Snape - Riddle - Erised

[Milz]

No: HPFGUIDX 19644

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Catlady <catlady at w...> wrote:
> Margaret Dean wrote:
> 
> > I think the important question here is why Snape so
> > dislikes  Harry and Hermione, because that's the logical
> > motive for his  nastiness.
> 
> I wish I understood WHY Snape dislikes HERMIONE. She started in 
PS/SS by
> respecting the hell out of him (and all the teachers, just for being
> teachers) and trying desperately to make a good impression on him, 
and
> her academic ability and hard work seem to be just what he would 
want in
> a student!
> 

The Hermione lovers will get upset with me for this, but perhaps 
Snape dislikes Hermione because she's trying too hard to make a good 
impression. Maybe Snape thinks Hermione is trying to ingratiate 
herself. IIRC in the first potions class, he was specifically asking 
Harry questions and Hermione was trying desperately to make him 
notice that she knew the answers. Maybe that rubbed Snape the wrong 
way, especially since his purpose was to take Harry down a few 
notches. 

I've taught small groups before and I've noticed that whenever one 
person knows the answers and always volunteers them, the remaining 
people seem to 'faze out' and solely rely upon the answering person. 
It makes it hard (for me at least) to gage how well the others are 
grasping the material.

> Susan Hall wrote:
> > My view is that Snape never wanted to be a teacher
> > at all  (probably he should have been the magic equivalent
> > of a research chemist) and Dumbledore offered him the jo
> > b because no-one else wanted to employ a suspected Death
> > Eater and Dumbledore wanted to keep him under his eye to
> > ensure no backsliding.
> 
> My view is extremely similar, except that I don't think Dumbledore
> thought backsliding was a big risk, but did think that revenge by 
Death
> Eaters who walked free was a big risk.
> 

Exactly, I think part of the reason why Snape is teaching at Hogwarts 
is because he is under Dumbledore's protection from the Death Eaters 
he betrayed. No one can apparate or disapparate within the grounds, 
Dumbledore is nearby. Hogwarts is a nearly perfect 'witness 
protection program' for Snape.

> Marshamoon wrote:
> > If you compare [Harry's] childhood history to Tom
> > Riddle's, there are obvious differences in parental care
> > and societal status that support the development of
> > both of their characters;
> 
> My theory about Tom Riddle is that he couldn't know so much about 
his
> parents if he had been in an orphanage since birth -- the orphanage
> people wouldn't have told him. So I suppose he was raised by his
> mother's parents for his first couple of years, long enough for him 
to
> be old enough to remember what they told him about his parents, 
until
> they (grandparents) died too. I think little Tommy might have 
killed his
> grand/foster parents by uncontrolled enraged childish use of his 
very
> powerful magic.
> 

IIRC, Riddle tells the Headmaster that the orphanage told him that 
his mother named him 'Tom' after his father and 'Marvolo' after her 
father before she died. I think when Riddle was a first year, he 
probably looked his mother's  family up in wizarding books and 
wizarding records (which is something Harry hasn't done yet with his 
Potter family). He probably even talked to his mother's and 
grandfather's magical friends etc for information and was able to 
piece together his relationship to Slytherin.

I think Voldemort gives a decent portrayal of the emotional state of 
children abandoned by a parent. Albeit it is rather extreme (killing 
the paternal family), but the hatred and is realistic based upon my 
experience with real-life children like him.

Milz