[HPforGrownups] Re: Snape: Vampire vs. Dementor

[Edblanning at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 37435

Cindy wrote:> 
> So, you see, Snape-As-Part-Dementor is unassailable.  It's 
> canonical.  It's rather Bangy.  It's, uh, tremendously unpopular.  
> What's not to like?  :-)


I'm so glad that my question enabled Cindy to roll out her really excellent 
Snape-As-Part-Dementor theory in all its expanded glory. I really love this 
theory. I don't buy it, but I do love it. It works, doesn't it? And as the 
lady says, it's *canonical*.

My biggest problem with it, as one of those who take a somewhat sadistic 
delight in burdening their beloved Severus' soul with angst, is that, 
presumably, the less soul, the less angst. Can our Severus suffer the mental 
torments we like to think he does if part of that soul has been sucked out by 
one of those nasty Dementors? Obviously though, that doesn't invalidate 
Cindy's theory.

On the other hand, now that Porphyria has scotched (unintentional pun, my 
dear!) the notion of Snape being an insomniac (glares meaningfully at 
Porphyria who is undoubtedly and irritatingly right), it would answer my 
question of how he possibly has the gall to sleep soundly in his bed after 
all the things he's seen and done .

You give his failure to save Crouch Jr from the Dementor as evidence that he 
was unable to produce a patronus. I've never had any concerns over his (and 
McGonagall's) failure here. They would have been directly countermanding the 
Minister for Magic, which although in the circumstances justified, they had 
no authority to do. In PoA, Dumbledore himself says he is powerless to do 
this. In addition, it sounds to me as though the two of them weren't 
expecting the Dementor to perform the kiss, just be there as protection for 
Fudge, so that they were taken by surprise and unable to summon a patronus 
(or two) before the Dementor acted.

But to get back to my original question, about Dementors and hydrophobia, I 
was simply wondering if there was something I had missed in this connection? 
A little canon, perhaps? You see, my only recollection of anything about 
Dementors and water is that they came out in the rain to invade the Quidditch 
pitch, which rather implies that they don't mind water. I take your point 
that the hydrophobia is optional, but the argument at the moment seems to be 
a bit circular, doesn't it?

Actually, I think hydrophobia and potions would be very hard to mix. Unless 
there is a wizarding equivalent of latex gloves (I doubt dragon hide is 
suitable for fine work), Snape's hands must constantly be in touch with 
noxious substances, so that I would have thought that he would have been 
constantly washing them. Unless, of course he can magically cleanse them. But 
that takes us straight back to why he doesn't do the same for his hair. Oh 
dear, I didn't really want to end up back here!

Oh well, having got here...On a practical and therefore probably irrelevant 
point, I remember once seeing an experiment on television, where they showed 
that if one *never* washes one's hair, it tends to reach an equilibrium and 
in fact isn't greasy. Apparently, it the washing that upsets this. So perhaps 
he *does* wash it once a week or something, but the net effect is that it's 
usually greasy. As one who has to wash her hair at least every other day, I 
haven't had the nerve to try. It was bad enough when I was a child and my 
mother wouldn't let me wash it more than once a week. Yuk!

Eloise (who's also invested in some exta-whitening toothpaste since joining 
this list! )