Rosebushes (was: Lots of Snape Stuff)

[lea.macleod at gmx.net]

No: HPFGUIDX 17473

I´d like to go into what Lyda has called Snape´s anti-social 
behaviour.

Is his not venturing out of Hogwarts (again, we don´t know about that, 
we only haven´t met him anywhere else yet) a result of his exile 
there, or does it meet with his character?

Lyda writes:

> He *is* a good person, he has high principles, but he's 
> also become so dependent on his sarcasm, his cruelty, his cold 
> detachment from others. Bitterness and guilt has consumed him, he's 
> become a shadow of what he used to be. The goodness he once had (and 
> is still capable of regaining) is hidden underneath all the 
> bitterness and hatred and self-loathing that has ingrained itself 
> further into his personality.

Having stated before that I believe Snape to be an essentially *good* 
person, I never meant that he once was a particularly kind or friendly 
person. I think Sirius´ description in GoF of how Snape was at school 
(although coloured by personal dislike, of course) is probably quite 
correct.

So I think  the sarcasm, the cruelty, the unpleasantness is not simply 
an adopted attitude or a mask but it is what Snape has always been 
like. And I don´t think he will change in  that respect. He won´t have 
to. I know quite a few people who simply *are* sour and unpleasant in 
the way they treat others, but deep down they know very well what is 
right and what is wrong, and they´re utterly reliable. They just don´t 
"waste their time", as they´d put it, on the emotional aspect of it. I 
imagine Snape to be one of them.

So now to the rosebushes.

Naturally those people have a harder time making friends, or finding 
partners, than others.

But don´t forget that while I certainly don´t doubt that everyone deep 
down longs to love and to be loved in return, these aspects do not 
have the same significance for all people.

 Magda writes:
> Personally I don't think that Snape has discovered girls yet;
> his blasting the rosebushes activities during the Yule dance is so 
> wonderfully in character as is his touching belief that taking 
points away will deter them from finding other bushes.<<
 
Koinonia replied:
> Let's face it. Snape is a man and is capable of having 
> loved just like anyone else. I believe Snape was in love at one time 
> and the kids in the rosebushes just brings back painful memories of 
> the one he has lost. If he can't be with the one he loved then they 
> are not going to get an opportunity to get close to the one they 
> like. So very like Snape!<<

Lyda agreed:
> I agree wholeheartedly with Koinonia; I think Snape was once in 
love,  and that he lost his loved one due to his involvement with the 
DEs. The rosebush business *does* bring back horrible memories and 
guilt for him. I also think that Severus is... er... rather 
*frustrated* in  some areas. ;) There are few (if any) teachers that 
are near his age at Hogwarts, and he doesn't venture into Hogmeade. 
Fourteen years of celibacy will get to a man, eventually, and seeing 
kids fooling around in rosebushes doesn't help much. :)
 Severus has these *very* deep, passionate emotions, but he also 
> has this extreme self-control with which he regulates and attempts 
to detach his emotions.<<


I do agree with Lyda, as I have the same notion about Snape´s past. 
Apart from that, I believe that the question of partnership and even 
of love in the sense of attraction between man and woman may lose its 
significance in unusual circumstances. 

And I believe Snape´s life has up to now been a row of unusual 
circumstances. I don´t think his main concern is that he can´t go 
down to Hogsmeade and have a drink at the pub and date a nice 
girl... Lyda, you´re doing injustice to men in general there (but 
maybe that was your intent - your luck that Snape threads tend to 
interest female fans only;-)).

Snape´s outward appearance may reveal something about it. I don´t 
think he´s actually ugly or unattractive, but he does neglect his 
looks. A person suffering from his lack of social contacts would 
certainly put some effort into his outward appearance, wouldn´t he? 
Snape doesn´t seem to care at all. For me it´s a sign that such things 
have lost their significance for him.