Another Snape/Lily person! Yaaay! was Snape and the Malfoys (was Re: Harry's Putative Death)

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 42095

Amanda wrote:
> 
> C'mon, Darrin, get carving. You hate Snape, won't admit to any finer
> emotions in the man, and you never ever put little hearts around 
any of *my*
> posts, anyway....  You Snape is a Vampire loons, too. Olivia and me 
and our
> allies can take it!
> 
> --Amanda


Hey now, I don't hate Snape. I just don't put him up on the same 
pedestal many members do and I guess that translates to hatred in 
some eyes.

He's a great character. But, he's a lousy teacher (the discussion of 
which, way back when, is what started all this Darrin-hates-Snape 
stuff) and a jealous, petty person. I think he's a wonderfully drawn 
character, but I would rather drink one of his poision potions than 
have dinner with that character.

But what made Snape turn is one of the most intriguing questions in 
the series. I'm looking forward to the answer.

I dislike the Snape-Lily thing because of the inherent soap-operaish 
quality, not because of any objection to Snape, but I do agree it 
makes sense. And your theory about that being why V-Mort attempted to 
spare Lily is intriguing.

And in a broader sense, the idea of Snape's worldview changing 
because of a relationship with a Muggle-born is very appealing. 
Actually, as far as Snape's ladyloves go, the Narcissa Malfoy theory 
that was floated a while back seemed cooler to me. 

And it would be great fun for Narcissa to suddenly announce at 
dinner: "Um, Lucius, remember that grandfather of mine who you never 
met because he was killed in a duel with a Gryffindor? Well, he was 
actually a dockworker from Liverpool and hated magic. We only said he 
was magic so you'd marry me and take care of my family's debts, but I 
love Severus and I'm leaving you now. Oh, and Draco is HIS, not 
yours!"

But I digress.
 
OK, if Snape-Lily must be, allow me to cast my vote with the 
unrequited love theory rather than any kind of love triangle where 
Lily chose James over Snape. As you point out, it's not really a 
tough choice, is it?

It would be especially poignant if Snape had never told her. That's 
not to say she didn't know -- women can be pretty perceptive about 
things like that (except Amanda has failed to pick up that I'm deeply 
in love with her and DO put little hearts on her posts :P) -- but 
there was a certain dignified, unspoken understanding between Snape 
and Lily.

Which leads me, if I can parry back with a theory following up on 
Snape-Lily...

What if Lily convinced James to save Snape? What if she was the one 
who got wind of what Sirius had planned and told James to save Snape? 

Is it possible the life-debt was to Lily? And his turning on 
Voldemort came when he discovered the Potters were to be killed? It 
can allow for your theory as to why V-Mort tried to spare Lily.

Or it can simply be explained that the best way for Snape to repay 
that debt to Lily would be to try to save his rival, James. And for 
Snape to not only fail, but to lose Lily as well, goes a long way to 
explaining why he's such a bitter person. This would mean V-Mort 
tried to spare Lily for another reason.

(I sometimes have the sinking feeling that V-Mort, an orderly sort, 
was just wanting to kill Harry first and would have killed Lily right 
after, regardless of what she did, and all this "Why not kill Lily?" 
stuff is just a wild goose chase.)

Two holes in mine own theory: 

1) It forces us to deal with something that is never easy to come to 
grips with, namely Dumbledore being wrong about something. He has 
told Harry that Snape was in debt to James, and prefaced the 
conversation by saying he wouldn't lie, so the explanation is that he 
was mistaken. 

Fix: Snape perceived the real truth behind James' action and knew 
where his debt lay and didn't tell D-Dore. And in many cases, actions 
taken to repay the debt to Lily will also repay the debt to James, so 
maybe D-Dore is playing with words a bit to shield Harry from the 
idea of Snape lusting after his mother.

2) If Snape is so bitter because he has this undischarged life debt 
over his head, wouldn't he be a lot happier to see Harry so he can 
finally do something useful for Lily's memory? 

Fix: Several explanations, the first of which is Harry's incredible 
likeness to James, which would just stir all kinds of hatred for 
Snape, who lost his lady love to that face.

Second, he would hate this product of James and Lily's love just out 
of sheer spite.

Third, and probably too complex psychologically. What if Snape is 
somehow comfortable with his bitterness? For him, discharging the 
debt and being clear would be as frightening as someone whose spent 
his entire adult life in prison being released at age 80. 

Maybe he simply doesn't WANT to deal with the debt, figuring it's 
easier for him to live with the bitterness than to face a life 
without a reason to be bitter. And therefore, he hates Harry, knowing 
that he will be forced to act to save the little brat. Trying to get 
him expelled is a way to get the matter taken out of his hands.

But in the end, I still hope Snape-Lily isn't the answer.

Darrin
-- The Snape is a Vampire Loons would be a good name for a band.