Questions about English Grammars in Harry Potter Movies.

Now I’m obsessed with Harry Potter movies and I’m watching my fav scenes so much over and over again that I almost memorized all the lines in those scenes. But there are a few grammars that I don’t understand why they can be correct in them.

The first is Snape’s line, “I assure you that were you in Slytherin and your fate rested with me, the both of you would be on the train home tonight!”

Why is it “that were you” instead of “that you were”?

And the second is again Snape’s line to Lupin, in the scene where he found Harry wandering the corridors at night, and Lupin showed up after Harry read the insults to Snape that appeared on a map: “Out for a little walk in the moonlight, are we?”

why is it “are we” not “are you”?

Sorry for my bad explanation and English tho😅

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HootyTheNightOwl

“I assure you that were you in Slytherin and your fate rested with me, the both of you would be on the train home tonight!”

Obviously, the character in reference is not a member of Slytherin - and, as such, Snape does not have the freedom to meter out punishment in the same way as he might if they were... So he's saying "If you were in Slytherin, you would both be on the train home tonight".

“Out for a little walk in the moonlight, are we?”

This is a typical power line, often used when you're caught doing something that you know that you shouldn't be.

It's a gentler way of saying "Why are you here when you know that it's against the school rules for you to be here at this time".

Arukas3 · 18-21, F

@HootyTheNightOwl thanks! But is it correct to say “ If were you” instead of “If you were”?

HootyTheNightOwl

@Arukas3 No, "If you were" is the correct word order.

"If were you" makes for a more confusing read.

Arukas3 · 18-21, F

@HootyTheNightOwl This is quite tricky… so if it is “I assure you [if] you were in Slytherin…”, the word order becomes “you were” ? And the word order changes because “that” is used instead of “if” in the actual sentence?

HootyTheNightOwl

@Arukas3 "Were you" is a prefix to a question... like "Were you at the gym today?".

The word order is different because Snape doesn't want to know if the character is in Slytherin - he can tell that it's likely a Gryffindor because of the colour coded uniform.

He's saying "If you were" to acknowledge the fact that he is talking to a member of one of the other three houses. To phrase the statement any other way would suggest that he has some element of doubt in the event and he's trying to obtain further information "Were you in Slytherin common room after lights out tonight?" is a question.

"If you were in Slytherin common room after lights out tonight" leads you to the point where you can introduce consequences for actions that you don't agree with - which is what Snape is saying.