Thoughts about Snape, as well as vampires in the Potterverse

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 22613

I agfee with whoever posted the remark about Snape having integrity, as in
being willing to verbally beat up students (and make sure that Slytherin
gets lots of house points whether or not they deserve them, on the slightest
excuse) but not, forex, give Hermione Fs on her work just because he hates
her.  However, I think there's more going on with our favorite (?) Potions
Master than meets the eye.

Snape might very well be going hard on Harry simply _because_ as the Boy Who
Lived, the other teachers are likely to go easy on him.  Snape may even be
doing this on direct orders from Dumbledore, roughly as follows:  "Snape,
Harry Potter---and I _know_ you know who that is---is starting school this
fall.  He's been raised among very anti-magic Muggles, and finding out what
a beloved hero he is in the wizarding world might very likely warp his
character.  Your mission is to make sure that he _doesn't_ have things too
easy for him here, without letting on that you're doing it on my orders."

I don't care for the way Snape treats Neville Longbottom, but in Harry's
case he's providing some needed balance.  He may well dislike Ron simply
because he's had _so_ much bad experience with Weasleys in general, and
Hermie because she often _does_ come across as a bossy little know-it-all
and show-off (and I say it who like Hermie best of the Trio; she's _almost_
as bookish as my own GF).

As for Snapey-Snoogums being a vampire---we don't know very much about
vampires in the Potterverse other than that they exist.  They _could_ be
humans who've been bitten and infected, but there are quite a few kinds of
vampire in legend, and any or all of them could be what
Potterverse-residents (those lucky slobs) refer to as "vampires."  Some
kinds of vampire were more like separate, supernatural races that drank
human blood and looked more-or-less human under the right circumstances.
See _GURPS Blood Types_ for a rundown on some of the possibilities.

Eric Oppen
Known in fanfic-writing circles as "Technomad"
Gryffindor (with strong Ravenclaw tendencies and less down on Slyths since
reading J.L. Mathews)
Redwood, phoenix feather, 8 3/4 inches.