Quote from Shell Cottage on September 9, 2026, 5:11 pm

i see this as one of multiple instances where there's two equally plausible readings intended for two separate audiences. off the top of my head:

1. Snape's Worst Memory: not only is there the ''mature audience'' implication that James stripped Snape of his underwear, there's the even darker suggestion that, to save face after Lily rejected him and stalked off, he took up what she said, only with more than just soap bubbles and ''wash out your mouth.''
2. Bertha 'birtha' Jorkins (of the phrase ''Spenlow and Jorkins'') off to visit a distant cousin...Voldemort's ends require 2 victims...adult readers are free to connect the dots...or not, if they don't want to go there.
3. the blink-and-you-miss-it moment toward the end of DH when Harry's tie to Voldemort's mind conflates Bellatrix with Ginny