Mr. Crouch's death (Was: Getting it right in the films)

[Carol]

Lizzie Mae Lilly wrote:
>
> And when in the books did Prof. Snape ever hit a student?  Verbal 
> abuse aplenty but *never* physical.  The closest he ever came was the 
> thrown jar of cockroaches after he pulled Harry out of the pensieve.  
> Of course, that gave Yates approval to have Snape hit Ron in OotP!!
>
Carol responds:

I read somewhere that Yates was making Snape act like a real English
boarding school teacher (probably a reference to his own childhood,
before any recent laws against corporal punishment were enacted).

In any case, I always thought that Snape didn't actually throw the jar
of cockroaches. (that's Harry's interpretation, but Harry didn't see
him do it, and I don't think Snape would have missed had he thrown the
jar.) I think it's accidental magic like Harry's blowing up of Aunt
Marge (and the brandy glass that explodes in her hand) and like young
Severus's dropped tree branch. Not provable, I realize, but that's my
reading. (In PoA, we see sparks shooting out of Snape's wand when he's
angry but not casting any spell.) So, IMO, accidental magic can happen
to grownups, too, especially when they're not allowed to take out
their anger on a student by hexing or Transfiguring him.

But you're right. Snape not only doesn't resort to hitting students on
the head with books, he has no need. If one of his stares isn't
sufficient to quell a student, there's always sarcasm, point-docking,
or detention. The scene may have added a bit of comedy (the audience
liked it), but it was OoC for Snape.

Carol, who appreciates any scene with Snape in it but wishes the
writers would use the lines that JKR gave him, many of which are quite
memorable and all of which are, naturally, in character