cloak earthly hell with the same darkness. 5

This house and room doth seem a bloody prison

Crying fatal woes and ominous sighs.

With the guilty closures of these walls

Methinks I doth hear old Dumbledore sigh,

But no portrait I see till 'Lumos' be called. 10

The chilly air and piled walls of books

Vacantly envelope my heart and soul

As the doubtful fear for Severus stirs

Within this breast at this but four o'clock.

Tell me not the damned bloodsuckers 15

Hath come so bold and spirit him off?

'Tis for more slander to this dismal seat

Where I rest my weary tumultuous mind.

O, these open tomes on this great desk

Acts like soothing balm on my mind's soul. 20

What be he reading but that on horcrux!

Here be that tight familiar spiky hand

Where he left incomplete in research.

Hermione Jane Granger, thou didst not think

Thy poor Professor must have summon'd be 25

By that Fiend who deserv'd not greatness

But that hate in a sick man's appetite.

Would that his evil be but decreased!

What can he want of the Professor now?

I pray to you in Heaven and in Hell: 30

Protect he who is my former potions

And defence master from elements rank;

O, were he here to belittle my wit

And mock this false coin of Goddess Fortune

Who giveth me companionable silence 35

And modest intelligible respect.

Think ye not, stars glittering in midday Sun

That within thy hands he placeth his trust.

Wherefore should he trust me as he once did

Our dearly departed sage Dumbledore? 40

Wherefore should mine knees quake at his dark eyes

For occupation to cleanse his soul?

Wherefore should I find his torturous mind

A labyrinth so complex and sweetly

Spun by innumerable black spiders 45

Delightful and warm like a blanket be?

O, would these flutterings in my poor heart

Ne'er ceas'd to be turned by a pendant's mind?

Would that Ron's betrayal with Lavender

Not cut and twist my mind's fragments so deep 50

'Til now for him could indifference I have.

O, would I not had set on mourning

Professor Severus Snape quite alone

And had but quelled the nascent pity

That beyond my natural compulsion led 55

The joint offices of my mind and soul

To be his spirit's medium for small peace!

At least, myself, my soul, my mind, I know;

The stirrings here that beat in this temple

Above my shallow brow and ill plac'd crown, 60

So long as this he never comes to know!

O, would I have seen him as a brother!

Dumbledore's echo:

My brother.

Hermione:

Were I not affrighted, I would laugh

Methinks my diseas'd mind doth hear the voice 65

Of Headmaster Dumbledore mocking me

As an echo would in hollow rain clouds.

Enough, no more, it seems to have passed.

Since the dour Professor hath been recall'd

To the side of Voldemort, I must do 70

My portion to help complete his research

On the meaning of the scatter'd horcrux.

Dumbledore's echo:

Has the horcrux.

Hermione:

The eerie echo doth wish me begone

And so I shall upon penning this note – 75

[scribbles on parchment]

His manners be ill but she believeth

Thou mayst perchance give thy vengeance hope!

Now fly away to home, to dine, I must.

[Exit]

Act III Scene IV

Uncharted island near Scotland. A clearing in a forested area.

Enter Wormtail (also called Peter Pettigrew), solus, with a paper in his hand.

Wormtail:

The Dark Lord's summons hath only just lapsed,

Though all the players were peacefully dismiss'd

Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange

Stayed me behind with a catch on my tail.

Words and evidence they did bespeak of 5

The Dark Lord's right hand, Snape's treach'rous designs.

Here is the indictment of traitorous Snape,

Which I am to set in a fair light hand

That it may be soon read to the Dark Lord.

Now mark how well the sequel of Snape's fate 10

Hangs o'er him this time with no chance for flight:

Two days or more to spend to rewrite this note

For two hours since Lucius bade be tidy

The illiberal scrawls that lie in his hand.

The precedent wast full as long a-doing; 15

Serves thee right, Snape, thou art shalt no longer

Live untaint'd, unexamin'd and free!

Here's a good world the while! Who is so gross

That cannot see Snape's palpable deceits?

Yet who's so bold but says he sees it not? 20

Bad is the world but soon we shalt have aught

When such ill-dealing must be seen in thought!

[Exit]

Act III Scene V

Severus Snape's house. In the book filled sitting room.

Enter Severus Snape, solus.

Severus:

Though Dumbledore within a while had died,

His name bandi'd on the Dark Lord's lips oft

To question whether I wast by his hand guided,

So Lucius beside the Dark Lord hath coft:

This made he and Belle play while the wax's soft 5

To seek a means to bring me to an end,

For my post they would spare no kin nor friend.

Thankfully, the Dark Lord believ'd not the feat

Who in his way did me strangely entreat

Not to overlook Wormtail' subtle peace. 10

Bella and Lucius still suspected me

Of my place in Dumbledore's court of pain.

[Moves to desk]

How now, what be this here I espy?

Miss Granger speaks on the last Order's mind.

Ha! 'Tis accurate as I had foreseen: 15

Potter's opinions be immaterial!

Miss Granger believes me and that's enough.

[Drinks out of glass of water]

The sweet Angel's faith in me must ne'er break,

Thus I exercise my mind in the horcrux

And the inscrib'd on the locket she wears – 20

R. A. B. or so it has been written.

Wherefore doth all think it ought be a name?

Wherefore not the immobile thing, a place?

Come now, Snape, set down thy glass of water

[sets down glass and traces lips]

To indulge in habitual deep thinking 25

Could it be my eyne deceiv'd me?

I see the reflection on a mirror

Shimmering gently with the opposed effect.

Ah ha! My thoughts be triumphant again!

Of this I must to Miss Granger bespeak 30

And dear McGonagall if she would hear.

Among the rest by Fortune overthrown,

I am not least, that most may waylay her fate:

My fame and mind aboard the wind is blown,

Who can forget a thing thus done so late? 35

My great mischance, my fall and heavy state,

Is such a mark whereat each tongue doth shoot

That my good name is pluck'd up by the root.

[Exit]

FOOTNOTES & GLOSSARY

Tanquam Ovis is Latin for "like a lamb to the slaughter". I shall leave you to devise the identities of the sacrificial lambs that were slaughtered, why I have opted to slaughter them and why their deaths be significant.

Tanquam Ovis Explanation

I obtained the phrase Tanquam Ovis from my reading on Elizabeth I. Tanquam Ovis appears with the meaning "like a lamb to the slaughter"in John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, published in 1583. All page references in this section refer to the 1583 edition of The Book of Martyrs. In using John Foxe's Book of Martyrs and adopting Sir Philip Sidney's definition of the function of poetry (i.e. fiction) with reference to the Horatian dictum of to teach and delight' (docere et delectare), I am paying homage to the 16th-17th century tradition of literature. In subscribing to Sidney's widely accepted maxim, Foxe positions Book of Martyrs, the title by which his ecclesiastical history was known from the beginning, at the didactic end of the scale. Nevertheless, its array of theological disputations, treatises, heresy examinations, instructive accounts of the painful deaths of martyrs who were burnt alive, and other texts afford frequent moments of aesthetic pleasure through the employment by Foxe or his sources of a diversity of rhetorical schemes, stylistic figures, and devices of characterization. Drawing upon elements of this kind, the Book of Martyrs functions as an encyclopedia of literary genres including many kinds of verse, martyrologies, fables, ballads, beast fables, fanciful tales, romanticized adventure narratives, and many other writings. Tanquam Ovis appears in Book 10 where he discusses the ongoing disputes between Catholics and Protestants. He enjoys using the Tanquam Ovis phrase as an allegory if you like, so much that Elizabeth (when she was just Princess Elizabeth and heir to Mary I) applied the messianic figure of Tanquam Ovis. In the narrative concerning her imprisonment, Princess Elizabeth applies the messianic figure of tanquam ovis ('like a sheep' [led to slaughter], Isa. 53:7; Acts 8:32 – this is more obvious if you read the Vulgate version of the bible where Tanquam Ovis = like a sheep led to the slaughter) to her own endangerment as a Christlike lamb. (p. 2094b). Tanquam Ovis was popular device and saying in Tudor times. Writing from prison, John Bradford declares: 'I am now as a sheep appointed to the slaughter' (p. 1654). In a letter sent from one prisoner to another, John Careless consoles an inmate that he is fortunate not only to testify to his faith in Christ, 'but also to suffer for his sake, as one of his silly [i.e., innocent] sheep appointed to the slaughter' (p. 1928). The narrator of a story about yet another martyr, Julian Palmer, writes that he 'was led away as a lamb to the slaughter' by a prison keeper who was like 'a ravening wolf greedy of his prey' (p. 1937).

Choice of Latin: An Explication

Please bear in mind that the Latin in this play is Mediaeval Latin, i.e. Latin of the High Middle Ages. Henry VIII's reign is considered to fall under the High Middle Ages. Mediaeval Latin is often religious in tone and subject; playwrights, authors, poets and lovers (writing love letters) frequently used such Latin with such overtones in their work. I have written everything in Mediaeval Latin so as to be true to the custom of the time [cf. Author's notes at the start of the play before the title]. It is for this reason that I do not use Roman Latin.

Gentle Warning

Readers and Purists who expect the authoress to remain true to the events of HBP may be offended and displeased with my interpretation of this work. This play is at times anachronistic (as was Shakespeare), idiosyncratic, and singular. Artistic license has been utilised to reinterpret some of the occurrences in HBP. The authoress has also used dramatic license to postulate certain theories in this play. For these reasons, Tanquam Ovis may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Problem Play: An Explication

This is intentionally written as a problem play. Those of you who look on the meaning of "problem plays" as Isben's understanding of 'A type of drama that focuses on a specific social problem', may be disappointed to learn that I follow the Shakespearean style of problem play. To understand what a Shakespearean problem play is, let me quote you W.W. Lawrence's definition; "the essential characteristic of a problem play ... is that a perplexing and distressing complication in human life is presented in a spirit of high seriousness ... the theme is handled so as to arouse not merely interest or excitement, or pity or amusement, but to probe the complicated interrelations of character and action, in a situation admitting of different ethical interpretations .... The 'problem' is not like one in mathematics, to which there is a single true solution, but is one of conduct, as to which there be no fixed and immutable laws. Often it cannot be reduced to any formula, any one question, since human life is too complex to be so neatly simplified" (Shakespeare's Problem Comedies, 1931, p.4).

Alternatively, you may prefer Schanzer's definition, cf. Ernest Schanzer, The Problem Plays of Shakespeare: A Study of "Julius Caesar, Measure for Measure, and Antony and Cleopatra, London, 1963. He says, "The definition of the Shakespearian problems play which I therefore suggest is: 'A play in which we find a concern with a moral problem which is central to it, presented in such a manner that we be unsure of our moral bearings, so that uncertain and divided responses to it in the minds of the audience be possible or even probable' (p. 6)."It will also be noted that, in opposition to Boas, Lawrence, and Tillyard, I do not mark off the problem play from the comedies and tragedies as a separate type. What, to my mind, distinguishes the problem play is a particular mode of presenting moral problems and this can be found in Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies alike' (pp. 6 & 7).

This means that as a Shakespearean problem play, Tanquam Ovis sets out to do the following: (a) forward a refusal or failure to wholly credit the dignity of man, and the significance that that gives the individual in tragedy; (b) place An emphasis (comic, derisive, satiric) on human shortcoming, even when man is engaged in great affairs; (c) suggest that there is usually another side to all human affairs, and that the "other side" to the serious, dignified, noble, famous and so forth, is comic. This implies scepticism of man's worth, importance and value; and may range from the quizzical through the ironical to the cynical; (d) expressing unhappiness, disappointment, resentfulness or bitterness about human life, by inverting these feelings and presenting the causes of them as something ironic; (e) possess a corresponding attitude towards traditionally funny subjects which insinuates that in some way they be serious, or that the stock response to them bypasses pain at human shortcomings or wickedness; or that this stock response depends on a lack of sympathy or insight which an author can make us aware of without abolishing the comic situation (f) Interpolated into the critical analytical patterns we find "ideal" figures who check our prattle of "cynicism," "satire" or "misanthropy"; (g) involve us in discoveries always of a bad reality beneath the fair appearances of things: revelations, painful in the extreme and we be made to feel the pain – of the distressing, disintegrating possibilities of human meanness (ignobility and treachery, craft and selfishness).

All Shakespeare's Problem Plays be profoundly concerned with seeming and being; and this can cover both sex and human worth (as each claims nobility). Combine this with what I have just said about "disintegrating" discoveries, and, with a wider generalisation, you can say that they share a quality which can be called "maskedness" not only because "unmaskng" describes so many of the actions, but because the total effect is to present a world of appearances (very close to a realistically observed reality) capable of opening –like a masque set transformation scene – and disclosing something totally different. This "maskedness" brings doubt, mixed feelings, a "nervous" curiosity and/or a kind of fear.

Whether I have successfully produced a Shakespearean style problem play is for you to decide.

Brief Primer on Tudor and Jacobean English

In Tudor times right up to Jacobean times, "your" and "you" were used either in the plural or to denote a certain formality of speech. "Thee", "thine", "thou" were more intimate and informal. I have kept to this general ruling in this play. This trend of "thou" being singular and "you" as plural started in the 13th century to copy French (vous and tu). It was usual for "you" to be used by inferiors to superiors, such as children to parents, or servants to masters. The superiors will use "thou" or one of its variants to their inferiors. "Thou" was used to invoke the gods and it was usual when lower classes talk to each other, they use "thou". Upper classes used "you" when talking to each other, though this rule may be bent if the parties decide to be informal and use "thou". Thus, changing from "thou" to "you" (and vice versa) in a conversation always conveys special meaning. "Thou" can be used as either a sign of intimacy (among the Upper classes) or as an insult (when the Upper classes speak to the lower classes). It depends how the actor/director wants to play it. Example: Gertrude tells Hamlet, "You have thy father much offended". Hamlet replies, "You have my father much offended." It is clear Hamlet is insulting his mother. Mother, i.e. Gertrude insists that Hamlet has insulted Claudius (notice she uses 'thou' with him. But Hamlet, who alternates between 'thou' and 'you' with his mother, uses "You" in this context as an insult. There be many such examples in Hamlet and Shakespeare in general, look out for it in the play.

In Shakespearean English there is no such thing as "are". You either use "be", "beest", "be'st" or "been".

In Shakespearean English, there is no such thing as "was" or "were", you either use "wert" or "wast".

I'll'd is the Shakespearean way of writing "I will had" or "I would have". It is pronounced with 1 syllable.

They'll'd is the Shakespearean way of writing "they will have" or "I would have". It is pronounced with 1 syllable.

Do not allow your modern pronunciation of words colour your reading of this play. As a rule, anything in past tense that ends with 'ed' (e.g. underlined) is pronounced in Tudor/Elizabethan/Jacobean times with an extra syllable. You must pronounce the 'ed'. For instance, 'underlined' is pronounced as 'un-der-line-nead'. The opposite holds true when a word has a 'd at its end. Let X be a word. When a word with spelt as X'd (e.g. underlin'd), it is pronounced as we would in modern day English, as underlined, with a silent 'nead'.

Brief Primer on Stage Directions used in Tudor-Jacobean Masques and Plays

Stage direction glossary is as follows:

Aside – A speech direction. A speech not heard by other characters on stage. Also has alternative meaning as movement direction.

Above – A movement direction that occurs in the gallery or upper stage.

Aloft – A movement direction that occurs on the upper stage.

Apart – A movement direction that occurs to one side, a short distance away.

Aside – A movement direction that occurs to one side, away from the others.

Below – A movement direction that occurs on the lower stage.

Break in – A movement direction that is burst on to the stage.

Brought out – A movement direction that is brought out on to the stage.

Enter – A movement direction that occurs when one or more characters come on to the stage.

Exeunt – A movement direction that occurs when more than one character leaves the stage.

Exit – A movement direction that occurs when one character leaves the stage.

In – A movement direction that occurs when one or more characters go into the dressing room at the back of the stage.

Manent – A movement direction that occurs when the characters remain on stage.

Off – A movement direction that occurs off-stage.

Severally/several ways – A movement direction that occurs in different directions (said of people arriving or leaving).

Solus – A movement direction denoting that a character enters by himself/herself alone.

Top, on the – A movement direction that occurs on the upper stage.

Within – A movement direction that occurs behind the stage façade (i.e. outside).

Alarum/Alarums – An event direction denoting a call to arms.

Excursions/ excursions, in an – An event direction denoting a bout of fighting across the stage.

Cornet – A music direction denoting a fanfare (as played by cornets, a horn-like wind instrument).

Drum – A music direction denoting drummers are present and playing their drums, usually for wars, coronations and funerals.

Flourish – A music direction denoting a fanfare of trumpets or horns, usually accompanying an exit or entrance.

Hautboys – A music direction denoting the playing of a woodwind double-reed instrument resembling an oboe.

Sennet – A music direction denoting a trumpet call signalling a procession.

Trump / Trumpet – A music direction denoting a trumpeter playing.

Tucket – A music direction denoting a personal trumpet call.

Explicatory Notes and Glossary Proper

Explanatory notations for lines in the specific act, scene and lines will be denoted thus: Act, scene, line. This means that Act 1, scene 4, line 48 will be noted as I.iv.48.

Act III Scene I stage directions – To comprehend the Echo's corruptions of Minerva's words, this scene is best read aloud. I opted not to include a ghost in this scene as it would be too convenient. If you want ghosts, you had best wait till Act V.

Act III Scene I – I am an unabashed AD/MM shipper as well. Forgive me if this does not sit well with you.

III.i.18 – "Catched" (pronounced with 2 syllables) is Elizabethan/Tudor English for "caught".

III.i.84 – "Avaunt" means "begone".

Act III Scene II stage directions – Paginating the unmetred lines for this scene is problematic because the line alignment changes as you alter the font size. This means that my original line numberings will be incorrect, if I gave the computer and server free reign. In order to remedy this, I have truncated the lines at certain points so that my line numberings will be kept in the same manner as they would be on paper. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted. The metre in the speeches of Mundungus, Harry and Ron in this scene is deliberately broken. As with Shakespeare, only the nobility/well-educated speak in metres. The plebeians and clowns use common speech. Mundungus is my Shakespearean fool. Since Harry and Ron are in his company, they condescend to speak like him. However, at times, they lapse into metre with each other. On another note, you may also notice that when Hermione and Minerva enter, Ron and Harry maintain their plebeian speech. This is deliberate, as it goes to show what I really think of Harry and Ron – as utter idiots (not fools – for Mundungus is a fool, yet not a fool) without Mundungus' occasional flashes of wit.

Act III Scene II – There are quite a few bawdy references made (directly mainly at Ron) in the first part of this scene before the women enter. It may be unsuitable for young minds. Then again, it may not be. It's weaved into the text so you either blink and miss it or you think it holds another meaning. Oh well, now that I have warned you, you can go and have a second read.

Act III Scene II miscellaneous notes – The formatting style on this website may have rendered my line references for the un-metered lines off. If so, pray forgive me. I have done what I can by manually typing the un-metered lines in separately one by one. I hope it works.

III.iii.2 – "Old sack" is reference to very cheap and inferior quality alcohol.

III.iii.2-3 – "Prophesying with blue ting'd smoke" has two meanings. It could be a reference to the foul tobacco that Mundungus smokes. It could also be a reference to the prophecy on Harry and a joke at Mundungus' expense that he could perhaps come up with a prophecy. In fact, he does make a prophecy that he will be more successful in this thieving and black marketing business.

III.ii.29 – "Leaping house" is brothel.

III.ii.32 – Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo (those more familiar with Roman mythology will know her as Diana). Artemis is the elder twin and was always a virgin and eternally young. She is very vindictive and like her twin favours the use of a bow. She enjoys hunting and is the acknowledged as the goddess of the moon, while he brother is the god of the son. Mundungus is saying a lot of his nocturnal thieving activities. Ironically, by stealing he is doing people a disservice – yet he claims he is doing good. Why? Because he claims he steals to benefit the less fortunate. Think on how this fits in with Severus's method of being cruel only to be kind.

III.ii.91 – "List" means to "listen".

III.ii.93 – In this context, "an" means "if". This old-fashioned use of the term "an" was used until Victorian times when it was replaced by the more popular "if". "If" was used in Elizabethan times, but sounded harsh on English ears, and was not as preferred as "an".

III.ii.104 – Argus is mentioned and is a double entendre and yet another attempt at obvious dramatic irony (readers of the earliest drafts of this play told me that my irony cannot be easily discerned so I decided to make one obvious). Argus could refer to (a) Filch and his habit of prowling and seeing things around the school that only he wants to see. It could also be (b) an ironic reference to Harry because he too, for all his gifts and what-have-you only chooses to see what he wants to see. I also mean (c) the mythical Argus. Argus is the Latinised form of "Argos". Depending on the writer you read, Argus allegedly had a single eye, four eyes, or two eyes looking forwards and two looking backwards. Other commentators say he had a large number of eyes all over his body. Hera, it was said, appointed him to watch over the heifer Io. Argus tethered Io to an olive tree and was able to watch her all day because he had many eyes. Zeus sent Hermes to free Io. Some legends say Hermes killed Argus by throwing a stone at him; others say he lulled Argus to sleep with the panpipes. Another legend said that Hermes sent Argus to sleep with his divine wand. In either case, the legend of Argus is the most popular. To give her loyal servant immortality, Hera took Argus' many eyes and placed them in the tail of the peacock.

III.ii.105 – "e'en" is pronounced with 1 syllable and is the abbreviated form of "even".

III.ii.112 – Harry says, "I will no more trust him when he leers than I will the serpent when he hisses." This is a double reference. He ostensibly means Snape, but dig deeper and you realise he's also referring to Voldemort and Slytherins in general.

III.ii.112-113 – Harry is referring to incident in the HBP where Hermione informs him that she thinks she had been stupid enough to allow Snape to trick her so that he could go to his aid.

III.ii.114-119 – Hermione responds to this by informing Harry that she had thought over the incident (mentioned in III.ii.112-113) and realised that Severus did indeed give his word and that he intended to help and has indeed in fact helped.

III.ii.121-125 – Hermione explicitly states that she doesn't care for Ron or his 'doings' with Lavender. Sharp readers will be able to perceive that she thinks his behaviour is a betrayal of some sort and has since washed her hands off him and his personal affairs.

III.iii.32 – Here "rank" means "disgusting" and "unsavoury". It could also hint at the ranks in both the Death Eater camp and the Order.

III.iii.51 – I wrote 'Til. This is an abbreviated form of 'Until'.

Act III Scene IV – It is stated explicitly line 21 of the Prologue that Voldemort's Headquarters can be found on an island charted island near Scotland. Therefore, scenes involving Death Eaters and Voldemort will take place there.

III.v.4 – "Coft" is the old-fashioned Tudor spelling of "coughed".

III.v.26 – "Eyne" is the old-fashioned Tudor spelling of "eyes".