Rosebushes (was: Lots of Snape Stuff)

[catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 17528

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., lea.macleod at g... wrote:
<v. big snip>
> So now to the rosebushes.
<snip>
>  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.

Here, I'm afraid that I disagree with Magda, and agree with everyone 
else.  I think that Snape does have something in his past which makes 
him behave in such an embittered way - and not seeming to bother 
about his physical appearance is probably a physical extension of 
this bitterness.

I've been thinking about the whole Snape/romantic angle here, in 
light of JKR's comments in the Comic Relief interview (the same one 
in which Zsenya asked the fatal Ron/Hermione question).  She says 
that information on various professors' spouses/partners is 
currently "kind of classified" and that all will be revealed in due 
course.  Of course, this could mean any number of things, and may not 
relate to Snape at all, but given the fact that many people here seem 
to believe that there is something in Snape's past to explain his 
behaviour, then it does seem likely that he is one of the people 
about whom JKR is referring.

The possibilities are endless and have been explored here before - 
particularly that Snape was in love with Lily Potter.  I have a 
thought that one of the reasons Snape turned away from Volemort back 
to Dumbledore is because Voldemort hurt someone he (Snape) loved - 
could be Lily, could be someone else, I wouldn't like to hazard a 
guess.

<sighs> I suppose we'll have to wait and see.  I hope that the next 
book lives up to the endless predictions made on this list! (I'm sure 
it will).

Catherine