[HPforGrownups] Character Sketch: Severus Snape

[Monika Zaboklicka]

No: HPFGUIDX 12142

> Okay folks, finally, heres the Snape sketch.

Neil, I dont like you half as much as I did! You *sadist*, yesterday I was
checking my mail every ten minutes, waiting for the Snape summary, but it
DIDNT COME!
Oops, Neil, youre in the Moderator team, arent you? In that case, of
course I realize youre busy etc, just dont hold the preceding paragraph
against me! Pretty please :-P

> hey, we couldnt leave
> him out.

Of course you couldnt! Id cry my eyes out if you did!

> To mark the occasion, Ive also posted a picture of myself, Snapified by
> the magic of e-surgery.

The picture is charming. Perhaps a little too charming, but the colours are
proper  Snapes black and Slytherin green.

> THE NAKED SNAPE

Mmmeow, what a charming title...

> Severus Snape, the Potions Master, is a thin man with sallow skin, a
hooked
> nose, and greasy, shoulder-length black hair.  His joyless lips sneer
and,
> when he does flash a wicked smile, it reveals uneven, discoloured teeth.

Plus hes got fathomless black eyes that glitter with malice.

> He
> is odious and irascible; vindictive sarcasm personified.  In short, this
isn
> t a have a nice day: missing you already kind of teacher.

Im not so sure. At Hagrids Hut you can find the following description of
Snape:
<<Professor Snape is a very capable teacher who is well liked by the members
of his own house.  However, he seems to suffer from what we shall call an
image problem with regard to the rest of our students.  Sadly, Professor
Snape does not seem interested in correcting this problem.>>
(http://www.hagridshut.com/myworld/hogwarts/faculty/snape.htm)
This is one of my favourite quotations about Severus.

> <snip>  This netherworld retreat seems appropriate to someone who looms up
> behind people and glides, sweeps and swoops around the school like a
> malevolent bat.

Funny how often people dont hear Snape approaching. I guess he walks like a
cat.

> <snip>  My pet
> theory is that he resents Harry, because, as Dumbledore's protg, Harry
has
> pushed him into a lesser role and taken away his chance to prove himself.
> Away from Dumbledore, Snape bursts with resentment towards Harry and
anyone
> and anything associated with him.

Funny how almost everybody seems to have his or her pet theory about Snape.
My theory is that Snape hates Harry because of James, and because Harry
always manages to escape due punishment. Besides, it must be a horror, to
try and protect a student who gets from trouble to big trouble as if he
wanted to commit a spectacular suicide.

> There is also the theory that Snape was in love with Lily Potter <snip>

I dont buy this theory. Nothing to support my opinion, its just too much
of Jane Austin for me.

> Snape was revealed as a double agent
> before Lily was killed.

Yeah, he came back to the Good Side about the time Harry was born. I dont
think theres any connection between the two facts.

> We are still left with the lesser possibility that
> he was simply insanely jealous of James and that Harry has inherited that
> resentment.

Another of my pet theories is that Snape hates James so much because Potter
saw him panic during the joke incident. My Snape is proud as devil, and
therefore he hates everybody who witnessed his rare moments of weakness. I
am thinking of a fic about that, but the level of my English seems to be too
low for that.

> Snape demonstrates great expertise in Potions,

Hes not called Potions master for compliments sake, after all.
And, BTW, *why* is Snape called master?  Does it mean that hed been a
Potions apprentice once, later a journeyman, and then he became master? Or
is the master simply a traditional title of Potions teacher at Hogwarts
and means practically nothing?

> <snip> After that
> it becomes common knowledge that he always wanted the DADA job <snip>
there is
> no solid evidence of it.

In fact, from what Hagrid says, Snape didnt even bother to apply for the
job before Lockhart got the post, because Gilderoy was the ony candidate

> Snape thinks he knows best about most things, it
> seems.

Yeah, besides filling in as DADA teacher, hes filling in as a Quidditch
referee, hes the more effective of two teachers who were showing students
how to duel; and for most of the time hes the only teacher at school who
can conjure a Death Mark ;-) thats enough to think that his high opinion of
himself is not completely baseless.

> In any crisis, Snape and McGonagall are usually first on the scene, like a
> pet devil and angel on each of Dumbledores shoulders.

Wow, thats great statement! Im sooo impressed!

> Year 4

<snip>
Neil, how could you! You didnt even mention that Snape showed Fudge hid
Death Mark!  The bravest thing the guy has ever done except  leaving
Voldemort and you say nothing about this? But thats what I love Snape for!


> (1) How does Snape really feel about Igor Karkaroff?  He seems to pity
him,
> but he is also angry at him (he did betray him in the courtroom  did
Snape
> know this?) .

Pity Karkaroff? I formed an impression that he was doing his best to avoid
this guy and in both their conversations Snape seems to be telling Karkaroff
to shut up and go away.

> (2) Does Lucius Malfoy have Snapes ear or another part of his body?

I said that once, but its a nice occasion to repeat it: in canon,  Lucius
Malfoy and Snape never meet, and they are mentioned together only once, when
Draco says in CoS: Ill tell him {his father} that you are the best
teacher, Professor Does it mean that for two years Draco didnt bother to
talk with his father about his head of House?

> (3) What is Snapes task and why does Dumbledore have such a hold on him?

Id rather not think about the first thing, but when it comes to Dumbledore,
Im dumb  logically, Snape should hate him as much as he hates James
Potter, Black and Lupin. After all, it was Dumbledore who accepted the
werewolf to Hogwarts in the first place, Dumbledore who didnt kick the
Marauders out of school, Dumbledore who  made Snape hold his tongue about
Lupins werewolfism (most likely by telling Snape that hed be expelled if
he started talking). Why does Severus stil listen to such a guy?

<snip>
> (6) As Harry puts it: "I just want to know what Snape did with his first
> chance, if hes on his second one."

His first chance for being an honest and respectable member of the wizarding
community vanished when he joined Death Eaters, didnt it?

> (7) Is Snape a vampire or does JKR just use bat-like references to give
> Severus a dank, dark aura?

I dont like the vampire theory, Im too much used to ideas of vampires
created by Anne Rice (and the White Wolfs RPG about Rices creatures:
Vampire: the Masquerade and others books)

> (8) Does Sevvy want the DADA job?

As I said, I dont think so.

> Will he ever get it?

Hed have to ask for it first, and Dumbledore would have to find somebody to
teach Potions.

> Why does Dumbledore
> tolerate him?

Perhaps Snape has *proven* himself to Dumbledore. I mean that perhaps hes
trusted not because hes believed to be trustworthy, but because Dumbledore
knows for certain that Snape wont betray him.

> How does he feel about teaching? [already in discussion!]

For me, he doesnt like it much. Perhaps he likes being Head of Slytherin
more.

> (9) What else is in store for Snape in Book 5  anyone care to predict?

Ahh... the fifth book will be called Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix
just because the more appropriate title, Severus Snape and the Order of
Phoenix would have caused confusion. Itll be a 1800 pages long, delightful
story, mostly told from Snapes point of view, and the readers will learn a
lot about Snapes past. Severus will turn much more complex and fascinating
person that we Snapefans dare to dream of and he will conquer Voldemort
without anybodys help ;-).
Seriously, Im afraid that we wont learn much about Severus until book
seven. But I hope to find out what his mysterious task was a bit earlier.

Monika Z.
(the Snape fan)