Authority and rule-breaking or Why does Snape hate Harry?

[lea.macleod at gmx.net]

No: HPFGUIDX 16035

I´ve just gone through the February Snape character thread, and it´s 
awfully good. 

But the question WHY Snape hates Harry so much (or, possibly, hated 
him so much until the end of GoF) has not really been sufficiently 
answered, I think.

The answer, obviously, seems to be: Snape hated James so he hates 
James´ son, too. But shouldn´t Snape, of all people, know that people 
deserve second chances, all the more if the fault was not theirs, but 
their fathers´?

Even if we accept that Snape is unable do make a difference between 
Potter senior and Potter junior, it all goes back to the question why 
Snape hated James and what is therefore hateable in Harry, too.

I DO support the Snape-loved-Lily-theory, and being faced day by day 
with the son you might have had if your rival hadn´t won the contest 
should be enough to drive any man mad.

But I´d like to point out another aspect in the 
Snape-James-relationship that will make sense even without Lily. It´s 
about authority and rule-breaking.

I missed that aspect in the character sketch.

Snape is a man who is obsessed with authority. 
It´s what keeps him sane and what keeps him going. It´s where he gets 
his self-esteem from. It´s what provides him his place in the world. 

I also think that was what impressed him about Voldemort and what made 
him join the DE. Their inner organisation is based on hierarchy, on 
orders and obedience, and for someone looking for respect and 
recognition at all costs, that sort of system is very inviting (just a 
side thought - that´s exactly why I think Percy Weasley will go over 
to the dark side, too).

I think it is a very important part of his character that he needs 
this set of well-defined rules to keep him going. He´s a typical 
example of a person who will always carry things to extremes, be it 
the good cause or the evil cause, because only extreme convictions and 
extreme actions will comply with the principles they have set for 
themselves.

You can still see it with Snape as a teacher. He keeps his classes 
under control by order and obedience, too, and the worst thing that 
could happen to him is students undermining his authority. Think of 
his reaction in and after the Shrieking Shack scene in PoA. What a 
humiliation that must have been.

Snape wants his students to accept his authority over them as much as 
he is ready to accept that of his superiors over him. Right, he does 
criticise Dumbledore if he thinks he is too lenient, but always in 
quite a polite way. He insists on adressing him very formally at all 
times, never speaks ill of Dumbledore behind his back, and always 
accepts his decisions in the end. 


James, on the other hand, got all the respect and recognition he could 
ask for, from his fellow students as well as his teachers, but he was 
a rule-breaker and trouble-maker all the same. He just always got away 
with it. I think that put Snape´s sense of justice to a hard test. It 
just didn´t fit with his view of the world that you could break every 
rule within your reach to pieces and still become a celebrated Head 
boy and Quidditch hero and get the most attractive girl in the year. 
He wasn´t only evious or jealous of James. James, with his actions 
and his successes, upset Snape´s whole world.

And Harry does just the same.