A Different Look at Snape

[brewpub44]

No: HPFGUIDX 35625

Cheers!

I wanted to put forth a different look at Snape, more specifically 
what a nasty teacher he is to his students.

I recently finished Stephen Amrose's book, Band of Brothers (the HBO 
miniseries is based of the same name is based on this book). In this 
book, there is the (non-fictional) character of Lt. Sobol.

Lt. Sobol commands Easy Company of the 506th Airborne (later the 
101st Airborne) through their airborne training boot-camp. He is a 
tough commander, puts his men through utter hell, and they absolutely 
despise him for it. The examples are numerous, here is an example:

One day, he tells his men that the evening's standard 6-mile run up a 
2000-ft hill has been postponed. He has the cooks prepare spaghetti 
for dinner, and the men, realizing they have the night off, overeat 
(spaghetti being a rare treat in WWII army mess halls). But right 
after dinner, Sobol changes his mind, and commands them to run. I'll 
skip the gory details, but imaging trying to run up a 2000-ft hill 
with full packs and a stomach full of pasta -- it dont' feel good.

But at the end of the book, the author interviews the survivors of 
Easy Company, those men who survived D-Day, Operation Market Garden, 
the Battle of the Bulge, and the raid on Hitler's Berchtesgarden 
(sp?). He asks them about Lt. Sobol. To a man, they all say how much 
they hated and despised him. But also to a man, they say "We would be 
dead if not for the training Sobol put us through. He made us tough." 
(quote paraphrased).

So, what does this do with Snape (and why do I think he is the best 
character after the Big Three):

Snape knows potion making is dangerous. There are plenty of examples 
through the four books. Look at the polyjuice potion backfiring, how 
Neville keeps melting his cauldrons, etc. Also during the antidote 
scenes in GoF. He definitely threatens Harry with poison, if Harry's 
antidote doesn't work, Harry will be dead (of course Madam Pomfrey is 
around, so I doubt the threat is real). Yes, he is reall nasty, and 
serious.

But the Wizard world is nasty and serious. Potions are not trivial 
things, and poisons are real things. And if Harry is hated by DEs and 
LV, is it unreasonable to assume someone will try to poison him? Not 
at all! In fact, if he is so seemingly impervious to LV's magic, 
poison to me sounds like one solution (so would a bullet, but we're 
not going there right now).

Not only that, but Snape has seen the DEs. He has been one of them. 
He has been daring and bold in his betrayal of them, and understands 
he could very well pay the price himself. He knows the darkness that 
confronts his students.

So here is the lesson I am trying to impart: Snape is the best friend 
the Big Three have. Pampering them will not help them at all, making 
them tough, smart, skilled, and capable will. It's a tough world, and 
requires tough people.

A Barkeep in Diagon Alley