Snape's "Outcast" Status

[frankielee242]

No: HPFGUIDX 42149

> Dicentra wrote:
> > Uhhh... How do we know Snape was picked on at school?  He might have
> > been in opposition to the "alphas," James and Sirius, but that doesn't
> > make him an outcast.  If he ran with a crowd of Slyths, he at least
> > had friends, and it's doubtful they were all outcasts, either.

Richelle Votaw wrote: 
> The exact quote is that Snape "was part of a gang of Slytherins, most of
> which turned out to be death eaters."  Which leads us to believe
that more
> than likely Lucius and co. were also part of that gang.  It seems to
me like
> Snape had friends, sure.  
                  >>> SNIP <<<
> So I'd say Snape wasn't an outcast at school any more than Malfoy is.


I agree-- I don't think anyone who came to Hogwarts knowing more about
the dark arts (curses, hexes, etc.) than most seventh years would be
picked on more than once. Challenged regularly, yes. How many
Slytherin upperclassmen would willing to admit defeat to some punk
first year who just kicked their ass in a duel without a rematch?

BTW, given the password for the Slytherin dorm in CoS, "pure-blood", I
think it's safe to say Snape comes from a wizarding family. I also get
the impression that Lucius Malfoy was at school with LV, though, and
that Snape (and the Mauraders) are inbetween LV & Lucius's generation
and the Trio's generation.

I can't find the earlier post about Snape's black sense of humor and
razor-sharp wit (cut downs go a long, long way towards advancing
social status as I recall from my playground days), but I think the
parallels between Draco's current social standing and Snape's old
standing are bang on. I'm sure aspiring DE's were begging our boy
Snape to teach them that really cool hex he used on so-and-so when no
one was looking. Outcast? Hardly. But, his glory days are long gone.


Richelle Votaw then wrote:
> Now on the other hand, Snape seems to make himself something of an
outcast
> at Hogwarts now.  He alienates himself from most of the teachers, does
> things that make them think he's trying to put Gryffindor down and
doesn't
> explain his reasons.  (Refereeing the quidditch match)  I assume
most of his
> friends from his school days are either in Azkaban, dead, or in the
crowd
> who claimed to have been placed under the imperious curse.  Not a lot of
> people left he can trust.


I don't think Snape's ever had anyone to trust-- at the end of GoF,
Avery is the first to grovel in front of LV. In Dumbledore's pensive,
we see Karkaroff sell Snape out to the MoM. What about his life before
 Hogwarts? Anyone who knows more about the dark arts than seventh year
students before even setting foot in school can not POSSIBLY come from
a decent home situation. 

Darrin has said as much before, but the Slytherin house comes across
to me as the place where the power-hungry are sorted. People who step
on other people to get what they want. People who hold nothing and no
one else sacred. People who cheat just because they can get away with
it. People who justify any means to the ends they desire. People
without ethics who gamble that no one will look through the accounting
ledger (or under the loose board in the drawing room). Back-stabbers,
social climbers, plotters, schemers... Think of Louis and
Marie-Antoinette's court shortly before the French revolution. Has
anyone else seen "Ridicule"?


Frankie, who still thinks Snape is in bad need of some hot cocoa and a
hug.