Snape, Lupin, Shack; was: Dirty!Harry and Stoned!Harry

[porphyria_ash]

No: HPFGUIDX 43399

In reply to Dicentra's objection to Snape's offer to "drag the 
werewolf," Irene remarked:

<<
Isn't it very telling that Snape is always judged by what he threatens
to do, or what the other characters suspect he would want to do:
killing Trevor, feeding poison to Harry, failing Gryffindors in
Potions, feeding innocent people to Dementors etc. ?
>>

Dicentra retorted:

<<
He didn't threaten to drag Lupin back to the castle, he announced it.
>>

And I answer:

How do you distinguish between a threat and an announcement, 
especially when Snape is concerned? I had once begun the complete 
list of things that Snape threatens to do that he never actually 
does; it's fairly long. Since Irene has already mentioned several, 
and I seem to have misplaced my list, I'll just skip on to the next 
point in the logic.

Snape is extremely theatrical. He operates by frightening, angering 
and manipulating people with a swish of black robes for dramatic 
effect. But apart from responding to Lockhart's request to 
demonstrate dueling techniques, he is never physically violent. In 
fact, when Snape does *not* think he has an audience he acts quite 
differently, quite a bit more decently, and every book has an example 
of this. I think we are supposed to read this evidence as a key to 
his character, given how many and how consistent are the hints to 
that effect. 

While I agree that his threat to feed Sirius to the Dementors and his 
similar viciousness to Lupin is ugly, there is no getting around the 
fact that when Snape really does have his enemy lying unconscious at 
his feet he behaves in a perfectly respectable manner. He does not do 
anything to injure Sirius' body, he does not do what he has 
threatened to do which is call over the Dementors, instead, he 
conjures up stretchers. We don't just have Snape's word for this; 
this is what Hermione and Harry witness as well. Lupin and Sirius 
really do come close to executing a criminal with their bare hands, 
but Snape, when given the opportunity, turns Sirius over to the MoM. 
And I cannot think of any ulterior motive for him to do so; I think 
Fudge would have been delighted to take delivery of a soul-sucked 
Sirius, and Snape himself admits he has no idea why the Dementors 
were retreating, so it's not like he saw a Patronus galloping around. 

Dicentra again:

<<
And he would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for
those meddling kids and their collective *Expelliarmus*.
>> 

How do you know this? See, I find Sirius mistreating Snape's 
unconscious body much creepier since Snape can't fight or even argue 
back. He's completely vulnerable. Now Lupin, on the other hand, can 
at least struggle or attempt to hop if he has to. Plus the kids are 
there -- since Snape, at this point, thinks the Trio are going to 
follow him, he probably half-expected that they would argue with him 
before letting him commit any atrocities. But that still doesn't mean 
that Snape would have literally dragged him. I read most of what 
Snape says in the Shack as an expression of extreme anger before a 
live audience. But I think Irene is right to imply that we ought to 
judge Snape by what he actually has done. And what he actually has 
done is say ugly things and make threats, but somehow never 
physically do what he threatens. 

In any case, while I agree that Snape is a) a bully too and b) 
behaving so irrationally here that it's a great relief to Sirius when 
he's knocked out, nevertheless I see the head-scraping as icky and 
cruel especially for Sirius who believes he has the upper hand at 
this point and is rejoicing that he's about to be cleared. And he 
knows that Snape is not a Bad Guy on the level of Pettigrew, so he 
can't have the same "he's about to be dispatched anyway" attitude 
that Snape has to him and Lupin. He's just humiliating Snape for fun, 
which, while it might not make him look worse than Snape, it doesn't 
do anything to make him look better. 

~Porphyria, who wanted to post about something other than Snape 
today, but it just didn't work out.