[HPforGrownups] Re: Fave Characters

[JamiDeise at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 19308

In a message dated 5/23/2001 5:54:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
bohners at pobox.com writes:

<<  I came to the conclusion
 that there is a LOT more to Snape -- in a positive way -- that we haven't
 seen yet, and that JKR has been hinting at this all along:  which to me
 makes him the most intriguing character of all. >>

At the risk of incurring the wrath of those open-minded enough to see beyond 
the characters as they occur to our protagonist, I must admit that I abhor 
Snape. Loathe him. Despise him. Detest him. To me, he occurs as an insecure, 
petty and vindictive man who takes out his own frustrations on those weaker 
than he is. Look at the way he tortures poor Neville -- completely 
indefensible, especially since GoF we know the sacrifice Neville's family has 
endured. And the remark he made to Hermione when she got caught in Draco and 
Harry's curse-wake and her teeth grew out of control: "I don't see a 
difference." Incredibly cruel. He's biased toward members of his own House, a 
trait not shown by the other Heads of Houses (at least not that I have seen), 
which I infer may be why Slytherin won the House Cup every year until Harry 
showed up -- with Snape unfairly taking away points from other Houses and 
awarding them to Slytherin without merit, and no other Head of House willing 
to stoop to such levels, his House was a guaranteed shoo-in.

I imagine a young Snape at Hogwarts as a combination of Draco and Pettigrew 
-- nasty and self-righteous so that he'd clash with James and the gang, but 
jealous enough of their friendship and the admiration they received at 
Hogwarts, to trail them around in order to spy and snitch. I don't think 
there has to be more to the hatred between Snape and Sirius -- I imagine that 
if Draco and Harry met under similar circumstances, their loathing would be 
just as palpable. 

Finally, has this question ever been debated and resolved:  yes, Snape 
prevented Quirrell from killing Harry in SS. But why didn't he run to 
Dumbledore as soon as he realized what Quirrell was up to? I don't think we 
can infer good motives from that one.

Jami